WHY YOU SHOULD MOVE FROM THE CORPORATE CHAOS TO RUNNING YOUR OWN COACHING BUSINESS?

Thinking small…

Recently I made the decision to become a part of the great resignation and leave my 19 year career at a top FTSE 100 retailer.

I started many years ago as a student and became a leader at the ripe old age of 21 but at 34, I noticed it did not excite and fulfil me in the same way any longer. I felt I had lost my sense of identity, direction and everything started to feel very numb in life.

In 2015, I started qualifying in coaching and in 2018 I established my coaching business. I have invested tens of thousands in my own development since and proudly so.

I am a huge advocate of self development, personal growth, learning every single day and now managing our mental and emotional selves in life.

Since this, it has become apparent that I have a very high belief system working for me. What I mean by this is I possess a unique abundance of confidence, resilience, determination, focus and curiosity for the world and creating a life that brings fulfilment, energy and fundamentally feels aligned to my values in life. This is the rich “stuff” that money cannot buy but forms the foundations of many of our limitations.

Taking the step to leave that security blanket of a stable income each month is incredibly scary. Actually it is petrifying but so is the idea of getting to 65 and saying to myself I never lived a life true to my values and a one of meaning. That risk is one I do not want to take and makes this risk seem small in comparison.

In true Nat style, I don’t like always doing what I am told to do. I do not like sticking to the status quo. Earl Nightingale said:

“Watch what everyone else does — do the opposite. The majority is always wrong.”

That sounds like me!

As I shared above, I am an incredibly confident individual. In fact, I was recently a guest on a podcast and I actually said: “I would like to be less confident in life.”

A strong value I hold close is having integrity. You won’t find me hitting you “DMs” as a cold lead begging for your service because I hate it too!

The world has evolved and yes we have to be innovative, but to me true confidence and plastering social media with content is not actually confidence or “getting out there.” It is purely hiding behind a message, laptop and screen and for most of these people, if they do actually get a “lead” I’m pretty sure they go into chaos thinking what next as they struggle to nurture and develop that relationship and actually help someone move forward to their vision.

BUSINESS IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS.

It is about human to human connection. It is about genuinely being invested in yourself and in others to both be able to grow and develop in life, business, relationships etc. If I could give the world anything right now, it would be share with them being patient and more empathetic may answer many questions for them right now.

That is why I have no interest in wasting my precious days hitting the message inboxes of people with the only intention being to get clients. It is rubbish, boring and not how I want to develop and grow my business.

I genuinely want to help people. Coaching really works by referral, not selling or doing lots of marketing but by reputation. People will connect through energy first of all.

So what I do is invite people to have a coaching conversation with me. I want them to have an experience very different from anything they have previously encompassed before.

Not because you might ever become a client but because you have a great network and because you’re the kind of person that would refer people to me. This is the kind of referral I’m looking for and that’s the kind of referral YOU should be looking for.

Hang on Nat… you said you were going to give me the reason WHY I SHOULD MOVE FROM THE CHAOS OF THE CORPORATE WORLD TO RUNNING MY OWN COACHING BUSINESS.

I did!

So, here we go.

TOO MANY OF US are feeling lost, unfulfilled, lonely, confused and uncertain about the future of our careers.

What we once loved and envisaged for our future has changed. Bronnie Ware is is an Australian motivator best known for her writings about the top deathbed regrets. The number one regret people have when they are on their deathbed is that they did not live a life of true meaning.

That’s it. That is the reason why you should leave your corporate JOB (not purpose) and do your coaching business. You know how powerful coaching is. You know the impact you can make on others lives. You know all of this stuff yet you are petrified of making the transition as was I.

How can often be overrated. We need to understand the what we want and why but how can be the next stage.

Here is 3 things to share how I have transitioned and I hope it offers advice for how you can too because YOU CAN! Repeat… YOU CAN.

ASK FOR HELP

Often we think we have all of the answers and often we actually do however we need coaches to help us reframe how we see things and understand what to do and when so we don’t run before we can walk.

PLAN PLAN PLAN

Yes you need a plan but you do not have to have a business plan. What you do need is a very very good financial plan. One of the first things I work with clients on is their relationship with money. You have to be honest with yourself where you are at? Where you want to be? What you need to invest and where?

ENVIRONMENT

Whether you are aware of it or not your environment is impacting everything you do and every decision you make. The make-up of your environment is people, the places you and and the conversations you have etc. Surrounding yourself with a third of the people where you want to be, a third of the people where you are and a third of the people where you were is a superb way of creating foundations of a strong environment to grow. These are some of the seeds you need to sow right now.

The importance here is that we do not have to make transitions straight away. I had to make sure I had my financials in place before taking “the leap of faith” and yes I had one coach that in 2019 said: “Just go take out a loan for £20k…” Needless, to say we no longer work together! Poor advice I never asked for from her as a coach but taking the first step and exploring what options look like to make the right next steps in life and business has the capacity to change everything for you. What do you have to lose? (I do thank her for showing me what I do not want to be — always learnings to be taken from everything we do.)

Stop thinking small and think BIG.

The world is your oyster and life is too short. Start taking the small steps now to the big changes in your life.