September 10, 2017

 “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.” – Norman Vincent Peal

How was your summer?  I hope it included lots of opportunities to enjoy relaxation, recreation and travel.  I didn’t get much of those myself.  Nevertheless, I can honestly say that 2017 was one of the most emotionally fulfilling, financially rewarding and adventurous summers of my life!

What I did with my summer solved one of the biggest ongoing challenges I have as a self-employed, full-time professional coach: How to keep putting food on the table during the toughest season for my business.

I am sure it never occurs to them, but when some of my long-time, cherished coaching clients choose to take time off for a month or two during the summer, my income goes down.  Way down.  It’s a normal and natural annual cycle that I completely understand and have come to accept.… Yet, as the end of school approaches, my Ego inevitably begins worrying about just how many of my clients will decide to “take a break” and whether the bills will still get comfortably paid and my family will have the financial abundance needed for OUR vacation.

This year, I never got to that point because by mid-May I was off and running on an entirely new summer adventure, one that turned out to be the “How” that I had been seeking – and resisting — for most of my 13 years as a full-time professional coach.   In retrospect, I can see that the perfect answer to my need to find additional income during the summer had all of the hallmarks of any powerful “HOW” that gets you to your Big Goal.

Now, I want to share them with you, so you can learn to spot the characteristics of a divinely-inspired, effective “Big How” that will allow you to fulfill any Big Goal YOU may want to pursue:

Big How Characteristic #1: It often comes to you unexpectedly, in a surprising form, when you aren’t even looking for it. First, a little background: My serious quest for greater summer prosperity actually began last December, as I discussed my upcoming 2017 career and personal goals with my dear friend and long-time mentor, Leslie Zann.

Many of my readers are familiar with Leslie because she is a very successful trainer and motivational speaker for the network marketing/direct sales industry, which also happens to be my own special niche in coaching.  In fact, it was Leslie who introduced me to the first six clients who were all independent consultants in the same network marketing company. Through word of mouth, Leslie’s introduction rapidly snowballed into nearly 200 consultants from that company joining me in private coaching during the past four years, and I could not be more grateful to them or to her!

Leslie gave my summer slump conundrum some thought and said, “You need to find another stream of income outside of private coaching. What about group coaching?”

 I have done many Team Calls for my Leader clients’ teams, to help them understand the Law of Attraction and give them LOA tools to help them reach their business goals. But those talks have just been one-time, free presentations. While I took certification in group coaching when I first became a Life Coach, I believed group work didn’t really suit my style and skills. I felt that I am most effective at helping my clients reach their Big Goals when I am able to get to know them individually over time, and help them overcome their internal blocks as we work together.  So I immediately dismissed the idea of doing group coaching as a potential “How” for my own Big Goal of creating a more steady income during the summer.

Except that God/The Universe and my own subconscious mind didn’t dismiss it.  I believe they were both listening in to my heartfelt desire and immediately began to collaborate on the ideal HOW for me to reach it. But, as is often the case with powerful HOWs, several pieces of the puzzle had to fall into place first.

My Big How began to take concrete shape “out of the blue” (literally), while I was thousands of feet up in the air. During the first week of May, Rick and I were flying toward our long-planned 10th wedding anniversary celebration and I took a book to read on the plane that a handful of my coaching clients had been extolling to me for weeks. Finally, I had the time to read You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero and find out what the heck they were so excited about.

Just a few chapters in, I saw exactly what all the fuss was about!  In her own uniquely funny, irreverent and tell-it-like-it-is style, Jen explained in practical, duplicatable ways, exactly how she and her coaching clients had used The Law of Attraction (energy attracts like energy) to create results that went far beyond what she or they had ever thought was possible and from a wide array of “HOWs” that none of them would ever have guessed.

I devoured the entire book during our plane trip, and took a lot of notes on what I felt were the highlights of her method for putting the Law of Attraction into action to create financial abundance or anything you desire.

On our coaching calls over the next few weeks, I told all of my clients they MUST read this book. I found myself emphatically declaring: “THIS book says exactly what I have been trying to teach my clients all along!  Jen nailed it!  When you read this book, you will understand exactly HOW the Law of Attraction works in real life to create whatever you want, whenever you want!” 

And before I had given it much thought, I also heard myself declaring to each of them, “I am going to do a virtual workshop on this book during the summer.  I know if my clients and their Teams read and understand it, it will make them truly BELIEVE they can reach their Big Goals and help them push through all the distractions of summer so they can take ACTION on them NOW!” 

All of my clients thought it was a great idea!  At that point, it suddenly dawned on me that I had just taken my hazy idea of teaching Jen Sincero’s great book as a summer course and spoken it into existence!  My enthusiasm for promoting a way I saw to help others succeed was now rapidly taking on a life of its own — transforming into a concrete promise that I didn’t feel I could (or wanted to) back out of.

But UH OH! That was when I also suddenly realized there was a very long list of DETAILS that needed to be handled in order for the course to be ready by the summer that was rapidly approaching!

STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK as we explore the rest of the characteristics of a “Big How” – the delivery system that God/the Universe and your own subconscious mind create in partnership to help you reach a Big Goal, even when YOU have no idea how it can possibly happen.

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****************** Give Yourself the Gift of Dreams Fulfilled! ********************

To schedule a no-obligation, F*R*E*E* HOUR of phone coaching that will help clarify your Big Goals and get you into ACTION to make them a reality, please email me at caroll@practicalprosperitycoach.com.