‘Human potential is the only limitless resource we have in this world’ – Carly Fiorina
I always remember a story I read about a wealthy man who had spent years growing his successful business. Then one day he lost everything. It was devastating but he was able to re-build back to millions within a year because the second time round, instead of starting from scratch he was building on the decades of his own experience.
I’ve noticed with many entrepreneurs I meet, that they often don’t see the full value of their hard-won experience and instead only focus on perceived imperfections. I get it, it’s easy for any of us in the day-to-day grind to forget just how far we have come. Maybe we only fully see the wisdom gained from our journey when we are tested by adversity.
Anyway, thinking about the value of experience got me thinking about what else I most value in relation to my own business. So, I made a list and got to 6 key things, here they are:
1. Clients – here at Dream Project Coach, our clients are at the core of everything. They really are Gifts in our lives since we get to do work that we love with them. There would literally be no business without them. Seeing our clients have business breakthroughs gives us immense joy and satisfaction. It makes our day when they say things like, You’ve just given me everything I needed from this call’ or even, ‘You’ve changed my life’.
2. Team – I have an amazing team around me, from my virtual assistants, David and Jelly, to my powerhouse associate coaching team, Patricia, Amy, Kate, Augustina, Thanh and Rachel, to my programme associates Lillian and Sophie and many more. I feel supported all the way and that is priceless.
3. Mindset – my thoughts influence my results: it’s hard to grow a business without vision, purpose and enthusiasm to drive you. A positive, growth mindset is also essential to my enjoyment of the whole process. If the hard stuff I need to do seems like an endless slog, it’s not much fun. But if I see the challenges as part of a bigger adventure, I’m able to embrace them more wholeheartedly.
4. Experience – I’ve run my own business now for over 30 years. My work has taken me all round the world to places like the USA, Central Asia, the Caribbean, Ghana, Australia and New Zealand, even Russia. That alone has given me access to so many different cultures and perspectives. Like the guy in the story, I know that my experience is something I can always call on and build on.
5. Health – this is a huge one. My business grew very quickly during the Covid Lockdowns: I was able to help many freelancers and small business owners find the mental strength and workable strategies to get through this difficult and confusing time. The workload grew and grew until I got to a point of feeling very tired and needed a proper, deep break. I realised I had to pace myself and get more support. It taught me not to take my normally high energy levels for granted.
6. Time – I was about to stop at number 5 when I saw this quote by Brian Tracy, ‘your greatest resource is your time’. In my youth, I would not have understood this, it seemed like I had all the time in the world. Decades later, (and the loss of many loved ones later) I understand it all too well. Our time on this earth is finite and any time spent can never be recovered. I don’t want to waste my time or anyone else’s. Our time alive is golden.
So that’s my Top 6 and I try not to take any of them for granted.
What would your top 6 be?
