In your work as a Life Coach, you probably teach about the Law of Attraction, and I imagine that you’re also putting it to use in your own life. Whether you meditate and see yourself living the life you long to live, or you sit down and write out your vision of a glorious future, it’s very important to always keep your mindset aligned with what you are working to create.
But are your habits also in alignment with the future you’re building for yourself? Or do you get close to creating what you desire, only to end up sabotaging it?
Let me give you an example from a true life coach’s experience.
I know a coach who wants to work 4 hours a day. She visualized about that day after day, and took action to improve her time management so that she could create more free time for herself.
And then, once she had condensed all the day’s work into the 4 hours she’d planned to spend working… she added more work on top of it! She’d created the life she desired for herself, and promptly proceeded to go straight back to her old patterns!
Does that sound like something you can identify with? If it is, how can you avoid falling into that trap?
It starts with identifying your desires and obstacles
Let’s say that you want to earn $20,000 a month by doing 1-on-1 coaching for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. To hit that target, you’ve got to fill your working hours with clients who are paying you in accordance with the goal you have set for yourself. This means you charge $200 per hour.
But you might say to yourself, “$200 an hour? Isn’t that high? I want my clients to be able to afford me.” So, even if you have clients who are willing to pay that much because they know you’re worth it, you decide to charge them less. It’s less than what you want to sell your time for – and less than you’re worth.
This simple habit of undervaluing yourself makes your goal impossible to achieve. In order to make your goal possible, you’ve got to change your habit.
If there’s something in your life that you want to create, but every time you come close to creating it you fall back into your old way of life, it’s very likely that there’s some kind of habit, paradigm or blind spot that’s doing its best to keep you trapped in the old status quo. Your ego likes things to stay comfortable and familiar, and it will fight like mad to keep them that way.
Here’s an exercise you can use to start changing one of your limiting habits right now:
1. Write down what it is that you want to create. Be as detailed as possible, including numbers and timeframes.
2. Write down what it would take for you to create that. Do you need more clients? Fewer tasks? A way to serve more clients in less time?
In this step, don’t ask yourself how you will accomplish this. Just write down what you imagine the solution would be.
3. Write down a list of everything that’s holding you back from having what you want. Too many tasks? Not enough clients? Too small a web presence? Whatever it might be, write it down.
4. Now, think of the ways in which you create the obstacles that hold you back. This isn’t for the sake of blaming yourself. You’re just determining how it is that you’ve shaped your own reality, so you can find out how to reshape it.
5. Ask yourself, “How can I do this differently? What do I get to change, do or stop doing in order to improve this situation?”
6. Once you’ve decided on one or two actions incorporate them into your schedule. Actually put them into your calendar, and make them a priority.
If you’d like some assistance in figuring out where your blind spots and challenges are, you can quickly and easily set up a time to speak with one of my coaching mentors by filling out the form on the right.
Here’s to Your Success,
Mary