My name is Barbara. But I guess you already know that, because this is what my blog is called! Ok, I’ll drop the bad jokes just now because I want you to keep reading! I’m an English teacher, teacher trainer, taking my first steps into presenting myself as a life and personal finance coach… and also a profound procrastinator. I hope you can relate to that at some level.
In this very first blog post I’d actually like to delve a little bit into why I’m changing from teaching to coaching, and why it’s so darn hard to make the first move.
I’m about to jump into the biggest challenge of my life and I’ve been postponing putting myself out there for the longest time… drawing up marketing strategy, watching endless coaching videos on and off YouTube, posting motivational quotes on Instagram, creating content… All that is just dipping my toes in the water. While all I really want to do is talk to you, and I believe that taking this first step towards true authenticity is exactly what was missing.
When you’re about to jump head first into the water, so many unnecessary thoughts cross your mind. Will it be really cold? What if I hurt myself? What if the current carries me too far, and I’ll end up on a desert island? I don’t want to talk to a coconut for the rest of my life. What if I drown???
But the water is actually really nice and warm, and all your worries disappear once you connect with the moment.
It really IS that simple. Let me take you through the process of what got me to DO IT, and hopefully you’ll do it, too!
Point one:
FOCUS on the right things. There’s no use thinking, “I don’t have a wonderful website/a fancy funnel/hundreds of followers, so who’s going to work with me anyway?” It’s not about the website, or the funnel. It’s about the impact you do have on those like-minded people that are already engaging with you, never mind if it’s 20, 200 or 2,000. Think about the joy you are bringing to these people, and forget about the rest. Even Peter couldn’t walk on water in the end because he took his focus off Jesus, looked at the high waves, and got scared.
Point two:
BELIEVE in your mission. Whatever it is. For me it’s important that what I offer is simple to understand and practical, so anyone can do it. I’m not offering a course on “How to train your unicorn in twenty days”, or something crazy like that. I simply want more people to take charge of their lives both in terms of career and personal finance. It’s easy. It’s doable. It’s practical. What’s there not to like? I believe that financial literacy is essential at all times, especially in our post CV-19 society where nothing is certain. I believe that making small changes in our way of thinking leads to big results. I believe that wealth and happiness is available to everyone. I believe there should be bread on every table.
Point three:
DROP the impostor syndrome. I’m afraid I’m not good enough, you see. When I look at my career, I’ve only ever been teaching English. Or have I? Actually, I’ve been coaching hundreds of business people through English, which is a completely different thing. That lady in her 50s who hadn’t received a promotion in 7 years because she didn’t speak English, and got one after a month of classes with me? That other lady in her thirties who was afraid to do job interviews in English? That millionaire student who gave me great investment advice when I was 25? I could probably go on for a good while here. If I set myself to look at things from the right angle, I have more than enough experience to coach anyone, anywhere! So here’s the thing: coach yourself. Get pumped. Be proud of what you’ve done.
Point four:
COMPARE yourself NOT to others. It’ll be extremely, extremely demotivating. You know what? There’s only one you. Because of that, there’s no competition. Because there’s just one you, and your unique way of connecting with people. One of my favourite psychologists Natalia Kobylkina tells the story of a frog race (there are many different versions of it). Little frogs decide to race one day and they go ahead, but the spectators are laughing at them and shouting negative comments: “You’ll get tired. You’ll never make it.You’re so stupid!” So the little frogs drop out one after the other, save for one. This one frog keeps going, jumping and jumping, and finally wins the race. At the end people ask him how he did it, but he doesn’t answer. They ask him again, but he keeps silent. Finally they discover that the frog who won the race is deaf! He couldn’t hear any of the laughing, or the negative comments! He probably didn’t look at his competitors either. So be that deaf frog. Don’t pay attention to what others do or say.
Point five:
START somewhere. I’ve been on the fence a bit about how I want to present myself, and where I should present myself, and this one ties rather nicely together with point one and point four: go to the people you trust and who share the same worldview, and just be yourself. For me, it’s starting a blog because I love writing, and posting in on Facebook groups and Instagram because I know so many other people are struggling with the same issues – defining themselves, choosing the right strategy, getting bogged down by the multitude of competition… It really doesn’t matter. Once you have set your foot in the door, everything you need will start pouring in.
Just do it.
Let’s do it together.