Larry Page...CEO of Google. Do you think it would have been okay if he didn’t show up to work? If he missed meetings? Wasn’t consistent running a multi-million dollar business? Do you think it would have continued to be THE GREAT GOOGLE that we all know and love? NO! It takes guts, passion and showing up EVERYDAY to create success! In the same token, would Larry Page want to work with people who didn’t show up, made excuses, and complained? HECK NO! He’d fire them! So don’t fire yourself. This may sound a little harsh to some of you...but the truth is that you can't move your life from where it is right now, to where you want it to be with the same mindset and daily behaviors you've used in the past. Change...step by step...is possible, and it's worth it.
The moment you signed up to be a coach you stepped into an opportunity to be a leader! You may not see yourself in that position right now, but the opportunity is right there in front of you. You can take this role seriously if you want to. Don’t be afraid to take that leap of faith and build your wings on the way down.The fact is, what holds most of us back is fear. Typically, when you break it down, it's fear of failure, fear of how hard it might be, or what you might have to give up to succeed...and mostly, fear of what others will say or think of you along the way.
We encourage every coach to read The Slight Edge by: Jeff Olson. To be more specific, focus on this message…“What I Learned from Funerals”...As I prepared myself to go on this first sales call, I had been literally praying for help, and as so often happens when you ask a question in all sincerity, an answer came. In this case, it came in the form of an article I happened to read in a magazine. The article was about funerals, and it informed me that at the average funeral, about ten people cry. I couldn’t believe it. Ten people? That’s it? You mean, I go through my entire life, spend years and years going through all these trials and tribulations and achievements and joys and heartbreaks-and at the end of it, there are only ten people who care enough to cry? I went on to the next paragraph and it got worse. Once those ten (or fewer) people had yanked their hankies and honked their noses and my funeral was over the number one factor that would determine how many people would go on from the funeral to actual burial would be…the weather. (The weather?!) If it happens to be raining, it said fifty percent of the people who attend my funeral would decide not to go to my burial after all. I really couldn’t believe it. You mean, I’m lying there, at the grand conclusion of everything I’ve ever said and done, of everything I call my life, in those final moments when my entire life is called to account and acknowledged and memorialized by those nearest and dearest to me, those whose lives I’ve most deeply and profoundly touched…and half the congregation checks out halfway through because of the weather?!
At first, this really bummed me out. And then, it was liberating. You know what? I thought. I don’t give a hoot what anybody thinks of what I’m doing any more. If the odds are iffy as to whether or not they even cry at my funeral, and chances are fifty-fifty that they duck out before I’m planted, if the sky happens to cry for me more than people do...then why am I spending so much time worrying about what they’re thinking now?
Why would I be afraid of rejection?
Why would I be concerned about what the majority thinks?
Why would I be worried about what the ninety-five percent say, think, or do?
A few days later, I happened to be thinking about that article as I sat in my car stopped in traffic. Just then, I saw why we were all stopped: a funeral procession went by. It took less than a minute because it contained only a few cars. As traffic slowly started moving again, I thought. That person lived his or her entire life worrying about what other people thought…And it suddenly hit me. Who has long funeral processions? At whose funerals do thousands cry? For whom do the millions mourn? For those who will do what others are not willing to do. For the people for whom we erect statues. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Lincoln. Gigantic funerals are held and great crowds, sometimes entire nations, mourn for those people who spent their lives not worrying about what others thought.”
You may not have the intention of shaking entire countries, or shifting the future for millions of people…but what difference do you want to make? What matters most to you? Do that…and step into the part of you that has the strength to stand strong for what you believe in. Regardless of what people might think or say. I mean…in that perspective, do you really care what people think? The truth is that most of what people might think or say that holds you back isn’t even real. You make it up. Besides, even if it you did bump up against critical or judgmental people, you know deep down they really don’t care about your life for the most part. They are focused on their own.
TODAY'S TASKS:
Here are two things to think about:
If you believe you can function as a mediocre coach and hope to attract a Leader into this business, it rarely happens. Leaders attract other leaders! Be bold and set that bar for other coaches on your team
Also, ask yourself...if my coaches did exactly what I did today would they have made steps towards building a successful business? It’s not about being the best, it's about showing other people a clear path so that they can be their best. Then you build a business that doesn’t rely on just your efforts. You duplicate and gain freedom. Knowing this; How differently are you going to approach your business moving forward?