135 | Fall in Love with the Game

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I was chatting to a client the

other day and she said something

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that really made me stop and smile

and it stayed with me ever since.

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It was, I like the sport of it.

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And it hit me that you really

do need to like the sport.

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I often call it the game.

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You need to like the

game of entrepreneurship.

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You need to like that game

of building your business.

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And this isn't me here to discourage

you because somebody tried to do that

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to me when I started my business,

but it is sharing some honest truths

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that I wish I had known earlier.

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Because when you understand these

things, it becomes so much easier to keep

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going and actually enjoy the journey.

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It's of no surprise to me that

this person is probably my most

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successful client and that's why,

because you have to like the sport

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of it to actually build that success.

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She, like everybody else, went through

all of the lows that come with the highs.

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So putting in six months of work

with zero return at the beginning.

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Going through all of the

generic niching things.

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Going through the whole phase when your

content's just boring and no one's really

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liking it, and you're working really

hard, you're doing all the consistent

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things, and it's just not working.

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So don't think that this is just

like a magic pill, but the fact

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that she's come through those

things is what makes me realize

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that that is why she is successful.

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Because she likes the sport of it.

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So my key point here is to fall in love

with the process, not just the outcome.

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When you embrace the fact that there

are no guarantees in life, you also give

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yourself permission to be creative, to

trust yourself, to try new things, and to

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take complete ownership of what happens

next in your life and your business.

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That is when you 20 x your personal

growth as a person and also as a business.

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Because reward comes with risk.

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So whilst I've helped

hundreds of people do this.

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There's no reason you won't be successful.

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You as the business owner, as the

CEO for your business, need to learn

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how to take risks, how to believe

in yourself, how to trust yourself

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to get the outcome that you want.

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Every single time I've made an investment

right from the start of my business.

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I've felt just like you do when

you make an investment thinking.

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I don't wanna waste this money.

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I need to know this is gonna work.

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What if this is the wrong decision?

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All of the fear, I still

actually feel it now.

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I've invested in two different coaches

over the summer and I still really do

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get that fear and afterwards I think, oh,

did I really need to spend this money?

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Maybe I don't really need to do this,

and all of the things, but I just

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know once I start working with these

people, I will be so grateful that

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I made the investment in myself.

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That I took the time to spend on me and

my personal development, my business

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development, because a lot of the time we

are just sending signals to ourself that

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this will work for us, and that is the

power in investing as well, is showing

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yourself that you are serious about this.

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You are gonna actually show up and get

the results that you have paid for.

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I don't know many entrepreneurs

that have that glowing success story

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where they didn't have the rock

bottom moment where they thought,

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oh, this is never gonna work.

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Why is nothing working?

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Why is no one paying me?

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Why is no one engaging with my content?

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And that's what entrepreneurship gives

you is the personal growth to go through

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those moments again and again and again.

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And if you are on this journey, I'm

hoping you are smiling now because

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you will know that rollercoaster

of, oh my gosh, everything's okay.

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I've got a client today.

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And then, ah.

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Where's my next one gonna come from?

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And you go down back to the low and

you think, oh, nothing's working.

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It's exactly the same.

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If you think about your social

content, sometimes you can go

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through a really good phase.

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You feel like you've nailed it,

and then the algorithm changes and

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suddenly nothing's working again.

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And what going through those

moments gives you is the skills

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of a successful business owner.

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You can't have the attributes

of a CEO without going

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through those highs and lows.

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If you think about the CEO in

maybe your past organization.

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Then you will know that they

usually worked their way up.

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They didn't just appear as the CEO.

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Maybe they slowly started getting

promotions, running a team, until

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eventually they had earned their

stripes as the CEO . so stop seeing

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early progress as pointless if it

doesn't hit those big income targets,

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those are the moments that you will

look back on and be so, so proud of.

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I think my biggest, most proud moment

is probably my first ever paying client.

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I tried to sell at 650 pounds and

she negotiated me down to 550 pounds.

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It's still the moment I feel in

my body when I think, oh my gosh,

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someone who I think is amazing

has paid me to be their coach.

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So just know that all of these moments,

these small ones especially are the

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moments you will look back on and

see that all along you were blooming.

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I had a big wake up call of this myself

recently because I have a mastermind

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called the Next Level Mastermind.

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I sent out a feedback form

to the previous participants.

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I must admit, I have a huge teaching

element in me and because in the

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Mastermind I don't really teach.

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It's actually been really tricky to

own my value in that space initially

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because I'm so used to teaching like

I do all of the time in this podcast,

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in my business of coaching program,

in webinars and other things that I

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do that it felt really uncomfortable.

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Just holding the space.

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And anyway, I opened the feedback

forms and they were 10 out of 10.

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Would you recommend this

mastermind to other people?

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Which made me so confused in all honesty

of like, oh, wow, people are still gaining

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so much from just being part of the space.

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Having somewhere to celebrate wins.

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Having an amazing group of people

who really get where they're at to

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share their experience, ask them great

questions, but being part of something

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matters as much as information.

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So that's been my really

big win over the summer.

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And that's why I am recording

this podcast in fact.

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Because most of my podcasts,

I teach a lot because I know a

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lot and there is a lot to learn.

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But what I really want to start doing

is helping you to shift perspective.

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Because often it's not

always in what we know.

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It is about who we are as a

person that brings that success.

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And if I look around the room at my

mastermind, there is not one person

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there that would ever ask for a guarantee

that they will get X, Y, Z by becoming

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part of the Mastermind because they're

experienced business owners and they

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know that they are responsible for

their business and their results and

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their progress in that mastermind.

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So I think that is the difference

between a new business owner who

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hasn't currently established the

skills, the responsibility, the risk

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taking that entrepreneurship requires.

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Versus established business owners

who have been through the highs,

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the lows, and got to the other side.

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So this episode is more about

uncomfortable truths I don't always

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share because what I've realized from

having a month off so far, I'm on my

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school holidays and suddenly I have the

inspiration to share a podcast with you.

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I've been running the same program now for

over four years, which is really exciting.

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It's changed loads in that time.

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I'm still completely obsessed by

it, but I'm also slightly jaded, I

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guess, when I see new coaches misled

by a real lack of knowledge, and

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it hurts me because that was me.

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When you look back on what you used

to think and believe, and I genuinely

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had no idea that there was gonna be

a learning curve involved in building

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my business, as many coaches don't.

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I thought as soon as I had that

qualification, I would just have people

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queuing up at my door for my coaching.

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I'm privileged to have started working

with a few coach training organizations

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recently and super established ones

at that, so I'm so, so glad that

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some coaching organizations are

starting to prioritize and share the

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real honest truths of what happens

the other side of coach training.

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The final uncomfortable truth I

wanted to share today is really

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learning to treat your business

like a job with accountability,

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consistent hours, and thinking to

yourself if this was an employed role.

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Would you have a job right now?

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Because what I notice is, oh, I put

out one social post this week, and

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that is essentially an hour's work.

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Amazing.

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And I get it, maybe you

are not working full-time.

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There are all sorts of variations

of building a business.

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Like I do term times school hours only.

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So I certainly don't have full-time hours.

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But whatever hours you do have in your

business, it's really worth focusing on

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a small number of high value activities.

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Usually these are the things that mean

real interaction with real people.

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So that might be going to a

networking meeting that is very

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specific to your ideal client.

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That might be sending a bunch of dms

to people that start conversations.

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That might be speaking on a podcast

so you can get in front of more

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listeners, but it's really worth

thinking about what can you do in the

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limited time you may have available.

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I actually was probably way more

efficient when I had about eight

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hours a week on my business.

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'cause I had two days with my son in

childcare and they were like 10 till

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2pm days or something really small.

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But I used to do far more then than I

do now when I have actually a lot more

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time 'cause my kids are a touch older.

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So whatever excuse you are making

that you don't have time, I hear you.

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But jot down those really hard tasks that

you don't wanna do and do them first.

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There's that book called Eat the

Frog, and that's essentially it.

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Do the thing you don't wanna do.

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So that might be sending the dms,

that might be pitching the podcast.

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Anything that's essentially

gonna deal with rejection are the

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things that I certainly avoid.

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So you may be similar.

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Get them done first before creating your

pretty Canva picture or whatever it is

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you will want to use your time doing

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. So the real honest truth here that

I want to share is to give yourself

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performance development reviews.

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How are you doing?

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Are you focusing on the hard,

uncomfortable things or are

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you hiding behind social media?

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If you are to be in the top 20% who

succeed and if you were doing your

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own personal development review,

would you be giving yourself feedback?

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What would you say you could do

differently with your time, with

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your energy, with your focus?

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And this really isn't easy.

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These are questions I

ask myself all the time.

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Am I making the most of the opportunities

that are right in front of my nose?

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All I can say is that over the

years I really, really have made

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the most of those opportunities.

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I've put in every ounce of energy

and enthusiasm and time that I

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have had things like my friendships

have not been prioritized.

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I've got young kids as well, and every

waking moment that I had up until this

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point in my business has been building

the business, and I'm finally getting

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to the other side now where I really

do want to have my six weeks off.

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I don't always want to sneak

onto my laptop, which used to be

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like, oh my gosh, I wonder if I

can do some work this weekend.

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How very exciting.

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Now I just wanna go sit in the garden.

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I don't wanna look at my phone.

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So I think there are seasons in life and

the initial season of your business is

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hard work and that hard work will give

you the reward that you want in the end.

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So here's a view behind the scenes truths.

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I advise you to get to know

all corners of your business so

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you don't have to feel scared.

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I remember when I just wanted to say

hi first name in my newsletter, but

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I just didn't know how to get that

first name thing to work, and I felt

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so stressed and overwhelmed by this,

which made me realize that actually

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I kind of needed to learn the basic

foundations of all of my business

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before really being able to delegate

effectively and to overcome that fear

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of going into my own system and sending

an email or updating my own website.

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Because I see so many people have

to say, oh, I'll speak to my web

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designer, or I'll speak to the person

that set up my lead magnet because I

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don't know if I can make any changes.

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And they're essentially

trapped in their business.

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And this isn't saying never delegate,

but it is saying, don't delegate

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all responsibility to someone else.

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If somebody does build it for you, get

them to have a little mini training

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session with you and record it so you

aren't at ransom to other people to do

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really basic things in your business,

like make a quick change to your

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website, send an email to your list.

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Just small things that

you will need to do.

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And if you are petrified of tech.

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Honestly, I used to be petrified

too, and now I can do crazy things

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probably better than the people I

would pay to do this stuff, so please

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know you can do amazing things.

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We are so well resourced

right now with YouTube.

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And every time you learn one new

thing, you are building confidence

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and freedom into your business

and that is worth celebrating.

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So I've gone off on many, many tangents

today, but I hope this off the cuff

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episode is a good boost for you to

remind you that you are responsible,

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you are creative, you are whole, you

are resourceful, and you can do this.

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You really do want to fall in love

with the process because what I'm

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going through right now is that

reaching that destination where

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you've essentially made it on paper?

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Isn't the thing that you thought it was,

and the chase is always gonna be there.

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There's always gonna be that

next goal that you want.

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So how can you learn to reflect more

and fall in love with the process more?

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Because if you can enjoy the work you're

doing now before all of the big results

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come in, you are already winning.

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You will become the kind of business

owner who can handle whatever comes next.

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This is exactly what I'm doing in

my business at the moment and really

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starting to reflect rather than teach.

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So I hope you liked this

episode that I know is very

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different from my usual stuff.

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I wanted to share what

was on my mind today.

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Please let me know if this episode

resonated with you and I could

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share more real honest truths

with you on future episodes.

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And like I say at the end of

every episode, trust yourself.

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Believe in yourself, and be the wise

gardener who keeps on watering the seed.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.