With a weary tone mixed with a defiance and a hint of despair she told me that her business was going okay but she could do with more.
A familiar tale.
Indeed every week I speak with business owners who echo the same sentiment..they aren’t thinking the worst, they aren’t giving up or even negative…but they are working long hours doing all that they can and when pushed to be bluntly honest they are not making a decent living out of their efforts.
Blame it on the economy. Blame it on the world of competition. Blame it on the government, the weather, the Olympics, the whatever you want but surely there is some reason out there for it not going well?!!
Well possibly…but then this lady and I got chatting…
I asked her what she had as a CRM to track all of the message and numbers and see what worked best.
She didn’t have one “because it was really expensive when she last looked and then recently she just hasn’t got the time”.
I asked what her website brought in knowing that it was not a new one and frankly quite basic.
She said “it’s something I know I have to get done but right now I don’t have the time or the money so it’s just going to have to wait”.
I asked her about all of her workload and she stated that she was very busy…but when I asked about the big jobs the exciting large orders and the meaty contracts she said “I would love to go and get more but because I am so busy with these other jobs then I haven’t got the time”.
Now far be it for me to preach…but have you ever heard the saying ‘Work smarter not harder’?
What exactly does that mean I asked?
You see there is a huge gap between knowing and doing isn’t there. Knowing the phrase, paying lip service to the idea, stating to yourself that you are ‘going to one day’, all of that is useless unless action is taken.
Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. We get caught into a trap and a pattern of in-action. Sometimes the only way out is either failing and crashing through the floor or having a kick and nudge from a friendly mentor to just get us back on track.
In business today there are many many variables and in this uncertain changeable world we have got possibly more than ever to think about but that doesn’t mean that we give in and stop thinking and stop adapting.
Today more than ever you need to embrace technology and upgrade your working practices.
Having a mentor, a guide, a coach simply recognises that ALL of us ‘slip’. We make plans, have great ideas but then other ‘stuff’ gets in the way.
A coach or mentor is the accountability factor. It’s the barrier to prevent slipping. It’s that push and irritating benefit that makes us actually do what we say and know.
You and I all have things to work on and tasks to do…but sometimes only the words of someone outside can be clear enough to make us shape up and stop wasting time on the wrong jobs. Sometimes only the vision of someone who is already ahead or who has been there done that – or more likely someone who is not so emotionally involved on a day to day basis and can therefore see ‘the woods for the trees’ – can be clear and steer us around our current obstacles.
So, if like the lady I was chatting to earlier you might possibly relate to the ‘treadmill’ and the internal recognition that there are things you know but don’t do…that there are ideas you haven’t auctioned or there are habits you’d like to break for the better then working with a coach is your answer.
It’s NOT those who cannot do it that use a coach it’s those who aim higher.
It’s NOT those who don’t know who use a coach simply to learn its those who know that someone who knows the path ahead will help them journey ahead with less pain.
It’s NOT the struggling and weak who use a coach it’s the confident and strong who fully appreciate that you get further faster and with less strain when you share the load.
And so to the lady who was frustrated inside and working hard but not earning enough….what can we do?
Well, we Stop! Blindly pushing ahead.
We Stand Back! And give ourselves a few moments of peace to think properly before acting in a less smart way.
We ask ‘How Can I Make This Better?’ and know that with powerful questions we uncover equally powerful answers.
So, tonight please pause and reflect – and consider how you can make it better!
Have a fabulous day and week ahead….and if you’d like to chat over any issue then simply connect because it’ll be a pleasure to help.
Yours always in success
Ben