Business Babe

Dear all,

Well here I am after two days training at the weekend, feeling quite chuffed at how everything's going. I was told on the course that I was a natural, which I have to say at the end of the two days is how I felt about it too. In true me fashion I dived in a bit head first on the first day, on some pretty tough topics and consequently found myself really struggling with role playing the client. By the second day I'd learned to choose my topics carefully so that I really could concentrate on learning the coaching techniques and skills.

So my first task of today was to continue with my course homework, which I have found to be really quite useful already. I have also booked on the full nine month course having enjoyed the introduction so very much. In fact the only thing I've really struggled in was training on a Sunday, as I really was too tired too do anything in addition to the training. I tried this time taking the Friday and Monday off to concentrate on home and keep a day for God and this seems to have worked reasonably well, it just takes a bit of getting my head round.

Had a fantastic chat with one of my best friends. He was very encouraging. He reminded me that I have 'helped him a lot' and immediately said 'I'd recommend you', which was so good to hear. After a chat about his own life, we talked about my plans for the business and I asked him what he thought. He offered that infectious enthusiasm that I choose my friends for. He said, "definitely, go for it 100%".

He reminded me to "concentrate on all the positive, think of the positive and if you are worried look at what you've done. You are going to get knocks, but there's always a way. People in business don't fail because they go bankrupt, going bankrupt is just part of the learning curve. They fail because they give up. Don't measure your success on money, measure how you feel you're doing in yourself. Once you're a business person that's what you are. I'm a dormant business person." I chuckled to myself on this last point because we both know it won't be for long.

Bizarrely after a weekend on a fairly challenging course, this was exactly what I needed to hear and it was completely unscheduled as discussions go. It got me back to the business side of starting this enterprise which was just what I needed post training. It tied in with what I'd already decided on the course, which was that I was going to simply concentrate on all the good stuff in my course, for my business and even for my life generally. 

It's true there will always be difficult times in business just as in life, but since I could walk nobody has ever got me down for long (or kept me quiet for long for that matter). As for the dormant business person, I've been quite literally working in business since I was four, passing out brochures for my father's company. I've been long enough making the decision to have my own and it feels so so good and I don't plan on giving up easily.

What's more deciding to build a social enterprise means not only can I use all my experience in business, but I also get to do what I'm good at and lead and encourage. My love of administration won't go amiss either from what I can tell! My friend finished up by remarking "people are finding what they're good at". How true is that. I look around me and the people close to me are finally doing the things they love. Well one or two still have a leap of faith to make, but they will in their own time. The good thing is we're all starting to know what we want and that makes for exciting times. I can also see now how it takes experience of life to get you to this point.

Achievements for today include:
* Booking the NLP and coaching course
* Doing course homework
* Contacting members of practice group
* Read social enterprise book
* Started a business account on Tumblr
* Learned about video blogging
* Spoke to a close friend / business associate

So this leads me to my closing word of wisdom, which must surely come from my friend who having run a successful business for several years know what he's talking about when he says:

People don't fail in business because they go bankrupt, going bankrupt is just part of the learning curve people fail in business because they give up.