What does it mean to run a spiritual business in this day and age? Courage, Commitment, vulnerability and a deep sense of self awareness? And what in fact is a spiritual business anyway? All big questions so let’s break it down.
I am noticing a lot of people are starting to find that they are at peace in the quiet, at one with themselves when in alignment, are being called to more spiritual practises where they engage their bodies and minds using methods like meditation and yoga and this helps them to settle in the rush of their days. What I see happen alongside this is the fact that those people begin to get curious and start to awaken to needing more out of life. Yet they cannot find the ‘more’ they are looking for because it doesn’t exist in a material thing, it’s purpose, passion, fulfilment even calling which is the beginning of a journey of spiritual awakening where they seek a soul connection and purpose.
What happens with this change in the dynamic of the world and society is that a lot more spiritually gifted people come in to support this evolution and, guess what, make it radically ‘normal’, where it used to be seen as new age. Well, I consider that the ‘age’ has arrived and it’s not so new anymore.
It is therefore becoming more frequent now for the spiritually gifted to be starting businesses and being of service to others legitimately, receiving the value of their services. Which is about time in my opinion. I believe we all have talents and gifts and we deserve to be able to use them as our vocation to support our living fully in the world, just as we would if working in any other industry and receive financial reward and recognition accordingly.
A spiritual business could be anything holistic from clairvoyants to kinesiologists, astrologists, healers, naturopaths, energy workers, intuitives , witches, and everything in between. There is no end to the wisdom and talents and these gifted individuals and practises and methods are continuously evolving. So the idea of labelling them into a singular function is merely a way of communicating as transparently as possible the method and tools they utilise most frequently to provide their specialised and unique service.
There are talented, honest spiritual workers out there and they should no longer feel held back, judged or less than what they are because of societies expectations or previous treatment of those in fields that they don’t fully understand, yet. As the world is changing and becoming more open and available to the wealth of holistic practitioners, and as our needs to be more flexible and work in our own rhythms and with our truest natures and purposes, we are starting to redefine what our own spiritual businesses could be. And the value in these services and the welcome relief they provide is on the increase. This is where spiritual business owners require support, the fine line between logical and successful business ideas and unique approaches that support the building of their purposeful brand, into a functional business.
So how do you build a successful business when you are a spiritual practitioner? Most of the time the two attempt to repel one another, a logical and structured business model or plan with the fluidity of ease and flow and inspired action of the soul. I want to tell you that it most definitely can be done, but it takes a little work to define the best approach for each person, and that’s where I feel it runs a little differently for Spiritual business owners. And let’s be clear right now, you do not have to sell out or be anything other than what you are to make a business work for you. To try and take a path travelled by a successful business owner already can sometimes feel unwelcome, and uncomfortable. We need to appreciate that we can learn all the options available in business and then we find our own pathway, as we were not made to follow the functionality of another, we need to seek out what feels aligned for us and pick and choose the methods that we feel can challenge us yet also provide us with the best platforms and foundations.
So how can you get started? Here are my questions for you to establish a solid foundation for your business, and understanding of what the business provides and who you are serving.
What does success look like?
To have a successful business it’s important to define what success means to you. It’s not just monetary terms that fulfil a spiritual business owner but education, recognition, changing lives, improving things etc. So please define what success would mean to you and how you would know when you’ve achieved it.
What does value feel like?
When we talk about money we can feel uncomfortable and price our services too cheaply through fear. You have to determine what feels like a fair and aligned energetic exchange when it comes to receiving value for the services you provide. It may be that you choose to work for receiving other items you need, so that often times money isn’t involved directly but that you get what you need. This is an older way of working yet it should not be discounted as we need to realise money is energy and if we get what we need ultimately then we have what we want. So in alignment with the question about regarding success, what does value feel like to you as an fair energetic exchange for your services, and how can you get comfortable transparently advertising and talking about that amount?
What contribution do you want to make in the world and why?
What is the ultimate purpose of the gift you offer the world through your business and how does this fulfil your souls calling? This is a time to think big and determine what you bring to the world through your existence and the existence of your business. Once you have established this you can repurpose it to use as mission statements, values for your brand and also to guide you when making decisions.
Who do you serve?
Think about who you connect with the most, who you enjoy working with the most and the types of people who benefit from your services the most. Define those people in age, life experiences, gender, personality traits and characteristics. Get to know the reason you connect with these people the most and how you support and help them the most. Then you can determine who you are meant to work with and how you can connect with them.
What are your services?
Now is the time to create approximately 2-3 services, types of services with differing lengths and price points. Once you are in business and serving clients you will evolve and change these, so do not worry about the perfection of these, just go with what works for you now and what you can offer so you have something to sell and work with. Once people have experienced what you do you can work with them to improve the experiences, services and get testimonials to support your attraction marketing in the future also.
How do you want to let people know you exist?
Once you have the foundations of your business you need to get started, you need to go out there and get clients, so how do you want to market your business, maybe through social media, maybe through fliers, expos, word of mouth or even friends and family. See what feels in alignment with your values and what supports your why in business and you’ll get there. All you have to do is start with one particular method and allow the others to grow after you have mastered one initially.
It is never easy to start a business, whether it is spiritual or not, you will come up against a lot of your own mental blocks and challenges, these are all opportunities for your growth, because once you are more on your purposeful path you evolve and grow and that is through facing the things that could hold you back. So use the courage, the commitment, the vulnerability you have and tap into your self awareness to know these triggers, your personal blind spots and see them for what they are, your guide posts for evolving and being able to help even more people on the other side.
I hope this has enlightened and connected you, to bring a greater sense of purpose to you and your gifts, and if you’d like to delve deeper you can take part in my 7 day Business Building Challenge (www.alisoncallan.com/7daybizchallenge) , which will take you on a further journey to define and create your conscious business foundations, with logic and fulfilment.
Alison Callan is The Clarity and Success Coach for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, as well as an Internationally Accredited Coach and Mindfulness Consultant, Facilitator, Speaker and #1 Best Selling Co-Author of the book ‘You Are Meant For More’.
Alison is committed to helping You mindfully align with your mission to create Conscious Business with Purpose, Confidence and Ease. So that you live a life you love and deserve with Clarity through Conscious Creation.
This is a pep talk and not for the faint of heart, know this comes with much support and understanding, however it needs to be addressed.
Not everyone will want to work with you.
As an empath I get it, it hurts. Rejection sucks.
Especially when you put your heart and soul into your purpose and you feel its not seen, understood or valued as valuable to others.
But if you look deeper into the feelings you are left with, there is always an underlying acknowledgement that it wasn’t meant to be, and you knew this.
I work a little differently to most coaches, and so do my clients. We make sure that we choose our clients and customers as much as they choose us. This however comes with it’s own issues, because when we get rejected it hurts even more, because we thought we had got it right.
Again when we go deeper, we know on a level of personal truth that we weren’t 100% sure about working together either, but Wanted too none the less, interesting isn’t it. You see what we Want, isn’t always what we Need.
Now you can choose to feel rejected and defeated and as though your purpose is no longer meaningful. Or you can acknowledge the fact that everything is an opportunity to learn and grow. That your boundaries within your business are fundamental and qualifying your potential clients is oh so important to ensure you only deal with those who already know they Need to work with you – not Want.
Let’s take ‘wanting’ out of the picture all together. Become detached from the outcomes and trust in ourselves, our services and the results we get to create when we are on our truest path.
None of it is a waste, it is a gentle reminder to keep in aligned action, to believe ever so much more in ourselves, and the clients that we do work with. Because that is where the magic happens when you are with that specific person you came here to work with and for.
Do not allow yourself to get led down the pity pathway and stop all the good you are doing. Even though you might feel the strong pull towards giving up. Instead stand tall, feel your power at being able to naturally attract your tribe of people and repel those you are meant to.
Here are some reminders:
Make it easy for people to see what it’s like working with you, by being visible.
Be transparent with what it takes to work with you.
Qualify your potential clients and customers before committing to them.
Be clear about who you want to work with, and why.
Build a connection, so you can truly see one another.
Never compromise your values or integrity
Be flexible, where you intuitively know the outcomes beneficial for everyone.
Trust your-damn-self! Never waver!
Acknowledge your value, stand by it and shout about it.
And there are even some amazing tools for Business that can support you in automating your pathways for Business which are in alignment to all of the above.
My personal favourites are:
Trello for all your project management needs, and even managing clients and customers jointly.
Acuity* for setting up an intuitive workflow from scheduling to qualifying and receiving payment.
Zoom for connecting and meeting people
Facebook as a social platform to create groups, learning units and start to get to know your audience.
If you are a Conscious Aspiring or Established Entrepreneur who feels this way and wants to be in a place where they are feeling their confidence, their alignment in business, ease in being themselves and doing things their own unique way. This is where I can support you.
I understand what it takes to be in Business as an empath, and how you can remain true to yourself in the process yet be a Success, and allow yourself to feel the Success. If you are looking for a Coach to help you elevate your Business and you’re wanting someone who understands the feelings behind inspired and aligned action.
And you want someone who will value your uniqueness, get behind your dreams just the way they are and support you to enhance them….
…..Without the pressure and the frameworks that everyone else is doing. Then we should talk.
I am starting another Conscious Creation Business Accelerator Program and I am currently qualifying my ideal group. If you’d like to be considered to join me and my amazing Spiritual Empathetic Boss Babes in the Conscious Creation Business Accelerator, then Apply Now.
This Business should be exciting, you should have people you’re serving, you should be making the difference you crave to make and you should be supported in doing so. And I am Consciously Creating the space for this and inviting you to join me
So the question is, are you ready?
If you want to know more about Business Building and how I can support you, I am opening up Applications to invite in my Ideal Soul Clients to join my Conscious Creation Business Accelerator Program.
If you are wanting to be supported, to learn and grow with like minded Spiritual Boss Babes Apply Now for your free discovery call – you honestly have no idea how magical Business can be when you are in the company of total Inspiration, Community and Support.
Alison xoxo
Alison Callan is The Clarity and Success Coach for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, as well as an Internationally Accredited Coach and Mindfulness Consultant, Facilitator and Speaker.
Committed to helping You mindfully align with your mission to create Conscious Business with Purpose, Confidence and Ease. So that you live a life you love and deserve with Clarity through Conscious Creation.
I love going to Business expo’s, it gives me such joy to be around inspiring business owners and entrepreneurs. To observe, to listen to get curious and experience everything that a potential client does in those situations. It’s important to be on the receiving end of a sales script, presentation, learning opportunity to keep growing and developing and interestingly enough, seeing where you can add value and noticing how far you have come.I went to one recently, which inspired this post to share with you what I learned and experienced, which will hopefully have you diving on into attending an expo and knocking it out of the park!
So let me tell you what I initially observed….
Almost everyone at each of the stands appeared pretty nervous, none of them came alive doing what they were doing and it surprised me.
Very few of the exhibitors seemed confident in their purpose for attending, were they selling their service or product, or building a relationship. Their approach seemed a little directionless…
Most of them didn’t seem excited to be there, like genuinely, I felt their uncomfortableness
There didn’t seem to be a plan, an intention, a direction of purpose for the expo and it’s layout, that was easily communicated or understood…
You don’t need a fancy stand or stall to stand out, when you love what you do you glow!
Now do not get me wrong, it was great, they were great and Im hoping they all got what they needed.But it made me see clearly some things they could have all done to up their game, from a customer or collaborators point of view, and I want to share those with you.Because I’ve been there, I’ve been an expo stall holder and it’s nerve racking – there’s more people there than your ideal client and you’ve got a certain amount of time to make an impression and impact. And starting a conversation when you’re an introvert is intimidating and exhausting! And I can so clearly see now how I could have improved my exhibiting skills and approaches before the event. So I am grateful for what I observed yesterday, for what I learnt and for the growth it showed me in myself and my business.
Here are some pointers for you to consider
Set your intention for the day, who do you want to meet, what do you want to learn and what do you want to give?
Get clear on who you want to attract, what you want them to know and how you want to continue the conversation after the expo. If you know this, you’ll be far more confident in your approach.
Connect with each person, do not see them as a prospect or a potential sale. Treat them as a person and be there to share your accomplishments, your expertise as a gift, a conversation.
Ask relatable questions, practise a few opening lines with a difference. Everyone else is asking ‘what you do?’, ‘what brought you to the expo?’, ‘what are you looking for?’. Instead ask what that person needs and try to help them find it. Give more than you expect to get, set the tone for the interaction with you.
Know your why, know your story and share it. It’s all well and good if you have a membership you’re selling to a program but qualify me, tell me why I’d need it & how it would make my life or business better. Choose me! Make me feel wanted and special!
Ask if you’d be open to following up with you. Don’t just take business cards, it’s so impersonal. Go the extra mile and connect. Be the person they remember from the expo for all the right reasons.
Read body language while interacting, be more interested than reciting your stuff. Ask how the persons receiving the information. This is a great way to do Market Research!
Make sure your signs are easy to read and tell me quickly what you do. So I know if I want to chat about it.
You are the expert, have confidence in your accomplishments, be proud of your results or products. Get into this space and connect with people from this space, this is your zone of genius, you’re compelling, passionate & purposeful from this zone – show this You to the expo!
Be your Brand – dress for success, you want to stand out and look and feel fabulous. Do not get lost in the crowd! (But layer because you never know on temperatures)
Consider your giveaways and be clear on who they are for and why, do not make it too easy to enter, you want people winning who actually want to work with you. So also consider if they have to stay until a certain time to win on the day, or buy a low level offering to be in to win. Do not make it a free for all – stand firm in your offerings and value your gift and make sure each entrant is intentional also.
When collecting emails ask if people want to sign up for your email subscription or to hear about offers. This is the best way to know who you’re targeting and have permission to further contact them. Business cards are too simple, get them to write for their commitment to being followed up with.
Request that they like your social media pages, make it easy to find you, maybe have them do it there and then to get an extra entry into your prize draw, think outside the box to engage with people and stand out from all the other exhibitors.
You don’t need a fancy stand or stall to stand out, when you love what you do you glow!
If you’ve not done an event like this it is such an amazing opportunity to participate in, I highly recommend it. It enables another level of growth and discomfort, but I believe the more you experience and expose yourself too the better you and your business become!
I hope this has given you something to think about when you next present yourself and your Business at an expo!
With Warmth,
Alison xox
Alison Callan is The Clarity and Success Coach for Aspiring and Conscious Entrepreneurs, as well as an Internationally Accredited Coach and Mindfulness Consultant, Facilitator and Speaker.
Committed to helping You mindfully align with your mission to create Conscious Business with Purpose, Confidence and Ease. So that you live a life you love and deserve with Clarity through Conscious Creation.
What exactly is a Brand? I’m sure you’re familiar with some big and well known products like Coca-Cola or Cadbury’s, even Bentley or Apple. Each of them has a distinct Brand, but they are selling products right?
Yes, however those products appeal to certain people and repel others. So surely your Brand is all about connection with Customers or Clients, as well as being well known for logos and image. Well, from my perspective, especially from working with Conscious Aspiring Entrepreneurs, it’s a little more than that….
Breaking it down, and a really great way to remember the impact that your Brand has is to imagine it as that ‘something’ that you’re noticed or known for. So that after you’ve left a room you’re still remembered and known for that special ‘something‘.
Whether you’re in business or not, your Brand is a critical part of your identity. It dictates how you like to be seen in the world, as well as how the world sees you. And I certainly like to focus more on authenticity of how you want to be seen in the world, as much as how you are seen, because YOU alone are experiencing the moment – your Brand is the imprint, the essence and mark that you were there!
Maybe you’re known for a visual aspect like the person who always wears beautiful glasses, a particular colour combination, always having perfectly placed hair (even when it’s blowing a gale!) or even make-up. And writing this list I can think of specific friends and peers who totally fit into each of those categories, they immediately spring to mind! Either way they are each utterly unique and probably oblivious that to me they are synonymous with that one thing. And what if I said to you that each one of those people were in fact not in Business at all, but they certainly had characteristics and an identity that surrounded them and was so much more to me that what in fact they do.
Now friendship is much more open, lengthy, personal and there is a level of trust and confidence that’s built over time with a relationship that’s formed that’s mutual. You have shared experiences and long conversations which create a bond. Yet becoming a Brand is far more common today especially through social media, so it’s important to notice how you are portraying yourself. It is becoming much more common now within Organisations and Corporations to build a Brand for yourself to get known, in order to be a remembered individual so when opportunities arise, YOU are the person that springs to mind immediately. And this is so much more important now for those in Business. What do you want to be known for? And how do you portray that to others through the things you say, the way you respond and how you leave people feeling.
There are plenty of people out there advising on the best way to connect with your ideal Client, your Boss and your network of influencers. But remember, we talked about Brand and what in fact it is, which is what you are known for, remembered for, by colleagues, peers, Clients and Customers etc, when you aren’t even in the room. So let’s take it one step further, how do you create the connection for people to know you for something if you cannot create those shared experiences or have those lengthy conversations? And when we are talking about getting promotions, establishing client relationships and selling – Well, perfect hair, makeup or a killer logo won’t cut it on it’s own.
So let’s talk about Value. When you consider anyone that you know who has an identifiable Brand they have usually gotten known for something in particular. They have most likely provided significant value through work, advise, experience, product or outputs. Consider a Brand like Nike who specialised initially in running shoes, they provided expertise in becoming a leader in that market with an exceptional product. But you can start contributing Value when you ultimately know your strengths and what you are good at. Apple is one Brand who knew what they were good at and keep improving the product time and time again, to give Value to those who are specifically on team Apple. Once you’ve identified your strengths you can work towards them and use them to your advantage, these are the things you are likely already known for, so start to leverage from that place. See your strength in the value you can give to others.
And have you ever considered the feeling that you want to leave people with once you’ve parted ways on each occasion, or at each interaction? You will probably all know what I’m talking about when I say there are again some people, friends, colleagues and Business influencers who just enter and leave a room with either a positive or negative essence. Now stay with me here, because this is a significant part of your Brand in regards how you make people feel, and it is a very little known aspect that people actively talk about. But it is crucial when you are winning hearts, minds and influencing people. Do you leave people believing that you have utter unwavering confidence in what you do and can deliver, or do you leave them feeling as though you are willing to try and are a little nervous of the prospect or challenge? Again take the time to think of people that you are inspired by at this point. And ask yourself after each interaction with that person, be it from a formal meeting place at work, or via an online presence or in a social setting, how do they leave you feeling? Motivated, inspired and light, confident, important and valued or annoyed, heavy and down? Most likely it’s the former (fingers crossed!).
So have you ever considered then, how you want to affect people’s emotions and more importantly their feelings? And I mention feelings because they last the longest and remain attached to memories, which assist the process of identity and Brand recognition. So let’s compound this thinking even more now and have you recall a wonderful memory something that made you feel excited….. See what I did there? I immediately attached a feeling to the memory to assist you in identifying, most likely a happy one. So whether you like to consider feelings a part of the Branding process or not, they are critical in defining how you are known and most importantly remembered!
I know from experience and the numerous Clients that I work with who want to get significant promotions, move Companies or be headhunted for Leadership roles, benefit greatly from having a recognised Brand and using it as a way to connect with others.
So how do you start identifying your personal or professional Brand? And then what?
Follow these steps to get your Brand awareness and identity cemented!
Value – get to know your strengths, be honest with yourself, ask your friends, colleagues, Clients or Customers, Managers and Trusted Advisors and note what they say. Then whittle them down into what you know to be your strengths. Choose your top 3 and define them. Notice what it is about them that makes you strong within that area of specialism or expertise. And then define what it is about those strengths that you enjoy. It’s so important to enjoy the process of adding Value and playing to your strengths.
Identity – This can be broken down into many areas, but for here I’m discussing the 2 main areas to focus on:
Visual – This is how you are physically seen in the world, be it through having fabulous glasses, always wearing pink or being renowned for wearing a suit. One of the first things people notice is appearance, and this goes for Business logo and Branding also, so be consistent and be very comfortable in your choice of visual branding. Again if you’re not sure what people might initially notice about you then ask some trusted friends and advisors. Ultimately you want to be comfortable with how you show up visually in the world as self-confidence and self-awareness is a great look on everyone!
Language – What words do you use, and what words do you want to be known for? Tag lines and strong sentences about what you actually achieve, deliver and produce make very compelling talking point, Clarity for yourself initially and build confidence. I know someone who uses the word Awesome all the time, because its seen to be part of the excited, high vibe and accelerant he wants to be in the world, it lifts his vibration when he uses it, aligns him with his mission and tells others what a positive person he is! Now if this repels certain people that’s ok, we are not meant to please everyone, and whittling down your circle of fans is preferable, so do not conform – be the true you!
Personal Identity Affirmation – This is for you, a way to set an intention and be very clear about who you are and how you will be seen in the world, as well as incorporating the essence you want to leave people with when you are no longer in the room. This is a statement that affirms to you;
Who you are,
What Value you Bring through your strengths, and
How you enable others to Feel.
Repeat this to yourself many times a day, setting your intention of your Brand before you even interact in your day. Use it as a morning ritual practice as well as a daily affirmation – this is a way of being, becoming who you truly are.
Comment below and let me know what your Brand is, and how you’re using this information to affect action and improve how you are seen consistently in the world.
And if you’re keen to work with me to gain real traction to mindfully align with your mission and create conscious business with purpose, confidence and ease. Check out my 12-month Transformation Program. Which will give you weekly Coaching, support from other aspiring entrepreneurs, opportunities to collaborate, a safe space to test, challenge and improve your Business and your Life so that you can better serve the world through aligning with your own personal mission.
In the meantime, know your Brand and get comfy with it,
With gratitude,
Alison xoxo
Alison Callan is The Clarity and Success Coach for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, as well as an Internationally Accredited Coach and Mindfulness Consultant, Facilitator and Speaker.
Committed to helping You mindfully align with your mission to create Conscious Business with Purpose, Confidence and Ease. So that you live a life you love and deserve with Clarity through Conscious Creation.
As a small to medium enterprise business owner you will have no doubt heard of coaching, but you may not have taken the time until now to explore the significant benefits that coaching can bring to you, your team and ultimately your enterprise.
I completely appreciate that coaching may seem like a luxury at first glance, as there is a time commitment required as well as monetary investment. Both of which are precious commodities when you are running your own business. However, here’s my perspective as a Coach on why your investment could ultimately be significantly worthwhile on multiple levels.
Firstly, let’s take a look at coaching in its most commonly associated form, from a sporting perspective. As a business owner, at CEO/ Director level the buck starts and stops with you so let’s look at a solitary sport for now in this example, running.
Are you out for a jog or are you planning a marathon? From a coaching perspective the intent and clarity required to answer this question informs the approach and outcome. You see, in the first instance a jog can take you anywhere, you don’t need an excessive warm up regime, or to plan your breaks or meet a time limit. Your primary goal is on planning to exercise with no specific long term investment in the outcome of that jog or where it might be leading to, you’ll see how it goes. With a marathon however, a lot more is involved, it requires planning, commitment, training and mental preparation as well as having all the necessary gear. Most marathon runners set expectations and have made significant lifestyle choices to meet their goal. With this in mind most invest in a Coach to train with, to raise their awareness, focus their mind-set, shed light on blind spots and develop some fundamentals directed at enhancing their performance and meeting their goal. Same thing in business. High performers have Coaches to raise their game.
Here’s my couple of cents worth, or in fact 7 of them, on the value of working with a Coach at a small to medium enterprise level in business.
1. Focus
A Coach is skilled in creating the space to enable you to get clear on what’s important, to uncovered your core drivers and reminding you of the visions you’ve created, and how your present focus is aligning you purposefully, by asking the hard questions to challenge your perspective, known ability and consequently shed light on any unknown quantities for exploration where deemed appropriate. All the while ensuring you are working towards your required outcome. Your Coach is keeping the focus of the outcome in sight to align your discovery to what you need to achieve.
2. Setting goals and reaching them
Being a visionary and blue sky thinker is greatly required in business, but being able to relate those visions to specific, measurable and timely incremental goals is key to making the vision a reality. A Coach is accustomed to challenging, motivating and driving honest and relatable thinking into this process to support you in setting your strategy for success.
3. Accountability is crucial when working towards something
A Coach is a great partner in creating your strategies, testing your commitment to achieving your goals and checking the practicalities of your assigned actions through powerful questions that challenge your thinking, boundaries and expectations.
4. You can brainstorm and bounce ideas off your Coach
A truly great coach enables a safe, confidential space removing all judgement, preconceived ideas of right and wrong to allow you to open up to truly original, fresh and forward thinking concepts. Things you might have dismissed or resisted due to your personal self-limiting beliefs or fear. Through coaching you get to follow your thoughts through via answering powerful questions and create links, and master a self-awareness that you could have previously overlooked.
5. Provide opportunity for reflection
With a Coach you can explore what you’ve done, and what you’d like to learn from it, replicate or give a wide birth too in the future. Your Coach will hold a mirror up for you to ask the hard questions to get you to see different perspectives, possibilities and opportunities. In this space you can identify and break negative or damaging cycles, expose any self-limiting beliefs, patterns and shine a light on where your focus is needed to achieve more of what you want, and discard that which you don’t.
6. Be real and exposed
Who can you be truly real with about your business, talk about your vulnerabilities, concerns and actually be confident that the person you’re confiding in has only the best intentions for empowering you to develop strategies to build, strengthen, stabilise and grow? It can be hard to carry the fears or concerns single-handedly and will eventually take its toll, but there is no need to struggle alone with this. Once shared with your Coach you’ve given yourself permission to take action and deal accordingly without concern that you’ve impaired your credibility or reputation.
7. Team engagement
Working with a business Coach enables teams to become more efficient in their thinking as a collective. Creating a space for teams to engage in challenges together, devising team led appropriate solutions that everyone is signed up to is the Coaches focus. Allowing the team to recognise evolution, flexibility and adaptability in ever changing circumstances – thus building resilience, compassion, empathy and a collective desire to succeed.
The common theme in working with a Coach is that the Coach is there for you, driven by the outcomes you value, they are not personally or professionally attached to a specific outcome, they are impartial and that is how they are able to ask the hard questions and challenge thinking and beliefs through curiosity not judgement or expectation. It is crucial that there is a co-active collaborative way in which you and your Coach engage to build the level of trust, openness and honesty required for you to benefit fully in all of these aspects.
So the value of coaching resides in the mental toolbox the Coachee learns and develops throughout the coaching relationship, the resource of mental strategies that can be called on and applied in a multitude of different situations. All of which have been designed and developed through personal discovery and insights gained through the coaching process, helping to navigate toward success both personally and professionally. And as I said earlier a professional athlete works with a Coach to bring out their best performance, it’s the same in business!
With Immense Gratitude,
Alison
Alison Callan is The Clarity and Success Coach for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, as well as an Internationally Accredited Coach and Mindfulness Consultant, Facilitator and Speaker.
Committed to helping You mindfully align with your mission to create Conscious Business with Purpose, Confidence and Ease. So that you live a life you love and deserve with Clarity through Conscious Creation.
Have you been noticing insects creeping into the house lately, maybe you’ve remarked how the mornings are significantly darker now and even the winds temperament has changed. These are all the subtle environmental changes occurring to remind us that autumn is approaching.
Have you noticed how your moods or body might naturally be preparing for these changes also? Are you feeling slightly more tired, slower and needing to refuel more? Maybe even becoming prone to the odd sniffle?
Well, now is the exact time to notice these subtle changes, acknowledge and contemplate the need to adapt to them. Naturally when there is less light in the day and the temperature is colder we want to stick closer to home, stay warm and sleep more. Our diet changes also as we eat more hot meals as opposed to salads, in line with the seasonal produce that’s readily available.
So why do we feel that our personal and professional expectations should be consistent?
Human beings are made to be flexible, changeable – in accordance to our environment. In our digitally dependant 24/7 world we forget that our standards and goals are not always easily consistent to achieve and that we need to allow for cycles.
This is crucial in successful planning especially in business, although oftentimes the focus is solely on calendar events and not necessarily on the environmental and seasonal impacts on staff productivity, sickness and motivation.
The good news is that now you are starting to notice these changes, you can plan to adapt accordingly. Here’s my 3 step process to enable a smooth transition to the winter months while still feeling and being productive!
1. Notice and Acknowledge
The first step in adapting here is to notice what is occurring to you mentally and physically? Where are you at, are you seeing or feeling any subtle changes or are your preferences changing. And acknowledge what of these differences are related to the change in season.
Bringing your awareness to, by noticing and acknowledging the shifts you may be undergoing naturally allows you space to choose how you want to respond. This gives you a greater sense of control by enabling you to realise you have an array of available options to you in regards making any necessary adjustments. Choices open up.
2. Priority Review and Impact Assessment
Now that you have acknowledged there are natural subtle shifts occurring for you, this is a great time to review your personal and professional routines and reassess your priorities. Then you can assess the impact of switching up priorities and what effect that this may have on your routine, your habits and your productivity. For example;
Review your exercise routine, is it still highly important to you to maintain your fitness level and current routine as it stands? Maybe, if honest with yourself you will have to call more on your willpower to keep up with your classes that seemed so easy when it was light at 6am, but may be harder to go to in the dark. Once you have reviewed the importance of exercise in your life it maybe that you review the impact of doing less exercise would actually mean for a less satisfied you and so you assess your alternative options and decide that maybe you adjust from an outdoor activity to an indoor one.
Re-prioritising is such a key factor in giving your mind and body the permission to adapt as we naturally want to, without the guilt associated from not being 100% motivated, productive and alert. You are entitled to rest, reprioritise and renew!
3. Allow and Plan
Allow yourself to slow down and be in pace with the changing season, prepare for the darker days mentally and physically. Readdress your long term goals, for this upcoming time as you have now processed that you may not naturally be able to keep up the pace that you once were, nor may you feel inclined to. It is the natural order of things that autumn sets in to make way for the new and you too need the down time to do the same.
Get creative, reassess your progress on your personal and professional plans, where are you heading, have you made progress or procrastinated. Take stock and plan for the future once more. This mental workout and dedicated time to planning increases your motivation and desire to get stuck into making changes, and you will be surprised how little steps during this time and reserving energy will set you up to make bigger impacts later on to get you closer to your longer term goals.
Use this time to purposefully readjust, allow what is to be, get kind with yourself and curious about your changing needs as opposed to judging. Be adaptive, considerate of yourself and allow and nurture change. Some additional things to consider before the winter snap takes hold:
Consider supplements to ward off ills, having some vitamins on standby, echinacea or naturopathic or homeopathic remedies, maybe even some lemon, honey and ginger.
New decor or a change in your rooms layout of furniture, physically showing a change in environment, reminding you of the shift that has occurred.
Consider your heating options, get firewood delivered, buy a new heater or dig out the hot water bottle to get ready for the chill that may come – take your time doing it. While acknowledging that you are prepping ahead of time to take care of all aspects in your life.
Dig out the slow cooker and readdress your kitchen essentials, tins and herbs so you’re all stocked up and ready for good old batch cooking!
The time you put into noticing and preparing for these subtle changes to take hold will help you get mentally ready for the onset of the winter, and the natural change to come as a result. Give yourself this time to be quiet, to slow down and recharge ready for the Spring, when you will naturally want to spring into action and put all your good ideas and plans into play.
I would love to hear what you notice during this time of transition and what changes you put in place to prepare for it, let me know in the comments.
Alison Callan is a Mindfulness Consultant, Career and Business Coach. Committed to creating positive and lasting change for individuals, teams and organisations through Mindfulness.
Alison Callan is The Clarity and Success Coach for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, as well as an Internationally Accredited Coach and Mindfulness Consultant, Facilitator, Speaker and #1 Best Selling Co-Author of the book ‘You Are Meant For More’.
