Our Blog

As a business coach with a specialty in speaking, I often help my clients with the talks and presentations they do to get clients and build their businesses. Recently, while editing a speech with a client, I came across this quote. I love it.

“Is your life filled with work, or is your work filled with life?”

(Sam Harris; Ideaspotting)

It got me thinking about those of us who own our own businesses and how, for most, there was an idea, a product, or a service we were really inspired to offer.

Now, here’s the question I want to pose for your serious consideration.

Do you still love what you do … are you still energized and inspired by what you’re offering?

All of it?

As a life and business coach, I often find myself starting early in the morning … after my gratitude time … working with clients, teaching classes, presenting on webinars, etc. It’s not unusual for me to go for several hours in a row with no real down time.

I typically take a midday break and then return to work with folks in the afternoon, sometimes going into the evening or coming back to work on administrative stuff at night.

I need to be 100% there for folks in every interaction. I put a lot into the work, drawing on all my resources. It takes energy.

It’s been well over a year now of nothing but virtual meetings. I’ve seen at least a couple hundred online presentations. You’ve probably been in more than you can count yourself. And as a business coach and presentation skills coach, I’ve gleaned some important learnings from seeing what works and what doesn’t.

I like the Dalai Lama. He seems like a really nice guy … friendly, relaxed, happy and healthy. In my mind’s eye, he’s smiling. He smiles a lot.

When you hear him speak, you can tell he knows a few things about the nature of living on earth.

The Lama is a Buddhist, of course, and Buddhists talk a lot about suffering. The broad and somewhat vague way they talk about it never really resonated to these American ears.

Let’s say it’s the middle of the night. An alarm bell rings out, the lights come on, and you’re jostled awake.

Would you be able to deliver your elevator speech in a completely natural and compelling way that flows out of you as easily as you can recite your own name, address, and phone number?

Can a service provider who’s less expensive do just as good a job … or a
better job … than one who’s pricier?

Of course.

But let me relate a story that serves as a cautionary tale to you as a
service provider.

As a life coach, I’m always looking for those messages and distinctions that make our lives easier and more fulfilling. That said, as a business coach, I absolutely detest when I see headlines that promise the world, promises like … Make 6-Figures In 6 Weeks With Our One-of-a-Kind Program! So why would I make such a huge promise in the headline of this newsletter? The one true answer. Really?

Here’s why. Because after months of experimenting, I’ve found it to be a sure-fire panacea for dealing with things you don’t like in your world, but either can’t change or you’re gonna have to do a lot of heavy lifting to change.

I think sometimes people believe that just because you’re a life coach … or a business coach for that matter … you’re possessed of some kind of innate wisdom and insight.

Ha! Would that it were so. While it may be true for some, I had to learn everything through trial and error, often the hard way … and it seems there are times I have to learn the same lesson with a different twist before I “get it.”

Here’s a recent case in point.

I ask a lot of provocative questions in my role as a life coach, but this one is pretty unusual, even for me.

They put pilots in a flight simulator and confront them with extremely challenging and often life-threatening challenges.

Are they doing it to torture the pilots … to make them sweat and suffer as they scramble to determine the appropriate corrective actions to take?

Of course not.

So, what’s the purpose?

I’ve been a full-time business coach and life coach for 18 years now and I get to see some of the biggest mistakes people make in their sales and marketing efforts.

Here’s something that’s been bugging me lately … the common use of two “dirty” words in marketing. I’ve had several clients use them with me recently, which motivated me to go on a bit of a rant here.

Please note, I’m not talking about just avoiding these words in your speaking. The use of these words does nothing less than reveal how you conceive of the sales interaction!

If you’re using them, I’d like to see you engage in a mindset change where you completely transform how you conceive of sales. It’ll greatly enhance the results you produce.

So what do you think the dirty words are?  Take a guess!