Can You, or Can’t You?

“If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” Henry Ford

My mission as a coach is to inspire you to see you can, and then support you to do it! 

Over your life you’ve come across many things you couldn’t do. For example, you probably couldn’t:

• walk when you were 1 year old
• pass a university entrance exam when you were 12
• drive when you were 16

It didn’t stop you though, did it?

If you consider your business today, what are you telling yourself you can’t do? Here are some examples I’ve come across over the years:

• I can’t do marketing 
• I’m no good with people 
• it’s too scary to do talks 
• I don’t do organised/goals/creativity etc.

Whatever it is that you ‘can’t’ do today, it is the truth for you just now: as Henry Ford said “you’re right”. Just imagine what life would look like now, if you had never moved beyond “I can’t walk”!

That same motivation and determination that got you walking is still within you today. I know you have achieved many things in your life that make you the awesome person you are. For example, if you are a business owner, it took a lot of energy to get your business off the ground.

Here’s a way to help you move beyond a current ‘I can’t’. Can you think of something that you would really love more of in your business, that is not happening at present? For example: more clients, more money, more time for working on the business rather than in the business etc.

Exercise.

1. Take a minute to fast forward 6 months in your imagination: what would you like to see that’s different in your business?

2. Create a goal or outcome that inspires you and write it down. Say you’ve chosen more money as the thing you’d like to change. I increase my prices by 15%.

3. Now list 4 reasons why it wouldn’t work. Here’s an example:

I increase my prices by 15%

	Why this won’t work
1	it will upset my customers
2	people will go to my competitors
3	I’d have to work harder to justify the price
4	I will feel guilty

4. Then on a different piece of paper list 4 reasons why this could work. For example:

I increase my prices by 15%

	Why this could work
1	it will reflect the true value of my service/product
2	people are willing to pay for good quality service
3	it will improve my reputation
4	I will be able to afford an assistant & give my customers even greater value

5. Now choose which one you’d rather focus on; I’m guessing the second one! Table 1 is a demonstration of ‘I can’t’, whilst table 2 is taking a step into the realm of possibility.

6. Tear up table 1.

Possibility is the crucial step between ‘I can’t’ and ‘I can’. The first table promotes fear and doubt, the second table promotes possibility and promise, leading to action. When you align yourself with table 2, the next step is to take one small action towards creating your achievement in your business. In our example, it could be as simple as updating your prices on your website.

I would love to hear how you get on, so please let me know. And if think you would benefit from more coaching support, give me a call on 07973 521 624 and we can set up a free discovery session.

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