Pulling Back the Curtain on My Business

Whenever I’m talking to a colleague or friend, and I share that my business has totally taken off this year, I’m often asked: What has created that difference?

If only it were as simple as ONE THING!

I always have several new initiatives going on: new marketing actions (like social media and article marketing) and new personal growth initiatives. ALL of that contributes to my growth.

Through these conversations, I’ve realized that while I’ve shared lots of information with my community about the PRACTICAL actions I’m taking, I haven’t shared the huge amount of support I receive for my internal growth.

Today, I’m pulling back the curtain to show you exactly how much support I receive, in many different areas. My intention is to highlight how much support YOU will need along your journey to “Expand Your Mind and Expand Your Money”.

So far in 2012, I’ve invested in:

Personal training at the gym once a week

Housecleaning every other week

3 virtual assistants : one handles client matters; one handles web site and ezine matters; the 3rd deals with social media and speaking engagements.

Personal assistant who comes to my house once a week to wash my dishes and run my errands. My personal assistant alone gives me back 4 hours/week that I can re-direct into activities I enjoy.

John Maxwell Team Training, providing training and mentoring.
EnergyRich Elite Mastermind program, providing training and coaching by Heather Dominick along with energy work provided by Heather and Wendy Yellen.
Private coaching with Hobie Hare, about connecting with nature
Holistic health coaching with Catherine Rose Stevens, about my diet and energy work.
DSWA Coaching School, providing training, coaching and mentoring.
Private calls with Amanda Maynard, providing energy work.
Then there are MORE hours of unpaid support I give and receive from my colleagues:

Weekly coaching & accountability calls with a coaching partner.
Monthly coaching calls with at least 3 different colleagues.
Let me contrast this with where I started in 2007. Back then, I sat in my office by myself, hoping to come up with great ideas and attract new clients. I wanted to save money, so I created my ezine on my own and sent it out. I also cleaned my own house.

The result: I was bored, frustrated and broke! I wasn’t having fun and everything seemed to take a LONG TIME to get done!

Is this sounding familiar?!

Eventually, I came to realize that the best use of my time is to take great care of my body and mind AND spend my work time in my Zone of Genius. While the kind of coaching I invest in may vary, I can state with confidence that I will ALWAYS invest in personal training, housekeeping, and lots of assistants!

When I have that level of support, as a foundation, my body feels better and my mind is sharper. I have more insight and expertise to offer my clients.

I want to highlight two key points in this list:

1. The sooner you give yourself the gift of support, for your body, mind and soul, the sooner your business will take off.
When you DON’T make that investment, you’re depriving yourself and you’re stopping your business growth.
I know – it sounds totally logical to WAIT to invest in that kind of support. To wait till you have the money, to wait till you figure out how to delegate, to wait till you’re not overwhelmed, etc.

Here’s the thing: WAITING does not create more time, money or calm. Making that investment is what brings about more time, money or calm.

Investing in the support you need, when you need it, will release you from being stuck, feeling deprived and playing small. And you are going to have to make that investment BEFORE you feel “ready”.

2. Notice how often “energy work” showed up on my list.
Over the past few years, I’ve tried eidetics, EFT (or tapping), visualizations, affirmations , meditation , and lots of other kinds of energy work. I’m a super-logical, analytic kind of thinker, and I wish I could tell you exactly why some of the unusual forms of energy work are so successful. All I can say is that these practices reach the innermost parts of me and go way deeper than my analytic brain. No matter how it works, I have several years of personal evidence that it really makes a huge difference for me.

Support is not just about delegation and tasks. It’s also about taking care of your body and taking care of your soul. Do you experience soul-deep pleasure in your work? How would it feel to have that enjoyment EVERY day? How would that experience, of continuous joy, change your business?

Call to Action

What kind of support do you yearn for?
How much time do you spend on tasks that you dread, or just don’t enjoy?
How much better would your dreaded/boring tasks turn out, if they were done by someone who did them well AND enjoyed doing them?
How much easier would your life be, if you spent your time doing only the work that you love?
If your last answer was “A lot!”, then how would your business results change, when you’re spending your time only on what you love and receiving support in other areas? Would you connect with people more easily? Be more present for them? Have more great ideas AND the energy to execute them (or delegate them )?

If the thought of receiving more support and having more fun is exciting, then I encourage you to take a couple easy next steps.

First, start writing down the kind of support you’d like to receive. Don’t get hung up on who will give it, how it will happen, etc. Those are the details. For now, just get clear on what support you want. Give yourself the gift of acknowledging your true desire.

Second, raise your radar for people or groups who provide that kind of support. When you find the right match, the way to bring about that support will be shown to you. Depending on the situation, you might be able to exchange services (I give and receive HOURS of free coaching each month, from colleagues); receive free services (this is happening right now for one of my colleagues); or realize how you can pay for what you want. When you are given a desire, the way to fulfill it is somewhere around you.

If you’re ready for immediate support, consider coaching. It can absolutely help you go further in your business, faster. My clients’ two favorite benefits of coaching are accountability and an outside opinion. The results my clients receive from accountability, an outside opinion, support and more include more income, easier recruiting, increased leadership skills and much higher self-confidence.