Last Week on the Schedule

I’ve been talking a lot recently about calendaring my time, so I wanted to share what that looks like on my calendar. The answer: messy and that’s okay.

My calendar doesn’t always look tidy. Not every moment in my day is planned out, but if you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I don’t have a to-do list anymore – everything I need to do gets put on the calendar. Most days, something gets moved around, but it’s SUCH a relief to know that there’s a time planned for everything.

For example, I knew I was going to buy a cake for my friend Georgia’s birthday at 9am on Wednesday, so I could afford to relax on Monday at 10am because I knew everything was going to get done.

Scheduling Growth

Recently I’ve been evaluating my work a lot more.

Not just coaching sessions, but consultations, marketing, admin – my whole business.

I’ve been asking: What was good about the way I did that? What would I change for next time?

AND THEN – and this bit is key – I actually schedule time into my calendar to make the changes or practice doing it differently.

Because it’s one thing to say “Next time I’ll do it differently” and it’s another to actively do it.

Aim Higher Than You Want To Hit

If you aim for every day, you’ll do it most days.

If you aim for most days, you’ll only do it sometimes.

Do it daily, and the discipline is on – but the pressure is off.

You’ve already decided. It’s getting done.

Now you just have to go through the motions.

(Which is so much easier than going through the emotions.)

Instead of questioning – “Is today one of the days? Does today count? Do weekends count? Ah, I’ll just do extra tomorrow.”

You just do it.

It always gets done.

You always move forward.

I never think “Should I write on my blog today?” 

Because that decision has already been made, and the answer is yes. Always.

And now I’ve got 668 posts in a row under my belt.

Even if all you can manage is one minute a day – it adds up.

Imagine if you talked to one new potential client each day.

That’s 365 potential clients a year.

Whatever you want to do – decide to do it daily.

It will change everything.

Selling is a Gift In Itself

I’m a coach and I sell coaching. 

It’s how I keep 99% of my content, like my blog, my videos and my Facebook group, totally free.

Selling is one of the ways I give.

• It’s helpful to the people who get their problem solved by paying me.

• It’s helpful to the people who benefit from my free content.

• It’s helpful to the people who I can buy from because I was paid.

Selling is a beautiful thing.

And yet we’ve all been conditioned to believe charging money for our gifts is too salesy and we should give our time, knowledge, services, and products away for free.

Imagine if your local supermarket closed down from fear of being too salesy.

“We bought all this food but we just felt so bad about selling stuff that we just shutdown the store.”

What? No! Sell me some food please!

Thank goodness people sell things.

Thank goodness for advertisements.

Thank goodness for our free will to choose whether we want to buy or not.

People want you to sell them the solution to their problem.

Selling is a gift in itself.

Go and give it to someone.

The Points System (aka: How to Think About Selling)

When I was at University, I participated in a lot of street activism for the environment.

I had to sell an idea.

But for every dozen people I spoke to, maybe one of them would truly seem like they were going to make a change.

I felt extremely discouraged and like the planet was doomed – until the event organizer told me about The Points System.

The Points System is the concept that as a person goes about their daily life, they accumulate “points”.

Zero points = They don’t care about the environment at all.

100 points = They make a drastic change to their life (stop buying fast fashion/cut out animal products/start biking to work).

Maybe they saw a Netflix documentary last year about the damage in our oceans, and that gave them 20 points.

Maybe they saw trash lying on the beach and it added 15 points.

Maybe they had a conversation with me at the event, and it added another 10 points.

Usually, the person would leave our event, seemingly unchanged on the outside.

But inside, the points were adding up.

I realised it wasn’t my job to give them 100 points in a single conversation.

I just had to offer them as many extra points as I could.

It’s the same with selling as a creative, artist, or entrepreneur.

It’s rare to sell something in a single conversation or social media post.

Your audience needs to connect with you over and over again to rack up 100 points.

Each time you talk with someone, you’re adding points.

Each time you make an offer, you’re adding points.

Each time you show up to add value, you’re adding points.

Entrepreneurs sometimes tell me:

• “I went to one networking event and no one was interested.”

• “I spoke on clubhouse for 10 minutes and no one even followed me.”

• “I made an offer on Instagram and all I heard was crickets!”

And they stop connecting with people and selling.

Because what's the use if no one is buying?

But someone could be on 99 points right now.

They could be ONE offer away, ONE conversation away, ONE point away from hiring you.

If you truly believed that someone was just ONE action away, how would you show up today?

Surround Yourself With People Who Are Crushing the Game

Surround yourself with people who are crushing the game.

It will take your brain from impossible > possible > probable > inevitable.

If 10k months feel impossible, surround yourself with people who are doing them.

If publishing your book feels impossible, surround yourself with people who are already publishing their 5th one.

If becoming an actor feels impossible, surround yourself with paid actors.

Seek them out.

Do whatever it takes to get in the room with the people who are where you want to be.

You will become one of them.

Quote Day 7: Nobody Ever Changed the World with a Realistic Idea

The last quote in this series is actually my own.

I think “BE REALISTIC” is one of the worst things you can say to someone.

It’s basically saying “I don’t believe in you.”

Here’s what I think: Dream beyond big, and take manageable steps to get there.

But you don’t ever have to be realistic.

Quote Day 6: Belief is Everything

I used to believe that belief was important.

I’d say it was “everything”.

Now that I’ve seen what belief can REALLY do (more on that in a future post, but hint: it’s wild), I realise that no, it really is EVERYTHING.

If you believe there’s something holding you back, you’re creating it, just by saying it.

Quote Day 5: BE the Person

This one idea has had more impact on me than any idea I’ve ever come across.

It’s how I hit every single one of my goals.

I’ve heard the idea said lots of different ways, but I love how Jim puts it here.

BE the person you want to be.

Quote Day 4: Be So Good They Can't Ignore You

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin.

Instead of fighting for their attention, earn it.

Hone your craft so deeply that people can’t help but work with you/hire you/ask to feature you/talk about you/whatever you desire.

SO GOOD.