Welcome to our third episode in our Uniquely Yours Coaching Hive podcast series. In episodes 53 and 54 we explored questions like, “How do you build a business that you love day after day, month after month, and year after year?” and, “What will happen if you have contentment built into your business each day?” The answer is simple, you are building a thriving coaching business that you love. This is the goal, right? But success doesn’t necessarily mean hustle and it doesn’t necessarily equate to a whirlwind roller coaster ride.
Today we are going to talk about something important to every business: boredom. In fact, what if I said to you right now. Every business should have the opportunity for boredom. Do I have your attention? I hope so!
With our theme of simplicity, clarity, and vision for 2022 in mind, lets jump in.
Introduction
When you think of the word boredom, what comes to mind? Is it a younger you on a car ride saying, “Are we there yet?” Or perhaps you have been on the receiving end of that oft asked question. Maybe you think that boredom equates to something being wrong or not enough being done. And maybe it means something else entirely to you. I’d like to invite you to reflect for a moment here and think about what the word boredom elicits for you.
Now let me ask you a question, what if boredom is actually the secret sauce for a successful coaching business? Would you like to be bored in your business?
The quick and dirty answer is often no when I ask this question. Who wants to be bored? Most people become entrepreneurs to stay engaged, on the cutting edge of things, and immersed in the activity that comes with owning your own business.
Entrepreneurs are on a go-go-go track to build a successful, profitable and fulfilling business.
But let me ask you again, what if boredom is actually the secret sauce for a successful coaching business?
Let me paint a picture for you. You have decided to build or grow your coaching business. You are creating content, brushing up on your social media skills, meeting with potential partners, researching websites and software. You are carefully tracking your expenses and income. You are thinking about the next big steps and then jumping in so that you don’t get left behind in the race to build a successful and thriving coaching business.
Imagine you are that coach. Do you see yourself? Now with that in mind, let me ask you another question. How do you feel? Are you energized or tired? Are you exploding with creativity or struggling to write one social media post? Have you found something innovative or are you merely getting by with your clients?
On the outside you look like a busy, successful entrepreneur, but on the inside you are finding it challenging to stay engaged in your business because it just seems to take and never give. You might even be wondering if it is worth it to coach anymore. It feels like a lot more work than a 9-5 job. Maybe you are ready to give up your flexibility to work for someone else. Maybe you are looking around for that flexibility you thought you might have as an entrepreneur and you can’t find it.
If there isn’t some down time or time for boredom, when will the innovation happen? The rejuvenation that comes with stepping away from something? Even the joy of knowing that something will keep turning when you don’t log in for 24 or 48 hours?
You are creating that business that is running you instead of you running it.
Main Section
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can have a business that is successful. You can be a thriving coach AND have a business that has boredom built in. Why would you want a business with built-in boredom? There are three main reasons that I cultivate a business with boredom and encourage other coaches to do the same.
The first and most important is that boredom means you aren’t wearing yourself thin by hustling when you don’t need to. As an entrepreneur there is pressure to be successful, but that doesn’t equate to working endless hours all the time. In fact, the most innovative moments come in the quiet and the boredom. As a parent, I love it when my child is bored. It means that he has space to create and grow. He explores and expands his understanding of things. This same thing happens when a coach has time to become bored.
It can feel counterintuitive. Doing less might actually mean doing more. So the second reason I cultivate boredom is that it creates more balance and time away from your business. This means that when you are working, you are fully present and energized to be there. You are more focused, more efficient, and just plain more productive.
Finally, cultivating a business that includes boredom keeps the overwhelm away. Overwhelm happens when you have too many things to do and don’t feel that you have, or don’t have, enough time to accomplish the items. If you have time for boredom then you are managing your task list with success!
But you might be thinking, how do you do this? If you’ve listened to Episodes 53 and 54, you know that one way is with a Mindful Vision that is carefully crafted to contain 8 core components and the second way is to know your Mission statement and filter your work through that mission statement.
By doing these two things and revisiting them regularly, you are going to build in time for boredom and that will breed creativity, innovation, and (thank goodness) simplicity.
Having time for boredom means that you can more easily identify ways to help guide your clients during a tricky change. You can more easily and fluidly adapt to changing situations in coaching, and you can find time to actually learn with progress in mind because you know where you are headed. That freedom of boredom provides the time for clarity.
So what will you do? Will you be a coach entrepreneur who cultivates the opportunity for boredom or will you sink into the overwhelm that comes when there isn’t any free time?
Conclusions
I hope that you are ready to jump on board with the idea of boredom. It is freeing to be bored on a regular basis. You will find yourself making better decisions for your business instead of making rapid fire decisions with little time for contemplation and deep dives into the questions.
If you are ready to say yes to boredom, get started today by crafting your Coaching Hive Mindful Vision by going to www.coachinghive.com/MindfulVision. With that Mindful Vision ready to go, you can build boredom into your business. In fact, I would encourage you to make boredom a part of your Mindful Vision! If you are trying to figure out where it fits into a vision, try thinking about boredom as self-care or professional development.
There you have it. Build your business with boredom in mind and think about the question, what if boredom is actually the secret sauce for a successful coaching business? Imagine your thriving coaching practice that has time for all of the things that need to be done and time for you to simply be. Time for boredom to develop and from that boredom a great idea to come into mind.
We have just one more episode in this series and it is a good one. We are going to talk about freedom. While freedom may not be important to every entrepreneur, I hear over and over again that freedom is a driving factor for building a coaching business. You have freedom to make the choices you desire, freedom to set your schedule, freedom to grow in the way that is right for you and your business, and the list goes on. You won’t want to miss this one!
Tip for the Week
Before we go, to help you stay on track this week lets end with a simple task to keep you focused.
This week, intentionally look for an opportunity to be bored. You may be thinking that you don’t have any spare time, so let me give you a few ideas of where you might look for that boredom slot. First, if you have time where you are randomly scrolling through your emails, social media, or other app consider setting it aside and just breathing in the moment. You might actually be bored. We are conditioned to get a mood boost when scrolling through apps and social media. It is why they are addictive and why they are the first thing we reach for when there is a quiet moment. If you are standing in line at the grocery store, just stand there and take in the surroundings instead of worrying about the time in line, your phone buzzing with alerts, or even the conversation happening next to you. For most people, you will need to be aware of the time that you are filling with unimportant or non-critical tasks to find time for being bored. But here’s the thing. Once you start embracing it, you’ll get the hang of finding more time to devote to being bored because it is freeing.
If you find this task difficult, reach out to me via email at moira [at] coachinghive.com and let me know where you are struggling. We can brainstorm a few ideas and see how you feel with that newfound boredom. As always, if you found this episode of the Coaching Hive podcast helpful, please share it with your friends and colleagues so that we can continue to normalize the idea of building a coaching business that is uniquely yours.
I look forward to seeing you back here next week for another episode of the Coaching Hive Podcast where a focus on mentoring and community removes the overwhelm of building your successful coaching business and adds in a dose of momentum.
Until next time, have a healthy, safe, and happy week!
