Although we are a business coaching company, not a counseling service, it sure seems like it sometimes. Feelings are everywhere. “I feel this and I feel that”. “Can you validate my feelings?”. “I feel like this business tip will work.” “I feel like this business tip won’t work. I feel like what you’re doing is not working. I feel like what you’re doing is working. I feel like I don’t want to get up each and every day and do stupid repeatable tasks. I feel like it won’t be effective.” I feel, I feel, I feel. Obviously feelings are not a bad thing. They are a God-given ability that, when properly used, can truly motivate someone to action. So many people that we encounter, myself included finding ourselves getting too caught up in feelings and not bringing enough focused attention and effort to facts.
Don’t let feelings be the thing that dictates what you do. Do your research. Find out what works and then do it, regardless of feelings. When this becomes the normal way that you function, then making decisions for your business becomes easier and more intentional.
Before being a business coach, I used to work for a very large Christian church. While I was at that church, I had the privilege and opportunity to help lead a large group of volunteers. Every weekend I would meet with the team of volunteers and we would have a huddle time. This was a time where the purpose was to inspire them to action. The approach that we had as an organization was to make sure that our communication followed this path. What do I want them to know? What do I want them to feel? What do I want them to do? This was very intentional. What we found is that knowledge was not enough to inspire action. In order to lead people to actually take action and do what we wanted them to do, we had to tap into feelings. This is usually accomplished through real-life stories and examples that would help the volunteers feel inspired and feel motivated so that they would go do what I was asking them to do.
In business coaching, we see time and time again, that the entrepreneurs and owners like to bring feelings into the equation. When this happens, the facts tends to be ignored or overlooked, or just pushed to the side. For example, there is indisputable proof that scheduling a specific time to do your dream 100 each and every week is one of the most effective ways to grow your business. However, this requires hard work and being consistent in your schedule to do this stupid, repeatable task each and every week. It doesn’t feel good. It is good for your business and for your checkbook, but it doesn’t feel good. Regardless of how it feels though, entrepreneurs need to have this as a key component to their marketing strategy. They need to get up every single week and invest specific and intentional time into their dream 100. The decision to do this should not be based on a feeling. It should be based on the fact that this will help their business grow.
When we work with a business to try to help them grow and accomplish the owner’s goals, we have zero opinions. We are a business coaching organization that does not deal in the currency of opinions. We only deal in the currency of facts. We see what works and we do it. We see what works, and we help entrepreneurs do it. No matter what you’re facing in your business, we strongly encourage you to set aside your feelings today. Don’t let feelings be the thing that dictates what you do. Do your research. Find out what works and then do it, regardless of feelings. When this becomes the normal way that you function, then making decisions for your business becomes easier and more intentional. You are no longer concerned with trying to change to the new latest and greatest thing. You are focused on the foundational disciplines that actually help a business to grow and be successful. This is what we want for every entrepreneur that we work with.
If you are like so many entrepreneurs, then you want to do what works, but you just don’t know what to do. The best resource that I have for you that clearly spells out the path for what an entrepreneur should do can be found in Clay Clark’s Start Here book. This business coaching book shows you the specific steps that an entrepreneur needs to take in order to successfully grow their business. As Clay Clark says, “I care about results and results. If you want to talk about how you feel, go to church”. He also says “how you feel is not related to what you must do. You can’t get anything done if you only work on the days you feel good.” Feelings have value, but when it comes to business, let’s either utilize them to motivate us to do the proven actions that will bring success, or let’s become disciplined enough to set them aside and still do the right actions regardless of feelings. And, as a bonus, success starts by getting up early every single day. Even though this doesn’t feel good, do it!
