One of the key skills I teach many of my clients is to recognize when they need help and how to get it.
Being a coach keeps me honest: I really do have to walk the talk. That means I have to recognize when I need help and then to get it.
My business is extremely busy right now. Not so busy with clients that I am full, mind you — so don’t hesitate to contact me yourself about coaching or to refer someone else! But extremely busy with the “back office” side of things.
My back office plate filled up incrementally with the following, probably TMI, which you should feel free to skip (go to “At some point,” below):
· I was interviewed for an internet radio show that’s airing next week, the publicity for which required that I create a Face Book page and bring on some fans.
· This blog, which had snoozed through the holidays, needed to become more active again.
· My trademark, the Getting Unstuck® Coach, was challenged by a company seeking my permission to use the same trademark for their training business, which overlaps with my corporate training work. Some back and forth with them, a threatening email from their attorney, calls with my trademark attorney, etc. Yuck.
· I’ve finished my ’09 bookkeeping, but the forms that go to my accountant need to be filled out, which inevitably requires going over my data one more time, making corrections, etc.
· I’m down to the last 30 copies of my book, Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: Restoring Work-Life Balance. So it’s either time for a run of another 300 of them, or time to migrate to a print-on-demand solution. Investigating print-on-demand solutions means identifying the players, getting informed about each’s process and pricing, doing the compare and contrast, and making a decision. Yuck.
· Finish the profile of my business on Yelp.com and ask clients to write recommendations.
· Deal with my mouse, which intermittently stops highlighting.
· Write a formal proposal to lead a daylong work-life balance training for a tech company in FL.
· Write an informal proposal for a keynote later this month.
· Email the contacts I’ve been referred to at 2 magazines to inquire about writing a work-life column for them.
· Send out an email to everyone I know to announce this blog and update people on my coaching niche: work life balance and productivity.
· Schedule teleclasses for the end of February, and get the classes and registration info onto my website (now done) and into my February newsletter.
· Write the Feb newsletter. (You can subscribe here.)
· Update website: send requests to my web programmer and follow up.
· Other stuff too.
At some point, I began to feel overwhelmed. I worked longer hours, I tightened up my efficiency, I said no to non-work invitations. I was barely making a dent in the list, and the overwhelm got bigger.
And then I heard the bell ring and saw the light bulb turn on: I needed more help! Duh.
So I got help. Lots of it. Most of these items are still in process, and the list is ultimately my responsibility, but having other competent people working on some of the bigger jobs and getting back to me for input as needed is a HUGE RELIEF. I am point person, not point-person-&-technician.
If you’re at all like my clients or the people in my seminars, your initial response to “So I got help” may be something like, “Yeah, right, well maybe in YOUR life, but not in mine.” Stay tuned for a subsequent post that addresses this.
Comments