A weird psychological shift when we move from employee to business owner…

A weird psychological shift when we move from employee to business owner…

I had a really interesting chat with a client last week about why we don’t always do what we know we should when we run our own business. I told him why I think this occurs by relaying the story below from when I was an employee. 

Many years back, I was a sales executive with Telstra and had a monthly sales budget (I needed to make $120k of new sales every month). 

What motivated me to achieve this budget was simple; If I didn’t reach it, my job was in jeopardy, and if I did reach it, I was rewarded with bonuses (which multiplied each time I exceeded my target).  

Catching the train to work one morning, I was listening to a CD by Brian Tracy.   

He said,‘Why don’t you go to work today and ask your boss; what it would take for them to pay you twice as much and give you a promotion?’  

I remember the excitement and fear that built up inside me when I heard this. Could I really go and ask my boss this question?  

I decided to face my fears and booked a meeting with the boss that day. 

I swallowed, smiled, and with a nervous touch to my voice, asked, ‘What will it take for you to pay me twice as much as you do now and give me a promotion?’ 

Steve (my boss) looked quite shocked at this question.   

After what felt like ten minutes of silence (but was probably only thirty seconds), Steve replied, ‘Andrew – give me 200% of your sales budget for the next six months and I will double your pay and ensure you get a promotion within the company.’  

I was so excited; I could hardly believe it could be so simple. Finally, we confirmed the agreement in writing, and my 6-month goal was set to begin the following week. 

Six months later, I achieved my goal and was so pleased when my boss honoured his side of the deal, and I received a 100% pay increase and a promotion.  

Within two months of taking the promotion and with growing confidence, I decided to quit my job and start my own business as a coach.

And this is where the trouble started.   

Like most people, I started my business journey full of excitement, believing I would now ‘live the dream.’ 

The problem was, I didn’t have anyone giving me a set target, nor did I have a structure that said, ‘make this X calls, and you will get these results.’   

I didn’t have a plan describing what activity I would do to get results.
  

If I didn’t do the work, there was no one to tell me my job was in trouble because I wasn’t doing the work. 

There was no one to keep me accountable, ensuring that I hit my budgets and goals.  As a result, that first year in business was one of the toughest years I have ever been through.   

My plans completely backfired.   

Like many people, I went into business because I wanted the freedom to do what I wanted in my own time.    

The truth is, running your own business sounds great, but it can create a BIG PROBLEM. By taking advantage of this freedom, I almost went broke in the process. 

I see the same scenario being played out all the time.   

Farm owners can move from being an employee, where they have a set of KPIs and objectives, to running their own business because they want the freedom to live a great life.   

The problem is, they, like me, don’t hold themselves accountable and therefore don’t do the things that MUST be adopted to run a successful company.   

We ALL get caught up doing the things that are EASY but not $$ productive and then wonder why we haven’t achieved the initial dreams we set out with.

Did you know that people who are held accountable are 90% more likely to achieve their goals than people who aren’t?   

That is why I decided to invest in accountability from my 2nd year.   
I couldn’t afford it but knew that was the exact reason I needed to do it.  
My first accountability mentor knew what KPIs I needed to set and what activities I needed to do. 

Very quickly, my business had positive results because I was doing the right things again. I was back on track. Nine years later, I still invest in accountability and always will. There are three types of accountability in my life;

1. A business coach, 
2. A mastermind group, and 
3. I speak to some mates in business monthly, and we help each other set goals and review what we have been doing. 

I believe a psychological shift happens when people move from Employee to Business Owner.  

We need to re-create our role as if we are still employees, i.e. write our job description and put some KPIs around our role.  

We then need to get someone to help us review this and help us stick to it. The results will come quicker than you can imagine.

Have a profitable week, 

Andrew

19 Tips From 22 Years of Coaching…

19 Tips From 22 Years of Coaching…

19 Tips From 22 Years of Coaching… 

1. Give yourself 4-7 years to get good at business. Running a business is an amazing journey. It uncovers many insecurities, and you attract many clients that will bring out these insecurities. However, when these insecurities are gone, you will attract extraordinary people – and when you attract extraordinary people, your real business journey will begin. 

2. Work really hard on your belief system. I don’t care what people say, but morning rituals (affirmations, gratitude, visualising success etc.) are the most powerful ways to get the results you want. Commit to doing this at least five times per week. I don’t believe you deserve to run a business if you don’t commit to working on yourself. 

3. Read, listen to audios, and attend one external course every three months. The more skilled you are, the better you are – it’s really that simple.

4. Believe youwill have a great business… and you will. 

5. Keep fit and healthy. The more energy you have, the more you will help your clients – GET ACCOUNTABILITY WITH THIS. It makes it much easier (speak to me if you want to learn more about this).

6. Complete at leastone personal challenge each year. For example, climb a mountain, complete that triathlon, or do a meditation or yoga course. Do something that challenges you. This has a huge impact on the way you lead your business. 

7. Remember your values. Make them your bricks; that is, don’t put work before other things that you value in your life. 

8. STOP. You can’t follow your instincts when you are too busy. Instead, get into ‘flow’ – a state where we follow our gut. Everything works when we are in this state. We can’t find this state when things are hectic.

9. Get excited when things go wrong. Never allow yourself to get frustrated or angry, as it takes you away from a place of gratitude. Good things are just around the corner. A saying I often remind myself of when something I don’t like happens is, ‘it won’t last.’ 

10. Share things you come across. The more you give, the more you receive. If you come across something that will help others, then send it to them – help your community and other farmers as much as you can. 

11. Celebrate wins big time. Get really excited when you and your team (or customers) have a win. This just brings more wins on quickly. 

12. Start your day well. Get a new alarm clock and bounce out of bed. Recognise how lucky you are. 

13. Work on your clarity. The clearer you are, the easier your journey will be. 

14. Increase your circle of influence. Meet one new amazing person EVERY month (or at least every three months).

15. Get rid of news and distractions. Anything that doesn’t add value to your life.

16. Work on truly liking yourself. I would have laughed at this 15 years ago. Now I believe it’s some of the best advice I can give. You can’t like anyone else any more than you like yourself. So, say good things to yourself as often as you possibly can. Your self-esteem is everything, so keep filling the bucket. 

17. Drop the ‘I know’ attitude.

18. Lose the ‘worry’ attitude. It’s a disease if you are worrying. Put things into perspective as fast as possible if you find yourself worrying about stuff. It doesn’t help anyone. 

19. HAVE FUN. Love your job. This is just a decision. 

Have a great week,

Robbo

Could your ego be holding you back?

Could your ego be holding you back?

We all have an identity, and we all operate from a set of beliefs. 
 

These have been built up over many years, and most of it is now operating from your subconscious – which means that you might not even be aware of them. 
 

The ego is why so people don’t like to receive critical feedback. The ego feels attacked, but the person often giving the feedback just wants to help you. 
 

The ego also wants to figure everything out by itself. So it feels guilty asking for help because it might send a ‘signal’ out that you don’t know, and the ego thinks it should. 
 

Far out, I have battled a lot with this over the years. 
 

Growing up on a farm, I always wanted to prove myself to my dad. I wanted to prove that I could do any job, and I got really angry if I couldn’t do it. So at times, I would not listen to dad as I believed I knew what needed to be done (I didn’t).   
 

I carried this into business, and for the first two years, I really thought I could figure everything out. 
 

The reality was completely different. These ended up being two of the toughest years of my life. It ended in a complete emotional meltdown for me.   
 

But then I just surrendered (it’s funny how this can happen when you reach a breakdown). 
 

In other words, for the first time ever, I did exactly what my coach told me. Usually, I wanted to do it my way (ego), but this time I put my ego to one side and trusted.  
 

And this really was the turning point for my business and my life. After that, I trusted him (he was much more successful than me), I did everything he said, and a few years later, I was running a great business. 
 

When you work on your business, you need to disconnect yourself from your ego and your past beliefs and make decisions for the greater good of the company. 

Sometimes, you may have to realise that you are not the best person to lead your company (this can be a tough decision).
 

Running your business is not about you.   
 

It’s a separate entity to you that should be treated very differently and as such, decisions need to make for its greater good (not always your greater good). And often, these decisions mean you admitting you don’t know it, aren’t the best person etc.
 

Once you learn to drop your ego, your business has a chance of reaching its potential. 
 

It takes a lot of courage for someone to do this (drop their ego). 
 

Robbo 
 

P.S. Please ensure you get a coach to help you navigate this process, as it makes it much easier. Let us know if you want to see if we can help you by emailing [email protected] and put in the subject line ‘interested’ and we can make contact. 

Don’t end up being the richest person in the graveyard

Don’t end up being the richest person in the graveyard

Farm owners are some of the richest people in the world. Many are in the top 1% when it comes to wealth.
 

In the end, you only need so much money, and many farm owners now have more wealth than they will ever spend. 
 
If you have a net worth of more than 3 million dollars, please know… you are rich.   
 
What are you going to do about this? 
 
Are you going to allow your wealth to keep growing (and risk being the richest person in the graveyard), or are you going to find ways to use this wealth for good use?   
 
I believe that wealth and money bring responsibility.  
 
Excess wealth can offer you a way to look for how you can use this to benefit your community or the world in some way. 
 
So many farm owners have a lazy balance sheet. That is, they have more than enough equity that can be used for adding value. But they fear losing it OR get too focused on simply getting bigger (often driven by an ego). 
 
If you are sitting on a massive asset and it’s not being used, then wouldn’t you also agree that this is a slight waste of resources?  
 
Using your wealth could be as simple as investing your money.   
 
Buying a house and renting it out is at least allowing someone else to live under a roof.  
 
There are also other ways to use the wealth:  
 

  • Could you loan it out to someone that needs a leg up? 
  • Could you help someone start or buy a business to use these funds productively (maybe it also allows you an opportunity to add value outside of your farm)? 
  • Where can you donate some of your wealth to help people in need? 

Ultimately, our lives are measured by how much we give, not by how much we get, and it’s easy to get tricked into chasing even more wealth (when we really don’t need it).  Go after it for sure, but I think the trick is to link this extra growth with adding more value in whatever way you can to society. 
 
The time to give and helps others is when you are alive. 
 
Oh – if you have a large asset but lack the cash flow (asset rich but cash poor), then speak to us. This is what we do, and we are experts at helping you maximise your returns to make your asset as productive as possible. Reply to this email if you want further information about our Platinum Mastermind Program. 
 
Robbo

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