Ep 196 - A Coaching Manifesto: Anchoring to Your Successful Future Business
Episode 195 of the Life Coach Business Building Podcast
In this episode, I'm going to talk about creating a coaching manifesto - a vision and plan for your business to firmly ground yourself in your desired future.
I'll be sharing my big, bold statements for myself and my business and how I made a mind map to anchor myself in my vision and goals.
So, if keeping up with your New Year’s resolutions feels like a marathon, join me as we dive into creating a roadmap to turn your dreams into actions!
Decide today how you want to show up, take charge, create your own manifesto for 2024, and let it be your guide for building and inspiring you to grow your coaching business.
👉 Head over to debbieshadid.com/manifesto for a simple guide to create your business manifesto and thrive in 2024!
👉 Create a profitable business that looks good and sets you up to be respected through the Fast Track Business Building Boutique Program
👉 Check out my FREE Canva Workshop and learn how to create stunning graphics for your coaching business!
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a review and forward this to a coach who is building and growing their coaching business. CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A REVIEW
Don’t forget to connect with me on social media: Instagram | Facebook
Transcript:
Preview: I'm committing to reaching the goal even when it doesn't look like I'm going to get there. That's the way you don't quit on yourself. I am willing to fail and then try again over and over. You have heard it so many times before, but businesses are built on failures. And it doesn't sound very sort of fun to think of it that way, but really, nothing is going to be a home run over and over and over. You're going to do some things that are not going to work out, and you're going to try again a different version and try again a different version. And eventually you'll hit a home run.
Intro: Hello, I'm Debbie Shadid, the host of the Life Coach Business Building podcast. If you are ready to have more clients in your life coach business, then you're in the right spot. Each week I'm gonna teach you super simple strategies to grow your business without feeling overwhelmed and without spending money on paid ads. If that sounds interesting. Stick around and let's get started.
Welcome to today's podcast. Today, I'm going to be talking about creating a manifesto for your business. Many years ago, I started coaching only coaches. As you all know, I switched niches, and I wanted to create sort of a vision for myself and a plan for my business and to really anchor myself in that plan. And so I did that and I wrote down basically what I was committed to. I basically described what my minimum baseline would be, kind of what my floor would be for what I would settle for. And I worked through this this year with my clients and people loved it. So I want to share it with you. You can head over to debbieshadid.com/manifesto when we are done with this podcast and you can get a look at what it is that I'm talking about so you can create your own.
So for my business manifesto, this is kind of my overall vision and plan that I had initially for my business. Of course, it's changed and evolved as my business has grown. But let me help you. I think this would be a good starting point for you. So first I started by identifying what I was willing to do, and I made bold statements. So I'm gonna share those with you, hopefully to inspire you to create something like this and make some bold statements of what you are willing to do in your business too.
So I said, I am willing to do what I have never done before and you all know that's true. As we're building our coaching businesses, we are doing things that are new. We're doing new technology. We're talking to people about something we don't know. We're coaching people that we don't even know what their problem is, right? You get on a consultation calling you're helping somebody. You don't even know what is going on. You are doing things like building a business that you have never built before and at the time that I was switching niches, you know, I was leaving a successful business Audience already. I was letting all my other customers go.
So this was something I hadn't done before. I said I'm willing to commit to go all in on my dream. I was not. And let me tell you what, I'm determined. I was not gonna give up. That is something I really want to encourage you to be too. It's not easy. And if you give up, you'll never get there. So you have to be willing to go all in on your dream.
I'm committed to reaching my goal even when it's looking like I'm not going to get there. Now, y'all know that. Sometimes you get to a place where it's like, this is never going to work. I'm never going to get there. I have a super big goal this year for myself and I should be committing this right now to the goal that I have, which is I'm committing to reaching the goal even when it doesn't look like I'm going to get there. That's the way you don't quit on yourself.
I am willing to fail and then try again over and over. You have heard it so many times before, but businesses are built on failures, and it doesn't sound very sort of fun to think of it that way, but really, nothing is going to be a home run over and over and over. You're going to do some things that are not going to work out, and you're going to try again a different version and try again a different version. And eventually you'll hit a home run. I am willing to do what others won't do. I was like, you know, a lot of other people will not keep after something, but I'm not quitting. And a lot of people will not go for the big goal that I have for my business, but I'm not quitting.
I'm willing to be uncomfortable. Do y'all know how uncomfortable it is? Actually, you do know how uncomfortable it is to do all these things that you have never done before. It is embarrassing to put yourself out there. You know, you're going to have to accept judgment. That's another thing I was willing to do. I am willing to accept judgment from others, knowing that it's their issue, not mine. A lot of people can sit around and judge you and not have any idea what you're doing, and they're not in your shoes.
I'm willing to invest in my dream even when others think that it won't work. Can you guys relate to that? Even if it has never worked, I'm willing to invest in my dream. And sometimes that investing means borrowing money, using credit cards, taking money out of retirement. I, by the way, I've done all those things. I was using money that I didn't really have to spend on many occasions because I was willing to invest in my dream and not give up. And let me tell you what, it pays off. It pays off.
I was willing to feel like I was alone on the journey and that is still the case. Lots of times I think, God, is there anybody else out there that is doing what I'm trying to do, or is there anybody else that is giving what I'm giving, or is there anybody else that understands how I feel? Well, my dear, I understand how you feel for sure, but I know that you have to be willing to feel like you're isolated and alone. That is the case, even maybe in your marriage where your partner is thinking you're nuts and what is she doing? And you're like, you know, I'm not going to share this with everybody.
You have to pick who you're going to talk to about your goal and who you're not going to talk to. Don't talk and share your vision and goals with people who are dream stealers. Talk to people, get yourself in a community of coaches. That's one thing that's so great about the women in the business building boutique is that we can share anything with each other and our clients can talk to each other and there's no judgment and you're not alone and everybody finds out we're in exactly the same place. I am willing to make my goal. to keep after it, even if it is past the deadline that I set for myself. So if you do not get to where you want to go in 2024, will you keep going for that goal until you get there? That's the idea of that.
All right. The second part that I did was I created a vision, like a mind map for how I wanted to anchor myself into my business. I called it anchoring to my future. So I said, I am. And I listed the things that I knew about myself. I'm powerful. I am strong. I'm beautiful and I'm capable. And so are you, right? Those were the things that I thought I knew about myself and I can claim all those things. I don't mean beautiful on the outside. I mean beautiful on the inside. I know where my heart is and I know what I want for my business. And I know that when I tell you I can help you, I'm going to do my best to do that. So I feel very strongly about saying I'm powerful, strong, beautiful, and capable. And so are you. I also had a list of what I will remain. I will remain. So despite whatever happens, I will remain committed. I will remain disciplined and scheduled. Look, you got to follow a schedule, ladies. I will remain organized and thoughtful. So that was my promise to myself.
I also made a promise to myself that I will take care of myself both mentally and physically. That has been kind of a weak link for me. I'm really great at working. I'm a fantastic action taker. I'm very committed to my goals, very committed to my clients, but that means that sometimes I don't listen to my own body. And so I said, I will take care of myself. I will be rested. I will be relaxed. I will be fit. I will be healthy, present and connected.
One of the things that I really found when I looked at how I felt overwhelmed and like I didn't have enough time is that what I really didn't have was the feeling of being present in everything that I was doing. So I want to encourage you to think of what you will remain committed to and what you will take care of. Then I went down, I thought about my business, and I thought, in my business I am. Love those I am statements, you're going to create whatever you say I am. And I said, I am always moving closer to my goal. Always. even when it looks like it's not working out. And for me, I had done that. My goal was two areas.
One is to have time freedom and one is to have impact and income. And I do set financial goals, but my financial goals are based on the impact that I'm going to have. So I'm not necessarily thinking of a number, a million dollars based on a million dollars in the bank. I'm thinking of a million dollars in how many women I can help make a difference for this year. That's where my goal is kind of based on its impact. So I'm always moving closer to my goal.
The four things that I am in my business are coachable, a good decision maker, I'm always aware and I'm always flexible. Let me go into those four things for you. Coachable, you've got to always be growing, you've got to work on your mindset, you've got to have more self awareness. This is so key. You can take all the actions in the world, but I guarantee you that primitive brain of yours is going to show up when you least expect it and bring you down. And so you've got to have somebody helping you work on your mindset.
It is not possible to be a hundred percent in belief, a hundred percent positive, a hundred percent everything perfect all the time. So you want to be coachable, always growing and gaining self awareness and willing to ask for help. Are you willing to ask for help?
Alright, you have to be a good decision maker. A good decision maker, that is the key to building your business, is how quickly you can make a decision, and how quickly you can take action on it. When you make a decision, do not overthink it. You want to make quick decisions and then keep them, own them. Because also, what I see happens is if you try something one time, and you think, oh, that wasn't the right thing. And one time is never enough. So you've got to be a good decision maker. You have to be willing to do what's best for your company. Sometimes that means doing not exactly what you want to do. Sometimes that means going on video when you don't want to, because it's best for your company. It is the best way to reach clients even if you don't want to because you have this company that you are running and building and growing.
Aware. So awareness is always looking to see what's working and what's not working. That alone is such a good little tool. Like to look at all you did in the last few days and say, well, what worked and what didn't work And to take it to the next level would be what do I need to change about this thing to make it work? You want to be tuned into what's happening with your clients. Really think and consider the questions that they are coming with. Consider how they're responding to your coaching. You always want to be evolving.
Inside the Business Building Boutique, we are always looking to see what we can do better. We are always adding new things onto what we already offer to continue to improve the results that we get with our coaching. We are always looking for ways to make things easier for you. We just added a brand new intensive mastermind where when you start to work with us within the first two or three weeks we meet with you and we do an intensive business branding day session. And we also do an intensive copywriting or marketing message where we develop your marketing message in one day.
So we meet with you two different times to do your branding and one day to do your messaging. That is a way for us to set our clients up for success. Now, how did I come up with that? Well, we've done it another way. We've had clients do it. I've also met with people privately. We've had many variations of getting those two things really nailed. And I just had to keep asking, how can we make this more efficient? When clients get their main master marketing message set up, whether they put it on a website, or it's going to inform all the other marketing that they do, this takes clients from working on something six weeks, eight weeks, to being able to get it done in two days.
So this is huge, but I had to be aware. I had to say, well, what is working? What's not working? And what could I do differently? You have to be looking at yourself to see what am I avoiding? What am I hiding from? What am I not finishing strong on? What always gets pushed to the bottom of the list is probably the thing that you need to do.
You know, we're approaching tax season and this is always the thing that nobody wants to face. We make it into something that is so big. And we do this in our business too. We make it into such a big deal that we've got to get our profile updated. We've got to get this Canva graphic done, or we've got to make an intro video to something and we make it such a big deal by putting it off and putting it off and putting up. And then we sit down to do it. It was like, Oh my gosh, it literally took one hour. What was the big deal about it? So what are you not finishing strong on that you should be moving to the top of the list that will really impact your business.
All right, the fourth thing that I said I needed to be in my business was flexible. So you have to change when I need to. You do have to shift and make things work better for yourself. Number one, when you make things work better for yourself, chances are they will work better for your clients too. You have to do what needs to be done no matter what. Which means sometimes even when you have a plan and even when you've followed your plan, you might have to work on Sunday afternoon to get your, let's say, three tasks done for this week so that you're ready for next week. Right, so you have to be flexible.
You have to be willing to shift things when they are not working. You have to be willing to give up on something. If you are a coach who has created a course. A lot of you have before you've ever had any clients and before you've ever coached anybody through that. You've gone and you've made videos or maybe you've spent money with a coach getting set up on some piece of software or creating something that now you realize Is not the right thing. Sometimes you have to just cut your losses and just start over.
We have clients that come pretty often, actually, who already have courses and somebody sold them. Hey, work with me and I'll help you make a course and you can make millions. And then they realize, okay, I have the course made. And here's the problem. I don't have anybody on my email list. I don't know how to talk about this course. I don't even know how to sell. I'm unsure about the price. Then you find out, I should have had people work through the course, like beta testers. So often that happens, but you have to be flexible enough to just say, You know what? I learned a lot. There's some of that I'm going to be able to use, but I'm not going to stay tied to that if it's not going to move my business forward.
So that is an example of my business manifesto. And I really want to encourage you, go to debbieshadid.com/manifesto. Just look at this example. I created this in Canva. I hope that it inspires you to really decide what is the minimum baseline that you will stand for with yourself as you approach your business, maybe make a manifesto for what you expect from clients. and again, you get to decide how you want your clients to show up. You get to decide who you want them to be and you get to decide how you want to show up yourself.
All right. So take charge, create a manifesto for 2024 and really allow it to inspire you and then follow it. All right, you guys have an amazing week. I will see you guys very soon. Take care. Bye bye.
Outro: Okay, ladies, that is it for today. Before we go, I want to invite you to head over to debbieshadid.com. I have this incredible Canva training, specifically designed for life coaches where I'm gonna teach you how to use Canva to create beautiful graphics to market your life coaching. All right. Have an amazing week. I'll talk to you very soon. Bye bye.