The Friday 5x5 -"Never Waste A Crisis"

Hey friend, welcome to the Friday 5x5.

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5 - A 5 Minute Read - Never Waste a Crisis

“Something has changed within me, Something is not the same”

Shift happens.?And it did.

A shift that changed pretty much everything.

A shift to the personal and the commercial.

Commercially, we were helping clients win massively in life and business - but I just sounded like every beige business voice spouting ‘more money in less time’.

Personally, I felt super lacklustre.?I couldn’t work out if I was just carb deprived or having an existential crisis about turning 40.

Profits were steady but not growing and my life felt, well, beige.

The crux of it was that I’d become comfortable. ?

Not too stretched, not too bored - just comfortable.

And comfort kills desire.

Enter a few personal crises:?

• the death of a family member (a model businessman and father)
• another family member the victim of a serious financial crime;
• and yet another family member spiralling into a mental health crisis;
• then I caught COVID and it sucked me dry of every ounce of energy I had;
• then our fuse board caught fire leaving me without heat, power, wifi, fridge/microwave, hot water or light.?Great.

A I sat one night, in the rain, on a shop-front step trying to find phone signal to watch my Uncle’s funeral on my iPhone I thought to my self:

“Yep, this is enough now.”

My friend Mary likes to say ‘Never waste a crisis’.?So I chose to dig deep and ask what this crisis was teaching me.

Many tears, grunts, pillow-screams later it came to me.

Family.

?? Feeling the pain of being shut in away from the neighbourhood family that makes up my community.

?? Forcibly isolated from my family of choice aka the friends I know and love;

?? Far from my family of origin when amidst a crisis and time of need;

?? Fully connecting with the primal ache I felt to be a Father my self.

Family.

All at once the pain of the crisis showed me what was missing from my mojo and my marketing - the WHO behind the WHY.

And in that moment of clarity I crystallised my voice, my conviction and my commercial focus.

I’m on a mission to build family

In 12 months I intend to be well on my way to being a father of my first child through surrogacy.

For this to happen I need to build my firm around four tenets: Holistic Health, Predictable Profits, Full Flexibility and a Family Focus

It’s essentially the EXACT things I help my clients nail but just didn’t have the words to wrap around it.

Now I do.

So here I am sharing with you that when it comes to my firm, we build families. ?

We work exclusively with consultants and founders of professional services firms who refuse to choose between time with their family and financial security.

As I go on the journey to scale a Family Firm, allow me to help you to build yours.

Oh and for the record - family is relative - if family means 2.4 children, empty nesters, or mother to two fur babies - you’re welcome here, friend.

(I mean let’s be honest my little family unit as a middle-aged, gay, Jesus-loving, Welsh-Aussie singleton will be anything but orthodox - you’re in good company here!)

The unifying thread is that you’re not in this for you, you’re in it for them.?And that means you choose to do things differently.

You need to find a way to scale without sacrificing your relationship on the altar of success.

That’s why the Friday 5x5 exists, to help you do just that.

One final note of gratitude to two heroes.

My Dad, serial entrepreneur and visionary - I saw him sacrifice family time to build an empire. He taught me a lot.

My Mum, selflessly serving those she loved - I saw her sacrifice her business dreams for family.?She taught me a lot.

I love what they have done for me.

I also believe nobody should have to make that choice anymore.

Let’s talk about that work-life harmony;

Let’s talk about building flexibility in the day and profits in the pockets;

Let’s talk about building an empire and build a lasting legacy to leave the world a better place.

Let’s do it together, friend.

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4 - Thoughts to Ponder on The Firm Foundations?? of: Health, Profits, Flex & Family

• ?? - You stick with that one client because they pay well.?If you tracked every single minute you of stress they cause, is it still a sweet deal?
• ??-?When was the last time you raised your prices??It’s EOFY - Think of where you can add more value (NOT time) and charge accordingly
• ? - Forget diary, think energy. Marry your highest energy slot with your highest priority and make sweet babies of success.
• ???????? - Make Spontaneity Easy - #1 find and decorate a box, #2 everyone puts in 5 activities to try #3 every week pull one out do together.

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3 - Nuggets from a Book.

This week’s book Im casually frothing over is ‘Get Rich in the Deep End’ by Brent Weaver.?All about the power of ‘niche specialisation’:

• “Clients don’t buy your services, they buy a result. So, when you talk about your services, always put them in the context of the results you deliver”
• “Authority is the greatest accelerant in marketing. If working to your own market is like starting a fire, authority is the lighter fluid.”
• “Measuring the number of rejections is a better way to gauge your commitment than successes.”

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2 - Things I’m Frothing Over

#1 - This Cal Newport clip explaining the missing piece in prioritisation

#2 - RISE App - using it religiously to schedule highest value activities for when my energy is cleanest - then leave basic admin for when my energy drops.?Complete game-changer.

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1 - Action to Take today

Come join our little community on Facey -?Would love to get to know you better.

Love and admiration, Paz