Our Chief Want in Life… according to Emerson.

"Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can." Ralph Waldo Emerson

 The first time I hired a coach, I was not in the market for one.

Two months earlier, I had decided to try my hand at real estate.  I got my license in 6 weeks and then joined a mastermind group for realtors.  The first week I was in the mastermind, a woman named Phoebe was invited to speak to group. I liked her and we set up a zoom call.  She was a coach, but I wasn't interested in that.  I just wanted to hear her thoughts on how I should go about growing my businesses.

 20 minutes into the zoom call she said, "You don't want to do real estate, Brandon."  It was confronting.  And liberating.  I hadn't allowed myself to acknowledge that truth, but I immediately knew it was true when she said it.

 “You're right.  I don't want to do real estate.  I'm just lost and hoping that making a lot of money will make me happy... I know, it's stupid..."

 I hired her to be my coach and we worked together for three years.

 I think we all need someone who help us (or "make us," to use Emerson's words) do what we are capable of.  I was about to settle for a career in real estate because I was too scared/frustrated/timid to pursue the things I actually wanted.

 But as soon as I met someone who I trusted to partner with me for the journey, I was ready to set my life on fire (in the good way).

 I grew my business (that had been stagnant).  We decided to have kids (something we were scared to do because of finances).  We got pregnant and Ash left her job (something we didn't think possible just a year earlier).  I grew my business more.  We got pregnant again.  We bought a house where I can bike to coffee shops and pubs (which thrills me daily).  We got chickens (a lifetime dream for Ash).  

 All because I had someone in my corner.  Someone to partner with me for the ups and downs of the journey.

 I remember standing in the kitchen of a cabin we were vacationing at early in Ash's first pregnancy.  Ash asked, "Are you sure I can leave my job?  Are we going to be okay?"  I replied, "I feel like I can make anything happen with Phoebe in my corner."

 It's a weird thing.  Having a coach didn't make me smarter or harder working or enlightened.  Yet, everything felt lighter and more possible when I knew I wasn't alone.

 Two years ago, a friend of mine reached out and asked me to coach him in his work and life.  I said yes, and that started my own coaching career.  Now Mondays and Tuesdays I get to coach cool people doing interesting things.  (I have two spots open right now.)

 We need partners in life.  We don't rise to our potential alone.

 It reminds me of the Jesus quote:

"When two of you get together on anything at all and make a prayer of it, God goes into action."  Matthew 18:20

 Coaching is kind of like that.
We get together, we make a "prayer of it" - of our lives, our dreams, our thoughts and feelings, our week, our plans.
Then we go into action.
And trust God is going into action with us.
(And we use Voxer to vent/strategize/check in through the week.)

 This has become some of my favorite work I'm doing these days.  Partnering with others to create the work and life they want.

 Right now, I'm looking to connect with someone who has business/life goals that excite them + scare them.  If you know someone that would enjoy doing a one-time coaching call, send them here.  We'll dive into it for an hour and see what happens.  Then, if they want to talk about coaching long term, we'll talk through that.

 Someone introduced me to a friend of theirs for coaching and said:

"I did a coaching call with Brandon recently around business stuff and it's almost annoying how insightful and helpful it was."

If you'd like to be annoyed, find a time on my calendar in the next couple weeks here :)