Step It Up and Get Results

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Lisa J MacDonald, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

Most small business owners I coach want to earn more and work less. This is not a fairytale wish, a desire, because they are lazy, but a real longing, an aspiration to reach their potential in both their personal and professional lives.

For the business owners to start getting those results—fewer hours and more money—they must implement principles of success to an even a higher level than they currently are.

One of the most important principles is mapping out what is possible. A great story from the winter of 2009 illustrates this point. At the time, I was busily working at my home computer, buried under mountains of projects, a small heater blew in an effort to keep me warm.

An instant message clicked on, so I hastily focused on my IM manager. I was totally unprepared to see an unexpected bump into the past as I glanced at the chatter and did a double take.

Red. It was my redheaded girlfriend from church and school. How long had it been since I’d had contact with her? It’s been almost twenty years. Wow.

We quickly began chatting, and then she got to her reason for IM-ing me. “I read your Facebook postings. How can you be so happy all the time?”

Bam. I had to roll back in my office chair. I’d never seen myself that way. But from my training to be a coach I knew her question wasn’t about me, but about her. She must be suffering to go to the effort to look me up and establish contact.

Curious about what could be bothering her, I scheduled a phone appointment. A few days later, we talked, and I found a friendly person completely overwhelmed by her husband’s brutal dismissal from a successful business and the backstabbing he suffered.

The ugliness of the situation weighed on her, causing her to have a bleak outlook for her family’s future. It was clear her husband’s lay-off weighed her down, preventing her from remembering what was possible.

“What do you want?” I asked.

After some reflection, she said, “I want him to have a job where he is valued.”

“Is that possible?” I asked.

“I don’t know. With the economy being what it is, and so many people losing their jobs—”

I interrupted her. “I think it is possible your husband can not only get another job quickly, but a higher paying one where he is valued.”

“You do?”

“Don’t you? You just told me how he was the key person in the last business, right?”

“Oh, yes. He made them so much money. They still need him. They keep calling, asking questions on how to do things.”

“So why can’t he get a better job?”

“We live in a small town.”

“So?”

“I guess he could get a better job. No, you’re right. He can.”

Using an effective coaching question, I asked, “What’s next?”

“For me to believe in the power of the possible.”

Don’t you just love that phrase—the power of the possible?

If you believed in the power of the possible, what would you believe in? What would you dare consider that could happen? With my redheaded friend, I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I did know she would be happier if she held on to the power of the possible.

Two weeks later, I heard from her again.

“I wanted to thank you,” she started off, and then got to the juicy part. “My husband got a job last week. You won’t believe this—he loves his job. They treat him well, and the best part is that he’s making more than he did in his last job.”

As soon as she shifted to how she was showing up in her own life, her whole family’s circumstances changed. What amazed me was the impact a spouse’s belief can have All she had to do was plug back in to her natural optimistic self. That was enough to energize the whole situation. Her belief in her husband was enough for him to do what he needed to get to his next professional level.

Stop right now and write down what situation in your life currently needs some energizing. Look at it and ask, “What’s possible?” Now believe in the power of the possible and get the results you want out of your life and your business.