I know we weren’t expecting the shit storm that is 2020 but, like it or not, here we are.
I’m not much of a poker player but if 2020 were dealt to me as a Texas Hold’em hand, I’d fold immediately!
A lot of us are wondering what we should be focused on in our businesses and lives with so much change and uncertainty engulfing us daily.
But with disruption there comes opportunity.
We have four full months of 2020 left. My question for you is; what are you planning to do with it?
I’ve heard so many variations of the “2020 is cancelled” theme. Everything from “It’s not the right time to be selling” to “I’ll just wait until things stabilize before I put more energy into my business again.”
While I’m completely aghast at the loss of lives and livelihood for so many, most entrepreneurs simply don’t have the luxury of cancelling 2020.
Take two minutes and rate your business with the following mini-quiz: completely true = 5, not even close to being true = 1; with the other numbers being somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
- I am exceeding my goals this quarter. (Q3)
- I know exactly what to do to repeat success/improve next quarter. (Q4)
- I am making the right pivots and adjustments to ensure I adapt and get better.
- In the last 60 days I’ve made significant financial investments into growing myself as an entrepreneur/business builder.
- I am 100% ready and equipped to achieve my next big goal.
Tally your score. Then multiply it by 4.
A perfect score would be 100. (score of 5 per question = 25, then multiply by 4 = 100)
Anything under 80 means you need to fix it quickly – you should be seeing red flags popping up and doing something about them now.
Here’s why:
We are living through a time where there are more obstacles as well as more opportunities than ever before. This might be hard to see, especially since many are struggling right now. But savvy entrepreneurs can see through the chaos and use their creative vision to improve, evolve, and get better.
One of my favorite books is ‘The Obstacle Is The Way’ by Ryan Holiday. The book draws its inspiration from stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy of enduring pain or adversity with perseverance and resilience. Stoics focus on the things they can control, let go of everything else, and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, tougher. As Marcus Aurelius put it nearly 2000 years ago: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
If ever there was a time to take full ownership of your situation and make mature decisions based on where you want to be in the future, this is it.
I’ve had so many moments of doubt this year. And I’ve created so much thought-drama that it’s hard to even admit it to myself, let alone do it publicly. But I’m committed to my business and the people I serve more than my crappy habits, thoughts, and patterns – no matter how stirred up they’ve gotten this year.
When the world shifted in 2020, I knew I was going to need help so I looked for it and I got it.
I didn’t say “Geez, I would fix what’s not working if I only knew how.”
I said “Of course I don’t know how. I’ve never been where I want to go so I can’t reverse engineer this for myself. I need to find someone who’s been there and have them guide me and tell me what the problems are and give me council on what the next steps should be.”
Then I followed through and got the results.
This won’t be my highest revenue year as a coach but it will be my highest profit margin year as a coach. In other words, I’ve worked less and made more than any of the past seven years I’ve been in business.
This has been the year where I’ve learned to think, learn, plan, and take smarter action. And not just blind action… but action that’s been vetted by my intuition along with others who have already been down the road I intend to travel.
I owe very little of my success to Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Sales Funnels, Webinars, etc. These tools and tactics have their place but without the right mindset, timing, sequencing, and foundation, they are distractions at best.
This has also been the year I’ve learned to ask for more help than usual. All while making small decision after small decision that add up to a coaching business that fits my life and allows me to serve my clients in a way that feels really good to me.
I’m thinking of 2020 as a setup year – a year where I’ve gotten very intentional about what I want my business and life to look like in the future.
A global pandemic, social and racial injustices, and a recession have wreaked havoc on our collective human experience. But this has also been the wake up that many of us have needed (myself included) to make the changes we knew we needed to make anyway.
I predict that the next few months will make or break many coaches and client-focused businesses. We will either look back at this time as the moment we sat still and waited for things to get better or it will be the time we seized our golden window of opportunity and utilized every ounce of creativity, innovation, and resourcefulness to make a giant leap forward.
Which will it be for you?
Live bravely,
Michael
