Coaching

Monday Spark: Why working is like sleeping [VIDEO]

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deep sleep deep workWorking is like sleeping? Absolutely.

I wish I could take credit for the insight, but I can’t. This is one of the observations shared by Jason Fried in the video below.

Incidentally, Jason is one of the people I really pay attention to when thinking about business. He is one of the founders of 37Signals.com. He is also the co-author of Rework, one of my favorite business books. And he is the co-author of a second book, Remote: Office Not Required, which I have pre-ordered and is slated for publication later this year.

In the video he makes a number of points about getting work done. But the point I want to share with you is the one he makes about comparing sleep to work.

When you nod off, you don’t instantly arrive in a state of deep, blissful, restorative sleep. You move through different stages of sleep. And to get to the really good part, you have to move through the parts that precede it. And as Jason points out, if you wake up several times during the night, for whatever reason, you can’t immediately get back to that place of deep restorative sleep. You have to go down through all the stages again.

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Monday Spark: The secret of success is to not give a damn.

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don't give a damn negotiationOddly – at least I think it’s odd – I’m pretty good at negotiating.

I’m at my best when sitting across the table from someone and figuring out a price for my services. (I’m not so good when I’m alone at home and putting together an estimate.)

In one memorable one-on-one negotiation I just sat there without saying a word, while the other guy kept raising the fee.

Another time, when interviewing for a job as an employee, I totally dug in my heels and refused to budge an inch on the salary I was asking for. What was surprising about that interview was that I really, really needed the job…and if I didn’t get it, I would probably have had to wait months and months for a similar position to become available. And yes, I got the salary I asked for, even although it was a lot higher than the figure they had in mind.

How did I pull this off?

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The cake baker’s guide to marketing your freelance business.

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freelancer cakeLet’s take part in a simple thought experiment…

Imagine we have a mutual friend, called Jane, who wants to start a home-based business…baking cakes.

First she goes to evening school and learns some professional-grade baking skills. Once she feels she has the level of skill she needs, she builds a beautiful website and opens her doors for business.

How do you think Jane will do?

Although we both want her business to thrive, in all honesty she probably won’t have much success. Perhaps she could sell enough cakes to call what she does a hobby, but she almost certainly won’t make a decent living.

How come?

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How to catch your first lucky break as a freelancer. And your second. And your third.

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lucky freelancerThis is the third in a series of three posts, all on the topic of how a lucky break or two can accelerate the growth and success of your business. (Post 1 and post 2.)

If you feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of luck playing a part in your business success, don’t worry, you’re not alone. The story we all tell ourselves – the accepted narrative – is that successful people make their own luck. That’s what makes them successful.

In part, that’s true. And this post is largely about how to make your own luck. But, as I mentioned in the first post in this series, sometimes you are just plain lucky. Something unplanned for and unexpected just comes your way at exactly the right time.

Does business success depend on being lucky? No. Can you blame a lack of success on the absence of being lucky? No. One way or another, you’ll get the level of success you deserve. But getting a lucky break or two certainly helps.

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Monday Spark: Tell me again…why can’t you get that done? [VIDEO]

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get things doneThe reasons we come up with for not getting things done are pretty lame sometimes.

We set ourselves a task or a goal, and get started.

Then we find our goal is not as easy to achieve as we first thought.

Then we pause. We get distracted. We decide we need to do some more research.

Then we find reasons why the whole plan might not work. We lose confidence.

Then we find that some elements or components to our plan are not easy to find or develop.

Then we get scared of failing. We lose faith.

Then we abandon the plan.

Then we blame all kinds of outside circumstances for the failure of the plan.

Like I said, pretty lame.

Contrast this with the approach of William Kamkwamba of Malawi, Africa.

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6 Questions freelancers ask me about my coaching service [VIDEO]

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coaching for freelancersMaking the decision to work with a coach is a huge leap of faith.

First you have to choose a coach to work with, without really knowing him or her all that well.

Then you have to pay them money.

And all this without really knowing in advance whether the coaching process will work for you.

It’s a leap of faith.

I have made that leap myself, when I worked with a coach about 6 years ago. Like anyone else, I didn’t really know what to expect.

I don’t much like putting myself in someone else’s hands. And I’m not someone who is quick to trust someone I don’t know very well. But to give that coaching engagement a fair shot, I had to let go of my usual constraints and allow him to do his work.

As it turned out, that experience was transformational for me, and I’ll always be grateful. (Thank you Alan Allard!)

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