Three years ago I made my escape from the rat race and set sail for the green and pleasant dream of The Land of Plenty. To freedom and happiness.
...Or so I hoped.
It's been very hard work. I've worked crazy hours. I've learnt a lot and it's been one hell of a journey.
I've learnt that running a coaching business is not about focusing on being a good coach. The big learning came from finding out that you have to to excell and cover four key Success Capabilities...
Being a good coach is what I call DELIVERING. The quality of your coaching delivery is important, but it is not all encompassing. Several coaches I have met have fallen back into the rat race and have lost sight of their entrepreneurial dream because they entered their new career thinking it was about coaching and not that it's about running a business. It's sad but true.
I've learnt that you also have to lead the business and develop strategies and plans that yield the optimum results. LEADING is a key part of my business. The five year orbit I did with my Black Belt Aikido friend Richard became my compass. It's helped me to constantly adjust my rudder and keep sailing towards that green and pleasant Land. I coached and mentored MD's of SME's and start-up Entrepreneurs to learn about how to effectively lead a business. I put my learning into practice. Although I tend to use the title Success Coach, I am also a Managing Director and I never should forget that.
I have also spent a lot of time and been through a lot of pain to learn how to network, sell and market my business. In my experience WINNING business is the most vital part of running a successful business. From what I have learnt I believe that it makes the single biggest difference between potential and success. The world's most successful coaches are not the world's best coaches. The most successful coaches are those that ensure they win business and cover all four of these vital business Success Capabilities.
The fourth is CONTROLLING. Making sure you keep up to date with your accounts, that your clients pay you on time and that you deliver quality coaching. I tried to cover all these Success Capabilities myself and like all Entrepreneurs I've made mistakes. For one I should have listened to a piece of advice that I was given about working with a good Accountant straight away. Those mistakes are my opportunity to learn. I now have an Accountant. The fact that she's called Dorothy and owns a pair of sparkling ruby slippers helps her bail me out when my ship start's to flood.
Every quarter I assess my business on my Rising Talent Sun Dial to see how I am performing at DELIVERING, LEADING, WINNING and CONTROLLING. In 2007 I can tell you straight away that my weakest link is CONTROLLING, so that is where I will focus my attention today.
The great thing is that this week my hard work in LEADING, WINNING and DELIVERING has finally paid off and my ship has docked anchor at The Land of Plenty. For a whole day it was magical. I'd made it. Financial success for the success coach! I celebrated and felt wonderful.
Then yesterday I received one of those phone calls that your dread. The reap of grim news about a very dear and special friend. Later the same day it happened again. Two in one day! It felt soul destroying!
What is life all about?
I looked at my quarterly Wheel of Life ans saw how Work was just one of the eight spokes in the Wheel of Life and Finance was but another. Yes my Life Purpose (I AM THE LIGHT - I am the ray of enlightenment and I coach to transcend) spoke is all important and it's so great that I am living a life in tune with this. However, this still left 5 spokes not directly connected to work. My life was out of balance and I realised I was a work alcoholic.
I recalled all the advice I had been given about being too hard on myself. I recognised that I had excelled at Rising Talent and I should be delighted with that. And I am. These feeling thoughts did help me to once again tune into what success in life is really all about...
"Success is becoming who you are capable of being and moving towards worthwhile goals. Each of us defines for ourselves what it means to be successful." Spencer Johnson
At Rising Talent I have achieved my worthwhile goal and I am financially sound for the first time since sailing solo.
Success for me is also about growth, love, happiness, health and integrity. It's about having fun and adventure. My Vision of Success is to be Rich in Life. Money oils the cogs in the machinery of life, but it does not bring true happiness. True happiness is a choice. I choose life. I choose a land that is green and growing. I choose to truly love myself and all the very special people in my life.
You see life is but a journey and all journeys start and have to end. You just have to make the most of the journey.
I choose to be happy NOW. To live for this moment. To make it magical. To find the fun and adventure in both work and play.
Sod The Land Of Plenty! I'll set sail for The Land of Success. And its my definition of success. MY VISION OF SUCCESS.
I shine my light with pride and breathe in the richness of life.
Bring me a calm sea and a friendly strong wind to fill my sails. The compass is set. Let the adventure begin. Bring me laughter. Bring me happiness.
Bring me sunshine.
Set sail!
Shine on!
Tim Sundown
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