Accelerating Your Personal and Professional Evolution
Today is Thursday, August 28th, 2008
Part 1 from last week is HERE. Go there to read it for the fist time or to refresh your memory before reading part 2.
There are two components to getting paid what you are worth.
Make a Choice Today–if you have not already done so–to live a life dedicated to assisting others. To be of service. To be an agent in overt operations designed to assit others in reaching their pinnacle–or at least the next plateau and vista. This is the foundation you must come from to act ethically with tools of influence—and to be justified in greater latitude in the type of influence you use.
One of the challenges I see so many coaches and solopreneurs struggle with is what they should charge for their services. Most do not know what they should charge. Many charge what they think they can get. Some charge whatever the next coach or practitioner charges. That is–”the going rate”. Many charge what they would be willing to pay themselves. Most charge less than they are worth–while improving the lives of others dramatically.
But why? And what are the solutions to this travesty of value?
We have already covered errors in philosophical grounding, lack of skill, and a failure of implementing a sustainable structure for your business–and for the scope of your clients’ needs.
What is next?
More nuts and bolts rather than philosophical grounding or mindset:
Most coaches and solo-preneurs rely on word of mouth. Word of mouth is critical. In the 21st Century marketplace there are hyper-empowered and talkative people. This is good for you. However, it is not enough. Make a decision now to take control–to be the locus of responsibility–for the success of your business. While word of mouth is critical, it is only one of at least three prospect streams the successful solo-preneur must establish for themselves. What are those three?
Be sure to read Part 1 of this article here.
Taking Responsibility
The more you take responsibility—for your emotions, your actions, your life the more you build self-esteem. It is not the person who upset you, it is that you became triggered—or that you lost facility. It is not that the cost of living is too high; it is that you are not generating enough income. It is not that someone treats you poorly; it is that you are ineffective at drawing appropriate boundaries. The locus of responsibility—and therefore power—is within you. Nothing is external. To blame someone is to give them tremendous power over you. When you forgo blame in favor of responsibility, you give up comfort, but you reap tremendous rewards—gaining power and building self-esteem.
Every successful business person is a marketer and a salesperson first. If you want to be successful, you should consider that as your primary organizing principle. If you want to thrive, rather than just survive, then your primary focus needs to be on generating business and leads—and then opening those relationships.
Imus of Imus in the Morning, one of the original morning shock jocks, has been fired by CBS. He was released from his contractual obligations for an abhorrent offense: referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy headed hos”.
Unlike other times in the recent past, CBS did the right thing. We should not tolerate this kind of derogatory language. And the market adjusted—sponsors pulled their advertising, money was being lost, and so CBS made the appropriate political as well as financial and business choice. They fired this tone deaf man.
Just another reason to love the free market.
They did so after an initial 2-week suspension by MSNBC for the simulcast. CBS did so after the black community came up in arms and grilled him, quite appropriately, for his words.
Having said that, it was interesting to watch the professional racists come out against subtle racism. From Al Sharpton to Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton [again].
I guess it’s okay to be a racist as long as you are black.
As I have written recently, there has been a shift in the marketplace. In the 20th Century marketplace sales people talked about “closing deals” at best. At worst they talked about “shooting their prospects down like they were ducks in a shooting gallery”. This is not exactly a metaphor we should be living into as we evolve as a culture–and not a metaphor the leading edge of the marketplace will any longer support in the profit centers of the global marketplace, or the Functioning Core, as Dr. Thomas Barnett would say.
You can either use the in-line player by clicking on it below, or use one of the various links to download or play it in another window.
[If these I.D.E.A.s interest you, be sure to attend this event.]
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Have you ever experienced the spark and inspiration of synergy? Of course. We all have. It is part of what drives us to want to be in relationship. Whether it is the muse of romance or the creativity that comes form a new business partnership, or the increased power of community and intentionality…we strive for synergy. And yet do we always experience synergy in relationship? Of course not. And at the other end of the spectrum we experience conflict.
There are so many approaches to relationships in these post-post-modern times. Not only are there different forms of relating that have become socially tolerated, if not often fully culturally acceptable, but also, so many ways which we can experience those forms, depending on our evolutionary stage of development.
At the same time, there is a way to approach relating with another human being that is most responsible, takes a fuller view into account, and provides balance, insight, and wisdom.
That approach is to view all relating as quantum relating.
In the quantum world in which we live, do one and one always equal two? No. They do not. Conduct this simple experiment: place one gallon of pure grain alcohol in a container with one gallon of distilled water. It will never equal two gallons. It will never equal two gallons because of the way the two properties interact.
So it is with people and with relationships. If two people come together and they experience synergy, then one and one equal more than two; “greater than the sum of its parts”. If two people come together and they experience conflict, then one and one equal less than two: conflict. We think because we know “one” and we know “one” and one and one equals two that we therefore know “two”. However we forgot to conduct a study of “and”.
Quantum relating is about understanding the “and”.
“Every human being is a philosopher. The question is: how good are they.” –paraphrasing Ken Wilber
There is a respectful way to intervene in someone’s experience. Unfortunately, few exercise it and many violate it; trespassing on the sacred space that is our internal subjective experience. People give advice all the time while violating these simple steps to respect and ecology, reducing intimacy and predictably causing the other person to close and contract rather than expand and grow. The net effect is to have the advice offered land on rocky soil.
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