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Things can change very quickly when you do this
I remember it like it was yesterday.
There I was, two years into my journey of helping business owners.
The year was 2013, and I was 26 years of age.
It was 10am, and I was still in bed.
I didn’t want to get up.
It almost felt like I couldn’t get up.
A thought washed over my mind that I MUST be depressed.
Maybe I needed to see a doctor?
I just didn’t know what to do. I decided I needed to pack it all in.
Time to accept defeat, time to acknowledge that I was broke.
I thought I was bankrupt.
I called my mentor – an amazing guy named Simon.
I told him I needed to speak with him about something important.
We met in his office a few hours later. His first words to me were, ‘You look like crap.’
I told him I knew – and with that, for the first time in 2 years, in front of Simon, I cried.
He asked me what was wrong – and I broke into my story; ‘I’m bankrupt, Simon. I am $180k in debt. Last night was the first time I COULDN’T afford to feed myself. I need to quit. My girlfriend left me last week, my parents think I’m in some sort of cult, and I hate my life. I don’t want to get out of bed. I just want to run away. I feel like a fraud because here I am, pretending to be a Business Coach – but I can’t even look after my own life.
I am the world’s biggest loser.’
Simon didn’t say much for a while. He just sat back and let me finish talking (and crying) – which actually helped me feel better.
He then asked me three questions that would change my life…
‘Would you cut your arms off if I were to give you $1 million dollars?’
I looked at him, a little shocked by this question, ‘of course not,’ I said.
His second question shortly followed; ‘What about your legs?’
‘No’, I quickly answered.
What about your eyes – would you allow me to cut your eyes out in exchange for $1 million dollars?’
‘Absolutely not’, I firmly replied.
He looked at me with a smile and said, ‘You have just told me you are worth at least $3 million dollars, yet I am sitting here and listening to you telling me how sorry you are for yourself and how stressed you are about not having any money.’
Simon could see the puzzled look on my face, so he continued.
‘You see, Robbo – you are focusing on all the things you DON’T have in your life instead of seeing the things you DO have.’
‘You are caught up in the misery of life, and you have become a victim. You have not taken full responsibility for what you have created for yourself. Instead, you are wrapped up in your own crap, in your head – and you THINK your life is over. Yes, you are $180k in debt – BUT WHO THE HELL CARES!’
I had never been so shaken. WOW…
But in many ways – I knew Simon was right.
Over those past two years – I was constantly feeling stressed and worried. I wasn’t having any fun. I wasn’t looking after my health.
I had stopped calling my friends, spending quality time with my family, and I just wasn’t happy at all!
And for the first time in 2 years, I started to see that maybe it was ME creating this, and NOT other people or society.
Seeing my realisation, Simon added, ‘Robbo – until you believe in you, no one else will. You see – what we believe is what we think. What we think is what we say. What we say, is how other people will treat us, and the way that other people treat us, is what we believe.’
I had to get Simon to repeat this – because I needed to get my head around it.
He went on, ‘Robbo, it’s what you are saying to yourself, about yourself when you are by yourself that matters most’.
Okay, this was starting to really hit home for me.
I started to understand that for things to change, first, I must change.
That I must be thinking poorly, and this is what was creating havoc in my life.
If I change my beliefs and thoughts, maybe I could change my life! Simon had a term for this – ‘STINKING THINKING.’
For the next 60 days, Simon helped me with this. He really helped me understand that I needed to work harder on myself than I do on my business.
To work on changing my beliefs and my thinking.
And for the first time in 2 years – I committed to EVERYTHING he taught me.
For the first time in 2 years, I started focusing ON WHAT I HAVE INSTEAD OF WHAT I DON’T HAVE.
I started focusing on WHAT I WANTED INSTEAD OF WHAT I DIDN’T WANT.
I started to experience gratitude and happiness. And then something interesting started to occur.
It happened about three weeks after the meeting with Simon.
I went out to visit a prospect who was interested in Coaching.
I was in a very positive space – to the degree that I had removed the desperation of needing them to become a client.
After a 1-hour meeting – he agreed to become my client. And also, he wanted to pay me for a whole year UPFRONT.
I was away, and amazed!
Two days later, I signed another client, then another – and within about 30 days, I had more clients than I could handle.
I made more income in 1 month than I used to make in a year in my previous job. And it didn’t stop there. I kept focusing on what I wanted.
This stuff was really starting to work. Fast forward two years, I had a team of 25 people, one of Australia’s largest Business Coaching companies (at the time), and a yearly turnover of $3 million per year.
We were coaching some of the most successful companies around Australia at the time. Five of our clients were on the BRW Fastest 100 growth list, and one was number one on this list.
WE WERE JUST TEACHING THEM TO FOCUS ON GRATITUDE AND WHAT THEY WANTED INSTEAD OF WHAT THEY DIDN’T.
And when I look back on it, I realise my entire life and been ‘Flipped’.
That I just needed to change myself.
I needed to understand HOW to begin working on myself – to believe in myself. This knowledge had SUCH an impact on my life. I knew I had to share it with others.
The reality is, It doesn’t matter where you are at. You can change and improve your life significantly when you finally wake up and realise, ‘ For things to change, first I must.’
Have a great week,
Robbo
P.S. For those who are interested, we will be hosting a free webinar on September 20th – all about how to create a winning team. You can register for the webinar here: Team Webinar Registration
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