Less Is the Strategy ā€“ Podcast Transcript
A little bit more of a relaxed podcast episode today. If you're listening to the podcast, then I'm not sat at my desk with the big microphone in front of me. I'm just sat, kind of relaxing, on my chair. The reason being is August is one of those times that we all tend to take a little bit of downtime. And taking downtime, and time out of the business, is so important.
I feel like there's a couple of really important questions that I've been able to answer for myself this year, in those times that I've taken time out of my business. And I wanted to unpack one really big question that I feel I got real clarity of an answer in France, when I was there on holiday. I took a vacation with my family. The question is, or the question to myself was, who is Ant Hodges? So I want you to ask yourself the question, who is... and insert your name.
I feel like there are so many labels that get put on us, so many names that get put on us, that sometimes it's really difficult to step into that world of entrepreneurship, and what we're doing and who we're serving and the types of products or services that we have, without being blinkered by the direction that some of those labels that people could put on us take us in.
And I would say over the last 18 months or so, I've been on this journey myself. I've invested, and I've looked to invest, in coaching. I've come out of a coaching arrangement with one person, was about to go into a coaching arrangement with another, but just something inside of me just said, hold fire, just wait one moment. Whether it was God, whether it was intuition, whatever it might be, there was something inside of me saying, you need to really think about this. You need to consider what it means, what it would do. And really, it took me a good six months to get to that point of making a decision about signing up to a potential coach.
I was really keen to keep a coaching relationship going with someone, and just felt that the direction, what he was coaching around and things like that, was just not aligned with what I felt like I'd been called to myself, and what I really felt was Ant Hodges on purpose.
What I mean by that is, am I doing the things that I am supposed to be doing? Am I purposely stepping into actions? Am I purposely serving a community? Am I purposely putting out offers that are related specifically to what I feel like I'm called to be doing? Whether it's other people's definition of success, whether it's personal ambition, whether it's, you know, comparison, there's so many ways that we can get trapped in living out our lives and working out our business according to somebody else's definition of success, and somebody else's label that has been put on us.
I had a conversation with a good friend this week, and she called me up and she said, "You know, it's Monday and I'm just not getting motivated. I just don't know where to go, what to do, how to get moving. Business is great, and there's a good pipeline, there's a good level of business coming in, so I'm not worried about all of that. But I'm just feeling like I'm just not motivated."
I know that there had been a number of people who had put labels on her, and we even joked about that in kind of friendship circles and business circles that we kind of met up with. So I asked her, instead of using one of those other labels, I said, "Who is..." and then her name. Not a label that had been put on by somebody else, that we all often joke about, but just her name. It's the same question that I asked myself when I went to France. Who is Ant Hodges?
And spending time meditating on that question, and spending time just focusing on answering that question, has given me an insane level of clarity about what I am doing, what I want to do moving forward, what I'm supposed to be doing.
And even one of my private coaching clients spoke to me and said, "Do you know what, the focus and the attention and the level of presence that you've had over the last couple of months is totally different to a few months back, when I was even considering, should I renew at the end of this contract?" And his contract, you know, finished this week, and he has renewed for another 12 months as a mentoring client.
And it's great to hear. It's great to get this feedback from people who have seen where I have been able to just refocus my mind, my purpose, what I'm about, who I'm supposed to be. And they can tell when I'm fully present.
But it kind of made me feel a little disappointed in myself. I didn't think that being lost and floundering around from a coach perspective, you know, looking for that coach, looking for someone to help take me to the next level in my business, would affect my customers and my community. But clearly it did. And actually, the feedback was well received, because where there is this distraction in our own mind, we're not sure about ourselves, we're not confident about ourselves, we don't have the clarity in ourselves, that overcomplicates everything.
And actually, the whole purpose of the Simplify mindset is to be on purpose. What's your one thing? What's the thing that you're supposed to be doing? Who is the one person, the type of person, you should be serving? What is the one thing that you should be offering them? What is the one way to build relationship? That's simplifying things.
But simplifying things brings not only clarity to you, and enabling you then to put your marketing out on all of your content that you create, put that out there in the best possible way. It brings clarity to your audience and to your clients.
You know, the guy I spoke to yesterday, it was just... a light bulb went off in me, because I know that this is so true. I certified as a Master Coach over 10 years ago, and in those 10 years I've coached so many people, so many businesses, so many individuals. And the presence of a coach makes all the difference. How attentive are they? How deep are the questions that they ask? And the feedback that they give you, how well thought through is it? Is it just a one-liner or a quick voice message, or do they spend time looking at what you've actually done and come back to you?
And that's what I kind of reset a few months ago for me, because I kind of half recognised that I'd not necessarily given everything that I could. The feedback that I got yesterday confirmed that. But also, the feedback I got yesterday was that when I made that decision a couple of months ago in France, and I answered the question truly, who is Ant Hodges, that was the moment that everything changed. And he saw it.
So even my friend that I spoke to earlier this week, I've checked in with her today before recording this podcast, and she's like, "Yeah, it's actually really good. I was able to just get a plan and get some clarity. I know where I'm headed. That's enabled me and helped me to shape the marketing over the next three to six months. I'm on messaging, there's more to do, but it got me started."
So in today's shorter podcast episode than normal, here on Less Is the Strategy, it's really just one question for you. Who is... and insert your name.
Spend time meditating on that question, and answer it truly from your own heart, your own position, your soul, your spirit, whatever it is, from that perspective. Because it should be around your purpose and your calling that you can answer that question. What is it that you're really called to do, to make a difference? How are you going to impact people's lives? How are you going to bring transformation? What is it that you can offer them that is uniquely you? Not a label that somebody else is putting on you. Not a definition of success that somebody else is saying, once you hit here, this is a success. How do you define success for yourself?
In answering that question, who is... and insert your name, you'll be on that journey to understand what is on the front of the bus. What's the destination? Where are you headed? The journey that the bus takes is kind of irrelevant, because if you don't know the destination, you'll end up on some magical mystery tour. You'll end up in some kind of place that you didn't expect. Keep an eye on what's on the front of the bus, because it can get changed.
You know, I've used this metaphor so much in my coaching career with different clients. I remember going on a bus when I was headed to school, or I was heading into town, and then you'd get to the bus station, you'd get the bus, you'd line up for the bus because it had the name of the destination that you wanted to get to, so the village I lived in. Then all of a sudden another bus driver would pop in, and he would wind a little key that would wind the sign, and the destination would change. And then I'd have to get on a different bus. If I hadn't spotted the destination changed and I got on, I'd be somewhere else completely. Somebody else had changed the destination, and I'd still got on.
And I think all too often, when you're inside of coaching programmes, or you're working with a coach, or even you look at buying coaching products and programmes, there's a definition of success that they say, that they talk about, rather than helping you to define what success looks like for you. And then, and I know it's hard to sell a programme where you're not defining what success looks like, but as an example, my Simplify Business Community, it's about helping people to simplify their business, to scale and to have success, however they define it. There's a journey and a process. I will help them to understand the Simplify mindset. When they get into it there will be Q&As, there's resources to help them to shape that Minimum Viable Funnel, to learn Selling Without Selling as a technique, and the SEED Marketing framework that really helps you to position yourself as the true expert, echoing your core beliefs in the marketplace, which separate you, and delivering some amazing value for people.
I think you can find the clarity by asking that one question. Who is... and insert your name. Spend the time answering that question if you're taking time out during August, so that you're clear, so that you're ready for September. So when other people start coming back to work, and general sort of daily life as it was pre-summer, there is an insane level of clarity that you've got to be able to move forward.
Simplify is a mindset, but it's a choice. Simplify is a methodology, but it's a framework that you can follow. You can learn more about this by getting a copy of my book, Simplify the Funnel. Just head over to simplifythefunnel.com where you can get the book and some additional resources. If you'd like to, you can always purchase it on Amazon as well.
I would just ask you the question to finish today's episode. Has this resonated with you? Is this a challenge that you've experienced recently, or is this a challenge that you're going through right now? Do you find yourself dotting around? Do you find yourself trying to live up to other people's expectations around what you should be doing in your business, and other people's definition of success? And do you need that clarity yourself?
Meditate on that question. Who is... and insert your name. That's the purpose that we need to find. That's the reorientation. That's the centre point. That's the origin that everything should be coming from in our businesses. When we step out into the world and serve people, when we understand our calling and our purpose and what we're truly about, everything else becomes simpler.
This is Less Is the Strategy, the podcast to help you to simplify. If you've found this truly helpful and it resonated with you, it's going to resonate with others, so please share this episode of the podcast. You can always subscribe to the channel here on YouTube, or subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening. And I look forward to chatting with you on the next episode of Less Is the Strategy.