March 2020 « Confidence Coach

Focus on Today Instead of the “Future”

Our “future” is abstract. It doesn’t actually exist except as an idea. The only time we really have is today. The only future that has any reality is the one you continually create for yourself through each day’s contributions, achievements, and results.

No one ever saw the present circumstances coming. Focus on what you can do over the course of each 24 hours, and you’ll be the only expert on the future you’ll ever need.

Make today count. There are really no guarantees for tomorrow.

At Confidence Coach we offer business owners a place to reconnect and rebuild their confidence; which leads to their better future in the days and years ahead. Reach out today and schedule a free call if you’d like to talk. Let us help you make progress.

by Scott Ballard , March 29, 2020

Focus on Your Progress Not Your Difficulties

Things may not be as easy as they once were. You have the choice to either let these new difficulties defeat you or you can choose to let it be a time to reveal new strengths.

Your body’s muscles always get stronger from working against resistance.

The same is true for the “muscles” in your mind, your spirit, and your character.

Treat this whole period of challenge as a time when you can make your greatest progress as a human being.

At Confidence Coach we offer business owners a place to reconnect and rebuild their confidence; which leads to their better future in the days and years ahead. Reach out today and schedule a free call if you’d like to talk. Let us help you make progress.

by Scott Ballard , March 27, 2020

Focus on Your Opportunities

Instead of focusing on your losses, I want you to focus on the opportunities that are going to come out of these circumstances. As we navigate the days of COVID-19, there are many things that you had (or may have taken for granted) that have disappeared. Some people may never get over this because they keep trying to replay their old games. Don’t be that person.

A better strategy would be to start an entirely new game — using new ideas, new energies, new tools, and new resources. In history, some of our best inventions and creative ideas happened in the most dire situations.

This is such a time. Use your time and God-given abilities to create that new invention, creative solution, or new idea. It is a time to take a look at those dreams you had and pivot or adapt them so that you will be in a better place when we come out of this COVID-19 pandemic. Let this be a time to really soul-search and dig deep and reveal where the new opportunities are that lie ahead. There is going to be a time when we look back and see some of the best and most creative ideas and opportunities were invented during this situation.

Let’s also be thankful for the people who created all the ways we are using to stay in touch these days (e.g. Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, texting, email).

As the world changes, opportunities suddenly become available to achieve far more than you ever did in the past.

At Confidence Coach we offer business owners a place to reconnect and rebuild their confidence; which leads to their better future in the days and years ahead. Reach out today and schedule a free call if you’d like to talk.

by Scott Ballard , March 26, 2020

Focus on Creating Value

Most people don’t like being sold to at the best of times. So when times are uncertain or scary like now with COVID-19, they are especially turned off or may hang up on you. Some of that is because they are uncertain whether or not they will have a job or business tomorrow or when our economy will turn around.

But, remember what people want at all times is value creation — that is, solutions that will help them eliminate their dangers, capture their opportunities, and reinforce their strengths. When you focus on providing these three solutions, the sales will naturally follow.

Remember we are all in this together. We didn’t create the downturn of our economy. An unseen virus has been the cause.

Take your eyes off yourself and focus it on helping others. Create value for them. We will make it and come back stronger if we work together.

At Confidence Coach we offer business owners a place to reconnect and rebuild their confidence; which leads to their better future in the days and years ahead. Reach out today and schedule a call if you’d like to talk.

by Scott Ballard , March 25, 2020

Focus on Your Relationships

In uncertain times like these, people are frightened about the viability of their product or service, like the things they sell and the jobs they hold. A more strategic response here is to disregard your own “commodity” and focus on deepening the power and possibility of all your relationships — with family, friends, team members, suppliers, clients, customers, and prospects. Every time you strengthen a relationship, the viability of your product or service will increase. One day we will get back to business as usual.

As Americans, we are resilient and creative people. We will get through this. We are all having to adapt and change how we would normally do life and work. The important thing is to keep in touch and improve on your relationships at this time. Many people are feeling isolated. A kind word of encouragement or just listening will go a long way in sustaining and building your relationships. People are what really matter.

At Confidence Coach we offer business owners a place to reconnect and rebuild their confidence; which leads to their better future in the days and years ahead. Reach out today and schedule a call if you’d like to talk.

by Scott Ballard , March 24, 2020

Take Your Eyes Off Yourself

In these challenging times, as we are using social distancing and/or being quarantined in our homes, there are a lot of people feeling very isolated and helpless. Maybe that person who’s feeling this way is you.

My solution for that is I’d like to suggest that you take your eyes off yourself and serve others.

The best strategy is to go in the opposite direction of your isolation. Expand your connection with others and focus on helping them transform their negatives into positives.

Do this by reaching out through a phone call, text message, Facetime or even a zoom call.

When you do this, it’s really a win-win. The person you are reaching out to will feel better and you will feel better too. When we focus on someone else, it helps us worry less about ourselves and our situation.

Be a source of encouragement and confidence for others and it will improve your own mindset.

We are offering complimentary 60-minute coaching calls if you need some encouragement today too.

by Scott Ballard , March 22, 2020

We All Need Hope

About a year ago in April I published a blog about Hope. With all the things going on in the world and our country today, I think it’s something we really need to think about again. We are all being affected by the corona virus in multiple ways — whether it’s with our family, business, work, school, gatherings, etc. But my word to you is do not lose hope. We will get through this.

Here are a few things you can do:

Be calm
Be at peace
Be generous
Help others that may need it
Be an encourager
Think positive
Protect your attitude
Don’t let fear rule you
Have hope and give hope

Who can you help out and be an encouragement to today?

by Scott Ballard , March 15, 2020

Be Your Own Customer for a Day

I wanted to share an exercise with you that we have been having our clients do. It first originated because I had a client come to me and say, “We don’t seem to be as connected with our customers anymore. We’re having some turnover with them and losing them to our competition.”

When they asked me what I thought they should do, I told them to ask themselves the following questions:

Do you know what your customer really wants or needs from you?
What do they expect from you?
What is their customer experience when they purchase your product or service?

When he thought those questions over, his response was that he didn’t really know what they wanted or needed from him anymore. He admitted he’d been out of touch because he was doing so many other things in the business like creating new products and services. These were exciting things, but meanwhile he’d forgotten what the customer wanted and missed a lot of opportunities because of it.

My suggestion was for him to take a day (and I made him put it on his calendar right then) to go “be your own customer” for a day in his business. I encouraged him to see the process from the customer’s viewpoint and then come back and talk to me about what he experienced.

I told him that he needed to interact with his employees the way a customer would. Then take a good look at where the gaps were between what he thought they needed and what they really wanted or needed. Then make a shift or correction in his business accordingly.

So here’s my suggestion if you are finding yourself in the same situation in your business:

Take a day and mark it on your calendar.
Turn off your owner mindset.
Take the owner hat off.
Be a customer.
Buy your product.
Experience your service.
Eat your food.
Do the whole 10 yards.
Then go back and look at what you’ve experienced.
Pivot and make the necessary corrections.

I guarantee you are going to find some gold nuggets in this exercise and have some aha moments. You will then be able to shift and actually deliver more of what the customer really wants.

That’s a win for you, it’s a win for them, and everybody is better off!

Reach out and schedule a free consultation if you’d like to talk more about this.

by Scott Ballard , March 8, 2020

Start Here – FAQ

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a business coach that you worked with? Well, I thought I would give you an idea of where we start and what our approach is and answer a few of the FAQ’s or most frequently asked questions.

Our real approach to coaching is a conversation. It’s a conversation around you, your past, what has happened, what’s worked, what hasn’t; your present, where you’re at now; and then the future of where you want to be 3 years from now.

When I first speak with someone I ask a series of questions. With that conversation, I am really just trying to listen and to see where we might provide a breakthrough or an inspiration for you to have a better future — to get you where you want to go (both in your business and in your personal life).

FAQ

I know a lot of people have concerns and questions around what does it mean to be coached? What does that feel like? What’s that like? But really at the beginning, it’s just a conversation. It’s just questions and finding out whether or not we’re a fit for you; you’re a fit for us; and whether or not you feel comfortable in the way we approach it.

All this is done upfront and you are under no obligation and no fee whatsoever. It’s just a simple way to give you a taste of what we do.

Our goal is to lead you to a breakthrough or an insight every time. This includes the first time. By helping you think about your thinking, we want you to realize that there’s a bigger future out there for you. We want to show and help you realize that you’re not alone. We’re here and we understand. We’ve been in your shoes, and we’ve run several different businesses of all different sizes. Our clients run anywhere from a solo entrepreneur to a Fortune 500 company.

We come with a vast amount of experience, but our real value is believing in you and seeing what’s possible in the future. We help you remove the obstacles that you have so you can get to where you want to go, thus creating the life and business that you want.

This is how we work. This is who we are. We’re just normal people like you, and we love what we get to do, and we have a real passion around it.

Reach out if you’d like to schedule a free consultation and go through some questions that will help you build a better future.

by Scott Ballard , March 1, 2020