Why your business is doomed to fail without a coach

Did my title catch your attention? Good! Because I'm about to speak a high degree of truth to the conscious entrepreneurs of the world. And you know who you are! You want to help people with your business, you want to make money (even though you often have serious issues with money or the idea of being rich), and you want to make a positive difference in the world.

But...it often feels like it's hard to find clients, like traditional marketing and sales simply don't work for your business or your personality, and like people won't pay great money for the kind of work you do.

Here's the thing: you are so gifted, so talented, so smart, so hardworking, and you have SO much to offer the world. And here's the other thing: for most of you...it won't make one bit of difference. Most of you simply will never make the impact you want, have the reach you desire, or help the number of people you know, in your heart of hearts, you are truly capable of helping.

When we're talking about entrepreneurs we're very rarely dealing with an effort deficit. Everybody is smart. Everybody is gifted. Everybody works hard. What's going to set you apart?

Oh sure, you'll help a person here and there just by force of will. And you may even have a semi-medium group of people who tell you you're such a good person for doing this work. Probably, at least in part, because you didn't charge them what you really wish you could charge, discounted your rates, or give them a little taste of what they needed instead of delivering an actual life-changing transformation.

If you're seriously irritated with me right now...that's actually a good thing. There's a chord inside of you that's getting plucked, which means there's a breakthrough or healing for you in the rest of this post. Sometimes we need a spark to ignite the fuel within us to actually carry us toward our vision.

How do I know? Because I was you!

I had a calling...and I mean a calling to help the world. Not an idea, not a thought, not a, "maybe I should try this" but a specific and concrete call from the universe to use my talents and abilities to serve others. I'll share the story in another post, just know that it involves a tragic death, an unexplainable experience, and a bout of serious depression.

Not an idea, not a thought, not a, "maybe I should try this" but a specific and concrete call from the universe

This experience, having shaken me to the core, prompted me to take action in service of trying to answer my calling. So I did what most people in my position do. I threw up a simple website and announced, "I'm open for business!" In other words, I built it, I threw up my digital shingle, and I waited by the phone for TV producers, clients, and publishers to start calling.

I don't mean to be hard on myself. I did take some action. I reached out to clients, got myself booked on a few radio shows, and read a few books and articles about how to grow my business. But the truth was, I took action that was basically comfortable to me, and I got results that were extremely limited, and certainly not capable of sustaining the lifestyle I imagined for myself, nor of moving me fiercely in the direction of my vision.

If you're thinking "Oh, that's not me!" Maybe you're right and there's nothing of value in what I'm saying. Or maybe that's a defense mechanism. There's an easy check. When you look around your business, and your life, do you have what you want?

The worst part: I knew I had so much more potential than I was using! I knew that I was capable of serving more people, making more money, and being part of a global conversation around personal growth, consciousness, and wealth. If any of you have ever had that feeling, the one where you know you are just meant to become MORE, then you know how suffocating this feeling is.

One of the most pervasive lies I told myself when I was struggling, working way too hard, and essentially being treated like an employee by the clients I did have, was that I would eventually be able to figure this all out, all by myself. I mean after all, I was really, really smart! And I had a really, real calling! And I had done so many others things that turned to gold the minute I touched them....why not this?

Success was always happening tomorrow. I was always one breakthrough away, one big event away, one lucky break away from the world realizing my potential and showering me with money, praise, and abundance.

My business was a perverse form of wish fulfillment where I'd imagine myself on Oprah, or create a gigantic list of "what-ifs", only be disappointed when people less talented would rise to the top while I would stay exactly where I was. And it's not like I didn't know help was available to me. I regularly had conversations with business coaches, marketing consultants, and business development experts, offering to help me.

My excuses were always the same: it's not the right time, it's not the right person, it's too much money, or they didn't really give me anything I didn't already know or couldn't have found from another source. Fear wrapped in a million stories and excuses, all of which seemed totally legitimate to me.

And as one tends to do, I sought out justification for my excuses. Family, friends, and other colleagues were happy to agree with me! "You're right that is a 'crazy' amount of money!" "You're smart, you'll figure it out." "They are just trying to scam you out of your hard-earned cash!" And the dreaded, "You're moving int he right direction." Which to me felt sort of like saying a glacier is moving in the right direction. Sure it's moving, just at no discernible pace to the human eye. Because if the people around you agree, then you must be right....right?

Here's what I didn't understand: a calling is not the same as becoming the person actually capable of actively weaving your vision into existence.

It's simply a calling card that says, "Hey pay attention, there's something here for you to listen to!" It alerts you to the fact that you're capable of more than you previously thought possible. It's then up to you to actually become the person capable of carrying out that vision.

Alright then, how do you do that? How do you become that person?

You get help, you study, you learn, you stretch, you grow, and you become willing to take actions that are seriously outside of your comfort zone. And as an aside, you get the help that's aligned to your vision. If you want to build a multiple six or seven figure business you'll probably need more than a $97 self-study course.

For me, I found someone who had already done what I wanted to do, and I learned to listen. I accepted that my way wasn't working, and I was willing to listen to the wisdom and advice of someone who had a skill set that was present in me but undeveloped.I did what they said, while making it my own, and I tried to pay attention to what was getting triggered within me, instead of blaming it on my coach or on the program.

Things started to change, and they started to change quickly. My income dramatically increased. I started attracting many more high-level ideal clients. I got booked for speaking gigs both live and virtual. I generated a higher revenue than people with list sizes two or three times mine, and many more cool things unfolded.

But the coolest part...the part that means the most to me...is that I began to wake up every day knowing that I was truly helping people and making a difference. The level of happiness, fulfillment, and just feeling at home in my own skin was unprecedented.

I had gotten into alignment with my life's calling to help people and make a positive difference in their life. It wasn't something I dreamed about, something I wished for, or something I hopped would happen. It was something that I woke up everyday and took courageous, conscious action to create.

And that's what it's really all about: helping those people who if they don't know you exist simply won't get the help they need.

How much longer do the people who need you, have to wait for you to get out of your own way, to get the results, the benefits, and transformations you are capable of providing them?

And I got clear-eyed about the fact there was absolutely no reason to go this alone. Even if I could have achieved the success I have today, there's no way I could have done it as quickly, while avoiding many of the stumbles and obstacles, and in the way that was truly authentic and right for me and for my vision.

So OK, maybe you aren't doomed to fail without a coach or without getting the support you need. But what more is possible for you if you made a decision to get the help you needed, to learn, to grow, and to be willing to take the action that would actually move you toward your vision? What more is possible for you if you expanded and became the person you see when you imagine your vision?

Talk to me: What part of this post helped you? What part pissed you off? What questions do you have?

Bio: Michael is an intuitive business mentor who helps conscious entrepreneurs make more money, get more clients, help more people, and step into their role as visionary leaders. Learn the full story of how I went from living in my mom's basement to running a six figure business in 18 months here.