The Growth Coach Blog

The next power we’re going to discuss is the power of passionate attitudes and beliefs. Ask yourself “what motivates me everyday?”. Do you have goals and aspirations? Do you really have passion for your work? Success in everything you do is tied to your own passionate attitudes and beliefs. There are so many reasons to be passionate about what you do, let’s consider why it’s important.

How many times have you been inspired or motivated to do something simply by listening to someone else? Perhaps it was the tone of voice, the format used, the power of the message, or the credibility exuded by the speaker. Perhaps it was a combination of any or all of these elements that so moved you. Whatever it was, it appealed directly to your emotions. As a result, you were more inclined to do something because of what you felt. If you want others to believe in you, to trust you, to buy from you, it is essential that they relate to you, identify with you, agree with you, feel that you can help them, believe that what you offer provides enough value to justify them taking action and make a commitment. Continue reading →

Why do some people succeed where other’s do not? What identifiable characteristics do successful people share that distinguishes them from everyone else, whether in their business or personal lives? Let me suggest that many traits, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors can influence success but in general, three are worthy of additional consideration:

- Positive Mindset

- Passionate Attitudes and Beliefs

- Persistent Determination

Today we are going to focus on Positive Mindset. Keeping a positive outlook can be the key to success in all your business ventures. Have you been living with a negative mindset? It affects more than just your business; the wrong mindset can be detrimental to all areas of your life. Why do we allow ourselves to fall into negative mindset and what can you do to change yours today? Continue reading →

Last Saturday night I took my family to a pizza restaurant for dinner. It had good food, good service, and a good family environment.  The only thing I noticed was that the owner was doing it all.  He was sitting people, taking some of the orders, serving food, refilling glasses, handling some problems, supervising the kitchen and staff, and basically running around frantic and frazzled.  I felt sorry for him.  While such level of micro-management and multi-tasking undoubtedly contributed to some of his success, it was clearly contributing to his exhaustion, stress, and imprisonment … visibly taking a toll on this man.  As a business coach I thought to myself, there has to be a happy medium for this guy … owner engagement and oversight without having to do it all … and I mean ALL.

Sadly, as a business coach for nearly 20 years,  I’ve seen countless small business owners function like this restaurant owner … the vast majority of them trying to be all things to the business and do all things for the business.  They tend to think and act like Chief ‘Everything’ Officers … doing it all, day in and day out without end.  That’s a sure recipe for exhaustion, business owner blues, and burn out.  It’s time to stop the insanity! Continue reading →

One quote, more than any other, has made a huge difference in the quality of my business and personal life.  The quote came from Earl Nightingale, the original dean of personal development.  I am not proud to say that when I first heard the 6-word statement some 25-30 years ago on audio cassette in a program called “The Strangest Secret”, I vastly underestimated its power and importance.  Worse yet, I dismissed it as no big thing for several months.  But thank God, I heard it again and again and it finally woke me up, sunk in, and started to improve my life … it became my personal philosophy and way of life.  Earl Nightingale boiled down the secret to success and happiness in one pithy and potent statement: “You become what you think about.” Continue reading →

I was recently in a hardware store and an effective display for a gutter-guard system caught my eye.  The marketing talked about all the clutter that can clog up your gutters and cause large amounts of water to pour into, flood and damage your house.  That marketing got this business coach thinking about clutter and business.  What clutter is clogging up the gutters (daily operations) of most business owners?  What junky “stuff” is clogging up the flow of business and productivity?  What clutter is causing owners to feel “flooded” and “overwhelmed”?

“What is clutter and how is it related to business?”, you ask.  Continue reading →

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt.  As a business owner, do you ever feel like a prisoner to your business?  A prisoner to your employees and customers?  Do you sometimes feel like you work a demanding job instead of owning a thriving business?  If so, you are not alone.

As your virtual Growth Coach, allow me to ask you some additional tough but revealing coaching questions:

• As a business owner, could you leave your business today for one or two months and come back to find it operating smoothly and profitably?
• Could you even escape for two weeks?
• Have you ever had a work-free, guilt-free vacation with no work calls, emails or paperwork?
• God forbid, if you got seriously sick or disabled, would your business survive?
• When physically away from the business, can you be mentally away from the business?
• Are you free from having everything flow through you (transactions, decisions, problems, etc.)?

If your answers were mostly “no”, odds are you don’t have a successful and self-sustaining business, but rather a glorified job in which you are trapped! Continue reading →

What is one of the most over-rated abilities of a business owner?  Technical expertise.  That’s right, the ability to do the technical work of the business … paint a bedroom, repair a toilet, move a household, care for the elderly, write an insurance policy, clean a home or office, remodel a room, etc.

Why is having the talent to do such technical tasks not that special?  Because millions of people can do those same technical tasks … and some even better than you!  Being a successful and satisfied business owner is NOT about being a gifted technician.  It’s about something much more strategic. Continue reading →

Why do we business owners torture ourselves?  Very often we measure our current results only against perfection (our ideal goals).  With that measuring stick, there will be lots of disappointment.  More times than not, we will come up short and feel frustrated.

Are we really that crazy?  YES!  We seldom take time to enjoy the journey, gauge and celebrate our incredible progress.  We tend to only look ahead to our big, audacious goals and not behind to see our progress, how far we have truly come.  I am certainly guilty of this.  Are you? Continue reading →

Given the lethargic economic recovery, now is not the time for business owners to be super heroes or lone rangers. Now is not the time to be isolated, alone, stubborn, and pretend to have all the answers. It’s OK, end the superman or superwoman charade. Remember, this is your friendly Growth Coach here that has pretty well seen it ALL over the past 19 years as a business coach. So please relax, be honest and be yourself. You don’t need to put up a false front for me or anyone else. In fact, please put away your super hero cape and tights, stop running around ragged like a speeding bullet, and stop trying to leap tall buildings in a single bound. You aren’t fooling anyone and you are most likely exhausting yourself, your employees and probably your family.

Now more than ever, you need to be strong enough to ask for help. In my experience, the most successful entrepreneurs always ask for help and guidance … they are confident enough and strong enough to seek a competitive advantage, wherever they can. Are you? Continue reading →

As a business owner, what is the one BIG THING you have been avoiding or putting off?  That one BIG DECISION or ACTION you are unwilling to make?  The BIG MESS you are dodging?  Just acknowledge one … the big, hairy, ugly, scary MONSTER (thing, issue, problem, confrontation, decision or mess) in your professional or personal life you are trying to deny, delay, or ignore.  Got it?

Come on … you know it’s standing right there beside you at all times … you can’t get away from it.  It’s there and you know it; others know it too.  Nobody is fooled.  YOU simply choose to ignore it … delay a critical decision … postpone a decisive action … procrastinate a very necessary yet uncomfortable meeting or discussion.  As like most entrepreneurs, you simply continue on with your day-to-day business as if everything is fine and no monster exists. Guess what?  It’s not fine. Continue reading →