Over the summer, I had a private session with a client who had been in session with her healer the week before.
My client was telling me that her Healer had intuited that she needed to go to the beach for a week. It sounded like a good idea to my client because she trusts this healer’s intuition, yet she told him she was feeling stressed out and pressured because she just couldn’t figure out how to make a week away that month fit with her life.
Even though I’ve been coaching and facilitating transformation for nearly twenty years now, my answer to the question: “What is the one thing in your business that has the potential to make you cringe the most?” would be the same today as it was twenty years.
The thing in my business that has the potential to make me cringe the most is the thought that I am not supporting my clients in the most valuable and masterful ways possible.
This is more important to me than anything else – than marketing success, than visibility, that income.
For me, providing exquisite and highly skilled service, as well as transformation, is BAR NONE.
If you feel the same way I do, then I’m so happy to share this article with you! READ MORE
Here’s a coaching, facilitation, teaching (and marketing) tool that I live by:
It is vitally important to reveal yourself, your imperfections, your not-so-great outcomes, and your not-so-happy qualities to your clients, students and community.
The transformational industry is FULL of gurus who seem picture perfect. They have “perfect” businesses; they apparently learn their lessons very quickly; they apparently don’t make mistakes; they apparently don’t really have sh*t happen to them
This is damaging to their communities – and specifically to their clients.
Because as a coach or practitioner, if you don’t consciously reveal your imperfections to your clients….they can make the mistake of believing that things happen perfectly for you.
And that essentially means that you become, in my opinion, a very, very dangerous role model.
Because no one is perfect, no one’s business is perfect, no one’s health is perfect, etc.
But your clients believe that if you – their coach or leader – don’t have frustrations, don’t have obstacles, don’t have hardships, that they should be able to attain it too.
And that’s a setup for failure, for frustration, and for unhappiness.
When I am with my clients and students, I never hesitate to share about my not-so-great moments, my not-so-great launches, my not-so-pretty feelings (yes, I get jealous and negative sometimes!), and my sweaty armpits (always happens when I facilitate!).
Of course, I share only when appropriate and only as much as is necessary to make the point: that I am human, just like my client is human, and we are bound to have imperfect lives and businesses. And this is as it should be.
When we are coaching or facilitating, we need to remember that when we show that we struggle with some things, that things don’t always go according to our plans….we are giving permission to our clients to not be so hard on themselves, to not be so self-judgmental, and to not think something is very wrong with them because they haven’t achieved enough.
This is the ONLY way real growth can happen. And this is the ONLY way real movement towards goals can happen.
And quite honestly, this is the only way real self-love can deepen (& I believe that at the core of ANY coach’s or practioner’s job, this is one of the most sacred).
When I train practitioners in Sacred Depths Coach Training, we spend a full module just on how to support clients through the Myth of Perfection. In addition to the inner work tools I share with my coaches on this, I also always share this important principle:
Remember that when you are someone’s coach, teacher or facilitator…you also bear the responsibility of being their role model. And being a role model doesn’t mean showing up as an image of perfection.
Over the summer, I had a private session with a client who had been in session with her healer the week before.
My client was telling me that her Healer had intuited that she needed to go to the beach for a week. It sounded like a good idea to my client because she trusts this healer’s intuition, yet she told him she was feeling stressed out and pressured because she just couldn’t figure out how to make a week away that month fit with her life.
In lieu of a full blog post, I wanted to share with you a recent post I wrote on Facebook.
I was scared to hit post on it because I know it’s a little controversial….
and I wasn’t sure if it would trigger some people…
but I ultimately decided to post it because I feel so strongly about it.
It’s about coaching & coaching skills & ethics & so much more.
You’ll see it got some attention and a lot of folks commented very passionately on it.
Here it is: https://www.facebook.com/joanna.lindenbaum/posts/10155812738623437
Would love to hear your thoughts!
The best way to create what you want in your business is to get clear on what your income goals are and exactly HOW those income numbers add up to become real dollars in your bank account. If you don’t do this, then it is extremely hard – practically impossible – to either create the income you want or to do it in a way that feels organized and peaceful.
Your income goals are concrete numbers that set the stage for your marketing and operations plan for the year. They help you strategize, they help you clarify the support you’ll need, and they lay out for you the scope of what you want to tackle for the year. Every successful entrepreneur I know sets goals to help her thrive and expand her business.
How Do You Set Income Goals?
Setting your income goals is actually quite simple, but the trick is to do it, and do it thoughtfully. Even though it’s a simple process, I see too many entrepreneurs out there who skip over this important planning essential or who do it half-heartedly.
To set your goals for the year, the first place you want to start is with your Soul-Centered Offerings. Your Soul-Centered Offerings are your programs, packages, services and products. Your Soul-Centered Offerings are at the heart of your income goals because your income will depend on how many offerings you sell, and at what rate.
Step1: Know what you’ll be offering in any given year AND at what rate you’ll be offering it at.
For example:
**Now, I believe strongly that being compensated for your talent and brilliance is essential. Yet, all too often I see talented entrepreneurs with incredible offerings priced at rates far less than they are worth. Sometimes you say, “I have to price it this low because that’s the industry standard." Or, “I’m not really sure what it’s worth but this seems about right." Or, “I feel I should be charging more but what if people won’t think I’m worth it?"
If you recognize yourself in one of these statements, it’s an especially important moment to get clear on your rates. You can’t create a higher income for yourself if the numbers don’t add up, in other words: if you’re undercharging (& believe me, I did that for years, so I understand!). If you’re stuck here with charging enough, we’ll look at this more in depth in a future article. For now, see if you can stretch a little bit and raise your rates, just a wee bit.
Once you’re clear on your offerings and how much they cost, you can move on to Step 2 –
Step 2: Get clear on how much income you’d like to make in the next 12 months
Keep this number realistic, but a stretch. How much income do you desire to earn over the next 12 months?
A helpful hint is to get clear on what you’d like to be spending your money on. The reason I suggest this is because to just name an income number – $50K or $100K or $1 million – is just a number. It has no real meaning behind it, it has no "deep and sacred why" behind it. And without that, it’s hard to really take it seriously.
So, get clear on what you desire to make over a 12 month period and write it down.
Now, knowing how much you’d like to make is NOT enough. Without knowing how much you need to sell to reach that income goal, your income goal number can’t really move from hypothetical into action steps that get you real results….
Step 3: Get clear on how many units of your offerings you need to sell to reach your income goal.
For example, if you’d like to earn $100K over the next 12 months and you have one product that is priced at $1,000, then you need to sell 100 of them to reach your income goal.
Or, if you’d like to earn $100K over the next 12 months and you offer one private package that is $5,000 each and one group package that is $1,000, then perhaps you choose the goal of selling 15 private packages and 25 group packages.
Step 4: Some other questions that will be helpful in setting your goals:
These questions will help you get even more clear on what you’d like to earn and create and how you’d like to do so:
**It’s so important to take time into consideration when you’re creating your goals because you want to make sure that you have enough time to achieve your goals without burning out!
**It’s so important to take expenses into account to be able to reach your desired income amount!
Once you’ve moved through all 4 steps, and created your income goals for the year, you are ready to create your marketing and visibility plan. You’ll have a super-strong foundation now to get clear on the execution plan that makes the most sense for you….
