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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!

Yum!

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.

Handy!

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.

You're the 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.

Get the kids to help!

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

If you enjoyed my writing, please share it with your friends. Thanks!

25 comments so far

Comment by Lynn Lane
4 April 2009

JJ,
Great thoughts on time management and all the things that matter.
Learn+Growth+Apply+Humility=Mastery

Lynn Lane

http://www.Warriorofsuccess.com
Comment by Don Shepherd
4 April 2009

JJ,

Who could resist checking your blog daily?

Don Shepherd

oregon or bust
Comment by Pat Becker
4 April 2009

JJ,
Your blog is always so helpful and such a delight to read that I save it for last – like dessert. And look at that. The first thing I see today is dessert. In all seriousness, I follow your suggestions and I will have my dessert.

-Pat
Business Owners Fast Track to Internet Profits
Comment by Rob Northrup
4 April 2009

JJ,

Another great post from Jalopyland. This one is very important for those making the trasnsition to being their own boss and running their own businesses.

THere are just so many distractions, esp if someone is working at home, like I did. I think it is important to have a space that is only for work with a door that can be closed when you need to be uninterrupted esp if you have kids.

Seize the Day,
Rob
Personal Asset Protection For Small Business Owners
Have YYou Covered Your Assets?
Comment by Christian Haller
4 April 2009

Distractions from others excusing thier way out of getting things done is one of the biggest time syncs. Often you will be resented for trying to get ahead. I focus my time with those that support what I am doing.

Christian
Comment by Avery
4 April 2009

Great advice as always JJ! Your blog is a constant delight.
Avery
Comment by Yann Vernier
5 April 2009

Good advice JJ. I’d fire that Marjorie woman from my circle of friends pronto. There are so many time suckers out there! Time management is about respecting your time first.

All the best,
Yann
http://www.ProfitsTactics.com
Comment by Sonya Lenzo
5 April 2009

Constant prioritization is one of the biggest keys to focus. You hit the nail on the head!
SunnyMarie
Glamour and Glitz
http://www.sunnymarie.com
Comment by April Braswell
5 April 2009

you started waving an ice cone in front of a woman
you have my COMPLETE attention now!

Great post about life coaching for your business combining your delightful kick-butt sense of humor.

love it

All the best,

April Braswell

Online Dating Coach, Dating Expert
Comment by Jennifer Battaglino
5 April 2009

JJ
You are a riot…and full of good info too!
Loved the story about Marjorie.

Jen Battaglino

The Harwood Center – Tinnitus, Chronic Illness, Fers, Phobias, and Anxiety
Comment by Sonya Lenzo
5 April 2009

Prioritization is such an important part of focus. Great post as usual, with your trademark humor.
SunnyMarie
Glamour and Glitz
http://www.sunnymarie.vox.com
Comment by Duane Cunningham
5 April 2009

Dude! You crack me up it has to be that English sense of humor! But using humor is an excellent way to lower a persons defenses and get them to open up to your message!

And the one thing that 80% of all people find hard and what keeps them from being successful is the fact that successful people MODEL other successful people as one of my mentors tells me constantly! why reinvent the wheel when you can S and D!! (Swipe and Deploy!)

Duane

Learn Winning Persuasion
Techniques that Work Like Magic by Tapping Into the Psychology of
the Mind with Persuasion Expert Duane Cunningham!
Comment by John Ho
5 April 2009

JJ,

Great post!

You’re saying that time management is a misnomer. It is self-management.

From Pure Numerology, we can understand personalities for better influence & persuasion.

Those who are born with a strong “2″, while they’re generous with their resources on others. if they are the negative type, they also use up a lot of the other people’s resources, especially time!

John Ho
Understanding Personalities for Better Influence & Persuasion (WordPress)
Understanding Personalities for Better Influence & Persuasion (Vox Blog)
Comment by Mark Mallen
5 April 2009

JJ, Great post. You have both ice cream and Boss Hogg. Mark

Glacier Marketing

Glacier Ice Cream
Comment by Mitchell Rehaume
5 April 2009

Love the advice, Always great advice and a post full of value.

Thanks again!

Mitchell Rehaume
You’re Mobile Expert!
Comment by Steve Chambers
5 April 2009

JJ,

I’m going to get tired of writing “great post” since so far you’re knocking them out of the park.

You’ve hit on a common non-problem people have when they first set out to do things for themselves. People somehow feel ashamed when they take time for themselves. It’s good to focus too.

Steve
Comment by Darryl Pace
5 April 2009

JJ,

great post with good, clear instructions (and a good, engaging story) on time management.
Comment by DIY Lawyer
5 April 2009

Jalopyland,

You have me hooked. I want to buy a lifetime pass

The DIY Lawyer
DIY Lawyer – Where you can learn to do your own estate planning
Comment by Bob Kaufer
5 April 2009

Success leaves clues. follow those clues and don’t reinvent the wheel.

Bob Kaufer
If you MOVE like the Tin Man, you will THINK like the Scarecrow and FEEL like the Lion
Comment by Susan
5 April 2009

Whew! This is the first time I’ve been to your site … LOTS of information in one post. I like the pics interspersed and your writing style. You are SO right about others not taking your business seriously, particularly if you don’t do so yourself.
Sue Crutcher, Life Empowerment Mentor
http://www.SueCrutcher.com
Comment by JC MacKenzie
5 April 2009

Hands down, man, your posts are the best. Good information, fun, interesting, informative….

Thanks

JC JC
Comment by Pam Schulz
6 April 2009

JJ -

Wow – today must be the day for word and visual ice cream analogies!

Ah – the old “time management” issue. Your post gives awesome suggestions on how to make more efficient use of the time we have available. Home businesses have the wonderful advantage limited “commute” time but the trade off is often our personal lives collide with our professional lives. You offer much to think about in this post.

Thanks!
Pam
Great Minds, Great Wealth – Raise Your Return, Reduce your Risk, Cut your Costs
Comment by MULLINSROSEANN30
31 March 2010

Do you know that it is the best time to get the credit loans, which would make you dreams real.