Coaching Business Startup 205 – Identify with your niche!

Hi there!

You’re looking great. I love what you’ve done to your hair!

Come on in and sit down.

It’s curry night tonight: Chicken Tikka Masala. The English national dish!

Now, where were we?

Ah yes… Yesterday,  Holistic Health Heavyweight Bob Kaufer asked me a question which was so perfect that I couldn’t have possibly planted a better one myself!

He asked:

JJ, what is your niche?

Super fantastic question, Bob. I love questions about me! 

What a great case study this will be. And a perfect introduction to Step 2 of my Coaching Marketing Blueprint – Identifying with your niche.

Let’s do it!

My niche market is newly trained coaches who are struggling to get their business started and to attract paying clients.

Following Andy Wibbels’ definition, we described a useful niche market as:

a group of people with a common set of urgent problems or passions that are accessible, and who have money to spend.

We clarified, stating that, to be useful to you, your niche market should be:

• small enough that you can become an expert and build a good reputation within that niche
• large enough to support your business. 

With this in mind, let’s analyse my niche market…

Is the group large enough to support my business?

Yes. Coaching is very much a growth industry. More people are taking coaching qualifications than ever before, meaning that there are more qualified coaches than ever before. With a large number of coaches available, people are looking for an edge.

Is the group small enough that you can become an expert and build a good reputation within the niche?

Yes. I’ll cover basic market research in detail shortly. For now, trust me. Besides, I’m JJ Jalopy. I rock!

Is the group accessible?

Yes. There are a number of places where newly qualified coaches “hang out”:

• coaching training schools
• online forums
• online communities and websites like www.jjjalopy.com
• coaching industry magazines
• networking events
• any much more…

Finally, does the group have a common set of urgent and painful problems or passions that invoke a lot of emotion?

Hmmm… Now this is an interesting question.

Before we tackle this, let me take a few minutes to introduce you to this dude… 

His name is Eben Pagan. You might not believe it, but this nerd from California has made gazillions of dollars on the internet selling eBooks, subscription programs, and high-end DVD home study courses about picking up girls!

And it gets better… He does it all under the brilliant pseudonym of David DeAngelo!

To be fair, I don’t think Eben would like my description of his business too much. He would describe his niche as dating advice.Sounds a bit more conservative, you see.

(But between you and me – it really is about picking up girls. I know. I’ve read the emails. And you should too. If you want a perfect case study in how to use an email autoresponder system then subscribe to his opt-in, pay attention and learn. I’m about to buy his eBook too so I can see how his back-end follow up communication works. Mrs. Jalopy will be so pleased! )

I’ve got off track again!

Nowadays Eben also helps entrepreneurs with their own internet businesses.

Eben understands that value of being able to see the world through your customers eyes. To help you do that, he teaches the concept of a customer avatar.

A customer avatar is simply a representation of your typical customer. 

This is a great tool to help you empathize with your niche market.

Eben goes even further with this idea, suggesting that you also create an avatar for your business. All your communication can then be thought of in terms of a dialogue between these two people. It’s a really powerful way of thinking!

Let’s have a go at creating JJ Jalopy’s customer avatar. This should help us in understanding my niche market.

She’s called Marjorie. (She would have to be, really!)

Marjorie is 35 years old. She is recently married and she has a young daughter. Marjorie has always had a strong urge to help people fulfill their true potential. Egged on by her friends and attracted by the flexible working hours and the freedom of being able to work from home, Marjorie decides to train to become a coach.

She takes a life and business coaching certification and she gets a steady stream of non-paying clients to build her confidence as she qualifies.

She’s a great coach. She completes her qualification and she starts to get referrals from her friends. She picks up a couple of paying clients, but then things start to dry up a little. She knows she’s a great coach, but she’s finding it really hard to get more clients.

She’s scared the money will run out. She’s scared that she won’t be able to provide for her family.

She’s scared she’ll have to go back to work or get a part-time job.

She’s worried that she’s made a mistake. She’s worried about being a failure.

She’s worried others will see her as a failure. 

She feels lost because she doesn’t have a clear plan of what she needs to do to make money as a coach.

She feels overwhelmed with potential options and things to do.

Does this sound like an urgent and painful problem, involving a large amount of emotion?!

Of course!

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears we have a good niche market here. Well done me!

I encourage you to go through this complete exercise with your own niche ideas. You’re going to learn a load simply from asking these questions. 

Right, so what’s the next step?

 

That’s right! We need to find solutions to Marjorie’s problems!

But not today – I’m pooped!

Ta-ra!

JJ Jalopy.

Coaching Business Startup 204 – Find your niche market

How to become  a coach. With Coaching Marketing Expert JJ Jalopy.

Bonjour!

How nice of you to come by again.

It’s been a lovely sunny day here in London. I spent the early evening relaxing in the sunshine in a beer garden.

A beer garden isn’t necessarily the picturesque and foliage-filled drinking paradise you might imagine. In fact, any part of “outside” that you can drink in gets called a beer garden in England.

A few paving slabs, some plastic chairs and a liquor license? Yup – that’s a beer garden.

And a jolly nice evening it was too.

Now, earlier this week I gave you a sneak peak of my Complete Blueprint for Coaching Marketing World Domination!

Here it is again in all it’s lightning bolt strewn glory.

Today we’re going to discuss the very first step.

Which is…

 

Find your niche market.

Now, it has been said that life coaching is a solution looking for a problem.

And, in a certain respect, I agree.

Very few people are looking for a “life coach”.

No. People generally have specific problems that they want solved. And they usually want an expert to help them solve these problems.

It is easier to become perceived as an expert if you pick a narrowly defined market in which to work. 

Deciding upon your niche market is the first step in becoming the superstar coach that you were born to be.

My favorite description of a niche is from blogging expert Andy Wibbels

A group of people with a common set of urgent problems or passions.

I’ll go slightly further.

To be useful to you, a niche must be a group of people with a common set of urgent problems or passions that are accessible, and who have money to spend.

So, JJ, where should I start with defining my niche?

Well actually, we already started with our earlier discussion on how you answer the question: What do you do?

You’ll want to pick an area that excites you, and ideally an area in which you already have some experience.

The next step is a sense check. Is your niche market:

• small enough that you can become an expert and build a good reputation within that niche?
• large enough to support your business. 

I once had a client tell me that her niche market was women.

That’s half of the world!

It’ll take some serious effort to reach expert status in the coaching women market. That’s not to say that it’s impossible – just look at what Tony Robbins has achieved – but it will be a lot of work.

Eventually she decided that her area of expertise would be housewives who want to get back into work.

Now, that’s a niche market!

They have a common painful problem. They are accessible – they belong to common organizations, or read common websites or magazines. And the market is well-defined enough that it is possible to become known as an expert in the area.

Now, a final sense check:

• does your niche market have a common painful problem or a passion that involves a large amount of emotion?
• is your niche market prepared to spend have money to spend on the resolution of their problem or the accomplishment of their dream?

So, whilst the unemployed may be an easily accessible group of people with a common urgent problem, they don’t necessarily have too much money to spend. So, unless you’re being paid by the government or you’re marketing a very low cost coaching solution, this probably isn’t going to work out for you in the long term.

Now, I hope you have at least an idea of a possible niche market for you.

Next time we talk we’re going to get inside the head of one of your prospective customers and find out what really makes them tick.

It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Oh. Look at the time! How did it get so late!

I’d better get myself ready for bed.

You can let yourself out. I’ll see you tomorrow!

JJ Jalopy.

The TRUE SECRET to IMMENSE Personal Productivity!

Find something AWESOME to work on!

JJ Jalopy.

Are you having fun?

Hi there!

It’s great to see you as always.

I’m stuffed.

Today I treated myself to takeout pizza. It had every kind of meat in the world on it. Delicious!

 

Right… Did you enjoy my first ever newsletter?

Oh, I’m pleased!

But I have a confession to make… 

I was playing around with my shiny new e-mailer system  earlier – marveling at its sleek design, ease of use, and general idiot-proof-ness when…

…I accidentally unsubscribed a load of you.

So, yeah. I suck.

If you get another confirm email in your emailbox today then that’s why. Click the link if you want to get back on my list. Leave it alone to tell me I suck! 

Whoops. Good start JJ! 

Anyway… I wanted to go on a bit of a diversion today because I think what I’m about to ask is really important.

Now, starting your new business involves a lot of work. 

You knew that from the start, of course. And you’ve been working hard. Very hard.

My question to you is this…

Are you having fun?

That’s right. Are you having fun? Are you happy in your work? Are you happy outside of your work?

Earlier in the blog, I stressed the importance of making a plan to commit to your new business. We talked about getting friends and family onside and we agreed that it was important to schedule regular time to work on your business. 

We said that timekeeping is one of the aspects of a job that you might want to apply to your new business. We said that you’d get to play boss and you’d do well to be a bit strict with yourself.

But there was one thing that we forgot to talk about…

…and that’s to make sure that you enjoy what you’re doing.

Let’s add an extra step to my productivity formula. I contend that to be truly happy and productive in your work you need to: 

1. Understand that you can only be doing one thing at a time
2. Work on the single most important thing in terms of the profitability or growth of your business
3. Feel okay about not doing any of the other 10,000 things you could be doing.
4. And know that you might as well be enjoying the thing you’ve decided to be doing – because it’s the only thing you’re doing!

Okay fine, JJ. That’s nice and everything but some things just suck. How can I enjoy doing my taxes? How can I enjoy trying to get my documents back from a hard drive crash? How can you enjoy writing my first sales letter when I’m feeling totally overwhelmed?

You’re right, of course.

You’re always going to have a crap time trying to get your documents back from a hard drive crash. Even Buddha hated that.

And you are going to have crises of confidence. You are going to get angry when you accidentally unsubscribe a third of your one-day-old mailing list. 

I just had a little tantrum about half an hour ago in fact. It was rather camp. I’m glad you didn’t see it.

So, as much as I want to find ways to make my work as fun and enjoyable as possible, sometimes it is simply out of my emotional reach! So if I can’t be working and enjoying it, I want to be shutting myself away with no distractions, getting it done, and then winding down when I’m finished.

This is "meditation"

 

And that’s super important.

If you’re going to be holed up, working like crazy, then you better schedule in some time to smell the flowers. Make it as important as your work time.

Don’t start doing the washing or cleaning the bathroom. You wouldn’t do that in your lunch break at work, would you?

Do something that completely relaxes you. Go and play with the kids. Go and watch some TV. Make a pot of tea. Have a cuddle with your husband or wife.

…

…

…

(Ahhhh…. I should listen to my own advice more often!)

Now let’s think slightly longer term.

I’m going to bet that you threw yourself into your business with enthusiastic abandon. I bet you scheduled time to spend on your new business and then you stayed up ’till 2:00AM because you just had to finish that article. 

You woke up energized because you were excited about your new business. You were having so much fun! You were spending a bit less time with your family, but they understood because you had told them how important this was to you.

Then gradually, after three weeks of consistent hard work, it became a habit. It was easy to switch on the computer and get to work – but you began to feel a little tired. You began to find harder to get excited about working on your business. 

Perhaps you wondered if you’d be able to carry on like this? Perhaps you worried if your relationships would suffer if you carried on like this?

Well, you have two choices.

You either accept that, for the next X weeks you’re shutting yourself away and focusing on getting stuff done. And then you’ll strengthen your commitments to the parts of your life you feel have left behind a little. 

Or you make those other commitments now to create a balanced life you love right now.

Any other option is too rubbish to spend time on. And you know it, don’t you JJ?

(Yes, this post was written entirely for my own benefit!)

Right… I’m off to ask Mrs. Jalopy about her day…

See you tomorrow!

JJ Jalopy.

Coaching Business Startup 203 – The Complete Coaching Marketing Blueprint

How to Become a Coach. With Coaching Marketing Superstar JJ Jalopy!

Hey there!

It’s a MASSIVE day today in Jalopyland!

Not only am I going to give you the patented and much-hyped Complete Coaching Marketing Blueprint for Coaching World Domination…

…BUT I’ll also be sending out the very first edition of the Jalopy Gang Newsletter tonight. It’s a weekly publication which will appear in your email box every Sunday, packed full of free resources and unique content that I won’t be sharing anywhere else.

Sign up below to be sure you don’t miss out!

Cool.

Now I’ve hyped quite this enough thank you… so without further ado, allow me to present The Complete Coaching Marketing Blueprint for Coaching World Domination!

Gotta love those lightning bolts!!

Many clients, when they first see this blueprint, can be a little confused as to how this relates to coaching marketing.

Well…. today I’m going to invite you to have a think about this yourself.

Be easy with it – just have a think about how this might apply to your business. What might it mean? What could I mean by a niche market? What could a marketing engine be? What does it mean to get leverage on your time?

Then next time we meet, I’ll take you through the entire model step-by-step. And you’ll begin to see that I truly am a coaching marketing genius!

In the meantime, I’m off to write my first ever Jalopy Gang newsletter! It’s obviously going to be totally brilliant, so make sure that you’re subscribed. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on the fun!

See you a bit later today!

JJ Jalopy.

P.S. Not sure if I mentioned this, but I have a newsletter. Why not sign-up?!

Coaching Business Startup 202 – Beliefs about Marketing

How to Become a Coach. Coaching Marketing Advice with Coach Marketing Expert JJ Jalopy.

Hey there!

Welcome back to Jalopyville!

We’ve had an awesome day today. Mrs. Jalopy and I have just come back from the gym.

To be honest, we spent more time in the hot tub than the gym.

I’m all about efficiency at the gym. The more efficient my workout, the more free time I can spend in the hot tub!

I think of most of my life like this. The more focused and efficient I can be in my work, the more time I have to lie in on Saturday morning and enjoy a cuddle with Mrs. Jalopy.

So as we reclined in the tub, with warm bubbles foaming around us, we began to talk about marketing coaching.

How do you feel about marketing your coaching?  I asked.

Well I know I have to do it, she explained, but I don’t want it to take over my work. I’d much rather spend my time coaching.

Most of the coaches I work with see marketing their services as a necessary evil.

This makes sense.

Coaches want to coach. Kind of obvious, right?

That’s where coaches perceive the most value. And that’s what they find most rewarding.

So that’s where their focus is. And some see the marketing piece is a necessary but unwelcome distraction from coaching itself.

Some coaches hold marketing in much worse regard. The mere mention of the word can be enough to cause disgust. They might see it as aggressive, as hostile, as an invasion.

My new series on this blog, which I hyped like crazy the other day, is all about marketing your coaching business.

It’s my premise that you will not achieve total coaching world domination without a marketing plan. My job here is to help you to do that.

It is my challenge today to get you to see marketing as an important, enjoyable and win-win extension of coaching itself.

Quite a claim, right?

Well… I’ll invite you to keep an open mind as you listen to what I have to say.

Let’s meet The Greatest Coach in the World.

The Greatest Coach in the World is the greatest listener in the world has seen. She listens to the very core of what the client is saying. She listens past the words and understands the key drivers of her client’s behavior. She understands their fears. She understands their core desires. She understands what motivates them.

The Greatest Coach in the World is also the greatest communicator the world has seen. She understands the best way to engage the client to get the very best from them. She knows the language to use to inspire them. She knows when to challenge them and the best way to do it. She is able to effortlessly guide them towards the result or understanding that is in their best interest. 

She’s a coaching dynamo! A superstar!

The greatest coach the world has seen!

But she doesn’t do much coaching. She doesn’t help many people.

Because she can’t stand the idea of marketing her services. She sees it as an act of aggression, an affront.

People hate being sold to, don’t they?

Besides, she’s the Greatest Coach in the World! The clients should find her.

But they don’t.

And hundreds of would-be clients walk past her in the street every day, failing to notice that lady they just walked past will help them to make their life a work of art!

Isn’t it sad?

It’s doubly sad when you realize that the Greatest Coach in the World would be the Greatest Marketer in the world, if it weren’t for one small limiting belief.

Wow, hang on there. That’s a bit of a leap JJ! What do you mean?

Well, let’s meet The Greatest Marketer in the World!

The Greatest Marketer in the World is the greatest listener in the world has seen. She listens to the very core of what the prospect really wants. She listens beyond what they say they want and she understands the key drivers of her prospect’s behavior. She understands their fears. She understands their core desires. She understands what motivates them.

The Greatest Marketer in the World is also the greatest communicator the world has seen. She understands the best way to engage the prospect so they listen to her message. She knows what language to use to inspire them. She knows when to challenge them and the best way to do it. She is able to effortlessly guide them towards the services or products that provide them with the most value. 

She’s a marketing dynamo! A superstar!

The greatest marketer the world has ever seen!

Hmmm… Does any of this sound familiar?

As an awesome coach, you are already an awesome marketer…

…as long as you believe you are and you believe in the value of your services.

The last point is important.

Often a “distaste for marketing” is used as a convenient excuse for not taking action because the coach is not confident of the value of their services.

The first stage to getting past this is to acknowledge that you are doing this.

The next stage is to acknowledge and appreciate your value as a coach, and the value you can bring to people’s lives.

I was talking to a client last week. She had run a trial session a week ago and hadn’t heard anything back from the client. She didn’t want to call him to follow up.

I asked her why? (And THAT is awesome example of coaching in action, right there. You can write that one down and use it yourself if you like. )

She told me that the guy was in a lot of debt and she didn’t want to make things worse for him by making him pay more money on coaching.

I asked her what she thought would probably happen if he didn’t take her up on her coaching offer.

He’s likely to carry on behaving the way he was, she said.

I asked her what benefits her coaching would give him that he hadn’t had access to before.

As she listed out all the things that benefits he would enjoy as a result of her coaching, she began to see that taking her up on her offer of coaching would provide him with the best possible chance of making positive change happen in his life. 

And she made the call easily. Her lack of belief in the value of her coaching had been the cause of her hesitation. Nothing else.

As it happens he declined her offer. And that’s okay. Many more people will benefit from my client’s coaching and they will be glad they said yes.

So how do I go about marketing my coaching practice, JJ?

Well that’s a good question. And one that we’re going to address in this awesome new series.

The approach that we’re going to take is one that I like to call win-win value-giving relationship-oriented marketing.

Or WWVGROM for short!

Every value-packed post I write on www.jjjalopy.com is a marketing message. Even yesterday, when all I did was show you that every motivational catchphrase can be improved with the addition of the word “Dude” – that’s a marketing message.

All of the communication I have with you serves to enhance the message of the JJ Jalopy brand. It is valuable to me because it enhances the JJ Jalopy brand essence and the relationship I have with you. It is valuable to you because it educates you, brings you hope and understanding, entertains you, encourages you, brings you specific and valuable advice, and much more.

This is true win-win value-giving relationship-oriented marketing.

And it is this kind of relationship-oriented marketing that I’ll be encouraging you to engage in during this series.

Great marketing is as entertaining as it is valuable. A great sales letter can be a riot to read! And it can be packed full of great free information.

Sometimes it can be full of hype. And that’s okay. Hype can be a lot of fun. And you’ll have the goods to back it up.

I hyped this series like crazy. But I know it’s going to be great!

The marketing model we’ll work with involves capturing attention, building relationships and then walking the talk. It’s based on giving value and exceeding expectations. It’s as far from the image of a pushy car salesman as you can image. (Although sometimes it pays to be pushy when it’s in the prospect’s best interest.) 

I hope you’re excited about the rest of the series. Next time I’m going to drop the blueprint on you. The complete blueprint to total coaching world domination!

That’s when it gets really wild!

But now I’m going to finish off some cheesecake. Yum.

See you tomorrow. It’s been grand!

JJ Jalopy.

P.S. I’m sorry. I know this was waaaay too long. I wanted to get this bit covered so we can get onto the exciting stuff tomorrow. Thanks for bearing with me!

What would Tony do?

How to Become a Life Coach. Life Coaching Business Advice with Coaching Training Expert JJ Jalopy!

Hi there!

I hope you’re having a great day.

This is probably going to be the shortest post I ever write.

Today, I just want to share one simple question with you. One that still inspires me to action years after a good friend first dropped it on me.

I was tired. 

I was fed up.

I knew I could do better.

I knew I could try harder.

I wanted to. But I just couldn’t summon the energy.

Then… 

Dude, is that what massive action looks like?

What would Tony do?

It wasn’t. 

But I did a great impression of it shortly afterwards!

JJ Jalopy.

JJ’s Tom Waits Obsession

Tom Waits – Johnsburg, Illinois

She’s my only true love
she’s all that I think of
look here in my wallet
that’s her
She grew up on a farm there
there’s a place on my arm
where I’ve written her name
next to mine
you see I just can’t
live without her
and I’m her only boy
and she grew up outside McHenry
in Johnsburg, Illinois.

I love Tom Waits.

And this is my favorite song.

It’s the kind of song to listen when you’re away from home, drunk on minibar gin and you miss your wife.

Simple, bold and unashamedly romantic. It’s so beautiful it gives me goosebumps.

And it’s the perfect song for a late evening with my good friends here at www.jjjalopy.com

Put your feet up, relax and enjoy.

Then, if you don’t mind, please share your favorite song. What do you love about it?

JJ Jalopy.

The important thing you’re not doing.

How to Become a Coach. With Coaching Training Expert JJ Jalopy.

Oh, hello there!

How lovely to see you again.

Having you drop round like this is fast becoming my favorite part of the day!

Yesterday I got very excited!

I recapped everything we’ve spoken about so far about how to become a coach and how to start your coaching business.

And I introduced an exciting new series.

A new series in which I’ll lay out my secret roadmap to total coaching domination!

I’ll also take off my shirt, save babies from burning buildings, help old people across the road and generally act like the superhero coaching mentor you’d expect.

Yeah, so I spent most of yesterday hyping the %&$% out of my new series.

(Oh, and half of today now too!)

So I was ready to hit you with the post to end all posts. The blueprint. I was ready to throw so much value in your face that you wouldn’t know what hit you.

Well, lots of value obviously.

I digress.

I wanted to sit down for three and four hours and unleash the post from blogging nirvana.

But something was irking me. 

Back at the start of our relationship I explained that, to be productive and happy with a large list of tasks to do, you need to:

• be working on the single most important thing in terms of the profitability or growth of your business, and…
• feel okay about not doing the other 10,000 things you could be doing.

Well, the thing I most wanted to be doing was writing my post of glory. 

That’s what I’d find most fun. 

That’s what my ego would enjoy the most.

But something was telling me that wasn’t the best use of my time today.

You see, I explained yesterday that I would use my new online venture, this very website www.jjjalopy.com, as an example of the beginning stages of my business blueprint in action.

It was to be a case study. An example of this model in all its glory.

But I know there are certain very important little things that I hadn’t done with the website and the business which would make a very big difference. 

And spending my whole evening writing wasn’t one of them.

 

So I did some long overdue research. I made some small but very significant changes to the website. (There are more on the way.)

I did the little things I would have done a long time ago if I had been mentoring myself!

It feels great to have that stuff done. And it feels great to be up at 1:00AM talking to you about this, rather than what I’d planned.

So my question to you today is: What’s the important thing that you’re not doing right now?

Let me know if you thought of something useful. There’s a comment box below!

Right. It’s way past my bedtime now. I’ll see you tomorrow.

You can let yourself out!

JJ Jalopy.

P.S. Now go back to the top of the page and enter your name and email to join my Jalopy Gang. It’s great. We have parties with tea and loads of cake.

Coaching Business Startup 201 – Marketing your coaching practice

How to Become a Coach. Coaching Business Advice with Coaching Marketing Expert JJ Jalopy.

Hi there!

Great to see you. It’s a big day today!

We’ve done some great work together already in the last few weeks, but today I’m super excited because we’re about to start a new series on the blog about setting up and marketing your new coaching business.

In the first series, we talked mostly about mindset and time management, and we concentrated on increasing your confidence and coaching experience.

This was a very necessary first step. But now the really good stuff is about to begin.

Now, if you’re game, we’re about to talk business!

Using the lessons I’ve already learned we’re about to send your fledgling coaching business soaring into the stratosphere!

I’m going to show you the exact game plan and principles that I use to help my clients build their coaching businesses in my top-tier coach mentoring program.

Incidentally, you’ll notice that it’s the very same model I’m using right now to build the Jalopy brand! We’ll be using my new online business at www.jjjalopy.com as one of our case studies. So I’d better walk the talk!

(If I don’t have an opt-in box on my website in the next 24 hours then please kick my virtual butt!)

But first before we start all that fun… let’s recap where we’ve got to so far!

We started with a decision to commit to making our new coaching business really happen.

We talked about the need to take action and create good constructive habits. And then we made a commitment plan to allow us to take regular, scheduled action and to be sure that our friends and family are on board.

We spoke of the value we can get by modeling successful coaches and businesses and we came up with an inspiring, provocative way to answer the question “what do you do?”

I then urged you to start doing that thing you do as soon as possible to build confidence and experience. I urged you not to worry about business plans, websites, advertising, branding or any of that stuff and I urged you to get out there and start coaching right away!

I showed you an exercise that you could use to start doing trial coaching sessions with your friends and acquaintances and we addressed some of the blocks you may have about doing this in a confidence blasting podcast and guided visualization.

Next, superstar guest-blogger Coach Kalpna talked you through how she likes to run trial coaching sessions and I laid down a step by step roadmap of how you might want to do it

And now we’re here… Phew.

If you followed along with me and took action then you’re already a coaching megastar. Just like me!

You’ll have done a number of trial coaching sessions and you’ll likely have a few regular coaching clients by this point. You might not be making much money (if any) but you’ve taken a giant leap forward. Look back for a second and see how far you’ve come.

You should be proud.

Now, some coaches believe that becoming good at coaching is all that they need to do to grow a thriving coaching business.

I’ve heard coaching mentors say that the coach simply needs to build the business, assume the identity of coach and imagine a thriving business full of clients. Everything else will sort itself out.

“Be the coach and the clients will come.”

This is one approach.

But it’s not a very good one.

Actually, let’s not kid ourselves. It sucks.

Where are these clients going to come from? How will they find you? How many people have stopped you on the street and asked you if you’d coach them?

Whatever the, ahem, “quantum physicist” on Oprah might say, this is not going to work.

In Jalopyland we like to be a bit more deliberate and scientific with our approach. We’re going to take a proven relationship-driven business model used by successful companies all over the world, adapt it to the needs of the coach and follow it step by step.

In our discussions in this series I’m going to show you the whole model…

The Complete Blueprint for Coaching World Domination!

I’ll show you a big fancy flowchart and everything. With the patented JJ Jalopy process lightning bolts, of course!

If you’re worried about where your clients or money are going to come from then this is going to blow open a whole new world of possibilities for you. Be excited!

But JJ, I can’t stand the idea of selling myself or pushing my products. I’m not a salesperson and I don’t like the hard sell. I’m a coach, not a hard-nosed business person.

I understand how you feel. If you’re like most of the coaches I know then the idea of marketing your services or products doesn’t exactly fill you with enthusiasm. Most people go into coaching because they want to help people, not to do the hard sell.

So tomorrow, before I bring out the big guns, we’re going to do a bit of work on your beliefs. I have a cheeky reframe or two up my sleeve that might get you to see this area in a whole different light – as a healthy win-win situation.

But now, it’s time for another cup of herbal tea. And then it’s bedtime.

See you tomorrow!

JJ Jalopy.
Become a Life Coach

Coaching Business Startup 104 – Introducing the Trial Coaching Session Roadmap!

How to become a coach. Coaching Business Advice with Coaching Marketing Superstar JJ Jalopy!

Well hello again!

Good evening. Come on in.

It’s been a crazy fun day.

It was Mrs. Jalopy’s birthday today. We woke up late, went for a walk in the sunshine, sat in a hot tub for hours and ate lots of chocolate cake when we got home.

There’s still a few slices left. Help yourself. It’s delicious!

Now… I promised that I’d spend some time talking to you about tactics you can use when running trial coaching sessions.

Well today is the day!

I’m going to introduce you to the JJ Jalopy Trial Coaching Session Roadmap!

But before we do that, I want you to get clear on the outcome you want from your trial sessions.

Have a think about what you would like to achieve in the session for you and for your client. Write down these down now so you can refer to them before your sessions.

Here are some of mine:

• I have gained in experience and confidence.
• I have learned valuable lessons and made new distinctions about coaching.
• I have discovered whether the client is looking for a coach.
• I have discovered whether the client would like an ongoing coaching relationship with me.
• The client understands the role I could play in their life.
• The client understands that I could help them in a particular area of their life or a defined goal or issue.
• The client understands what I do.
• The client has agreed to recommend me to other people or write me a testimonial.

 

Okay. Now you’re clear on what you want to achieve, allow me to share my roadmap with you…

Isn’t it a thing of beauty?

Now there’s a lot here. The goal of our discussion today is to give you a brief overview of this process so that you can be a little more deliberate in the way you run your trial sessions as a beginner coach. We’ll be revisiting this roadmap later on in this series when we discuss getting paid clients in more detail. 

For now, let’s blast through it!

 

Introduce / Deal with Practicalities

You’ll want to take charge of the session right away.

Let the client know how long the session is going to be, how it’s going to work, and what your goals for the session are.

Tell the client that they’ll want to get a pen and paper because they’re going to come up with loads of great ideas!

Then ask them what they would like to achieve in the session.

Find a goal

The client may have a very well defined goal that they want to work on. If this is the case then we don’t need to spend any longer here – scoot on over to the next step!

If they don’t then you’ll want to define a goal to work on for this session. 

 

Help client see goal as achievable

At this point, you want the client to get a clear and vivid picture of what it would look like to achieve their goal. You want to get them excited and clear about it.

 

Create roadmap

Use your skill as a coach to help the client to see some of the steps they can take to achieve their goal. 

You don’t have to figure out everything for them in one short trial session. Just let them see that a clear and achievable path towards their goal.

(My work is really about the business of coaching, so I won’t cover the coaching process in great detail in this blog. There are many excellent resources for this. Contact me if you would like some suggestions.)

 

Allow client to see YOU as part of the roadmap

Now, in order to create an ongoing coaching relationship with the client, you’ll want them to see your coaching as a important and valuable part of the roadmap towards their goal.

I have found that the best way to do this is a four step process.

1. Find out why the client has been unable to achieve this in the past, without you as a coach.
2. Ask what they think will happen if they don’t change their approach.
3. Ask what they think you would give them that they haven’t had before.
4. Ask what they’d find most valuable about working with you.

 

Uncover objections

If you notice some hesitancy with the client, voice it. Talk any objections through with them. We’ll handle common objections in some detail in the future.

Always ask if there is anything else the client needs to know about you, about coaching, about the way you do business. Make sure they are comfortable.

 

Close!

Find out if they’re interested in an ongoing coaching relationship. Tell the client what the next steps are, tell them the logistics of your coaching arrangement and ask if it is something they want to go ahead with.

If they are uncertain then I think it’s okay to push a little bit. You might want to ask them if they’re willing to accept not achieving their goal in the immediate future. Or ask them what they think is most likely to happen if they don’t take you up on your coaching offer.

Finish by asking for feedback on how they felt about the session. If they’ve enjoyed the session but don’t want to progress for other reasons then be sure to ask for a testimonial.

And always tell your customers that you appreciate referrals! 

 

And that’s that. A super brief overview into the JJ Jalopy Trial Coaching Session Roadmap. We’ll be digging into this in more detail as we start to discuss the commercial and logistical details of your coaching practice.

For now, I think the brief framework I’ve given you is more than enough to get you out there, spreading the coaching love and gaining in experience and confidence!

We’re going to have an exciting day tomorrow. I’ll see you then!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

Ouch!

How to become a coach. Coaching Business Advice with Hungover Coaching Mentoring Expert JJ Jalopy!

A real hangover is nothing to try out family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death. 
Robert Benchley 

There’s an extra heartbeat in my head. 

 

So, yeah, the bachelor party was a lot of fun. Thanks for asking!

I’m sat with a cup of tea, listening to R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People album. It’s a tried and tested hangover busting regime which has worked wonders in the past.

I have a feeling this one is going to be a toughie.. 

If the tea doesn’t hit the spot then I’m going in search of an oxygen tank and a kidney dialysis machine.

I planned to talk tactics today. I planned to elaborate on Coach Kalpna’s excellent discussion on running trial coaching sessions.

But I’m not feeling the love for that right now. And I’ve nearly finished my tea.

So instead I’d like to share with you a quote from the book Warrior of the Light by Paul Coehlo. 

For the Warrior there is no such thing as an impossible love.

He is not intimidated by silence, indifference, or rejection.  He knows that behind the mask of ice that people wear, there beats a heart of fire.

This is why the Warrior takes more risks than other people.  He is constantly seeking the love of someone, even if that means often having to hear the word “no”, returning home defeated and feeling rejected in body and soul.

A Warrior never gives in to fear when he is searching for what he needs. Without love, he is nothing.

Is there a risk you want to be taking in your life? Let me know and we can all support you!

Thanks for stopping by today. 

I’ll see you tomorrow – I can’t wait to see you again!

JJ Jalopy.

Coaching Business Startup 104 – Running a trial coaching session

How to Become a Coach. With Coaching Training and Mentoring Expert JJ Jalopy. Assisted by superstar guest-blogger Coach Kalpna.

Hey there!

It’s a beautiful sunny day here by the seaside.

I got you a stick of rock.

I love being by the seaside. It makes me feel so peaceful.

Which is a weird thing to say when you’re on a batchelor weekend!

Earlier this week I urged you to call ten people and invite them to experience a trial coaching session. Now we’re going to talk about that session itself.

And today you’re in for a treat!

Because Coach Kalpna from www.coachKalpna.com is going to talk to you.

So I’m going to sit back, shut up and enjoy the view as Kalpna fills you in on how she likes to run her trial coaching sessions…

How to run a trial coaching session

Like with any other coaching session, I want to set it up right. For me the underlying objective of the trial session is to make the client feel comfortable and at ease – with me. I want to build strong rapport.

My other objectives are:

-         To find out what has brought them to coaching and what they know about coaching

-         What they expect from me as their coach

-         Give them a brief overview of how coaching works with me e.g. how I structure sessions, what I expect from my clients and what I expect from them in this session etc.

-         To get a clear goal and/or vision from them

-         To coach them into breaking down their goal into bite-sized steps

-         To focus on one bite-sized step and coach them through this

-         To get them to sign up to further coaching sessions with me!

That’s quite a few objectives! Aside from building good rapport, the main objective is to run a effective coaching session so that when the client comes to the end of the session they have real clarity about their vision and even have some actions that they are motivated to do that will bring them that little bit closer to their goal. It’s this bit that the client is interested in – seeing how coaching will work for them personally. And if I run an effective coaching session the client will see the true benefit in coaching for themselves so I won’t have to try and ’sell’ it to them.

I like helping my clients achieve their goals in bite-sized steps. Achieving a little frequently makes them feel good about themselves and makes their goal seem really achievable. It’s important to note that it’s the client who defines these “bite-sized steps” i.e. they are in control of how much they are willing to commit to achieving between sessions. For example, if they commit to spending 40 hours on their goal in a week and this is a realistic bite-sized step for them, then that’s fine with me.

The great thing about using the trial session to help the client break down their goal is that I’ve already helped them define what they could use future coaching sessions for. That’s the first step to getting them to sign up to more coaching with me!

At the end of the trial session I always ask what has been the most helpful thing for them from this trial session and how they think working with me as their coach will benefit them. That’s step two to getting them to sign up to more coaching. Of course, at this point they may still have some concerns or feel that it might not ‘work’. This is my opportunity to clarify what coaching is and how I will support them. If they are hesitant, I ask them how likely it is that they will continue to keep doing what they’ve been doing and therefore not achieve their goal.

Lastly – and most importantly – I always ask if they’d like to continue having coaching sessions with me. That’s the final step – know if they’re going to become my client!

My top tips for running a trial coaching session are:

1)    Set it up right – give the client a brief overview of coaching but concentrate on how YOU provide coaching to them.

2)    Get a clear goal/vision, help the client to break it down and run a strong coaching session that demonstrates the value of coaching to the client.

3)    Ask them what they found the most helpful from the session which can then lead into asking them to sign up for more sessions. Tip within a tip – If they say some strong things about how you helped them in this session, ask if you could use their words in a testimonial for your marketing material!

Wow! That was great, wasn’t it?!

Thanks Mrs. Jalopy. You’re a superstar!

Kalpna made some fantastic points. A great distinction that Kalpna made is that you want to be focused on what coaching with YOU is like. Don’t drone on about the coaching process or whatever coaching model you’re using. That’ll only serve to send them to sleep. Let them know what the experience of coaching with YOU is like. Focus on that.

One thing I would add is that I think there is some value in making it clear what you want out of the trial session.

You’re looking to see whether you can have a future coaching relationship. I would explain this right at the start before I ask about the client’s objectives.

Tomorrow I’ll elaborate on this, and I’ll share some tactics which will help you turn more of your trial sessions into ongoing coaching arrangements. But for now, thanks to the wonderful advice of Coach Kalpna, you have more than enough to get you started.

Remember that the most important thing is to get out there and get started. And HAVE FUN! Coaching is fun. Be sure to enjoy it!

If you’d like to experience what coaching can be like with a truly great coach, then get in touch with Kalpna at her website www.coachKalpna.com. She’s the best I know!

Thanks for all your comments yesterday. I really enjoyed reading about who inspires you.

Right…  I’m off to the pier to go and win a teddy bear!

Until tomorrow!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

The story about JJ and the bachelor party!

Well hello again!

How to become a coach. With Coaching Marketing Superstar JJ Jalopy!

How lovely to see you.

I’m afraid I’m running late, so if you don’t mind we’ll take a walk together and talk whilst we walk.

That’s true multitasking!

I’m off to Brighton, UK for my friend Jon’s stag weekend. That’s what we call a bachelor weekend over here in Britain.

We’d better rush because I have a feeling he might not be too happy if I missed the party because I was blogging…

I understand. Some people just find it hard to adjust to my new superstar status!

Anyway… I had planned to talk to you today about how you might run the trial coaching sessions you have coming up.

But I’m afraid we don’t have time today. So instead I have asked superstar coach and soon-to-be guest blogger extraordinaire Coach Kalpna (a.k.a. Mrs. Jalopy!) to write a few words for you on the subject!

I think you’re going to love her.

I certainly do.

So I’ll be posting that for you tomorrow. Of course, we’ll have a little chat as always. I wouldn’t miss that for the world!

Now, earlier today I was thinking about responsibility.

When I was younger I would see people blame others for the unfortunate events and circumstances of their lives, and it didn’t make any sense to me.

I couldn’t understand why they did that. It didn’t seem very helpful. Sometimes it would even make me a bit angry.

It was only when I began to really listen to people and really try to understand that the reasons began to make themselves clear to me.

I think it’s caused by the incorrect belief that we are not enough. That we don’t have the power to change our circumstances. That we don’t have everything we need within us right now to make change happen.

If you believe this then it is easy to blame your circumstances, your surroundings, the people you love.

I realized that I have been incredibly fortunate to have been given a strong set of beliefs by my parents (Mum and Dad Jalopy) from a very early age.

They gave me the belief that I could do anything if I put my mind to it.

They gave me the belief that I could work out anything by myself.

They gave me the belief that I don’t need anyone else or anything else.

And they gave me the support and the understanding to let me learn lessons by myself.

Mum and Dad Jalopy are true superstars. My Dad is the most generous and supportive man in the whole world. My Mum is unfailingly positive and doesn’t have a judgmental bone in her whole body.

Much of my perceived “success” in life I attribute to them and the beliefs they instilled in me from a young age.

Now I’m curious… Who have been your great role models in life? Who have you learned the most from? Who are you most grateful to in your life?

I’d love to read the answers in my comment box below!

Oh look. We’re at the station.

I’ve gotta go hop on that train! Thanks for walking with me. It’s been great talking to you, as always.

See you tomorrow for bachelor party tales! (I’ll keep it clean! )

Bye!

JJ Jalopy.

Coaching Business Startup 103 Bonus Podcast – JJ’s Warm Call Confidence Blaster!

How to Become a Coach. With Coaching Training Expert JJ Jalopy.

Welcome back!

Come on in.

It’s great to see you.

I’ve just sat myself down with cup of orange fruit tea. To be honest, it tastes like colorful hot water.

But I like hot water, so it’s all good.

Would you like anything? I’ll have the maid fetch you anything you like.

Dang. Just remembered – I don’t have a maid. I’ll fix it myself…

Okay… today I want to carry on our series about building a life coaching or business coaching home business.

In Coaching Business Startup 103 – Get practice clients from your network we discussed how the best way to gain experience and confidence was to start coaching right away. We agreed that you would write down a list of everyone you knew and pick ten or so people that you thought would be most receptive to the idea of coaching. You then wrote down the reasons why you thought that person would appreciate an invitation to experience a free coaching session with you.

I then challenged you to call all ten of these people one after another and make those invitations.

Did you do it?

If so then CONGRATULATIONS, you can move on. Go for a walk and get yourself an ice-cream.

If not then, CONGRATULATIONS too! You’ve just qualified for the JJ Jalopy Warm Call Confidence Blaster!

JJ Jalopy's Confidence Blaster!

 

It’s my first podcast! I had an absolute blast making it! I wonder if you can tell…

Click below to listen. It’ll open in a new window.

JJ Jalopy’s Warm Call Confidence Blaster Podcast Extraordinaire!

See you tomorrow for more fun and games!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

KAIZEN! The KEY to personal and business mastery!

How to become a coach. With Coaching Mentoring Expert JJ Jalopy.

Konnichiwa! 

How has your day been?

I’ve had a busy and productive day today. 

So I’m treating myself to a glass or four of 2004 Domaine Bunan. French. Very nice. Help yourself.

If you pay attention you might notice its effect on my speech as we progress…

Wow… after writing yesterday about how to write an awesome blog post, I’m feeling the pressure to make this one good! Let’s see how it goes…

A couple of days ago I promised that we’d travel to Japan together to learn about a business development system that we can all use to improve our personal and business lives.

Excited?

You should be!

Now, I make no guarantees of the historical accuracy of what I am about to tell you. I hope you’ll agree that it’s the message and the concepts that are important, not the details. Please let me know if I tell any outrageous lies and I’ll do my best to correct them! 

Allow me to take you back in time to Japan following the end of World War II.

It’s a bleak, war-torn country and the economic situation doesn’t look good.

Meet W. Edwards Deming. 

 

He looks quite serious doesn’t he?

That’s because he’s a statistician. You would look like that if you had his job.

Deming was primarily interested in quality control. The U.S. Government sent him over to Japan because they thought he was just the man to help them revive their economic base.

And by all accounts, he developed quite a reputation over there…

Japan’s business leaders and engineers loved him. He trained many of them in the statistical process control techniques that he enjoyed so much. He developed a quality control philosophy and fourteen key principles. He talked about quality a lot. 

They loved it.

It was the right message at the right time. Many of the large manufacturers started applying his techniques and experienced massive leaps in efficiency, productivity and quality of output.

The prime minister of Japan, acting on behalf of the emperor, was so impressed that he awarded Deming a dragon! Or something.

 

Back in the U.S. in the 1980s, Deming would later be responsible for reviving the Ford Motor Company using the very same techniques.

That’s great, JJ. But was his philosophy? What were those techniques?

I’m glad you asked.

Deming summarized his philosophy as follows:

The key is to practice continual improvement and think of manufacturing as a system, not as bits and pieces.

The concept of constant, never-ending improvement is embodied in the Japanese word Kaizen. You’ll find this word in the obnoxious title of this post. It’s what we’re going to talk about today.

The Kaizen philosophy is all-pervasive. Deming was not simply concerned with the quality and efficiency of the end product. He was concerned with the quality of every single decision and every single process within the organization. And he wanted small improvements in every area every single day.

Nowadays his philosophy and techniques are employed by nearly every Japanese manufacturing firm, and many of the most successful businesses around the world.

I think of Kaizen as a commitment to constant and never-ending improvement in all areas of a business and life.

In the weeks to come, we’re going to apply this concept to your business. I’m going to urge you to regularly review the processes in your business and make small, consistent improvements. We’ll also look at a thing called the Shewhart wheel, which is a great tool to apply to the processes in your small business.

But first, let’s see if we can apply this concept immediately to your life.

Now, using Kaizen in the context of personal development is not a new idea. Tony Robbins writes about it in his book Awaken the Giant Within, and Mark Joyner employs Kaizen as one of the key concepts in his excellent productivity system, Simpleology.

My contribution is that I explain it better!

The first thing to realize is that massive, instantaneous change is possible. But, it’s also quite unlikely.

A better approach is to commit to making small, but continuous improvements in defined areas of your life every single day…

…and then back that up with regular, scheduled action.

Think about how you could apply this to: 

• your relationships
• your health
• your finances
• your wealth.

Remember that Kaizen is a true commitment, not something you do when you feel like it. Be sure to schedule your actions to be sure to follow through.

And know that the goal of Kaizen is not perfection, but never-ending improvement.

Let me know how you get on!

Wow… this wine is really starting to go to my head! I think it’s time for a little nap.

I’ve had a great time talking to you today.

Drop by tomorrow. I’ve got a little treat for you!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

How to write a super crazy awesome blog post!

How to become a coach. With Coach Mentor Expert JJ Jalopy.

Good evening!

It’s always a pleasure to have you drop by.

You’re just in time! I’ve just put on some coffee.

Chocolate truffle?

Why not! It’ll compliment the coffee perfectly. Dig in.

I hope you had a good day. Mine was marvelously busy. Now I’m pooped, but there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than relaxing and chatting to you.

Yesterday, I introduced the concepts of systems thinking and process optimization and I talked at length about the best way to put a spatula in the dishwasher.

It wasn’t one of my better posts.

But it got me thinking:

What makes a good blog post?

I’m pretty new to the blogging world. (I wanted to say blogosphere, but that’s just so 2006… Probably.)

Yeah. I’m pretty new, so I’m not exactly well-qualified to start dishing out blogging advice.

And it’s true that no-one has actually asked me for any blogging advice.

And I should really talk about Kaizen, as I promised you I would yesterday.

But I’m not going to do that today.

Because I got inspired!

Prepare yourself for… drum roll…. The unsolicited blogging opinions of a blogging newbie!

Or in other words… How to write a super crazy awesome blog post!

Now, whilst I may not have a huge amount of experience writing for the internet, I am reasonably self-aware. I can tell that some of my posts are rather good, whilst others are not quite as good.

This got me curious. I asked myself the following questions:

• What is it that makes some posts better than others?
• What actions can I take to make sure I get more of the good stuff in my future writing?

The main purpose of my writing is to inform and educate you and to build and nurture the relationship between us.

Not all blogs have this purpose. Some are primarily there to entertain. Others are more encyclopedic in nature.

That’s okay. For the remainder of our discussion we’ll assume that we’re talking about informative or educational blogs, like this one.

So, with this in mind, I think that the best best posts have:

• a clear message – this is the informative / educational meat of the post
• a context – a creative way of getting the message across: often using story, metaphor or personal experience.

Let’s look at one of my better posts to illustrate this: http://www.jjjalopy.com/the-jj-identity/

The message is that having a positive identity compatible with your goals can help you to overcome procrastination and self-belief challenges.

Great. You can read that in any low quality NLP textbook.

The real value of the post is in the context. I tell a story from my own personal experience that everyone can relate to. You are receptive to the message because you have identified with the story.

This may lead you to believe that the context is more important than the message. That would be a mistake. The context is simply a supporting structure to the main message. It is there to open you up to the point being made, or to emphasize it in a vivid way so it sticks in your mind.

This post is another good example. The storytelling devices and analogies support the main narrative in a way which vividly emphasizes the main points. It is this context that makes this a great post, but the context is always subservient to the main message.

Make sense?

Good. So why do I think yesterday’s post sucked a little?

Well the context is easy to identify. I’m giving my own experience of how process-based thinking helped me to put pans in the dishwasher and be a less disgusting individual in general.

The message is that thinking of your business and your personal life as discrete systems and processes can be a very useful thing. The post is an introduction to that concept.

This is fine, but in this case, the context overshadows the message.

It became all about the dirty pans!

What was frustrating me this morning was that, with a little bit of editing, I could turn it into a great post!

But I’m not going to. Part of the beauty of blogging is that it is imperfect and fresh and ever-changing.

Besides, this post wouldn’t make any sense if I did!

Another truffle? Go on.. one more won’t hurt!

Now, I want to talk a while on the creative process…

I blog every day. When I wake up in the morning I know I’m going to be writing a post later on that day. Sometimes I will already have a message in mind (such is the case with my series on starting a life coaching business.) Sometimes I won’t.

If I have a message in mind then I’ll make it my intention to come up with a context: a creative way to tell that story. And then I’ll forget about it and go take a shower, go for a walk, read a book, paint the cat…

If I don’t have anything in mind at all I’ll make it my intention to simply come up with ideas for my post. Then I forget all about it and go brush my teeth, go to the gym, watch TV, mow the fence…

I have no idea how this works, but I do know that the subconscious mind is a creative genius.

And brilliant creative ideas are going to pop into my head as if from nowhere as I’m busy dusting the dog.

It’s my job to catch these ideas and mull over them for a while. Sometimes I’ll come up with a great topic to talk about. Sometimes I’ll even make full sentences in my head that I will use later in a post. Sometimes I will think of little analogies or little stories I can use as context for the post.

Generally speaking, I’ll have a clear idea of both the message and the context of the post before I even sit down to type.

Sometimes I’ll have a full outline drawn up before I start writing. That’s when it tends to go really well. Here’s an example…

If I don’t start with a clear idea of the message and context, things don’t go quite so well. That’s what happened yesterday. I started writing about cooking (context) and the message of the post was born out of that. Which is fine, but only if the context doesn’t overshadow the main message of the post.

If there’s one lesson I’m going to take from this little session of narcissistic self-analysis it’s this:

Start writing with a clear idea of the message you want to put across and the context in which you will make the message understood.

Do you have any more advice, JJ?

Well, yes I do actually. I’m so glad you asked. Here’s a brief and incomplete rundown of what I think makes a good blog post.

It’s immediately applicable. If I’m reading a blog to find information, as opposed to simply searching for entertainment, then I want something that I can take away and immediately apply to my life. If I simply wanted raw information I would read an encyclopedia. If I simply wanted entertainment then I would watch TV. I go to a blog because I want to find someone who has solved my problem in a specific way, and I want to find out about it.

It’s authentic. Write in your own voice. Be honest. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. If you write with emotional honesty then people will warm to you.

Be interesting. Or in other words, don’t be boring! Don’t give me dry information that I could read in Wikipedia. Entertain me in a way which helps your message to get across. Or make me understand in a way which is emotionally powerful. Check out how Richard Bandler uses storytelling to educate. Be like that.

Make it easy for me to relate to you. We learn through association with things we have experienced or already know. I’ll get much more from your post if you make it easy to relate the concepts you’re explaining to things I already understand. Try to explain tricky concepts in the context of common experiences.

Connect with me. There’s a reason that I write this blog as if I’m talking to you. It’s because I want this to be a community in which we’re all involved. I want this blog to be a dialogue between you and I. I want to build relationships through my writing. I come to a blog because I want to be involved in something larger. Make this easy for me. Make me feel involved.

Notice that I haven’t touched on grammar or any of the stuff your English teacher used to talk about at school. In truth, I don’t care so much about those things as long as I can easily understand your writing. I’d rather be entertained, educated, and touched emotionally than impressed with your use of the subjective tense.

Right… enough of my opinionated ramblings. I think it’s time for bed.

Once again, it’s been an absolute pleasure. I can’t wait to do this again tomorrow. Maybe we’ll even get around to talking about Kaizen!

I’ll see what my subconscious mind has to say about it all!

Take care. Have a great night!

JJ Jalopy.
Become a Life Coach

An Introduction to Systems Thinking and Process Optimization

How to become a business coach. With Coaching Marketing Expert JJ Jalopy.

Mmm…. It smells good in here, doesn’t it?!

I’ve been cooking.

Mrs. Jalopy has left me to fend for myself for a couple of days whilst she spends some quality post-Easter time with her Mom.

Now, a year ago this seemingly innocuous event would have had a catastrophic impact on my nutritional well-being. After four days time I’d have been unable to move for takeout boxes.

I’ve since been led to believe that this isn’t particularly attractive behavior.

And nowadays I’m ahead of the game!

I put on the silly white puffy hat and Chef Extraordinaire JJ Jalopé is born!

(Read it again in a comedy French accent, now you know it’s coming! Yann – you can do whatever you like! )

JJ Jalopé is an absolute genius in the kitchen. As long as there’s a detailed set of step-by-step instructions nothing is beyond his grasp!

This afternoon I created a shepherd’s pie and a meatloaf. I divided them up into meal-sized portions and put some of them in the fridge and some of them in the freezer.

Not only that, but the kitchen is spotlessly clean and everything is put away in its place, leaving me the whole evening to shoot the breeze with you lovely people.

As long as I maintain low expectations of variety in my diet, I’m all set for a few days!

Now, why am I telling you all this?

Well, let’s go back in time and think about what would have happened in Jalopyland a year ago…

Imagine a slightly more youthful JJ…

Mrs. Jalopy left a couple of days ago, leaving slightly-more-youthful-JJ alone with the Papa John’s takeout menu.

He’s just finished watching his 50th episode of Friends that day and he’s hungry. He can’t stomach the idea of more pizza, so he heads into the kitchen to find the silly white puffy hat.

Now the silly white puffy hat is on, JJ transmogrifies into Chef Extraordinaire JJ Jalopé!

 

As we know, JJ Jalopé is an absolute genius in the kitchen. He has his set of step-by-step instructions, so nothing is beyond his grasp!

In no time, he’s rustled up a shepherd’s pie and a meatloaf. He cuts off a slice of the meatloaf, puts it on a plate with some salad and takes it into the living room to eat in front of America’s Top Model.

So far so good, right?

Well now JJ is tired. He leapfrogs the pizza boxes and makes his way to the kitchen to tidy up before he gets ready for bed.

Imagine the horror in his eyes when he returns to that culinary laboratory. Every pot, pan and cooking implement in the house is either on the hob, in the sink or resting on the side!

And every one of them is filthy!

The prospect of tidying this mess is too much. JJ shuts the kitchen door and goes to bed.

Oh dear.

Now JJ discovers important things to do, and the kitchen door stays closed for a few more days.

When he finally braves the kitchen to get a piece of shepherd’s pie, he sees that he forgot to put the food in the fridge.

Whoops.

Food goes in trash. JJ phones for pizza.

Now Mrs. Jalopy is coming home tomorrow! It’s officially PANIC TIME!

JJ drafts in a crack team of (un)willing friends to clean the house from top to toe. It’s a monstrous and unpleasant job but it’s just gotta get done…

Phew. It’s done. It’s okay. There’s some residual mess that Mrs. Jalopy will probably notice, but we did it. She’ll appreciate the effort, even if she disapproves of the process!

Now when Mrs. Jalopy returns and life returns to normal, JJ reflects on his time alone…

The result of this reflection is the difference between today’s cooking and cleaning efforts and the horrid fictitious scenario of yesteryear.

Pour yourself a drink as I explain…

As a business consultant I think in terms of systems and processes.

At the most macroscopic level, the business can be thought of as one big machine. Money, time and effort go in one end; some processing happens in the middle; and (hopefully) more money comes out the other end.

Sure, that’s a massive simplification, but it’s also a very helpful one.

Each task that happens within that machine can be thought of as belonging to a process with well-defined inputs and outputs. There are many of these processes within the business machine. Some are connected, others are not. There is no real objectivity to these processes. They are defined by you, the business owner, in the way that best suits your needs.

Identifying, describing and optimizing the processes in the middle of the business machine is the key to maximizing the amount of money that comes out the other end.

Yeah fine, JJ, but give me something I can work with here.

Okay.

Let’s look at the process of making shepherd’s pie.

The inputs are:

• ingredients (the output of the shopping process)
• JJ’s time and effort

The output is:

• Umm… Pie.

In slightly-more-youthful-JJ’s case the pie-making process is far from optimal.

It created a lot of mess, which had to be tidied up later in a time-consuming clean-a-thon. Also, most of the output was lost because it went off. So in our little efficiency equation…

Efficiency = Output (stuff, money) – Input (money, time, effort, stuff etc.)

…I wasn’t doing very well. The output was minimal because I had spoiled the pie. The input was massive because I had to get a load of friends to help me tidy up!

So, in my time of reflection, I looked at the pie-making process and split it into 3 different sub-processes.

1. The food-making process (turning ingredients into pie)
2. The tidying process
3. Storing the food

The actual food-making process went pretty well. I successfully turned ingredients into pie. And it should have gone well because I had a recipe – step-by-step instructions.

I had already identified and described the process. (Or at least someone else had!)  So it’s no surprise that this bit worked out okay.

The tidying process, on the other hand, didn’t go quite so well. Up to this point, I hadn’t actually identified this as a process at all. Now, just because I hadn’t identified the need for a tidying process, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t have one. I did. It was just a bad one.

My process was to leave all the kitchen implements, pots and pans wherever I was last using them. And then tidy them all up in one massive cleaning session when I’m done cooking.

Every boy scout knows that this isn’t the best way to do things.

And in analyzing my cooking processes in this nerdy way that I enjoy so much, I too was able to figure out a better way!

The monumental realization I came to was to was this:

When I’ve finished using a pan, I’m going to have to put it somewhere… so I may as well put it straight in the dishwasher!

(You truly are getting cutting edge knowledge in this blog! )

So, after I’d identified the process, described it and realized how silly it was, I consciously crafted a new, optimized process.

Now, when I’m about to put down a pan or a wooden spoon I will ask myself if it’s the last time I’m going to use it. If it is, it goes straight in the dishwasher. If not then it stays on the side ready for the next time I need it.

Now I realize that most rational people do not need to map out their cooking processes to figure out that they’d save time by putting the spatula straight in the dishwasher! I’m sure, for example, that my Mom is shaking her head in bewilderment if she’s reading this right now!

What can I say? I’m strange. But this really has revolutionized my cooking!

Similarly, slightly-more-youthful-JJ had not recognized the need for a storing food process. Now I do.

I have meal-sized pieces of pie and meatloaf stored away in my fridge and freezer to prove it!

And I’m happily chatting to you in the knowledge that everything is working out well at Casa Jalopy!

In telling you that story I wanted to introduce you to the powerful world of systems- and process-based thinking.

It is key to a lot of what I do and much of what we’re going to discuss here as we work together.

I’d encourage you to have a think about the processes that run in your business and personal life. As you’ve seen, the mere act of identifying some of these processes can be very beneficial to you.

Tomorrow we’ll be visiting Japan to talk about the KEY to all personal and business development: Kaizen!

Stick around a while if you like. I’m going to take a nap!

Goodnight!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

Happy Easter!

How to become  a life coach. With Coaching Mentoring Expert JJ Jalopy.

Happy Easter!

I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend.

Mrs. Jalopy and I enjoyed the traditional Easter treat of pizza, tea and Easter Eggs.

 

Not at the same time!

Thanks very much for your comments on my new look website. I’ve taken your comments on board and made a couple of changes. 

Firstly, I am now talking in black, rather than grey. Can you hear me better now?

I do hope so.

Secondly, I’ve removed the blog posts from the front page. For some reason, it was impossible to comment on blogs on the front page. Don’t ask me why.

So now they’re gone, replaced by a nice friendly introduction letter from your host, Mr. JJ Jalopy. This blog now lives on a separate page.

Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. It’s important to me that you like it here – I really enjoy having you around for tea.

Now in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s Easter Sunday. What are you doing listening to me?! Go and spend time with the people you love.

I’ll still be here tomorrow! Drop by and we’ll talk business and share some laughs. 

See you soon. Enjoy the rest of the day!

JJ Jalopy.

Oooh…it looks nice in here!

How to become a coach. Life Coaching and Business Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy.

Why thank you!

How kind of you to notice!

I’ve been working hard today decorating my little home on the web.

So what do you think?!

I want the Jalopy brand to be authentic, fun, compassionate and challenging.

I want this community to be one in which learning, self-development and hard work are fun – a place where great relationships are built and help and support is always close by.

Do you think this new coat of paint is congruent with that message?

I’d love to hear what you think.

There’s still quite a lot of work to do but I’m pretty happy with it so far.

Happy Easter! Have a wonderful weekend!

JJ Jalopy.

Coaching Business Startup 103 – Get practice clients from your network.

Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy

Wow.

I had a great time last night. I hope you did too.

I haven’t had that much fun in ages.

I don’t think we really needed all those shots that Steve kept buying, and I’ll forever remember Lisa dancing on the bar at the end of the night!

Now I’ve got a bit of a sore head, but I’m excited to be talking to you all the same.

I’ve made a pot of tea. Tea is a magical elixir of hangover-busting goodness. Pour yourself a cup.

 

Ahhhh. Lovely.

Now let’s make it a big day today and let’s get back to business.

In my post Coaching Business Startup 102 – Build confidence by coaching NOW, we discussed how the main thing holding back most new coaches is confidence.

We agreed that the most effective way to build confidence is to get out there and start coaching.

And I promised that I’d help you through that process. I’m going to start that today.

I’d like you to grab a piece of paper.

On that piece of paper write down the name of every person you know.

They can be friends, family, people you met once at a party, colleagues, neighbors, the man that owns the shop next door. Anyone. Write down as many names as you can think of.

At the end of this exercise I’m going to invite you to call some of these people to tell them about your new business and invite them to experience coaching with you.

At this point, most people have the following reaction.

BUT I CAN’T SELL COACHING TO MY FRIENDS!

And I agree for the most part. It can be difficult to get people to buy into the idea of coaching.

Common objections that people tend to have are:

• I don’t know what coaching is
• It sounds like a lot of work
• I don’t need it – there’s nothing wrong with me!
• Coaching is for losers
• I don’t want to open up too much.

If we wanted, we could discuss all of these potential objections and rationalize them away.

That’s one approach.

I believe the best approach is not to try to convince someone that coaching would be valuable to them. Rather, we could invite them to find out more about coaching by giving them the chance to experience it themselves for one session for free.

There’s a simple but important difference here.

We’re no longer trying to convince someone of the value of coaching. Instead we’re giving them the opportunity to try out a new experience.

We’ve created a win-win situation. You win because you get more experience of coaching and the increased confidence that comes from it. The client wins because they get to find out what coaching is all about – for free! They can’t lose because there is no obligation for them to do anything but take part in this free trial session.

Okay.

Now imagine that your hand is on the phone and you’re just about to call someone on your list to invite them to do a trial coaching session with you. You’re about to start dialing…

 

How do you feel?

If you’re like most people, the insecurities that you have about your coaching business will start to bubble up at this point.

The most common concerns are:

• I don’t want to ask someone to put themselves out for me. I don’t want charity or favors.
• I don’t know what to say.
• I’m worried that they’ll think coaching is silly or they’ll make fun of me.
• I don’t want to imply there’s something wrong with them.
• It’s not healthy to coach my friends and family. I’m too close to them.
• I’m not confident in my coaching ability.

Before we get on the phone, let’s address these now.

Have you ever had a friend that joined some dubious pyramid scheme and tried to sell something to you didn’t want?

Have you ever been guilt-tripped into giving money to charity?

It doesn’t feel very good, does it?

Many coaches are hesitant to make an invitation call because they don’t want to be seen to be asking for charity.

This stems from the belief that the trial coaching session will not be of value to the person they are calling.

Understand how beneficial the coaching process can be. Understand that you have a lot to give. Understand that your coaching sessions are fun and fulfilling. Understand that you are not pushing crap beauty products on friends who are too polite to say no!

You’re offering a valuable service for free! What a fantastic opportunity for the lucky people on that list!

Let’s go through the people on that list and find reasons why they might appreciate a call.

How about Julie?

Julie just loves Oprah! She bought the book The Secret last week, and she’s excited about changing her life for the better.

I think she’d love to hear about what you’re doing and I bet she’d jump at the opportunity to experience a coaching session for herself. Wouldn’t it be nice to give her that opportunity?

And you haven’t seen her in a couple of months. Wouldn’t this be a great excuse to see her again?

Write these reasons down by her name so you can remind yourself of this before you call!

 

And what about Karen?

Karen’s babysitting business is really starting to take off! She’s really going places and you’re impressed with the way she manages to juggle her family responsibilities with the demands of her new business. You’d love to work with her, and you can see the value that coaching could bring to her life and work.

Again, write these reasons down by her name and be sure to tell her this when you call.

Which brings me on nicely to the subject of what to say…

It’s far better to be authentic than smooth.

You’ll get a much better response if you are honest and open about why you are calling than you will if you have a really slick script prepared.

Tell Karen that you’re really impressed with how successful she has been in her new business. Tell her that you’ve just set up a new business yourself. And tell her what you do, using the one-liner we prepared earlier.

Hopefully, she will express an interest in what you’re doing.

Ask her if there’s something that she’d like to work on.

Then invite her to explore the possibilities of coaching with you in a trial coaching session. Tell her that you can set up a course of coaching sessions if you find something great to work on. If you don’t find anything, that’s okay too – she’ll have helped you with your development and she’ll have had the chance to experience the coaching process first hand.

You might be worried that you shouldn’t be coaching your close friends or family. That’s what everyone says, isn’t it?

My take is that, as long as you be totally objective when coaching and suspend any judgment or agenda, you should be fine.

Put the coaching hat on when you’re coaching. Leave it well alone when you’re not. Keep in mind always that your goal is to improve and gain confidence. Don’t pass up the opportunity to coach just because you know someone well. If you don’t think it’ll be a problem it probably won’t be a problem!

Now how about the last item on our list – the worry that you’re not a good enough coach yet?

Sure you can phone someone up and invite them to a trial coaching session. But what if the trial session sucks? What if you can’t think of anything to say? What if you can’t help?

My advice?

Allow yourself to suck.

There you go. There’s wisdom worthy of the Dalai Lama there!

 

Your primary goal is to learn and gain confidence, not to be a guru.

You’re going to be doing lots of coaching sessions. Some of them are going to go really well. Some of are going to go less well. Some of them are going to go really badly.

And that’s okay. You’re going to learn a lot from all of them!

Tell yourself it’s okay if you don’t know what to say. Don’t expect to know the perfect thing to say all the time. Remember that it’s better to be authentic than smooth!

So I think you can guess what your homework for today will be…

Pick ten people from your list. Pick the ones that you think will be most open to the experience. Write down reasons why you think they’d appreciate a call and then call them and invite them to experience what coaching is like with you.

Do all ten calls one after another. You’ll find that you get into a flow.

Don’t worry about the details of the trial session just yet, we’ll cover that shortly.

Have fun with this. It’s a great opportunity to share something really valuable.

Good luck and good night!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

P.S. A number of people sent me great questions about how to solicit testimonials. I’ll be covering this subject in some detail very soon. Stay tuned!

JJ blogs from the pub…

How to Become a Coach. Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy.

Hi there!

I’m impressed! How did you find me here?

An Englishman’s hiding place is the pub. That’s where I am now.

The pub is something that the English do really well.

Imagine taking a bar, lifting it out of the building it lives in, and then putting it down in your living room.

Now add a fire, a wet dog, flat beer and dubiously-shaped salty snacks.

That’s an English pub.

Allow me to buy you a beer and we’ll chat.

Now, there is a commonly accepted and well defined English pub etiquette. You should know about it before we go on.

The concept of the round is important. When two or more drinkers are in the pub, they drink in rounds.

As I was the first in the pub, and the first to offer, I bought the first drinks for all of you.

The next person to finish their drink will buy next round of drinks for everyone else. You order at the bar. It’s not obligatory to talk about the weather with the bearded drunk guy at the bar, but it is expected. This man is called a regular. His antisocial drunken behavior is overlooked because he comes here a lot. He has earned the privilege to misbehave through attrition alone.

The round system is designed to reduce crowding at the bar. It doesn’t always work because English people have a tendency to stand up and drink even though there are seats and tables free. It’s strange, but what can you do?

So we’ve got the basics down.

Let’s touch on the guidelines regarding  pub conversation.

If there is important conversation that needs to be had, it is talked about first.

Then it is put away and the remainder of the evening is dedicated to idle chatter, stories and jokes.

Let’s get the important conversation out of the way…

As part of my coach mentoring service I provide ongoing email support to all my clients. They often send me quick email questions, and I enjoy answering them.

Here’s a question I receive a lot…

Question: “How do I get testimonials from my clients?”

Answer: “You ask for them!”

Okay, okay. Whilst that may be good advice to a point, I realize that it’s only of so much value to you. We’ll be discussing how to get good testimonials in the coming weeks. For now, though it’s time for Pub Conversation Phase II: Idle Chatter.

When we first met, I mentioned that I had learned a lot from not reading the book Feel the fear and do it anyway, as the title had told me everything I needed to know.

Let’s spend a while thinking of other books we won’t bother reading…

I’ll go first:

Work like you’re showing off – Joe Calloway
Do what you love, the money will follow – Marsha Sinetar

Any more?

Rob – it’s your round! Shall we get some peanuts?

We’ll talk shop again tomorrow.

Until then… Cheers!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

The JJ Identity

How to Become a Coach. Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy.

Welcome, welcome.

It’s always a pleasure. Come on in.

It’s been a lovely sunny day here in London.

Now the day is drawing to a close and it’s time to kick back, put your feet up and relax as I entertain and educate you. Pour yourself a whiskey. Light a cigar if you like. I won’t mind.

Over the last couple of days we’ve been talking about the details of building a life or business coaching practice.

It’s been a lot of fun, but today I’d like to take a bit of a time out to talk about something that is applicable to everyone.

I want to talk a while on the power of IDENTITY.

And I’d like to start it off with a story…

I was tired last night.

And when I sat down in front of my shiny silver iMac to talk to you, I was feeling uninspired.

It’s nothing personal. I just wasn’t really feeling it.

I had a clear idea of what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, but my creative juices just weren’t flowing. My fingers rattled on the keyboard, but the words that appeared fell flat.

I had temporarily misplaced my mojo!

I made some tea.

I drank my tea.

I typed some more.

I deleted it.

I typed. I sighed. I knew I had the words, the stories and the creativity to make the message work but I just couldn’t find them.

I thought about giving up and going to bed but I wouldn’t let myself. Even when feeling tired, frustrated and uninspired I will l respect the non-negotiable agreements I make with myself. If I say I’m going to post every day, I’m going to post every day. That’s just the way it works.

Mrs. Jalopy walked into my cave. (That’s what I call my study.)

I’m not really feeling it today, I told her.

She gave me a hug.

It’s always nice to have a cuddle with Mrs. Jalopy.

I felt better but I still didn’t feel inspired.

I sat staring at the monitor for a while. Inspirational words were not manifest before my eyes.

I felt stuck.

Now what does master of motivation, powerhouse of productivity, creativity coach extraordinaire JJ Jalopy do when he finds himself in such a situation?

That’s right – I took off my pants, put my headband on, turned the stereo up to eleven and rocked out to Bonnie Tyler’s Holding out for a Hero.

I didn’t really.

I left the computer and went to see Mrs. Jalopy. She’s a supercoach and she rarely fails to get the best out of me.

I feel stuck, I told her.

Really? she replied. But you’re JJ Jalopy!

“Yes I am,” I said.

And it was back!

I sat down and knocked out a thousand words of creatively honest, educational awesomeness in the next hour.

But I don’t get it, JJ. That doesn’t make sense. And I much preferred the story about Bonnie Tyler.

Well, Mrs. Jalopy doesn’t call me JJ very often. She calls me James, because that’s my name.

WARNING: SPEAKING IN THIRD PERSON ALERT!

James feels stuck sometimes.

James fees insecure sometimes.

James gets grumpy when he’s hungry.

James sometimes wants to hit the snooze button first thing in the morning…

 

…because he’s only human.

JJ is really an IDENTITY I’ve created (unconsciously) to represent all that I want to be when I’m teaching, coaching, writing or public speaking.

JJ is a creative dynamo. He’s full of energy and positivity. He’s entertaining and a little provocative. He’s ruthlessly productive. He’s loving and encouraging.

Having the identity of JJ makes it really easy for me to tap into these resources. That’s what happened yesterday.

In NLP terms, the identity of JJ is a massive anchor to all of the resources I want when I’m rocking the business consultancy world!

My buddy, Australian persuasion master Duane Cunningham, has made a similar commitment to blogging every day.

If you were to ask him whether he’ll succeed he’d say:

Of course. There’s no way The Thunder from Down Under could fail!

And he’d be right.

Because The Thunder from Down Under rocks as hard as anyone I’ve met.

Duane has done something similar here. He’s created the identity of The Thunder from Down Under to represent the fearless warrior part of him that is that is going to take the blogging world by STORM.

(See what I did there?! )

When we spoke earlier we said that you’ll want to start seeing yourself in a different way as you move from employee to home business owner. You’ll want to make your new business part of your identity. Wonderful things will happen if you can make this identity something that really motivates you.

Now it’s likely what excites and motivates you is very different from what motivates Duane or what motivates me.

You may have noticed that I enjoy exaggeration, hyperbole and novelty.

Earlier in the post I described myself as:

Master of motivation, powerhouse of productivity, creativity coach extraordinaire!

This kind of language and the images and associations it creates in my mind really do inspire me to action.

Your motivating factors will be very different.

Maybe what really motivates you is the idea of being successful so you can look after and provide for your family?

In that case, your new business identity should include an aspect of this.

If you’re having an off moment you can simply remind yourself of the image you hold of yourself as a succesful home business owner, working hard for her family. And let me know how you get on!

Wow.

That was fun!

I enjoyed that. Can you tell?

Please let me know what you think of this. I’d be really interested to know.

Now I’m off to dream world for a while. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Goodnight.

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

Coaching Business Startup 102 – Build confidence by coaching NOW!

How to Become a Coach. Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy.

Well hello again! It’s lovely to see you.

We’re just sitting down for an after dinner coffee. Come and join us.

I should congratulate you. You did really well yesterday – you now have a creative and inspiring way to describe what you do.

Hopefully you came up with something that makes you excited. Something that you’ll tell people with total confidence and maybe even a little bit of pride!

I bet you can’t wait to get out there and start telling people about it.

Great.

So… on the Coach Start training course, new coaches are encouraged to go out and coach fifty new clients in fifty days.

How would you feel if I suggested that you do that now?

If you’re anything like me, you’d feel pretty intimidated.

You might say something like:

I’m not ready. I haven’t created my website or brochure or welcome pack yet. I don’t even have a business card. And I haven’t finished my training course.

But in reality, we both know that these things are excuses. We could pretend otherwise if we liked, but it wouldn’t do either of us any good.

No – if you’re like me and most the rest of the world, what’s holding you back is not any of the things above, it’s a lack of CONFIDENCE.

Maybe you’re worried that you don’t have enough knowledge?

Maybe you’re worried that you’ll look silly: you won’t know what to say, or you won’t be able to help?

That’s okay. You’re in good company.

When I write these posts I try to focus on getting my message across in the clearest possible way so you’ll get the most value from what I write.

How very noble of me. Right?

Well, can I tell you a secret?

That’s not the only thing I’m focused on. I also want you to think I’m a good writer. I want you to think that I’m funny. I want you to think I’m good at what I do. I want you to be impressed that I’m motivated to write a new article for you every day.

These desires have nothing to do with my main purpose, which is to get my message across in a way that is understood. In fact, these desires are often detrimental to this purpose.

It can be the same with my coaching. Sometimes when I’m working with a client I start to think about how I can look good. I might want to show off some cool tricks. I might think about telling a story that my client will think is impressive. “I’m going to coach the £$^% out of this,” I might think. (I’m more polite outside my head. Usually.)

Once again, these desires are not well aligned with the primary purpose of the work we’re doing, which is to allow the client to build their business and confidence.

Okay, so why the confession?

Well sometimes the things that we’re focussing on are holding us back from what we’re really trying to achieve.

When we’re worried about looking good or we’re worried that we won’t be able to serve the client well, we take our focus away from our main target.

As a starting coach, your main goal should be to get experience.

The only way that you will gain confidence in your coaching abilities is to coach.

You understand this, of course, but it’s much more comfortable to tell yourself that you need to build a website or design a brochure first.

You don’t need that website or brochure right now. These are longer term marketing strategies that will be of value to you as you grow your practice. For now, we’re simply looking to expand your comfort zone and build your confidence as a coach.

In a previous post we talked about how beneficial it can be to model others who have achieved what you are looking to achieve.

Well, one thing that is common to anyone who has been successful in the coaching world is that they have thrown themselves into coaching and have got lots of experience under their belt quickly.

When self-help sasquatch Tony Robbins started studying NLP with John Grinder he started to see immediate benefit in what he was learning. He went out and applied what he had learned immediately, much to the disapproval of many of his peers who felt he should have completed the training first.

This is a great attitude to model.

Robbins was so focussed on the value that he could provide and the experience he would receive that he didn’t think twice. He just did it.

So many people fail by simply failing to turn up.

I don’t want you to be one of those people.

You will be nervous when you start coaching. That’s okay. Do it anyway.

Don’t worry if you don’t have any idea where your clients are going to come from. We’ll discuss that in the next few days and we’ll come up with some tips that are going to make the idea much less intimidating.

Until then, try to think of some friends of acquaintances who would be interested to hear about what you do. That’s all.

Now go get yourself some chocolate. You deserve it!

See you tomorrow!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

Coaching Business Startup 101 – What do you do?

How to Become a Coach. Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy.

Good evening!

Thanks for coming by again. It’s always a pleasure to have good friends come by at the end of a busy day.

You might want to grab some paper and a pen. We’re going to get creative today!

It’s gonna be a blast.

Now, I always ask the same question when I start working with a new coach.

I ask them:

“What do you do?”

(Yep, that’s why I’m paid the big bucks! )

And then I listen very carefully.

Almost unfailingly, the way the coach answers this question tells me exactly how successful they have been in attracting clients.

Why is that, you say?

Well let’s say you’re at a party…

It’s a great party. The food is delicious, the wine is free flowing, there’s a ton of fun interesting people there. You’re having a great time.

Now, as a beginning coach, your network of friends and aquaintences is your best source of potential clients. (You’ll be able to attract clients through the internet or through public speaking engagements as you get more established, but as a new coach you’ll find it best to concentrate on the people you already know and the people they know.)

Friends and clients!

 

 

 

 

So this party is goldmine of potential clients!

And what do most people ask when getting to know you at a party?

“So what do you do?”

That’s right. It’s that question again! 

Now if you’re like many of my clients who are taking training courses, or have read a lot of the coaching literature, you might answer like this:

“I’m a life coach. I ask people questions to elicit their goals and values and beliefs. We define goals and we check that their values and beliefs support those goals. I help them to set…”

Then, after you’ve woken them up, don’t be surprised if the person you were talking to politely excuses themselves to go and introduce themselves to the stamp collector in the corner.

See, what you just did is describe the process of coaching. (You didn’t, obviously, but please bear with me) 

People relate to the BENEFITS of coaching, not the process.

They won’t be interested in how it works until they have identified with the benefits of what you do.

And that goes for you too!

I’ll guarantee that the coaching process isn’t what gets you excited about coaching. When I ask that magic question I want to see sparkles in the coach’s eye. I want to see the self-confidence that comes from really knowing how you help and why you’re doing it.  

I want to see a clear and inspiring message of why you’re doing what you’re doing and what you want for people.

If you can sum this up in a few sentences you’ll reap the following benefits:

• it allows you to establish a firm identity
• you  will be more confident and congruent in explaining what you do to other people
• you will get other people interested in what you do. 

Let’s dwell on that last point for a while.

I want the message you give to be fun and inspiring for you and for other people. Ideally your answer will be intriguing or slightly provocative to get other people interested and asking questions. 

I got really pretty good at this, having had a number of important sounding but confusingly titled jobs in the past.

About ten years ago I was an IT Consultant. Nobody knows what an IT consultant does. Not even me.

You’re generally met with a look of confused disappointment when you tell people you’re an IT consultant.

Well at least you’re not an accountant, they might say.

I was one of those too.

Although I enjoyed the work and could see real value in what I was doing, I didn’t tell people I was an IT consultant straight up when they asked. Instead I would tell people that:

“I make the internet work.”

Everyone knows what the internet is. Everyone can relate to this, and it’s kinda funny (if I do say so myself!) 

When people hear this they are interested because it is something they can relate to because they use it every day. This then gives me a framework from which I can explain the benefit of what I do. And once they understand, they might realize that their friend Pierre does something similar. We’ve built a fun rapport.

My next job was as a management consultant. Nobody knows what a management consultant does. Not even me.

People usually hope that you’re some kind of doctor. You’re not.

When people asked me what I did, I wouldn’t tell them I was a management consultant.  I would tell them that:

“I make banks happy.”

This gets their attention. It’s something they can relate to and understand and it’s intriguing. They laugh and ask what I mean. I tell them:

“You can think of a bank, or any business, like a big machine with a hopper on top, wheels and cogs in the middle and a chute at the bottom. You throw money, time and energy in the hopper, the wheels and cogs spin around, and more money comes out of the chute. My job is to oil the wheels and cogs so that more money comes out of the bottom. This makes banks happy.”

Which is actually pretty much what I do now, except the machines are smaller and more fun. And now I help people build the machine too!

The important thing is that this conversation is fun for me and it’s interesting to the person I’m talking to. I convey a benefit that people can relate to. When they express an interest I explain the process in a context they can understand. My delivery of this message is confident and congruent because I know I can make the value of my work and my enthusiasm for it understood.

So enough about me…

I want you to brainstorm your very own answer to this question. 

Sit down with a sheet of paper and get creative. Don’t worry if you haven’t done any market research or you haven’t figured out your niche market. Forget about that stuff for now. Get creative. What inspires you?

Here are answers that some of my clients have given to this question:

I help people to start living their dreams NOW!

I help people to live with no regrets.

I help students to find the career path that really excites them

I help couples to feel like they did when they’d just met

I help people to really understand their connection with God

I help women find what truly satisfies them in a relationship

I help people find balance and happiness in their lives

I want you to come up with something that uniquely inspires you. And make sure it also explains the benefit of what you do.

I think you’ll have a lot of fun doing this, and it’ll allow you really tap into why you want to be a coach.

Now let’s imagine you’re at that party again.

 

 

Maybe the guy who failed to get excited about the coaching process has a son who is really struggling to choose a career?

Maybe the stamp collector in the corner really wants to work on his connection with God?

Maybe the host has a friend who wants to turn around a difficult relationship?

I hope you’re now beginning to see how powerful this simple exercise will be for you.

I wish you all the best of luck with it.

Be inspired!

JJ Jalopy.
Become a Life Coach
 

P.S. For bonus points, try to think of a fun way to describe the coaching process that people can really relate to. We’ll touch on this briefly tomorrow!

Modeling Successful Coaches or Consultants

How to Become a Coach. Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy.

Hello again! It’s great to see you again at Casa Jalopy.

You caught me with a nice steaming hot cup of green tea with mango, and a big beaming smile on my face.

Why the smile, JJ, you ask?

(Yes, I really am talking to myself now.)

Well I don’t think you ever need a reason to smile. Do it now just to prove it to yourself.

Feels great, doesn’t it?

But as you asked so nicely, the Cheshire Cat grin on my face is there because your life coaching business raconteur friend JJ was today namechecked in a blog post by none other than internet marketing and asset protection megastar, Rob Northrup. Click on his name for proof. And check out his fabulous website whilst you’re at it.

This makes JJ happy.

(And makes him want to talk in the third person. Strangely enough.)

Although I’ve been active in the consulting, coaching and business world for close to ten years, the internet marketing world is still pretty new to me. So far Jalopyland has been around for less than a week and I already feel like we’re building massive momentum here. I’m excited and I hope you are too!

Now what did I want to talk to you about today?

Oh that’s right. Modeling.

Not like that. I’m pretty but I’m not that pretty!

For the last few days, we’ve concentrated on creating a productive mindset and a we created a commitment plan to allow you to commit your time to your new business.

Then we had a think about what would happen when you sat down to start work on your new venture.

We realized that there are a lot of things you could potentially be working on and that, being human, you can only concentrate on one of those things at any one time.

We agreed that two things would need to be true in order that you could feel confident and productive and free from overwhelm. They were:

• you’re working on the single most important thing in terms of the profitability or growth of your business, and…
• you feel okay about not doing the other 10,000 things on your to-do list.

So we realized that we need a plan.

Now what’s the best way to get from Place A to Place B?

(It’s not a trick question!)

You walk in a straight line away from A and towards B. You keep walking along that line until you get to B.

Awesome.

But what if you don’t know how to get to B? Or you don’t even know where it is?

I think it’s story time again!

Let’s pretend that three of our friends are scattered across Paris. They’ve been having a lovely time on their respective errands, but they want to meet up now. They agree to meet at Le Louvre in an hour.

David decides to set off in a random direction. He figures he’ll see something he recognizes soon.

He doesn’t.

But he does see an arty-looking lady in high-heels and stockings. He supposes she might be going to the Louvre too so he walks with her for a while. He discovers she’s an American student. And whilst they don’t end up any closer to Le Louvre, they both have a very nice time.

Jane is a little smarter. She goes to the Tabac to buy one of those little fold-out maps. She carefully finds her location on the map, finds the location of Le Louvre and heads off in that direction.

Unfortunately, she had the map upside down. Twenty minutes later she’s further away than she started. She gets a taxi.

Katie is smarter still. She decides she’ll ask someone. Someone local, in fact. She’s sure to find someone who has walked to Le Louvre from here and can tell her how to do it. She talks to a guy in a beret and stripy jumper with onions round his neck.

 

He shrugs and grunts. It happens sometimes.

Then she asks a lovely man called Jean-Paul who lives just round the corner. He works at the museum and he walks there every morning. He tells her the route that he takes. She listens to his instructions, follows them and gets to the palace with the minimum of fuss.

You want to be like Katie.

In the next few days we’ll be looking at the steps that the most successful coaches and consultants have taken in starting their new businesses. These are the very same steps that I use within my consulting practice and on my coach mentoring scheme.

I’ll talk you through it, step by step.

We’re going to break it all down into simple steps that just work.

We’ll talk about the actions you can take which will skyrocket your success and attract more clients than you can handle.

We’ll talk about some of the common pitfalls and how you can avoid them.

We’ll learn from the very best. We’ll learn from their successes and their mistakes.

So stay tuned!

In the meantime, why not take a look at the link below? It’ll take you to a site owned by my buddy David Wood. He’s a Australian life coach with crazy hair and a big smile! He’s a coaching superstar and the founder of the International Coach Academy.

He interviewed ten coaches who built their coaching practices from nothing to the million dollar enterprises they are today. And he found out exactly how they did it.

It’s absolutely jam packed with value and I think you’re going to love it.

10 Super Coaches Reveal Their Secrets How are these life coaches earning $30,000 to $1.4 million per year? The   world’s top coaches finally tell how they made business boom –and how you can do it too.     Click Here

Well once again, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you over.

I can’t wait to see you tomorrow to really get into the nitty-gritty of starting your business.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening!

Come back tomorrow.

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

Get everyone on-side and rock your new schedule!

How to become a coach. Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy

It’s a wonderful sunny day here in Jalopyland!

How nice you are to come and find me here at the park. I’m so pleased to see you that my ice-cream is melting into my laptop keyboard!

 

HUGE day today!

Yesterday you produced a working schedule and I promised that we’d talk some more about how to make the time you spend working on your new business as productive as possible.

So let’s make pretend again!

Let’s imagine you took the plunge and you decided to leave your job. This is great, you think, now I can devote all of my time that I would have spent at work to my new business.

You sort out some other details and you make a commitment plan which looks like this:

I’m going to work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every week day, and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

I’ll arrange for Dad to pick the kids up from school every day so my work is uninterrupted in the afternoon.

Perfect!

Now it’s your first day of your new life.

You wake up in the morning, brimming with enthusiasm for your new venture.

You leap out of bed, make breakfast, get the kids off to school and you’re ready.

You feel great. You’re excited. You’re energized.

You’re REALLY GOING DO DO THIS!

Then the doorbell rings.

It’s Marjorie.

Marjorie has heard that you don’t have to go to work anymore. She figured you’d enjoy the company.

And you don’t want to be rude. So you let her in. You figure you’ll make her a coffee, you’ll shoot the breeze for half an hour, and then she’ll leave you to get on with your work.

But you know Marjorie.

Marjorie likes to talk.

Boy, does Marjorie like to talk!

And in other circumstances, you might enjoy hearing all the gory details of your neighbors infidelity with the handyman.

But today it makes you mad!

You feel mad at yourself for letting her in when you had work to do.

You feel mad at yourself for not explaining how important your new work is to you.

You feel mad at Marjorie because she WON’T STOP TALKING!!

And meanwhile, nothing is getting done…

Oh dear.

It wasn’t a great start.

But don’t worry. It’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about it. You had the best intentions and Marjorie didn’t know better because you hadn’t made it clear to her.

We can easily make this better with clear communication and a small shift in attitude.

Allow me to explain…

One of the reasons that you decided to create your own home business was likely some sense of dissatisfaction with your employment. So naturally, you may want to set totally different rules in your own home business.

And that is generally a good thing. There are many accepted aspects of large business that you will not want to copy in your small home business…

You won’t need an office building. You won’t need staff (in the commonly accepted sense.) You won’t need an organization chart. You won’t need a formal business plan (at least at the start.)

All that stuff might make you feel like you’re running a big serious business venture and it might impress your Mum and her friends. But it’s going to cost you a lot of money and will inevitably hurt your business in the long term.

There is one particular aspect of your job, however, that you would do well to model in your coaching or consulting business. (Or indeed any home business.)

And that’s time management.

You don’t have a boss anymore.

That isn’t an opportunity to turn up late, take enormous lunch breaks and get drunk in the afternoon! It means that you have to play boss.

It means that you are responsible for ensuring that you put enough time into your new business.

And it makes a lot of sense for you to be as strict with yourself, if not more so, than your boss would be.

The time you spend on your new business is as important…no it’s MORE important…than the time time you spend at your “job”.

Be sure to treat it as such.

And make sure everyone else in your life understands that.

Take time to sit down with your friends and family and explain how much this means to you. Explain that, even though you might be working at home and not in a big fancy office, you are at work.

Ask them to be respectful of this and respectful of your time.

If you have to, explain to your family that you are doing this for them as well as for you. Do what you need to do to make them understand.

If you have children, maybe consider giving them small tasks to complete for you to get them involved.

Now we can see how easy it would have been to avoid getting mad at Motormouth Marjorie!

You’d treat her in the same manner that you would deal with a personal phone call in the workplace. You’d explain that you were busy with work and schedule a time to catch up when you are less busy.

Super easy!

Let’s pretend now that you’ve had the conversation with your friends and family already, all distractions are cleared away, you’re feeling good and you are ready to devote your undivided attention to your day’s work on your new business…

So what are you going to do?

Well I guess I’d better figure out a name for my business. And I suppose I’ll need a business plan. And I’ll need to sort out my branding. And I’ll need a website. And a business card. Oh, and some clients too, that’s important. But I have no marketing material, and…. Oh my God. I’m never going to get this done!!

Right.

This is where we need a simple, practical plan. This is the fun bit!

At any one time:

• You can only concentrate on one task
• There are an enormous number of tasks that you could be doing.

To be at your most productive you need to:

• be working on the single most important thing in terms of the profitability or growth of your business, and…
• feel okay about not doing the other 10,000 things on your to-do list.

That’s lovely JJ, you may say, but how do I know what is the single most important thing I could be working on?

Well luckily many people have done this before – some more successfully than others.

We’re going to copy the successful ones!

This approach might be frowned upon when doing your homework but in the business world it’s simply good sense.

And we’ll talk about that tomorrow.

The sun is going down and it’s getting a bit chilly now. I’m going to head inside for popcorn and a movie.

See you tomorrow. Take care!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

A commitment plan for your home business dream.

Life Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy

I love Fridays!

A lady stopped me in the street this morning and gave me chocolate. That’s when you know it’s going to be a good day!

A glass of red? It is Friday after all.

It’s nothing special but I like it. It’s South African.

Let’s recap a little…

The day before yesterday you made a decision that you’ll really commit to making your home business dream a reality.

Now the business idea you had is no longer a whim. It’s no longer an excuse for underperformance at your job. It’s a big bright shiny part of who you are and what your future will be.

You’re not John Smith – accountant who might be a life coach one day when he has enough money and the kids have grown up and he’s read a hundred books on the subject and the end of year accounts are finalised.

No. That sounds rubbish, doesn’t it? Don’t be that guy. He’s the one with halitosis who talks about his car and his 401K at the dinner party.

But that’s okay.

And it’s not you.

You’re John Smith – Life Coach Extraordinaire!

Or maybe John Smith – Super Fly Consultant Guy!

Whatever gets you excited. Whatever floats your boat.

And you might happen to work at an accountancy firm during the day. For now. And that’s okay. But your new business and identity will now be your focus.

So that was Step 1. You decided to go for it and then you owned the decision by making it part of your identity.

Next you took small but immediate action towards that goal. It didn’t really matter what you did. The fact that you did it and it took you closer to your dream was the important bit. You were simply gaining momentum and adding certainty to your decision.

That was Step 2.

Then yesterday we said that you’ll want to create new habits which support your new identity as Life Coach, or Consultant, or Home Business Owner.

And to build these habits we’re going to make a commitment plan so we can take regular, scheduled, consistent action in the direction of our dream.

This is Step 3 and is our focus for today.

In summary, our steps to Commitment look like this:

1. Decide to commit to your new business identity
2. Take immediate action
3. Make a commitment plan
4. Take regular committed action until you build a habit.

Easy right?

Of course it’s easy! Everything is easy when you break it down into small enough chunks.

Now about that plan…

I could tell you that creating your new business is going to be easy.

I could tell you to sit on your butt and pretend you’re already a successful life coach. I could tell you to feel really positive and really grateful that you’re a successful life coach. I could tell you that if you visualize and visualize and affirm and affirm then the clients and the money will soon fall at your feet.

But I like you too much for that.

The truth is that setting up a new business takes a lot of work.

I’m not saying that the other stuff won’t be helpful. Much of it will. But you are not going to get away from the fact that building your coaching or consultancy practice is going to be a lot of work.

And it’s also going to be a truck load of fun!

Your trusty Mentor JJ will be by your side the whole way.

Now to accomplish any task you need two or more of the following resources:

• time
• energy (or effort)
• money

We’re going to create a plan to allow you to bring as much of the first two, and as little of the last one to your new business as you can.

So I’m sure you did you homework from yesterday. You have an idea of the amount of time you could bring to your business venture. That’s great.

Now it’s time to get a little more specific and make a real schedule. Something like:

I’m going to work on my new business for at least two hours every weekday evening, and four hours on Sunday starting after lunch.

Or

I’m going to work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on my new business every weekday.

You know what’s coming next, don’t you?!

(You’re far too smart for me.)

I’m going to challenge you to see if you could dedicate more time to your business.

I know. I know. You have other obligations all competing for your time and energy. You may have kids to feed, school runs, sports events, a job –  the stuff you were spending your time on before you decided to start this new business!

I’m going to suggest that you try to simplify your life as much as possible to give your business the high priority in your life that it deserves.

Maybe you could:

• delegate household chores or hire a cleaner or a nanny?
• reduce your hours at your job?
• leave your job? (so long as it’s financially viable)
• get up earlier in the morning?
• let go of any other commitments that you don’t really enjoy.

There are many things you might try. See if any feel right for you.

Now, supposing you’ve managed to do that, your plan may start to look a little like this:

I’m going to work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on my new business every weekday, except on Wednesday when I must pick the kids up from school at 4 p.m.

I’ll arrange for Jane to take the kids to and from school every day except Wednesday. I’ll ask George to pick the kids up from soccer practice on Thursday.

Super easy!

That’s a plan that you can succeed with!

Compare yourself now with the person that says…

I’m going to work hard on my business this week.

…and tell me which one is mostly likely to succeed.

Don’t you feel good now?!

We’ve achieved a lot today and it’s getting late, but I’d like to ask you to do one more thing… if you don’t mind.

I’m going to ask you to make a non-negotiable agreement with yourself to stick to that plan. You might change the timings if you really have to, or you might switch days one week, but you will work at least the number of hours in the plan because you’ve decided to. Be a little bit unreasonable with yourself!

Now you’re not going to have a boss anymore, you’re going to learn to be your own boss. Be strict with yourself, but also be nice. Give yourself lots of credit for the effort you put in.

Adhering to the plan you’ve just made will build constructive habits which will form the launch pad for your assured future success.

I think it’s really important that we build these foundations together. Soon we’ll get into the really juicy specifics of building your business. It’s going to be wild and it’ll blow you away! But before we jump into the detail we need to plan to win, right from the start.

So tomorrow I’m going to talk a little about energy. We’ll discuss how you can be as productive as possible in the time you devote to your business. We’ll also anticipate any problems or conflicts you might encounter in working your schedule and we’ll do our best to ensure your plan runs smoothly.

It’s been great chatting to you again.

It was a bit heavy today, I know, but I think this will have been valuable to you.

I’m off to bed with a nice hot mug of cocoa.

I’ll see you same time, same place tomorrow!

Goodnight!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

Get committed to making your dream business reality!

Life Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy

How lovely it is to see you again. I’ve been expecting you.

It’s beautiful sunny day here in England. Let’s sit out on the balcony. I’ve made Pimms and Lemonade. Yum.

Today is a big day. I’d love to joke around with you for a little while, but we otter get started straight away!

(Today is always a big day.)

Yesterday we spoke about decisions.

I urged you to make the decision to either:

• truly commit to your home business dream, or…
• let it go for now and bring yourself fully to the other things in your life.

And you did.

So… Congratulations on making your decision!

You didn’t know it, but that was Step 1 in the JJ Jalopy Guide to Total World Domination™.

Wasn’t it easy?! You’re taking control and consciously crafting your future. Awesome.

And we’re only getting started!

Now given that you’ve come back to see me, I presume that you decided to take the first option.

Remember we talked yesterday about the importance of taking actions which are consistent with your decision? In coming back here you’ve shown you understand this. Props to you!

Before I rush into Step 2, I’d like to take some time to thank you for your overwhelmingly wonderful and positive comments yesterday. You make this fun. I can tell this blogging lark is going to be an absolute scream!

Pour yourself a drink as I read from the mailbag:

Philip commented yesterday:

I’d love to hear you expand on the advice to “never leave the scene of a decision without taking some action that backs it up.” It sounds like good advice, but I don’t totally get it yet.

Thanks Philip. I love receiving questions. It’s great that you’ve asked this because it provides us with the perfect introduction to the next step I invite you to take towards pursuing your dream.

Let me use an analogy…

Let’s say you’ve decided to get fit and healthy. (No I know this doesn’t apply to you, Adonis – you can pretend.) Let’s say you’re fed up with being unhealthy and overweight. You’re fed up with vainly hoping things might change one day. You’ve decided that enough is enough and it really is time to change now.

“From now on I am committed to being healthy,” you say.

And in that moment you have total power.

You have the power to change the course of your entire life in that one moment…

… and you have the power to forget all about it and be eating chips in front of the TV by the evening.

The fact is that for the decision to have power, your future actions must be compatible with the decision you made. I call that commitment.

When you said “From now on I am committed to being healthy,” the following kind of thoughts may have tumbled from your brain:
-    but I love pizza
-    but I’ve failed so many times before
-    but it sounds like a lot of effort
-    but I don’t know how
-    but I don’t belong to a gym.
-    but salad is for rabbits, not people.

Making a decision does not make the “buts” go away.

Daring to make a decision is simply step 1. To follow through you need commitment.

When you commit to a decision you act in line with that choice regardless of those “buts”. You get off your butt and get those jogging shoes on even though you’re tired and you had a hard day at work and Scrubs is on TV. You just do it regardless – because you decided you would.

Easy, right?

Well, there’s more.

It is difficult to stay committed without good habits.

Did you pay attention in Physics class?

Well don’t worry. I did. (I was and still am a total nerd for learning!)

In Physics class we learned about Newton’s Laws of Motion. It is our knowledge of these laws that allows us to send a spaceship to Saturn. It was our knowledge of these laws that allowed Louie Armstrong to sing on the moon! Isaac Newton was a super brainy guy and the most influential Physicist ever. (Whatever Einstein tries to tell you.) He was about more than just apples, you know.

According to Newton’s First Law of Motion it requires effort to get a stationary thing moving and it requires effort to get a moving thing to stop. (If you’re wondering what that noise is, it’s probably Sir Isaac, turning in his grave.)

You need to give the ball a push to start it moving. You need to put something in its way to get it to stop.

You get the picture, right?

Well your actions and behaviours and habits work in a similar way. If you start taking consistent action in one direction it’ll become easier and easier until it sticks and becomes a habit. When it’s a habit it’s going to take a lot of effort in a different direction to change that habit.

So what we’re really looking to do is build habits which support the decision you’ve just made.

If a habit is a continually rolling ball then to build a habit we first need to push the ball to get it moving, and then we need to clear out all the obstacles in its path, keeping it on the straight and narrow with routine, consistent, easy action.

You push the ball by taking rapid action straight after the decision.

You might go immediately to the store to stock up on healthy food. You might call the gym to enquire about gym membership or a Yoga class. You might look up new recipes on the internet. It doesn’t have to be anything grand. Success is built on a series of small steps.

So that’s what you did yesterday. You got the ball moving. You decided to go for it and you took action.

With one small task you decided to start turning your dream business into reality.

You generated momentum.

Phew… Does that answer your question Philip?

There’s more, of course….

Next you’ll want to actively ensure that nothing else stops that ball. You need a plan.

What I’m talking about here is not a blow by blow account of the steps you’re going to take to achieve your desired goal. You might make a plan like that later but, for now, you’re really just looking to make a plan to get committed. That comes first.

It is from the fertile soil of commitment that your beautiful body (or your beautiful business) will grow.

And we’ll discuss how you go about creating a commitment plan tomorrow.  For now, just have a think about how much time you might be able to devote to your business venture over the next few months. Be easy with it – just have a think.

And now the Pimms has gone to my head a little and I feel like a cuddle with Kalpna Jalopy.

You can let yourself out.

Tally-ho!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach

An important decision to be made

Life Coaching Business Advice with JJ Jalopy

You’re back! How lovely it is to see you again.

I was hoping you’d come by. Sit anywhere you like. Don’t worry about your shoes.

Today I’ve been thinking about decisions.

And really one decision in particular.

Allow me to elaborate by means of an example.

Now I’m sure you’re nothing like the person I’m about to describe. What I’m about to say might not apply to you so you may need to play along a little…

Imagine that you have a job. Or imagine that you don’t.

(…and given that we’re pretending, why not make yourself incredibly attractive and charismatic, just like me!)

 

Maybe you really enjoy your job. Or maybe you hate your job. Maybe you would enjoy your job if it weren’t for that idiot boss or the guy next to you who’s told the same photocopier anecdote to the last ten people who were unfortunate enough to walk past his desk.

Either way you get up in the morning to go to work, you do your eight hours a day, and you come home.

But you also have a dream.

Maybe it’s the kind of dream that slaps you in the face every time you walk into the office building. An “I’m going to run this place” dream; an “I’m going to be a Broadway star” dream.

 

Or maybe it’s not so clear just yet. Maybe it’s just a sense that you’d like to be working for yourself.

You carry the dream around with you. You daydream about it during the day. You tell yourself you’re going to make it happen just as soon as you have more money, more time, more knowledge, more training, more confidence…

You carry your dream around with you as a little ray of light in your working day. A happy little distraction from Boring Bob and his stories about his combination boiler. A convenient excuse for not really going for that promotion- because what does it matter, right? You’ll be leaving soon to make a million on the internet.

Except that you won’t.

Because there is always an excuse. You can always be better prepared.

<< Sip of tea >>

 

Can I tell you a secret?

Can you guess who the person in the story is?

It’s me. The inimitable JJ Jalopy.

Before I decided to really go for my dream I could list a million excuses for not really committing myself:

• I don’t have the time
• I don’t have enough money
• I’m not good enough
• Other people are so much better than me
• I don’t have the confidence
• I’m scared I’ll screw up
• I’m scared I’ll look silly.

Can you imagine it? The magnificent JJ Jalopy thinking these things?!

Of course you can! Fear and indecision live within all of us. It’ll always be there. But we get to choose how we respond to that fear.

An awesome book that I’ve never read is Feel the Fear and Do It anyway by Susan Jeffers. I picked up the book, glanced at the cover, put it back on the shelf and headed straight to the in-store Starbucks for chai latte and brainstorming. The title told me everything I needed to know. It was time to commit.

(I call that speed of implementation, by the way. It’s a super important concept that I’ll be sure to hammer into your consciousness in the coming weeks and months of our relationship.)

What I’d like to challenge you to do today is to make a decision. Either you commit to going for that dream right now, or you commit yourself fully to the other areas of your life, putting that dream away for now, happy that you’re concentrating on the right thing.

Those are the only choices. I urge you to make the decision now.

Whichever way you decide it’s okay. You made a decision and it’s the right one because you made it. You’re black or white, no longer grey. Grey is for dirty computer peripherals. You deserve better.

A wonderful thing happens when you bring yourself fully to a task. Just you wait and see!

Now before I go, I have one last thing to ask of you.

A wise man once advised me to never leave the scene of a decision without taking some action that backs it up. (I’d tell you who it was, but I mentioned him yesterday and I don’t want to reveal my self-help man crush just yet. We’ve only known each other a day or two…)

So I want you to think of one little action that you can take right now that supports the decision you’ve just made.

Perhaps you could think of someone you could call to offer your coaching or consulting services? Perhaps you could write down an action to perform tomorrow morning at work to affirm your commitment to achieving that promotion?

Now go do it. Go go go!

Don’t worry, I’ll shut the door. Come back again.

Run run run!

JJ Jalopy.

Become a Life Coach