40 - Flexibility - what we ‘get to do’ as business owners

Hello and welcome to the Business of Executive Coaching podcast. Firstly, I just want to extend a massive thank you to all of you who responded so positively to my last podcast where I introduced the corporate to coach accelerator. I was really pleased to welcome in some new members during the 48 hours that we were giving access to existing pricing. And the thing that really made my week, maybe, maybe even my year, was talking to people who told me that they are podcast listeners. Some who've listened to every episode, some who listened for the first time last week. If that was you, thank you. I, I love hearing it. It's very validating and a huge wave of gratitude from me to you. I love making this podcast. It's one of the parts of my business that I have that I love the most and I didn't know that that was going to be the case. And so when I hear that it's been, it's helpful and it's well received, then that is just brilliant. Now, if you are a regular listener and we haven't spoken, if you're interested in any of my programs, please do book a call with me. I can help you to figure out which, if any, of my programs might be right for your stage of business. And I can also help you to get some clarity on where you're at and what your priorities should be for where you are. So check out the show notes for a link to book a call and I look forward to meeting you soon. I should also say that if you're still interested in the accelerator, we are officially opening doors in November, but you can get on the wait list now and that will make sure that you are aware of early bird bonuses and all of that sort of thing. So I'll put that link in the show notes too. So today's podcast is inspired by a post that I made on LinkedIn that struck a chord and I wanted to expand on it here. Firstly, if we aren't connected on LinkedIn, please come over and connect with me there. That is where I post a lot of my ideas. Most of the content that that is outside of the podcast I, I put over on LinkedIn and I try and keep it really practical and helpful and I do share probably a few more personal snippets. Well, so you can sort of get a bit more of an insight into, into my world and you know, a lot of photos, which I never thought I would be a person who posts photos on the Internet, but here we are. So in this post on LinkedIn, I shared that in the last little while I Caught myself using very particular language around a lot of the personal obligations that I have. I was telling myself things like, oh, I have to go to the inter school sports carnival today where my, my daughter was compet turbo jav. They don't let the 11 year olds have the real javelins turbo jab. And I was saying I have to go to an assembly. The school gave me less than 24 hours notice to tell me that, that there's a certificate. So I have to go to that. I have to drop off glasses that my daughter left at home, I have to take my mum to pick up her car from the service center and it was feeling a little onerous or a little burdensome and I really like my work, I love my work in fact. And I can feel resentful when I don't get a clear run at it. And I think that that's a great position to be in, by the way, because I would much rather want to be working and grumpy when I don't get to do it than the opposite. Right, we're hating, hating my work and not being able to do anything outside of it. But I was writing the webpage for the corporate Decode accelerator as I'm planning for, for the official Doors Open launch. And I was really drilling down into the outcomes that I want our members to get. And I was looking at what is important to them. And along with, you know, acquiring clients of course, and growing their businesses and building a sales pipeline. One of the big things that I know most of my clients want is flexibility. And usually that is because they've had corporate roles where they had very limited flexibility and they might have missed things. So they want flexibility to be able to prioritize things in life other than work. So, you know, whether that's kids or family, personal projects, health, friends, travel, hobbies, they want to be able to say yes to life, whereas in corporate roles often they couldn't. And so I was, I was writing this and I had a bit of a light bulb moment which is that I had forgotten just how important those very things that I was grumbling about actually are to me. And I don't have to do them. My mindset shift now is that I get to do them and I have stayed in business precisely because I get to have this flexibility. So I got to go to a science competition earlier in the week, not for myself, for my daughter. I get to go for midweek lunches with my husband when he's working from home. I get to go to another assembly tomorrow I get to go to a clarinet recital next week that is inexplicably being held at 2pm on a Monday afternoon. I might still be a little bit aggrieved by that one. And then I get to go to another clarinet recital the next day. I get to do the school drop off on days when stress levels are high and extra support is required. So I get to do all that. And I'm so grateful. I love the flexibility that I have because of the business that I've built and I am so grateful for it. And I had taken it so far for granted that I started viewing it as an obligation rather than being extremely fortunate. So I'm choosing to remind myself that I get to do these things because of the hard work I've put in when it comes to building a business. I get to do them because I have taken risks and made scary decisions to leave secure but inflexible roles. And I am so fortunate, I'm so lucky to be able to do this. And it reminded me how important this is for many of us. So in the Corporate to Coach accelerator, one of the things we do that we have is a model for building out your ideal week. And obviously, you know, flexibility is, is something we bake into it, but this tool is how we ensure that your priorities and your flexibility are baked into the DNA of your business. Right. So whether it's that, you know, you want to work school hours only or you want to work a 25 hour week or you want to go on long rides Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you know, we, we, we lead with being flexible and we start with the end in mind when we design your business structure then the one that works best for you. So I hope that this has been a thought starter for you. So if flexibility is a priority for you, then the Corporate to Coach accelerator might be a great opportunity for you. In the show notes, I've got a link to book a sales call with me and in this, absolutely there's no obligations in this conversation. I will be talking about, you know, your next move, what your business needs, whether the outcomes in the accelerator are what your business needs. And we'll talk about what does flexibility mean for you. So if it's important to you, then you know, I would say do, do jump on and book a call with me and we can, we can talk about it. So have a great week. I hope that it is full of, of flexibility, of great things that you get to do. And this afternoon I get to go and watch a swimming lesson and you know, I've been saying it as though somehow they're, they're onerous. But I discovered that I really do love these when my husband was offering to do some of them because he had a bit of time available. And I realized if I miss out on them, I feel really sad. So, you know, I get to do that. I get to, I get to make those choices. And so we've been both going to some of these things rather than just one of us, and that has been delightful. So have a great week and hopefully I'll talk to some of you in the next weeks. Okay, bye. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Business of Executive Coaching. If you found it helpful, please share it with a colleague or friend on LinkedIn. And don't forget to tag me so I can say thanks. I would be tremendously grateful also if you would leave a review on Apple Podcasts. More reviews means more people can find us. This episode was brought to you by the Impact Coach Collective, where executive coaches grow their businesses in a community of peers with business education, mentoring, deal clinics, and more. If you'd like to contact me or work with me further, all my free resources, courses and more info on the Impact Coach Collective can be found@elliscarf.com have a brilliant week and I look forward to talking to you again soon.