I had a very interesting conversation with a client this week who, when asked what the year ahead would look like for him, replied that he figured it would look pretty much the same as last year, but with some incremental improvements in turnover. His plan, he explained to me, was to keep doing pretty much the same thing as he had been doing all of this year, and he therefore would expect similarly positive results.

A pretty reasonable position to take right?

WRONG!

You see, what my client had failed to consider is that right now we are living in truly exponential times. The amount of information available to people every day is growing at a rate our grandparents couldn’t have dreamed about, and our children are growing up into a future that is impossible to even conceive of if the current rate of technological and social change continues. New trends, popular opinions, technologies, innovations and fashions that used to take a decade to catch on across the world can now become global in a matter of weeks, days or even hours.

The only constant we can count on would seem to be… change.

In short, what worked for us this year has absolutely no guarantee of working for us in the year ahead, and by taking a “reasonable” view of our business plans for the future we run a very real risk of being shunted out by unforeseen competition, left behind, made redundant or unnecessary, or simply overlooked.

So what’s the alternative to being reasonable about our plans and our future? It is simply to follow in the footsteps of every great innovator, leader, inventor or achiever and decide now that you will refuse to buy into “reasonable” popular opinions, refuse to accept “reasonable” limitations on your business growth or personal achievements, ignore “reasonable” excuses as to why you shouldn’t (or can’t do something), and choose instead to explore the world of what is possible.

In short, it is my contention that your job for 2010 is to become unreasonable!

Take another client of mine, Monica Brauer from Coffs Harbour. Monica is a recently qualified naturopath who has for some time been eager to commence seeing patients privately, but has lacked the funds, mentoring and knowledge to go out and start up on her own. She approached me in August asking to join our Mastermind Inner Circle coaching program, explaining that although she wasn’t making any money out of practising yet, she felt that being part of the group would be exactly what she needed to get started.

Now, if you know me you would know I’m not in the business of taking coaching fees from a client who either can’t afford them, but nor am I in the business of discounting either. So taking Monica on as a client was a tricky one for me and I allowed her into the group only on the strict condition that with my help she would create the program as “cost neutral” within two months of commencement. And yes, both Monica and myself knew at that time that in her financial situation this was a highly unreasonable request to make of her.

Three months later, and I’m very happy to report that not only has Monica created a private flow of patients and a steady income stream for herself that is not only covering her coaching fees but showing a growing return on investment, she has become a confident and valued member of the Mastermind Inner Circle, arguably the most dynamic and successful group of private health practitioners in the country.

As a coach, I get excited about where someone like Monica can go in her career in health, and particularly about the contribution she will make to the health of our society and the thousands of people she is destined to touch in the course of her newly founded career.

And it is a sobering thought for me that had I taken a reasonable line with her in our first conversation, and had she taken “reasonable” advice from friends and family and waited until she had the money to invest in coaching and mentoring, she might still yet be working full time in retail and her contribution and her passion for her true calling could have stayed on hold.

As we wind down for the year in 2009, it is my wish for you that your thoughts, plans and goals for 2010 are created from “unreasonableness” and your focus remains on what is possible for yourself, your life, your business and your contribution.

Yours in health and possibility,

Adam

PS. If you feel you could do with a “blast” of motivation, proven ideas and strategies or even a dose of unreasonableness and possibility, I will be running a series of Lifestyle Practitioner Academy introductory evenings in January 2010. This three hour interactive presentation will be your chance to meet me in person and perhaps “sound us out” to see whether or not you being part of a Mastermind Inner Circle coaching group may be just the edge you need to make 2010 your most successful year ever! Stay tuned for more info, or check our website at www.lifestylepractitioneracademy.com

Have No Fear!:

Your ability to offer value to others relies first on your ability to value yourself.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER – BUT ENTHUSIASM PULLS THE SWITCH!

It’s a humbling experience for me to be involved with a group of people who trust me and are willing to challenge themselves to grow like this, and it makes me feel exceptionally lucky that I get to do what I do for a living and make whatever difference I get to make in people’s lives.

As the year winds down for you this year, I encourage you to reflect and share your proudest accomplishments with those you love, and congratulate yourself for having helped and touched so many people during the course of your working life as a practitioner.

As you think back on the year’s achievements, the things you realise you are proudest of might just surprise you.

All the best

Adam

I have recently been lucky enough to be able to share with one of my groups, what our proudest accomplishment for the year 2009 was so far. To be honest I was expecting my to mainly hear from my longest running clients, but what I heard instead moved me deeply and made me realise just exactly what business I was in. You see, almost without exception what everyone was most proud of was things like:
- The relationship they had with their children
- The relationship they had with their spouses
- The lifestyle they had managed to provide for their families
- The patients’ lives they had changed
- The hardships, setbacks and trials they had overcome in their personal lives
- The sense of happiness and fulfillment they had rediscovered as a result of living without limitations

Hardly a mention of the money or the business growth, and yet this was the original “hook” that got them involved with me in the first place. And to me this exposes the real truth of coaching and the true benefit of belonging to a mastermind group, or any group of like minded people who you can rely on to hold you to your highest values and potential:

Adam

Its not about the goals we achieve or the awards we win, the money we make, or even about the businesses we build as a result of challenging ourselves – its about how much we grow, and who we discover ourselves to be in the process.

Adam Gibson

Last week I had the final meeting of the year of my longest running (and most successful) business coaching group. These fifteen people are my “inner circle elite”, and many of them are kicking huge goals in their health practices (and making me look good as a coach into the bargain!). For example:

- Two them have sold their practices recently for three times what they paid for them only a couple of years ago
- We have at least one million dollar turnover clinic, and many well over the half million mark
- At least 9 of the 15 have made an ADDITIONAL $120,000 – $450,000 this calender year alone due the shift in mindset and strategies they have adopted!
- Five have “reinvented” themselves as coaches, consultants and trainers within their industry, and created exponential shifts in their earning capacity as a result
- One has now learnt to turn over more in one day than she previously would turn over in a month in her practice

Not bad huh?