I’ve had an incredible weekend with Richard Wilkins and Liz Ivory on their Step Up course, along with 16 other wonderful people including Insa, Jane, Jan, Roo and Pauline to name but a few. While we’ve been driving home, I’ve been reflecting on my journey that started a little over three years ago and decided that it’s time once more for me to step up further. This is an incredibly long post, but it’s entirely from the heart… please read it all the way to the end, I’d truly appreciate your support. In the three years since I quit my job and started my own business, I’ve met some truly incredible and inspiring people, achieved wonderful things that I’d never have thought possible, been to some amazing places that I’d never have dreamed of and, best of all, had time with my children and my family that I’d never have had if I hadn’t quit my job. And it’s all thanks to Insa, who’s been my greatest source of inspiration, love and support at every step of the way. I’ve also been incredibly privileged to be helped and supported by so many people that I can’t name them all… but you know who you are and I just want to say that I love each and every one of you and truly appreciate everything. It hasn’t been a bed of roses though… starting your own business is HARD. Attracting the right clients, managing cash-flow, keeping costs down, attracting the right team members, getting pricing right, trying to match supply to demand, there are lots of things that can make life incredibly difficult for the entrepreneur who’s the new kid on the block. Add to that the almost ever-present fear, self-doubt, overwhelm, lack of confidence, uncertainty, overwork, a massive feeling of responsibility, not to mention one breakdown and one near-breakdown along the way, it really is a miracle that I’ve survived those three years, never mind the business surviving! In May when I came back from a truly inspiring fortnight with Roger Hamilton in Bali in May, Mark Russell suggested that I wrote a blog about my experiences, the transformation and the new journey I was about to start. I’m sad to say that I didn’t ever reach the point where I felt able to write anything, because as soon as I got back to the UK, reality hit with a big bang. Simple things (!) like rebuilding my business from ground zero seemed to take over my entire life. I reached the point where work was consuming my every waking hour - and I was even dreaming about the business! I was waking up, starting work, maybe eating if I was lucky enough to remember to eat, and then going to bed again. Even when I was spending time with my children or my family, I wasn’t really present. The good news is that I’ve finally started to do something about this over the last few weeks - I’ve started to fire myself and have started asking for help. I’ve been humbled by the number of people who have appeared at just the right time with exactly the sort of help, assistance and expertise that I need to get my life back and keep the business very much on the straight and narrow. A massive wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee moment for me over the weekend has been realising how much better I am at helping other people than I am at helping myself. I’ve learned so much over the last three years, I’m continuing to learn more than I ever thought possible, and every step of the way, I’ve shared what I’ve learned and made a massive difference to so many people. So the biggest change I’m going to make, starting right now, is to get even better at helping people - the massive difference being that this time, I’m going to actually seek more help where my business needs it. The bottom line is that I’d be barmy to try to do everything myself, especially when I’ve got such a wonderful team and support network around me, but that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Above all else, I’m a dad and a geek… I want to help my children and the world they’re growing up in and I want to make a difference to that world. My commitment to the world is to apply my unique talents to help as many people as I can on their own journeys. So who’s on a journey of their own and would like to join me on my journey to see what the next exciting chapters will hold? If you’d like to join me and let me help you, I’d love to hear from you! Please either comment on this post, or send me a private message if you’d prefer, and let me know how I can best use my experience and continued learning to help you. Maybe I really will start writing about it this time, I’ll just need a little encouragement guys :-)
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 19:54:42 +0000