If you want to grow your business, there are four clear focus areas:

1. Get what you've got: Respond to the opportunities that sit in front of you.
2. Get known: Obsess about your positioning in the market and get known for knowing something.
3. Get to work: Get active and leverage your and others' time and energy.
4. Get going: Stay active and build a sense of movement and momentum around your business.

2. Where are you well known? What are you well known for? What can you do to make more of that right now? 

Start getting some more money going from this established positioning immediately!
We don’t because familiarity breeds contempt and in a way, we are often hoping that our business will take us away from this work eventually.

The truth is, the way out is through. Don’t throw out years of great positioning and reputation because you are a little bored. Look for what is true, not just what is new.

4. Finally, then consider where there is friction in your business. And then get to work removing it so that you can get faster and faster with less effort. Ask, what grinds me down? What slows down my work? What is a friction I can remove from what I do or how I do it, or perhaps who you do it with?

It's clear that three things always stop us from getting what we want in life and these apply directly to growing your commercially successful thought leaders practice:

1. You don’t know what to do to grow your practice.
2. You know what to do but don’t know how to do it.
3. Someone or something is standing in the way.

Is that someone you? I'm here to help....reach out and we can chat about what's getting in your way. and we'll smash through to the other side.

What's important to you? Do you want those things of being, knowing and having more? Or are you happy to settle?
I'd love to know...hit me up if more is your thing and we can have a chat about what's holding you back or what you want to achieve in your career. I'm all ears. Hit the button to book in for a chat.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognise that this jar represents your life.

“The golf balls are the important things -- your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

“The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

“The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. 

• Play with your children. 
• Take time to get medical check-ups. 
• Take your partner out to dinner. 
• Play another 18. 

There will always be time to clean the house and ‘fix the waste disposal’.

“Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand.”
 
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Have a lovely break over Christmas folks and look forward to connecting in 2023. Rest well !!!

​When it comes to health professionals, I see them very much like comedians no they're not being paid to be funny, but they can all coexist in the same world.
Look at some of my favourites here highly successful really well-known strong careers and all making a good living out of what they do.
You could say all we only need one type of comedian but when you think about it they've all got a different style they've all got a different presence I've got a different content and they all deliver that product differently.

STYLE/CONTENT/DELIVERY:

Health Professionals:
When it comes to our style our content and our delivery as health professionals, we can be quite different but as with the comedians there is room for all of us and because we're different in our style our content and our delivery, we can all be successful together. The comedians all make a good living doing what they do, and so can we.

When you think about it, it is our style content and our delivery which sets us apart just like the comedians and that's why some people will go and watch Jimmy Carr and other people wouldn't dare.

That's why some health professionals turn people off with their big biceps and their tank tops - but for some people that is the thing that attracts them to them.

So, I guess the takeaway in the metaphor is that it's really important to be you and do you and know that that is what will make you stand apart from others doing similar things. However, if things aren't going as well as you'd like, it is the mirror in which you need to look for answers!

What do we have in common?

We ALL help people with their health and wellbeing whatever that might look like, in the same way ALL the comedians make people laugh in their own way.

You do you and make it count!

You may be able to get an early payment discount if you:

• are self employed or a partner in a partnership, and
• get most of your income from the business, and
• make a voluntary income tax payment before the end of the income year, or
• use tax pooling funds to make payments for the income year, and
• elect to receive the discount before the income year’s tax return is due, and
• do not have an obligation to pay provisional tax in the income year, and
• for earlier years you've never been liable to pay provisional tax and 1 of the following applies:
• or, for earlier years you have been liable to pay provisional tax but have not derived business income within 4 income years since you were last liable to pay provisional

If you have more tax questions than this article answers then you will need to consult your accountant if you don't have one ask around and ask about fees, how they structure them and how you would like to pay. OR contact the IRD directly here.

If you're not sure about getting an accountant, there is another way and that is 'Hnry' they do the heavy lifting for you and take on the responsibility of managing your tax obilgsations for you - for a small fee. They then feed you your earnings having deducted the tax and you can spend away knowing you are all kosher with the tax man. Check out Hrny here.

Writing this list is the difference between "I know some people." and "These are the people I know." It's about actuals and not just hypothetical.
If you struggle with the ‘found' list - start the exercise again with “Who do I know that might know some people?" It's one step removed but an excellent question in finding potential people to work with.

The other wonderful 'found' strategy is to find new people - to explore industries, events, or roles. Find people who could be someone you could help.

Describe the person that you want. Google is our friend. LinkedIn is our friend. There are wonderful outcomes in giving yourself an hour a week to find new people. Mining for new contacts is a very valuable way to spend some regular time. Take time to make genuine connections - not just fishing for anyone to sell to. Robots do that. Robots reach and repeat. People care and connect.
2. It’s all about action 
There is power in the doing… doing the list, seeing the names in front of you. Identifying potential people to sell to is the first step of the sales process.

Step 1: Identify
Step 2: Attract
Step 3: Offer
 
Identify who
Who needs the solution you are offering? 
Who has the ability to buy this product? 
Make your offer attractive
Do the thinking for them. Make yourself easy to buy.
Package all of the information that they need to make the purchasing decision easy.
Offer them the opportunity to work with you
Asking people for a commitment is one major part that people miss. For many of us, it's better to not know than to be told no! This stops us from asking. We are worried it will end the game. Not knowing doesn’t mean you have potential; it means you haven’t asked the right questions. It means you haven’t completed the process!
 
Would you like to do this? Shall we lock this in? Shall I send you an invoice? All good ways to close a sales conversation.
Once this list is complete, you have completed phase one - finding people.
 
3. Phoning people is the next step
 
Most of us dread ‘making calls’. Most of us enjoy the calls once we are on them. Forcing yourself to phone people is a wonderful habit to create. I love the saying that "You can't sell a secret." No one can buy you if they do not know about you!
 
Give people the opportunity to buy. Phone them. Share the solutions you have created. Tell them what you are working on, looking at and wondering about. Genuine connection comes when you are interested in someone's world, are in service to them and what is happening in their world. Fake "I've got a deal for you" calls are awful and not adding value to anyone!
 
“Do unto others as you would have them do to you” is a wonderful idea to live by. Give other people the service, opportunities, and considerations that you would want to receive. Make a call that you would want to get. Be someone who people want to speak to. Be generous, be light, be interested and interesting.

We all know the answer to our problems we just need someone to guide us and hold us accountable to a set of actions that will take us in the right direction. Stop procrastinating and book in! First one is free....let's talk, less hope, more action.

Often, we have an abstract feeling of what we are meant to do but no real clear picture of how to bring that into focus and make it part of our work.


There is a tipping point moment where trainers will go from 'putting themselves out in the world' to knowing 'why their work matters in the world'. Not surprisingly, this moment sees shifts in value perception. Shifts externally in the market but also deep within them.

This is where you can do some work on focusing your deep aspiration. Explore deeply why your work matters in the world. Doing this is commercially smart. When you align your work with service and joy, you also start to see an escalation in commercial benefits. This could be described as finding your Ikigai.

The market sees a shift in you, as they experience your deep sense of conviction around your work. When this happens, there is no need for them to be convinced. You stop selling and people start buying.

When this shift occurs internally, you start to deepen your work as it takes on a transpersonal nature. It's as if there is a shift from the work serving you, to you serving the work. The work stops being transactional and starts to become transformational. You become a custodian of the work.

I notice this tends to happen over time and not ahead of time. Rarely do trainers start out experiencing this deep purpose. Indeed being too sure early on can delay this tipping point.

And as frustrating as this is for those starting out or rebooting their journey, it seems that the purpose is revealed on the other side of doing some good work.

You really don't find yourself out there but rather create yourself right here, where you are, doing great work in the world.

Perhaps you could see this as a relief?

Rather than struggling to find your deep sense of purpose at the start, we can just start walking. Walk towards the things that give you joy. Walk towards the things that take courage to share. Turn in and walk the path of introspection, contemplating the things you have learnt along your way. Act as if your lived experience has been shaping and forming the insights you can share with the world because that's exactly what they do!

And while it might be frustrating early to walk without knowing what the destination may be, rest in the wisdom that you are always on purpose even when you are off track. Keep walking, keep doing good work. Stop giving away your time in obligation and start working towards the true north of doing the work you love with the people you enjoy being with, the way you want.

Have you found your true north? If not book in for a free chat it may make all the difference.

​One of the challenges that I hear often from PT’s is the challenge of “enough”. In the beginning, people worry that their stuff is not ‘good enough’. Once they get started, capturing their talents, and creating client experiences that are gold they worry that they still don’t know enough. Then before they launch a new shiny thing, they procrastinate based on the assumption that they are not ‘ready enough’.

In the past 14 years of running my business and in fact, for most of my life, I do not think I have ever been ready for anything! Not launching a new thing because you ‘aren’t ready is the equivalent of not throwing a party because you haven’t got any friends. Never be ready! I love American professor Jon Kabat-Zinn’s quote: “Until you stop breathing, there’s more right with you than wrong with you.”

I used to joke with my friends that I have a weird combination of ADHD and OCD (I blame the caffeine) which means that everything I do needs to be perfect for a very short period of time!

Now I have accepted that I may never get anything right!

Your business just needs to be right for right NOW. The right message for the right market in the right mode. We need to create something we can sell NOW. Create something someone wants NOW. That solves a problem that people have NOW.
 
It is about progress over perfection.
 
It’s about being current and knowing that what you have is enough for now. If we all waited until conditions of success were perfect, we would never get there! Making peace with now is part of the journey to knowing that you are enough.

We all strive to be “good enough.” Good enough for our parents, our spouses, our jobs, our friends. But what does that really mean? And is it possible to ever feel like we’re truly good enough? The answer is that it depends on our perspective. If we’re constantly comparing ourselves to others and trying to meet some imaginary standard, then we’ll likely never feel good enough.

We need to do what we can with what we know now. Yes, your future IP might be better, you might become better at delivery or find better clients but now is all you have got.

We spend so much of our lives searching for perfection. Don’t wait to do something just because you think you are not enough; time doesn’t know that. Time has no idea!

I also think it’s important not to believe everything you think. One of the greatest abilities humans have, is the ability to change our minds. Imagine changing your mind and deciding that you are good enough, that you are ready! I think the answer to being good enough is showing up. It’s about turning up and doing what you can. Maybe if you do that you might wake up one day and find you are enough!

I am a big fan of Mark Manson’s direct and no-nonsense approach to life and I think this quote sums it up nicely…

Be clear about your message
What messages are you sending to the world?
Message clarity is a constant challenge for many of us. If you are growing and learning, then you will find your message changes regularly. Not necessarily dramatically but you will be constantly refining and polishing your message. Be open to your message changing but always be clear about what you are about ‘right now’!

Branding and blogging are two powerful ways in which you put messages out into the world. These are deliberate and authored ways of putting yourself ‘out there’. Stay on topic and be consistent with your tone. Fluctuating from hard to soft, serious to funny can confuse your followers.

Visual Clues
It is very important to be aware of some of the more subtle ways that people experience you. Two of which are; photography and styling.

A picture paints 1000 words and this is definitely true when you look at people's imagery.

What is the message you want to convey?
Everything you do, wear, and have is an extension of your brand. The brands you align yourself with. The clothing you choose and the colours you wear (mine’s green, for many reasons)

How do you want people to feel?

Look approachable and friendly
If you are selling yourself as a trusted expert, then you need to look and feel like a safe pair of hands who is open and relevant to your market.
Beware of any branding that makes you look crazy, unsafe, or dull, no one wants to work with that!

A common mistake experts make is they try too hard to look and feel important and they ostracise themselves in the process. You need to look like someone who people want to work with! Not photographed looking stern and uptight!

Eye contact and teeth are vital in good photos. Looking away with a forced smile does not make you look approachable or trusted. (Think real estate photos – they’re all the same right?!)

Make sure your photos look like you!
People put a lot of effort into their photos and styling but often that effort doesn’t translate in reality.
If people meet you and are disappointed, you have a problem. If you are a low-effort or casual person, do not produce formal over styled imagery. Beware of stylists and photographers who want to turn you into someone you are not! Beware of filters and photoshopped images. Everyone wants to look their best but faked images are not the way to create an authentic trusted connection.
​
“It’s important to build a personal brand because it’s the only thing you’re going to have. Your reputation online, and in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you’ve got to be a good person. You can’t hide anything, and more importantly, you’ve got to be out there at some level.”  Gary Vaynerchuk

Looking for some help on some of these issues? Hit this link to read through my branding and business questions.

​Do you enjoy effort? Do you like going the extra mile? Do you do the extra 20% the difference between great and excellent?
Going through the motions is existing not living. It's about putting on clothes and eating food and doing jobs it's living in a world of obligations and shoulds.
For me effort is enjoying the process the pleasure the fun and the energy. It's about living what you love eating what you enjoy and doing whatever lights you up. it's about going the extra mile, it's about doing a bit more towards something you are passionate about.
I came across this great quote and and included it in one of my presentations this week I thought I would share it here too.

​Passion creates energy and effort becomes a byproduct of that energy. You almost can't help making an effort when you are filled with passion and purpose for what you are doing.
How are your effort levels? Not feeling very effortful is always a sign. It means I'm doing the wrong work or I'm doing too much! Over working or working on the wrong stuff are two sure ways to kill the desire for effort!
Some people tell me that they have no interest in effort. They want an easy life. I've decided that good enough is enough. Some people believe that average is their zone. They believe the average is fine, that's where they are happy and they never strive for anything more.

​I'll meet people who are great. Their lives are great, but they've plateaued. They've settled for great I always challenge them to stretch to look deeper to lift their highline higher and imagine what the world could look like at magnificent.
If it looks different for everyone. For some who are struggling, and effort is to get dressed and leave the house. For someone who is shy, and effort is to attend a networking event for an hour.
What's an effort for you? What would stretch you? What are you striving for? Who is worth effort in your life?
Those three steps are:

1. Clarity - I got clear. Clarity helps you know your zone. What's your current message? Your favorite market/client?
2. Action - I got going. Had a game play.
3. Improvement - I got better. I turned up.

How can you add these to your day or week or month or year to get better and more passionate at what you do?

You don't want to become the Mother Teresa of the fitness industry yes we want to be known as someone who helps others but we don't want to be known for the person that does all that for free.

So how can you make sure this doesn't happen?

• Get clear in initial discussions with clients about whether they have a budget and how often they want to see you
• even if they don't ask, make sure they understand what the investment looks like prior to commencing - this removes any uncomfortable conversations later
• make it clear how you want to get paid when that needs to happen is it before the session is it after the session is it on automatic payment or whatever you choose
• you also need to make sure clients are clear on what happens when they don't show up will you be charging them a full rate half rate or whatever, your policy on those shows needs to be clear and set out in your initial paperwork that they receive from you

Once you have all of this in place you then have the structures that prevent these problems occurring and you have the freedom to choose when to be Mother Teresa and when to be the businessperson.

​All power to you.

I was recently on tour with my colleagues from Holistic Movement Coach (HMC). I've dropped some pictures in below so you can see what we got up to.
​
But this blog is about the title and the topic I presented on. "The Emotionally Intelligent Trainer."
I want to expand so you can understand just how powerful emotional intelligence is and ways in which you can develop it for yourself to help you become even better at what you do.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been studied widely now and is has more impact on your success whatever way you measure that either intelligence (IQ) or personality. Both these last 2 tend to be fairly fixed from a young age but EI is something that is flexible - like our brains it is 'plastic' and can be developed. 
Top performers in whatever field have high EI. That's now a given. But also those with high IQ are often our performed by those with lower IQ. How can that be? - well it's down to their level of EI - that is the differentiating factor. 
Those with a higher EI score tend to earn more. In fact it has been worked out that for every EI point you score, you earn an extra $1,300 per year. That equates to about $29,000 more per year, for high EI people compared to low EI people!! 
Want to earn more?? - then work on these 4 areas below and you stand a good chance of doing so.

Here are some tips on fine tuning these 4 with practice just like you would work on your skills in any other endeavour. If you would like more info I am happy to share more of these tips that I have left below. Just hit me up here.

1. Quit treating your feelings as bad and good - they just are, get comfortable with them.
2. Observe the ripple effect of your emotions - the impact you have on others is always more than you think, take care with that
3. Lean into discomfort - don't avoid the difficult stuff you will learn more about you by leaning into it
4. Feel your emotinos physically - there may be patterns you feel in your body when you start to observe, again lean into it to be more aware - try to link them for better understanding
5. Know who and what pushes your buttons - knowing is managing, we all have these people in our lives awareness, is the key

1. Greet people by name - nothing better than hearing your own name, it has impact when you do it for others
2. Watch your body language - 70% of communication is body language so be smart about how you use it
3. Go people watching - I love this I learn so much about human behaviour, do you?
4. Watch EQ at the movies - see how the movie makers use techniques to communicate emotions on screen - very clever
5. Seek/provide the whole picture - Providing the why for people helps them see the whole picture that you get, but they might not

1. Breath right - we all know how important breath is, use it to manage your state when you're flustered
​2. Count to 10 - it worked when we were kids right? So it can work just as well now - great way to take a quick brain break
3. Smile and laugh more - the state you are in when you're happy is contagious, same when your sad - let's be happy!
4. Take control of your self talk - almost all of us have that voice in our head. Just don't over listen to it, get into your body to get our of your head.
5. Set aside time to problem solve - do we really even bother with this - we should, it gives our brains time to process and work through things, got to be good for your awareness.

1. Be open, be curious - it helps you understand others better. Asking good questions, it's all about awareness.
2. Avoid giving mixed signals - re the body language, if our words don't match our body language we will be mixing our message
3. Take feedback well - its a gift say thank you and move on. What you do next is up to you but be grateful for the time they took
4. Have an "open door" policy - if you don't have a door how can you cultivate approachability so others feel comfortable talking to you
5. Only get mad on purpose - use anger smartly and it will have impact. All the time and it's ignored. [Think boy who cried wolf]

perceive to be tight hip flexors how about weak glutes being the cause as opposed to tight hip flexors. 
It's fair to say society has become more sedentary. Sedentary means sitting on your arse sitting on your arse (a lot) means weak glutes so it's fair to assume that most people glutes unless they're athletes will be under active and unable to fully activate and create full hip extension range of movement. If this assumption is true, then it's likely the hip flexor on the other side of the joint will be slightly activated uninhibited and appear/behave tight.

Now you might want to run a test like the Thomas test to be sure of this as it's a useful indicator of where hip flexors are at and once you've done that you can safely say that a hip flexor is not creating a full range of movement. Give that a go and see how things look to you.

Then see how much hip extension your client can create in a prone position; knee bent to 90 degrees and ask them to drive their heel up to the ceiling. Measure the distance the knees gets off the ground and compare to the other side. If it’s less that a fist there is plenty of room for improvement, make sure that that keep their ASIS on the ground otherwise that’s where they’ll cheat.

So, before you go stretching the sh%& out of someone's hip flexors take a look at what's going on at their glutes first assess reassess and then decide what course of action is next if you need help with that hit me up and I'll be happy to assist.​

As Peter Drucker quite rightly said, "what get measured, gets managed." So my question to you is, what are you paying attention to and what are you specifically measuring so that you have regular opportunites to celebrate with your clients so they can also participate in their own successes.

We are the movement professionals right? That's why our clients came to see us in the first place. The things we take note of are possibly 'invisible' to our clients. They don't have the same lense to look throught that we do with our years of experience. Sure, we can communicate these things to them but even then they may not see it the way we do.

e.g. I have a lawyer who has been a long term client and he loves to run. We do plenty of single leg work of course and one of the go to's is a suspended single leg (side) lunge (yes we do reverse as well!). His hips have been travelling sideways on the left leg far more than they did on the right. 'Pelvic Drift' I referred to it as. He couldn't see or feel it. I had to video this for him to see just how much drift there was. Week by week this improved. We did plenty of other things but came back to it last night. And hey presto, no drift. This is an example of the silent success. He has gained strength but also proprioceptive adjustments (software not hardware) in how he moves which are the harder things to define. Using video, then a side by side comparison of before and after and YES, CELEBRATION time. He'd cracked it - more importantly he could see the change.

​What are you observing and what are you celebrating? I'll leave it with you...

Next time you find yourself thinking you carry a certain 'negative' trait, you might like to see it as a strength. Perhaps your arrogance is boldness, your bullying is directness, and your emotional temperament is your passion being expressed. It is, if you turn up as the best version of that in your life and work. This takes good self-awareness and extraordinary compassion, whether the subject of attention is you or someone else.
This requires you to be equal parts empowered and humbled by the fact that much of your strengths are built from your shadows. All you have to do is bring the positive version of these to the table/work/people every day.

Do you have the ability to judge and discern the difference. If not then this can be a beautiful 'work on' for you to raise that self awareness. If you do then no reason to not bring this enlightened version of yourself to the party each and every day. People will get the best version of you - why wouldn't you want them to experience any other version?

Keen to hear your thoughts...

2. The soft no (or the no but): I recently received an email inviting me to coffee. I replied: “I am consumed with writing my book right now :) but I would love to get together once the book is finished. Let me know if we can get together towards the end of the summer.”
Email is also a good way to start practicing saying “no but” because it gives you the chance to draft and redraft your “no” to make it as graceful as possible. plus, many people find that the distance of email reduces the fear of awkwardness.
3. “Let me check my calendar and get back to you” One leader I know found her time being hijacked by other people all day. A classic non-essentialist, she was capable and smart and unable to say no, and as a result she soon became a “go to” person. People would run up to her and say, “could you help with X project?” Meaning to be a good citizen she said yes. But soon she felt burdened with all of these different agenda’s things changed for her when she learned to use a new phrase: “let me check my calendar and get back to you” it gave her the time to pause and reflect and ultimately reply that she was regretfully unavailable. It enabled her to take back control of her own decisions rather than being rushed into a “yes” when she was asked.
4. Use email automatic replies. It is totally natural and expected to get an auto response when someone is traveling or out of the office. Really, this is the most socially acceptable “no” there is. people aren't saying they don't want to reply to your email, they're just saying they can't get back to you for a period of time. So why limit these two holidays? When I was writing this book I set an email auto reply to the subject line “in monk mode”. the email said:
“Dear friends, I'm currently working on a new book which has put enormous burdens on my time. Unfortunately, I am unable to respond in the manner I would like. For this, I apologise. Greg”
And guess what? People seem to adapt to my temporary absence and non-responsiveness just fine.
5. Say, “yes, what should I deprioritise?” Saying no to a senior leader at work is almost unthinkable, even laughable, for many people. However, when saying yes is going to compromise your ability to work at the highest level of contribution to your work, it is also your obligation. In this case it is not only reasonable to say no, it is essential. One effective way to do this is to remind your superiors what you would be neglecting if you said yes and force them to grapple with the tradeoff.
For example, if your manager comes to you and asks you to do X, you can respond with,”yes I'm happy to make this up the priority. Which of these projects should I deprioritize to pay attention to this new project?” Or simply say, “I would want to do a great job, and given my other commitments I wouldn't be able to do a job I was proud of if I took this on.”
6. Say it with humour: I recently was asked by a friend to join him in training for a marathon. My response was a simple “Nope!” he laughed a little and said, “Ah, you practice what you preach.” Just goes to show how useful it is to have a reputation as an essentialist!
7. Use the words “You are welcome to X. I am willing to Y” For example: “you are welcome to borrow my car. I am willing to make sure the keys are here for you.” By this you are also saying, “I won't be able to drive you.” you are saying what you will not do but you are delivering it in terms of what you are willing to do this is a particularly good way to navigate a request you would like to support somewhat but cannot throw your full weight behind. popularly like this construct because it also expresses a respect for the other person's ability to choose, as well as their own. It reminds both parties of the choices they have.
8. “I can't do it, but X might be interested" it is tempting to think that our help is uniquely invaluable, but often people requesting something I don't really care if we're the ones who help them as long as they get the help. 

Saying no is its own only leadership capability. It is not just a peripheral skilful. As with any ability, we start with limited experience. We are novices at "no." Then we learn a couple of basic techniques. We make some mistakes. Learn from them. We develop more skills. We keep practicing. After a while we have a whole repertoire available at our disposal, and in time we have gained mastery of a type of social art form. We can handle almost any request from almost anybody with grace and dignity. 

Saying "No" allows us to focus on our "Why" and all essentialists are focused on this. Grab a copy for yourself it's a great read.

This empowers him to do what he does so well combined with his sheer genius and bloody mindedness. 

I ask what you are reading because it is fairly well accpeted that reading provides knowledge and knowledge is power right? Weeeell, not necessarily - depends what you do with that knowledge.

 am currently making my way through an incrediable book by Greg McKeown called 'Essentialism'. 
It's about boiling down all the things we need to get done to the most important things so we can get on with life and make the most impact. It's about saying 'no' more than 'yes' and understanding why. It's about having criteria to live by (see my blog on values) and using them to guide you to the essentail things in life avoiding the worthless things which can so easily distract us from our main purpose. 
Some of the questions he asks are as follows:

If you answered yes to any or all of these then the answer is to become an ESSENTIALIST. I won't spoil the content so you can get a copy for yourself and make your own way to becoming an essentailist. You will probably find, as I did, that there are many things in there you are already doing, but there are also many you may not be. My craft needs refining. Thank you social media for being the contstant in there that seems to stick out like dogs balls in terms of getting in the way of getting things done.

I highly recommend the book. See if you can build up some momentum to reading more than you already do. 2 a week is a tall order but I am happy with one a month.
If you are stuggling to get time to read that much then you really do need to get the book and read it as it's princiles will enable you to have more time and therefore live the life you really want to live as well as work. Enjoy.

Deciding on a pathway of learning that takes care of pretty much 100% of what you need to know in your industry makes life a great deal easier so long as you plug in the times that you need to be studying and the times you may need to travel and attend sessions in town or even out of town (that's the fun stuff!)
Sticking to this routine will bring ever increasing knowledge and wisdom to your 'game' so long as you commit. Don't commit - and the cumulative effect doesn't take effect. 
The Cumulative Effect:
Try putting your money in the bank or into a fund and taking it back out within a few months. Nothing, nada - nicht! You'll have taken advantage of very little. Your money will not be worth much more than when you invested it. Things only increase in value if you leave them alone and they keep on gaining value over time. The same goes for your education. If you do a little now and a little at the end of the year - the accumulation of knowledge and wisdom is sparse and you'll have a bitsy approach to your learning.
The Rhythm Effect:
By setting a rhythm to your learning you will be laying neural pathways that will become embedded over time and make the process easier and easier as time passes. Have you ever tried ice-skating? It's the kind of activity you do once in a blue moon at a party of on a random occasion - you never really do it enough (unless your an enthusiast) to get any good at it. The same goes with learning and self education. If you only do it intermittently you will only ever feel like a beginner.
A Way of Life:
If it becomes a way of life as part of your journey through your career then, like our clients, you make it a lifestyle choice rather than an add on that "must be done" at some point! Don't leave your education to chance. Don't wait until the last minute to cram something in to tick a box that needs ticking for your registration. Look at it holistically as a facet of your life. Choose your values carefully and see if that learning value is in there already. Then lean into that and find your thing. Whatever flavour that may be but find it, embrace it and turn it into a lifestyle choice. Make it an immovable object in your week, your diary or your planner - whatever tool you use to stay on track. 

What's your plan? If you don't have any ideas on how to implement this but really want to, hit me up for a free chat HERE.

An unpredictable market requires unpredictable behaviour.
I'm obviously referring to Covid here but it could be any kind of disruptor that has thrown your business off course. The key is finding that forward momentum that I am alluding to in my metaphors about boats!

When the 'should’s', the 'must’s' and the 'have to’s' start taking over your mental space you know you’re onto a loser. A life by design, doing the things you love will automatically being the energy required to do the job, without all the force of goals and structure. No discipline required. Do the things you love with the people you want to when you want to.

But what and how?
Sit quietly and listen
Take time out from the noise and the heavy structure of the day and find time to create your own internal noise rather than the external stuff that surrounds us daily. Get a sense of what is true for you and what is not. The sense of direction you get comes from a place that is true to you. You can trust in it and use that to your advantage. Then every other decision, goal, or intention you set will be grounded in the clear honest signal deep inside. Trust the silence.

A way to take action?
Be gentle as you move
There is a physiological tussle in behaviour change and personal development. So being kind to yourself as you would your clients is a great way to start. The science backs this up. I have blogged about him before but BJ Fogg at Stanford Uni who wrote the book ‘Tiny Habits’ explains that starting and staying small on new action is the best recipe for success.
What can you ask yourself before embarking on a new path if that is what you have planned? Equally if you are doing more of the same these questions, from Lisa O’Neill CEO of Thought Leaders, are equally as valid:

• Is it true?
• Is it kind?
• Is it useful?

And before taking an action – she asks, “what would love do?”
The considerate quality of these questions is a great base to work off for both yourself and your clients – success looms….go get it!
​
[Inspiration kindly received from Matt Church at Thought Leaders]

• We are choosing to no longer attend meetings that waste time and showcase mediocrity.

​​If organisations are getting smarter about how they manage their time - we must too. How can we stop wasting time with meetings and other supposed important tasks that may not really be adding value to our days?

• We don't want to stay in relationships that drain us, we want to be in those that sustain us.

​Do we stay put because of the fear of being alone? Do we want to move forwards so that we can be free to express ourselves how we want to without the fear being pulled down for it? Recruiters are reporting a massive talent shortage and finding that people are wanting to do more meaningful work with those they really want to do it with - not just to get the paycheck but to make a difference.

• We don't want to do work anymore that has very little meaning.

If we don't feel like our work matters we will move on. That sense of purpose is so important for getting through the tough times. Over and above all other things it' keeps us sane and resilient when conditions make it difficult to do that thing we do. Work is personal and what we are doing has to matter. If all it's about is making money, forget it we are out. Money was always a currency of meaning, value, and honour. It's just lately (last few hundred years) it's become something else.

2020 was the year that the world changed. The pandemic folded time and forced innovation and forced practical solutions quicker. The obvious ones are flexible work hours, working from home or homing from work as I like to put it. Buying local and the larger supply chain logistics import reliance come undone. 

Choose your response in a given situation and lead from the front - showing others how change can be a doable thing for everyone everywhere, regardless of industry. 

As a leader and business owner I have had more uncertainty over the past 18 months than in the whole 27 years of being in business or working for a business.
There has been no certainty. Here in little (young) NZ we are still sitting at the point where we wait for more certainty to appear from Govt and it's associated departments that allow us our freedom to trade and travel, or whatever else you do!

We need to be certain of our strengths, certain of what we want, about the direction we are wanting to go in. Having an aura of certainty makes others feel safe - our clients and families will feel this from us.

People with certainty have the ability to live with passion, focus, purpose and persistence. They allow no doubt. They keep going until they can’t and then they get a new plan. 

Setting a direction is the job of a leader - it does not mean than you cannot change direction - in fact its vital that you do. Being vulnerable and adaptable are also key strengths that sit nicely beside certainty.​

Creating a list of my certainties allows me to be more open to the uncertainties. You will have heard the phrase, "control the controllables". Doing just that will give you more power of intension and purpose and take away some of the power that uncertainty may bring with it.
You have but 5 weeks left of 2021 - what will you do with it? Commit to finishing off 2021 with a bang and start looking at what 2022 is going to look like for you...have at it and have fun!

Gratefully inspired by Lisa O'Neill

​Discounting your value is an erosion of conviction or a demonstration of commitment. In other words, it's not about what the final price is, it's how you got there. I, for example, may reduce my day rate if you buy 10 days; in doing so I am rewarding your commitment to me. And in this case, I should never go lower than my minimum acceptable day rate. More often than not though, a person in charge of procurement has a checklist of questions and procedures and one of them is to ask for a discount. If there is no increased commitment from the other side, don't discount and even if there is, don't discount lower than your baseline hourly/day rate. Resist the instinct to lower your fees. Be cool, stand in your value, know your worth and be willing to walk away if it's a deal-breaker.