The Pointless Business Building Mistake You’re Making Podcast
Over the last few months I’ve experienced several exciting breakthroughs in my business. Yet some of these breakthroughs were immediately followed by “breakdowns” where I found myself seriously doubting my ability to achieve a particular vision or goal that I had set for myself.
Recently I committed to taking a bold stand to be not only “an entrepreneur who lives and loves richly – but to also be someone who is a stand for EVERY entrepreneur living and loving richly.”
The idea behind taking a bold stand is that it’s meant to literally be a stand that you take on. It’s meant to be a vision that is so all encompassing and filled with possibility that you have to literally re-invent yourself and who you consider yourself to be to experience it. It’s not an actual place “to get to” – or an end result to achieve. Rather it’s meant to be a place “to come from” that informs all of your daily actions and decisions…
Click below to listen to the podcast.
The Pointless Business Building Mistake You’re Making
Over the last few months I’ve experienced several exciting breakthroughs in my business. Yet some of these breakthroughs were immediately followed by “breakdowns” where I found myself seriously doubting my ability to achieve a particular vision or goal that I had set for myself.
Recently I committed to taking a bold stand to be not only “an entrepreneur who lives and loves richly – but to also be someone who is a stand for EVERY entrepreneur living and loving richly.”
The idea behind taking a bold stand is that it’s meant to literally be a stand that you take on. It’s meant to be a vision that is so all encompassing and filled with possibility that you have to literally re-invent yourself and who you consider yourself to be to experience it. It’s not an actual place “to get to” – or an end result to achieve. Rather it’s meant to be a place “to come from” that informs all of your daily actions and decisions.
“That’s not really possible,” my mind insisted. And before I was consciously aware I began buying into the skeptical conversations as they arose inside my head. These conversations were so subtle that I didn’t realize that I was believing them to be true. They seemed to be accurately describing “the truth” and reality as I knew it.
Not only that but I had a particular bold income goal that I was committed to achieving and it seemed like I was certain to fall short of achieving it. This added fuel to the fire for my insatiable, skeptical mind.
However, despite the incessant stories of doubt and fear I continued to ask myself, “As a business owner who is committed to living and loving richly and being a stand for ALL entrepreneurs living and loving richly – what would she do right now?”
And here’s what occurred:
For the first several hours of my day, even though I felt uninspired and doubtful about my ability to “be” and achieve my vision, and even though my critical mind chattered away in the background I continued to repeat my vision in the form of a question to myself…
“As a business owner who is committed to living and loving richly and being a stand for every business owner to do this as well – what would she do right now?” I would pause to listen for the answer and then took action on the guidance that I received.
In one moment in particular the insight that came to me was, “If I were a business owner who was a stand for all entrepreneurs living and loving richly I would be extremely present and attentive during the conversation that I’m having right now with this particular client.”
And as I listened to my client an insight occurred to me on how she could increase her fees.
I shared my inspiration with her and at the end of our session I could hear the deep gratitude in her voice. She immediately implemented the action and reported at our next session that she had already gone on to instantly increase her fees – a true victory!
I became willing to continue living and staying committed to my vision moment by moment and take action – in spite of the fact that initially I felt skeptical and uninspired.
What happened was startling. I began showing up for clients, prospects and myself in powerful new ways and having insights that I wouldn’t normally have conceived.
Many of my clients now leave their sessions incredibly transformed with new and inspired actions.
Not only that, but within a concentrated period of time I have experienced a new surge of prospects reaching out to connect and work with me.
I have realized that I don’t always have to feel truly inspired, or even feel like committing to and “being” my vision – just as long as I’m willing to commit to creating my vision each moment throughout the day.
I have learned that accessing my creativity and achieving a particular goal can only happen in the present moment. That’s really the only time for creative opportunity. There have been times in the past when I’ve set a particular goal. And even when I went so far as writing it down on paper. In fact I can recall many times in the beginning stages of my business when I set a certain goal to make a certain amount of money by the end of the year.
But in truth, in order to achieve my income goal, the vision has to live inside of me moment by moment. I have to be willing to commit to creating it in spite of how I feel – and in spite of my inner commentary and self-doubts. Then miracles seem to occur in my business – easily and effortlessly right before my eyes.
The Business Vision Statement You’re Not Really Living
I was interviewing John Yokoyama, owner of the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market, on his business vision statement during my weekly talk radio show. It’s widely known that people come from all over the world to watch the fishmongers at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle as they toss fish to each other.
They are drawn to the Fish Market because of the fun, playful, boisterous and connecting environment that the fishmongers have created.
From the moment you first step into the market you are instantly greeted by the Pike Place Fish Market energy.
I was a little uncertain as to what to expect from my guest, John Yokoyama. Our previous conversations with each other had been brief and to the point as we discussed logistics about the upcoming radio show. But as John began speaking, I felt a surge of excitement. He had such deep passion and heartfelt conviction that I was instantly won over.
I asked him how he had supported his crew in creating such a lively and engaging workplace. “Leslie, at Pike Place Fish Market the entire crew has made a commitment to making a world famous difference to EVERY customer that walks through the door.
And as the owner I have made a commitment to making a world famous difference to each and every one of my employees. See, many businesses look at the success that we’ve created and are eager to study how we’ve done that. They think it’s all about choosing our attitude, having fun, playing and making our customers’ day.
But the way we consciously choose how to show up for our customers occurs as a natural result of the commitment we’ve made to living our vision of making a world famous difference and creating world peace for every customer and vendor that we come into contact with.”
The Pike Place Fish Market expresses and lives by a higher vision and purpose, no different than the visions of Gandhi, Martin Luther King or even Kennedy when he declared that we would put a man on the moon within a decade.
When a business or individual makes a commitment to a compelling vision and takes on a greater context, like making a powerful difference in the world, they are called to show up in an entirely different way, a way that makes a significant and meaningful impact on clients, customers and communities.
Entrepreneurs and business owners are often pulled off center by the stress and daily demands they face such as the details of running their businesses, marketing and struggling to make enough money.
By taking on a higher purpose and exciting future for your business you can up-level in a more powerful way. But it needs to be a larger purpose that is created by you – not some dull, stuffy, neatly written mission statement that you write and then forget about.
I’m talking about the kind of purpose that has you jumping out of bed with excitement about going to work. And here’s a very huge key; once you commit to that purpose it truly is a matter of making a choice every day, and several times a day of “being and living” your vision.
I shared with one of my clients that taking on a larger vision for their business really is about a place to come from, not a place to get to. In other words, John Yokoyama had to come from rather than get to the place of being “world famous with his staff and customers.” Because he was showing up in a world famous way, Pike Place Fish Market became world famous.
By tapping into your own powerful innovation and creativity, creating that powerful business vision statement and taking on a powerful, compelling future like the one that guides the Pike Place Fish Market, you too can have unprecedented, extraordinary, break-through results happening as a regular occurrence in your business.
The Business Vision Statement You’re Not Really Living Podcast
I was interviewing John Yokoyama, owner of the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market, on my weekly talk radio show. It’s widely known that people come from all over the world to watch the fishmongers at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle as they toss fish to each other.
They are drawn to the Fish Market because of the fun, playful, boisterous and connecting environment that the fishmongers have created.
From the moment you first step into the market you are instantly greeted by the Pike Place Fish Market energy.
I was a little uncertain as to what to expect from my guest, John Yokoyama. Our previous conversations with each other had been brief and to the point as we discussed logistics about the upcoming radio show. But as John began speaking, I felt a surge of excitement. He had such deep passion and heartfelt conviction that I was instantly won over….
Click below to listen to the podcast.
How to Live and “Be” Your Business Vision Statement Podcast
I was wrapping up my radio interview with John Yokoyama, owner of world famous Pike Place Fish Market, when he made, what we call in coaching lingo, a “throw away comment”.
It was just an off-handed comment spoken quite casually – but it was rich with insight. John had been sharing about the process he and his staff went through to uncover their vision of being world famous…
Click below to listen to the podcast.
How to Live and “Be” Your Business Vision Statement
I was wrapping up my radio interview with John Yokoyama, owner of world famous Pike Place Fish Market, when he made, what we call in coaching lingo, a “throw away comment”.
It was just an off-handed comment spoken quite casually – but it was rich with insight. John had been sharing about the process he and his staff went through to uncover their vision of being world famous and their business vision statement.
Then he took a breath, paused a few minutes and continued, “I have to make a choice everyday to show up in a way that’s going to make a world famous difference. My regular limiting internal conversation is, “I don’t want to.” “I don’t want to live my vision of creating a world famous difference or world peace.” Or, “I don’t want to solve this employee argument right now.” In the early days when I was working more at the market I would often think to myself, “I don’t want to get up and go to work.”
I was struck by his comment – even dumbfounded. Here was someone who had succeeded in a huge way with his business, and yet 23 years later in a radio interview John openly shared that every day he had to be aware of his limiting internal conversations.
Everyday he had to choose conversations that were in alignment with his commitment to make a world famous difference.
Although we may choose an extraordinary vision to “be” in our business there is the daily reality of not always being connected to your inspiration or higher vision.
Many years ago when I first started my business my internal default conversation was, “I can’t do this because I don’t know how.” When I first got my coaching certification my conversation was, “I don’t know how to run a successful business.”
I remember years ago when I began hosting my radio show my internal conversation was, “I don’t know how to be a talk show radio host.” When I became a regular columnist for a monthly women’s magazine my conversation was, “I don’t know how to be a columnist – who they heck do I think I’m fooling anyway?!”
Just like John Yokoyama I was being called to live my vision – which was to show up for my clients, business, friends and the world in an openhearted way and with the intention to create a rich experience for others that made a vastly huge difference for them. I had to choose the conversation of my higher vision over my “I don’t know how to” conversation.
When we make a commitment to a higher vision and purpose in our businesses we are called to let go of our old limiting internal conversations and commit instead to “being” our vision every week, day, hour and every minute. This is what leads us forward into uncharted territory while staying the course with our business vision statement and keeping our internal compass on true north.
How to Take The First Step To Getting On The Same Financial Page With Your Spouse
It’s surprising how many couples approach their finances individually as if each person were a sole proprietor in business, making financial decisions on their own, paying all the bills and rarely communicating with their partners about any of it.
I’ve talked to many couples who after many years of frustration and conflict have simply given up on handling financial matters together. They’ve resigned and decided that the conflict, stress and uncertainty are too much for them to try to overcome.
One woman confided in me: “My husband messed it up every time he paid the bills himself. But now I’ve got the system down—I pay all the bills and tell him what to do. I don’t let him touch anything. It’s a great system. He’s quite happy to let me handle all the details, and I’m quite happy to be the one in control.”
These couples think they’ve outsmarted the institution of marriage. But what they’ve really done is create a system for maintaining control, power and separation in their relationship. True financial connection is about working together as a team and building greater trust and intimacy.
Here are some of the common mistakes couples make when they communicate with each other about money:
- Blame and complain
- Avoid talking about it
- Discuss money at bad times
- Get reactive instead of proactive
- They get stuck in a rut and do the same financial tasks over and over and never progress to achieving other important financial goals
Many couples use what I call the “Old Faithful” approach to talking about money (If you’ve been to Yellowstone National Park you’ve probably seen the geyser called “Old Faithful” – the park rangers can predict every time Old Faithful will erupt).
They completely avoid discussing the issues. Their internal pressure gradually builds until one or both of them explode when a credit card bill comes in, or when they discover there’s not enough money to make it through the month or to put aside in savings.
After the eruption they feel some relief but they don’t do anything to actually prevent the next eruption from happening. The pressure builds up again and so on goes the cycle. You can almost anticipate these patterns in your relationship, just like with the Old Faithful Geyser.
You have the opportunity to integrate a new approach to communicating about money where you’re talking about it on an on-going basis and making consistent progress. You can achieve this with Financial Dating®.
Through Financial Dating®, couples learn how to: 1) quit blaming, 2) take responsibility, 3) consistently talk about their finances at an appropriate time, 4) get proactive instead of reactive 5) and achieve a full-spectrum of financial goals instead of just tracking their income and expenses.
True financial security is about both partners understanding what’s going on with their finances so that if something were to happen to either person the other spouse would know exactly what to do. True financial success is a team sport. It’s time to learn a new game if you’re playing “hard ball,” competing on your own or treating your partner as if they were the enemy.
Your Call to Action
Remember the commitments you made to each other when you first got married? You’re going to make similar commitments now as you begin to proactively handle your money as a team.
Get out a piece of paper and write down one thing you will do this month to work on your finances with your partner. Perhaps it’s as simple as “scheduling time to calculate our total credit card debt.” Or, “creating a plan to stop using our credit cards.” Or “ talk about having monthly Financial Dates.”
Choose something that feels motivating and exciting to you and make a commitment to making it happen. Remember, you’re not trying to tackle all your financial struggles and challenges right now. You’re just making a commitment to do one thing.
There’s an old saying, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Think of this as beginning your financial journey with your partner. And you are choosing to move forward with a single step by choosing one task or project that you will focus on to begin working with your partner (instead of against them) when it comes to money.
How to Take The First Step To Getting On The Same Financial Page With Your Spouse Podcast
It’s surprising how many couples approach their finances individually as if each person were a sole proprietor in business, making financial decisions on their own, paying all the bills and rarely communicating with their partners about any of it.
I’ve talked to many couples who after many years of frustration and conflict have simply given up on handling financial matters together. They’ve resigned and decided that the conflict, stress and uncertainty are too much for them to try to overcome….
Click below to listen to the podcast
How to Take The First Step To Getting On The Same Financial Page With Your Spouse [ 5:08 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadHow To Have It All In Your Business And Life
As much as I wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening – I simply couldn’t. The undeniable truth was that I was experiencing a break down in how I was running my business. I found it ironic that my area of expertise is in helping entrepreneurs master their inner game of time and money and yet here I was feeling completely stuck in my own business around the very thing that I coach others to deal with.
I might have even enjoyed a good laugh at the irony of my situation if I hadn’t been so steeped in my experience.
I was preparing for my weekly meeting with a colleague and mentor of mine when the phone rang. “How’s it going?” my colleague asked. I was feeling too frustrated to respond with a casual, passing comment.
“I’m really stuck,” I confessed, “I’ve set up my business so that I see clients and have all my meetings and calls on certain days of the week and I’m already completely booked. My week feels crunched and I don’t have any extra room in my schedule for setting up additional coaching appointments. I’m committed to having time for my family and focused time for marketing my business. And I don’t know what to do — my schedule is filled to capacity and I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
“I completely understand.” My colleague responded. We continued to talk and what unfolded was a conversation where I experienced several insights on many levels.
In a flash I had the insight that the breakdown I was having was an inevitable aspect of being an entrepreneur - and of being a living, breathing human being for that matter. I had been holding on to the belief that somehow I was supposed to arrive at point in time when things would run perfectly in my business and personal life. And if they didn’t run smoothly that meant I was doing something “wrong.”
If I chose to cling to this belief I would continue to resist any and all challenges when they initially arose. I no longer needed to hold on to thoughts like, “I’m doing something wrong, ” or “If I were more enlightened (or even more successful) I wouldn’t be struggling with this right now.”
Conflict and challenge in my business isn’t a “bad thing.” It simply means that I’m being called to play a bigger game than the one I’m currently playing and that I’m being given the opportunity to create a breakthrough into the next level of growth and success in my business.
It’s very likely that after I’ve achieved my next level of growth and success I will experience yet another breakdown. And once again I’ll be given the opportunity to transform into yet another breakthrough.
With my particular situation I was being called to take an even bigger stand for re-creating my schedule and natural work rhythm in my business and to make some adjustments in individual coaching and begin offering more group coaching programs.
After having this insight the next thought that immediately followed was, “How am I going to achieve that with the amount of time that I’m willing to dedicate to my business? Since I’m not willing to sacrifice personal time and family time, that’s impossible!”
However, instead of believing that it really was impossible I realized that this was simply the “default” conversation I have with myself when I feel challenged and when my comfort zone gets threatened. While I might complain about my work schedule and about not having enough time my current way of arranging my schedule and my coaching programs was all too familiar to me and provided me with a sense of security on some level.
To re-create my schedule and coaching programs all that is required is my willingness to take the next step and create it. For me that meant re-evaluating my schedule and getting clear on how I wanted to structure my group programs.
By doing this I would be engaging in the alchemical process of creating something new, which doesn’t yet currently exist but has the potential to manifest from inspiration combined with action. And that’s what it means to be a powerful creator in my business.
How To Have It All In Your Business And Life Podcast
As much as I wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening – I simply couldn’t. The undeniable truth was that I was experiencing a break down in how I was running my business. I found it ironic that my area of expertise is in helping entrepreneurs master their inner game of time and money and yet here I was feeling completely stuck in my own business around the very thing that I coach others to deal with.
I might have even enjoyed a good laugh at the irony of my situation if I hadn’t been so steeped in my experience.
I was preparing for my weekly meeting with a colleague and mentor of mine when the phone rang. “How’s it going?” my colleague asked. I was feeling too frustrated to respond with a casual, passing comment.
“I’m really stuck,” I confessed, “I’ve set up my business so that I see clients and have all my meetings and calls on certain days of the week and I’m already completely booked. My week feels crunched and I don’t have any extra room in my schedule for setting up additional coaching appointments. I’m committed to having time for my family and focused time for marketing my business. And I don’t know what to do — my schedule is filled to capacity and I’m feeling overwhelmed….”
Click below to listen to the podcast.
