“You have two choices: You can make a living, or you can design a life” (Jim Rohn)
I’d love to write about the mindset for success, without mentioning #COVID-19. However, I fear that if l ignored such a large elephant in the room, that has no doubt impacted most of our lives in some way – I might come across as out of touch, insensitive or living in another planet!
That certainly is not me, so we won’t ignore the Elephant. On a personal level during the lockdown, l’ve spent more time with my family, reduced my carbon footprint and even learnt how to do long division (for the first time) home schooling my daughter! I’ve also taken stock of my purpose and decided to take my 25 years of marketing, innovation and business development experience in the food and hospitality sectors and put it to good use in the local community by helping business owners develop their business and ultimately improving their lives.
When lockdown hit in March, I had just finished a big innovations contract and next contract l had lined up was pulled! I’ll spare you the details in-between, but when we were allowed to emerge from our homes post lockdown – l came out with my head held high, as both a Chartered Marketer and Certified Business Coach.
This blog is not about me however, it’s for you.
I expect all of you have been impacted on some level over the last few months.
Please read with an open mind, not seeking unique content, but honestly asking yourself familiar questions and listening to your unique responses.
How do you react to the situation?
I learnt early on in my career that it’s not what happens to you in life that you are judged on but how you react to the situation that really matters. I made excuses and blamed the situation for not achieving one of my objectives at an appraisal once. My naive young self also felt a little put out upon hearing a colleague in a similar situation had come out of the same situation on top! Why? Well simply they took ownership and responsibility and action based on what they could control (not the external factors they could not!)
After all people see the actions you take don’t they? They hear what you say and see what you do, not necessarily the feelings, beliefs and values within.
Don’t stress over things you can’t change. Change the things you can to avoid stress!
& ask yourself (honestly) how are you reacting to the current situation?
How does the language you use come across?
The language you use has a profound effect and my training has heightened by awareness to this (#still-learning, #l’m-no-linguist).
‘Social distancing’ I don’t believe existed in our vocabulary before COVID, but why was it called that not physical distancing? At a time when the national needed social interaction to support mental wellbeing more than ever, even if it had to by via the zoom family pub quiz! Who coined that phrase? I don’t think they gave much thought to their message, do you?
Of-course what you say is influenced by what you think and feel.
So
Know yourself first
Know your purpose
Then say something of value
or perhaps nothing at all.
Listening also says a lot.
Are you dancing in the rain?
You’ll of no doubt here this Vivian Greene quote before “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
Extending this metaphor – we’ve had a lot of rain recently, but have you let it nourish new crops or drown your sorrows? Or have you simply hankered down and waited for the storm to pass?
Now, is it your time to change?
Embrace your FEAR!
At ActionCOACH we talk about fear as False, Expectations, Appearing, Real.
Don’t get me wrong we are human and of course understand that change creates a degree of anxiety in most people most of the time.
But you often have a choice to make if you want a real breakthrough – embrace a little bit of healthy anxiety or you may end up avoiding it completely. Some might call the latter complacency and in today’s face moving environment this could be dangerous!
What’s keeping you up at night?
& is now the time to put that to rest?
How do you overcome this fear?
Have a dream, take a moment and indulge yourself in what you really want, be that things, experiences or time with loved ones, you decide.
We find that exploring this with our clients enables them to form a strong connection between true personal desires and their business goals.
Ultimately this gives them the motivation to make better decisions and in turn take better actions, which deliver better results.
l think we spend too much of our lives working not to be passionate and engaged in the work we do, but every now and then l think it’s healthy to ask ourselves are we working to live or living to work?
You are in-charge, are you not?
Is it time for your ‘new possible’?
Back to the COVID Elephant – I hear some are waiting for the new normal. Yet l fear those that are could well be disappointed!
I’d rather advocate ‘A new possible’
How are you adapting/going to adapt to our fast-changing world?
What actions are you taking now to prepare for growth?
Are you pumping up your ball so it’s ready to bounce, when the game starts again?
Are you redesigning the court?
Are you painting different boundaries?
Are you changing the rules?
Some are already playing a new game!
What is your plan? / design for life?
I’d love to learn more.
As the more we learn the better informed we are to ask the right questions, which in turn leads to better decisions and actions.
Please share your thoughts and questions here or get in touch with me directly for a more personal conversation.
Many thanks.
James
Business Coach & Partner
ActionCOACH West Herts. https://westherts.actioncoach.co.uk
Tring
Do please join me on Linked In
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesgentle/
and or Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/james_actioncoach/
An important part of what we do as business coaches is helping SME owners learn how they can feel better, less stressed and able to achieve more. I believe that mindset is key to this and we can help you see new possibilities.
Yes of course we also have loads of proven strategies, business models and knowledge from a vast network of professional coaches to draw on.
We can help you to apply to your business be it starting up, scaling new heights or being prepared for franchising or sale.