"Don't charge by the hour. Charge by the years." - Pablo Picasso There's an old story that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a woman approached him. "It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist." So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art. "It’s perfect!" she gushed. "You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?" "Five thousand dollars," the artist replied. "But, what?" the woman sputtered. "How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!" To which Picasso responded, "Madame, it took me my entire life." This story comes from an article by Ellen Rohr and it illustrates a common challenge for many coaches. We don't realize the importance of our story. ==================== TRANSCEND AND … [Read more...]
THE ENERGY IS RISING – Day 1 Of Our Deep Coaching Intensive
Thursday was Day 1 of our Deep Coaching Intensive in London and I could feel the energy rising inside of me as I read through the questionnaires that our 150 participants filled in. And I had to remember that it was only few short months ago that I began to second guess myself... Was it a good idea to run an Intensive in England? Would we get many people attending? Would anyone join us from Europe? As I sat looking at the London skyline on Thursday morning, reading the answers to the questionnaire we sent out, I was blown away because we have people flying in from Australia, Brazil, France, Netherlands, Spain, Bali, South Africa, Hawaii, Belgium, Germany, Jordan, Bahrain, Norway, the Canary Islands and from across the length and breadth of the UK and the USA! Holy moly!! We are being joined by athletes who've won medals in martial arts, entrepreneurs who've run 7-figure businesses and Fortune 500 executives who've walked away from lucrative careers. We've got … [Read more...]
Feel The Fear… And Do It Anyway
Two years ago, we took Kaleo to his swim class for the first time. It was really scary for him. He cried, he clung to us, he begged us not to take him back each day. Eventually, he got in the pool. He began to kick his legs. He began to splash with his arms. And over a few days, with the patient care and love of an amazing swim teacher, he began to move across the pool. We were so proud of him because he stayed the course. And he began to really swim. It was lovely to witness. ===== A few months later we took him to a friend's house. They had a swimming pool. And we all got in their pool to play. It was such fun. He would jump in and kick and splash as he swam into my arms. Well, it was fun for me until the moment he said, "Dada, can you please jump in the pool like me?" Oh my God. I'm not a swimmer. I can do a few laps. I can splash around and have fun. But I don't jump in a pool. And I mean never. I'd literally never jumped in a … [Read more...]
Something Has To Give
I'm not good at taking care of me. In fact, I've built an entire career around taking care of others. I used to be a high school teacher, working 70 hour weeks for almost 15 years. That's not a complaint. I loved my job. Then I became a coach. And all I've had to do every day—for the past 12 years—is to be there for others. What an awesome life! Except, when you are the one always giving—something has to give. And on several occasions in my life, I've come crashing down, both emotionally and physically. Part of my gift as a coach is helping my high-performing clients do what is needed to recharge and energize: I teach a simple decision-making heuristic—a rule of thumb—HELL YEAH or HELL NO. I teach that what made you successful is saying YES to almost every opportunity—and what will get you to your next level of success is saying NO to almost every opportunity. I teach my clients to SLOW DOWN in order to speed up. I teach my clients to do more … [Read more...]
6 Steps to Create the Impossible
I remember the day my baby boys were born like it was yesterday. Monique's fingertips digging into my flesh as she gripped my arm and the nursing staff changed “Push!” I cut the umbilical cord for both of my boys. And tears flooded my eyes each time as I held these helpless little humans for the very first time. They truly were helpless and could literally do nothing for themselves. It seemed impossible for them ever to learn to walk, let alone talk! And yet, over the years, they've learned to do both. They've also both learned to swim, they're both learning martial arts, Kaleo—now 5—loves to do origami, and Ellington—now 3—loves to stage live presentations of his favorite stories. We humans have a history of doing impossible things. On a regular basis. And then we tend to promptly forget that we have done so... When I have a client who is considering taking on a goal or a challenge that seems impossible to them, I'll usually ask them to reflect back on their … [Read more...]
How I Create A Powerful End to A Coaching Agreement
A number of people have asked me recently how I handle the ending of a coaching contract with a client. I usually treat a final coaching session like an initial powerful conversation. I begin with a review of our time together. Sometimes I'll send these questions in writing. Sometimes we'll simply discuss them in our final session: 1. What were your biggest INSIGHTS from our time together? 2. What were your most impactful RESULTS? 3. What HABITS are you going to take away with you? 4. What's your biggest DREAM for the NEXT 12 months? 5. What's the very first, TINIEST STEP you are going to take? 6. If you were to call me in 3 years to say, "Rich, the past 3 years have been AMAZING!", what would you tell me about your professional and personal life? [I have them answer this question as if it is the future, right now, and they are looking back over the past 3 years]. Then I PAUSE... I wait to see if THEY ask me about WHAT'S NEXT. If they don't and IF—I stress the word 'if'—I … [Read more...]
Think 10X vs 10%
Exponential thinking is fascinating but it's not for everyone. Most people are content to live an incremental life. Maybe they want to grow their business a little, be a little more confident or make a bit more money but they aren't willing to play a REALLY big game. And that's totally understandable because 10X thinking makes your heart race and the sweat drip down the middle of your back. 10X thinking has you feel like you're crazy for aiming so high. And 10X thinking means that other people will often tell you that you're crazy. A 10x mindset requires a whole new mentality. It radically shifts your thinking, your decision-making, the connections you make and the actions you are willing to take. 10x thinking is an order of magnitude improvement. 10X thinking addresses a huge problem, proposes a radical solution or engages breakthrough creativity. 10x thinking has an immediate impact on you internally. It engages you viscerally. It's like walking a fine line between feeling … [Read more...]
The Last 10 Minutes
If you're an entrepreneur you may know the feeling of creating a big vision, then getting super scared and overwhelmed and finally, in the last few minutes, pulling it all together... WHY WAIT? What if you could bring the creativity and focus of the last 10 minutes, to your current project, right now? When a couple is about to end their relationship they are sometimes more loving and caring towards each other in that last 10 minutes than they've been in the past 10 years... WHY WAIT? What if you could bring the energy of the last 10 minutes of your relationship, to your relationship, right now? A coach told me that in the last 10 minutes of a 6 month coaching agreement with a powerful client she finally plucked up the courage to ask the questions that would really serve her. The client said those questions changed her life. WHY WAIT? What if you could bring the power of the last 10 minutes of your coaching to your client, right now? Tick, tock... Stop waiting. Love. Rich … [Read more...]
The Elon Musk Problem
The photo on the left is of 45 year old Elon Musk looking cool. As well he might, as the 80th-wealthiest person in the world—with an estimated net worth of $15.2 billion! The photo on the right is of geeky 27 year old Elon Musk. That Elon lacked a social life compared to his brother and sister. They went to parties while he spent most of his time doing solitary activities, like reading and programming. One of his college housemates said: "Elon was the most straight-laced dude you ever met. He never drank. He never did anything. Zero. Literally nothing." Elon himself said he worked 100 hours a week for more than 15 years. The problem with success, as Stefano Zorzi explains: "We invariably look up to people once they have made it. Not before, or in the process of doing so." He goes on: "Successful people are typically well groomed, confident, charismatic — all carrying that aura of inevitability only hindsight can give. People in the process of (trying to) become successful, on … [Read more...]
My One Line Business Plan
This is part 2 of my one line business plan! "Discover what you are best at & enjoy that is different from what all your peers are doing and that requires relatively little effort from you. Then put huge effort into honing that skill, so that it becomes monstrously greater than anyone else's. Keep demanding that each year you make your peculiar talent more peculiar and much more potent. Use the skill to make the world a more interesting place." - Richard Koch P.S. Part 1 of my one line business plan for over a decade has been: "Meet fun and interesting people." … [Read more...]
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