Do you ever find yourself yelling, getting flustered, unable to process clearly, or perhaps shutting down in some capacity? Have you ever experienced so much joy that you were giddy? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? You may have experienced something called emotions. Woah! Wait, you mean I as a business coach, have emotions? Yes genius, we all have emotions. Emotions can be a great thing when they are aligning with our goals, however, they become a massive hindrance, if we allow them to, when they are opposed to our goals. Emotions in and of themselves are not a bad thing. They are simply a tool that can be used either to propel you forward and strengthen what you can accomplish when you can control them, or they will be a danger when they end up controlling the decisions that you make. As a business coach, I see way too many entrepreneurs make decisions on how they run their business based on emotions. This is not a good place to be.
Emotions can be a great thing when they are aligning with our goals, however, they become a massive hindrance, if we allow them to, when they are opposed to our goals.
One of my business coaching clients was recently going through an incredibly stressful situation. In order to protect the innocent (or guilty), I will leave details out. This client’s business was facing a challenge and they were “feeling” incredibly overwhelmed. Because of these feelings, they started coming to meetings without completing action items. Now, don’t get me wrong, we all let things slip through the cracks from time to time, but these were very important action items that must get done every week in order for the business to experience continued growth. After several weeks of him promising to get things done and still showing up empty-handed, I finally had to have a “come to Jesus” moment. Like a father disciplining their kids, or a boss correcting an employee, I told him, in no uncertain terms, that if he did not start getting his action items done then not only would his business start to diminish, but he would be fired as a client.
This could have gone many different ways, but thankfully, he understood that I was telling him the truth because I care about his business and want to see it grow. He promised to get his action items done that week and be consistent. Thankfully, he did follow through and has been consistent since, however, I have seen it go very differently. When a client allows the decisions they make and the actions they do change based on how they are feeling, then they stop the momentum and motion of their business. As Clay Clark says, “emotion stops the motion”. A business will work if you follow a proven path and are consistent every week to execute very specific steps. However, when you get into allowing how you “feel” to be a determining factor in the decisions you make, then you start to stop the business coach motion. There is no pausing in business. You are either making progress or moving backward.
The great news is that you can determine the actions you will do every week and stick to them, regardless of how you feel. A great tool that you should implement today is a calendar and a business coach approved to-do list. Putting these tools into practice allows you to make time for the things you must get done and removes the emotion from the conversation. Nothing makes me madder than when someone tells me that they are going to do something, doesn’t do it, and tells me they didn’t feel like doing it. AAAAHHHH. Don’t be this person. What you will find as you are disciplined enough to do the necessary action steps, regardless of emotions, is that your emotions start to follow your actions. You start to discover that inspiration always PROCEEDS actions. Not the other way around. If you are waiting for your emotions to give you the strength needed to take the necessary steps to success, then you will never be successful. Don’t do this. Make action your default and watch as your emotions follow.
