Why I Course Corrected

 

      Last week I had the privilege of virtually meeting a young man who two years ago walked out of his job without a plan.  Since then he has created a prosperous business that creates a full-time income for himself and his wife.  It is in a field he did not even know existed when he left his job. My favorite nugget of the story is he and his wife work part-time while they are raising their two young daughters.
     I couldn't help but admire his success.  The path to his success highlighted a lesson I have learned over the past year.  He has created this miracle, in part, because he was unafraid to hire support and very clear on what support he should hire.  He has in his support team a full-time business coach as well as 2 coaches he worked with full-time while he was learning his craft (now uses on a project basis) and another coach he works with in a group setting.
     Not long ago I saw people like him differently.  It boggled my mind how much they had to be spending on coaching and training.  Now I see the changes that have happened for them personally and professionally.  I see the speed with which their businesses have grown.  I admire the solid people they have become.  What helped me accept their path was a logical analogy from my past experience.   
     When I was doing real estate investing I would regularly buy a home that was not worthy of living in.  I would have to spend a good deal of time and money remodeling the home before I could rent or sell it.  When I compared the amount these entrepreneurs were spending on "remodeling" themselves and their business I finally could embrace that I needed to invest more time and money in creating my business the way I dream.  Afterall, it isn't hard to see that the value of their business is far greater than the value of one real estate sale after remodel!
     The past few months I have course corrected.  I have gotten extremely clear on the type of support I need (both for coaching, tech and administrative).  I have also started using their support at a deeper level.  The results are manifesting personally and professionally.
     What about you?
     Where have you resisted getting support?  Why?
     How might your business change if you allowed yourself to get support?

This Time I Did It My Way!

Last night I enjoyed a walk down the street and a night swim with my kids at the hotel we are staying at during Pamela Bruner's Transform Event 2014.  It was wonderful, it was me doing events my way!

I have been attending live events with motivational speakers and coaches since 2006.  I have had various experiences that have taught me much about how I as a participant can better attend events and how I run events now and in the future for my own participants.

My first event was sponsored by Real Estate Expert and Best Selling Author, Robert Allen.  I was a young mom with a few years experience as an entrepreneur.  I had just spent a year "away" from doing anything for income (a story for another blog) and had a couple of experiences that had prompted me to "get back on the horse".  I had committed to be there and I had a habit of keeping my commitments.  It took ALL that I had in time, money and resources to get my kids to my sister's house close to the out of state event and show up.  I had no housing plans and no money to spare.  It was an amazing lesson in the Law of Attraction!  I ended up sharing quarters with a carpenter from Virginia who had a van parked on the street.  I lived on the beef jerkey he had and the apples I brought.
       I was there 100% and fully engaged.  I was at the microphone and actively seeking answers to how I could be a better investor.  Needless to say I signed up for the $40,000 package.   I had no resources to do it but they promised me if I would write a post-dated check I could go home and find someone to help me make the investment.  So I signed up!   I got home physically and emotionally exhausted.  It took me a couple days to just get my body back on track from being spent but at the same time I was talking to people about how to make this investment.
      I called Robert Allen's company more than once that week asking them to withdraw me from the program.  Their response "take courage, it will come, go find someone".  They didn't understand that it wasn't just the money.  I was caught up in the energy of the moment and the firey words from the stage "all you need is the courage to step into this program".  I had courage, I KNEW how powerful I was.  I can do anything and I am destined for greatness so I trusted and stepped forward.... but how can anyone living on a diet of beef jerky and apples, sleeping only so so on a piece of foam on the side of a street in Washington, DC make a good grounded decision?

When attending live events, stay grounded in your purpose and evaluate the offers from a place of peace and intuitive guidance, not the energy of the moment.

     Fast forward 8 years.  I've attended over 20 other events.  I have learned much about events.  I have signed up for 4 programs in those 20 events.  I have also learned that for me, I have to get CLEAR about what I am looking for in the event before I walk in the door.  When I'm not I am more easily swayed into a program that may or may not be the right one for me.  It does not serve me, or the person on the stage, to jump into a program that is not right for me.  So I have learned first and foremost to take care of me.  If the stuff in the room starts to trigger me, I process it.  If I didn't sleep well I skip part of the afternoon session and take a nap.
     I am also clear also clear that many of my most trusted coaches and best clients have come from people in the crowd at the event of mentors I have followed for a long time.  Yet, coming with the focus on judging who is who takes away from the experience for me, the other attendees and the person hosting the event. I keep encounters brief and focus on building up the speaker.
   I am so grateful for the wonderful lessons I have enjoyed at Pamela's Transform event.  She prepared well and presented well.   I am so grateful for the wonderful people I met in the crowd.  I look forward to our continued interactions as we grow in relationships together.

Feeling LOST Can Be The Secret Window To Your Business Growth Path

        In June of 1992 I got lost in Old Jerusalem, Israel.  I was with a group of about 5 students and it was our first day of a two month stay.  We had gone to the shopping area with a group of 20 led by an experienced traveler.  We had checked with them before leaving the group early.  We headed back the direction of our campus home.  It took us almost 3 hours to get back (instead of the 30 minutes it should have).  We wondered through dark streets made of rock, mostly empty and lit by only a few random single lit light bulbs. We asked for help, but most of the folks in this area of the city didn't know English well. It was an amazing and haunting journey in a third world environment for a young lady far from home.

     There were lessons learned that night.  Yet many of the lessons came in the days and weeks ahead.  We became the leaders of any group we were in as we navigated the streets of our new home.  We recognized the signs of going the "wrong" direction quickly.  We understood the "lay of the land" easily.  For me the lessons have run even farther as I have been lost in many other cities around the world.  Whether in Cairo, Egypt  San Juan, Puerto Rico or Charlotte, NC, USA  I know to stay calm and keep trying.  The signs will pop out and I will soon recognize where I am going, even if the support I got to "find" my way didn't seem to help.

     It's been the same for me in business.  There have been many times I have felt I was "lost" and that it was taking me much longer than others to get it "right".  When I allow that to stress me out I only get stressed.  When I find support I get through it.  Getting the right support is vital.  Just as in Old Jerusalem, it needs to be someone who "speaks your language"  who understands you and the way you work.  I have hired coaches that didn't understand me and they caused me a great deal of stress as they coached me beyond what was appropriate for me.

    Also, don't be afraid to be lost.  Your being lost can assist others to move through their issues faster.  Your students and clients will be grateful for your wisdom.