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The most overlooked part of your business – and how to fix it

May 16, 2022 Doug Brown Business Planning, Career Advice

Today I invite you to give some thought to one of the most overlooked and important parts of running your business. That is your plan for making an eventual exit so you can harvest the value you’ve created – and go on to whatever is next for you.

Most entrepreneurs don’t spend any time on this because they are so busy running the business and trying to build it. That’s a mistake. The strategic direction of your company should be driving you to your ultimate exit goal. By not proactively planning an exit strategy, business owners may find that their future options are limited.

Consider it this way: your business is a piece of property that you have invested money in. It generates revenue that supports your life and hopefully a sizable distribution of yearly profit. It should also be increasing in value, allowing you to gather more when the time comes.

There are many different flavors of an exit strategy. Some entrepreneurs consider their exit strategy to be the mechanism by which the company moves from one major stage to the next. Entrepreneurs don’t always quit a company, but their responsibilities do change considerably. This is why it’s important for you to plan your exit strategy and have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve.

There are a few things to consider when planning your exit strategy.

First, you need to decide whether you want to sell the business or pass it on to someone else. This will help you determine the best way to structure the sale or transfer of ownership.

Second, you need to think about what you want to do after you leave the business. Do you want to retire, start another business, or pursue other interests?

Third, you need to consider how the business will continue without your oversight and input. This often involves decoding your “secret success sauce” and company culture. You’re going to need a strategy to ensure the people, process, and technology are in place for ongoing success – and thereby transferrable value.

Fourth, you need to have the input of a trusted financial advisor and accountant to craft a financial strategy to address both taxes and how to meet your ongoing financial needs after you have exited the business. Remember, these professionals will help you manage your money – but their job is not to configure the business for your exit.

Finally, you need to think about your personal goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve with your exit strategy? Do you want to maximize the value of the business, or do you have other goals in mind?

Planning an exit strategy can be a complex process, but it’s important to take the time to consider all of the factors involved. By doing so, you can ensure that you have a clear understanding of your goals and objectives and that you’re able to achieve them.

If you’ve read this far and you’d like to know more about what you can do right now to give yourselves the most options for an exit – whatever that looks like for you, then just hit REPLY, and let’s talk.

The Midlife Shift: Don’t Fall for the Myth That Midlife Has to Be a Crisis

April 6, 2022 Doug Brown Health & Wellness / Innovation, Your Career

It’s that time again – midlife. Don’t panic! This is just a natural time to re-evaluate what you’ve been doing and to decide what you want to do, on purpose for the next 15 years.

I’ve been researching this and apparently, there’s this shift that happens when you’re in your 40s and 50s, and I’ve seen it with my friends and clients. Especially when you set your course and made huge investments in yourself in your twenties.

After all, what did we really know in our 20’s? We were just figuring out who we were and what we wanted. Now, in our 40’s, 50’s, (and even 60s), we’ve got the opportunity to apply our knowledge, skills, abilities – and wisdom – in new ways.

It’s daunting to consider altering what you’ve established. Especially when you haven’t done it before. And you don’t have a strategy in place. And making a significant blunder isn’t an option for you. You’ve come too far.

I’ve done it for myself a dozen times over the last 25 years, and I’ve assisted many others in doing so – therefore I’m something of an authority. During the process, I picked up a lot of information on what works and what doesn’t.

Making a change in your profession takes many forms. Some professionals must make minor adjustments and develop new routines to discover what they desire. Others like their jobs, but want to shift where they work or who they work with.

And then there are those that want to try something completely new, such as switching industries or starting their own business.

No matter what situation you’re in, I’ve found 6 distinct phases of career change apply. Permission, Discovery, Investigation, Evaluation, Implementation, and Integration. If you’d like to know more about each one then click the link in the comments to get the free guide.

Midlife Career Myths

There are so many myths around midlife – and midlife career change – that it’s hard to decide where to start.

So here are a (first) few of my favorites and why they are B.S. …

1. You’re too old to change.

This myth is perpetuated by those who fear change. Many highly successful people changed careers after 30, 40, or 50. One example is Ray Kroc who didn’t meet Mac McDonald until he was 50. Your years of experience and wisdom can open doors to more opportunities than you can imagine.

2. You invested all of this money and time in your current career – don’t throw it away.

Your success in one field doesn’t somehow preclude you from making a change. And making a change isn’t “throwing away” what you’ve built, and it certainly isn’t some sort of admission that it was a mistake. The truth is that all that you’ve become can be the springboard to something new.

3. You’re being selfish – you should be grateful for what you have.

You deserve to do work that is challenging and fulfilling. Being grateful for what you have doesn’t mean that you should ignore things that aren’t working. You spend more than a third of your life at your job. It isn’t greedy to want to dedicate that time to something enjoyable where you are doing your best work.

4. There’s just too much risk.

There is no risk, zero, to investigating what changes to your company or your career might increase your satisfaction. The real risk is not conducting the investigation. Now, you’ll want a framework so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel – and a guide for the journey so you don’t fall victim to SOS (Shiny Object Syndrome). And when you have those things and do the work, you’ll be in a position to make an intelligent risk/reward decision.

Myth Busting …

What myths would you like busted about midlife shifts in your company or career?

Comment and let’s bust some more myths.

When everything feels like a chore | Overcoming midcareer malaise

March 29, 2022 Doug Brown Career Advice, Midcareer Shift

Midlife career malaise is real. Even for really successful executives and professionals.

You might recognize it as feeling generally uncomfortable or uneasy – in a way that’s difficult to define.

And at midlife, we’re already losing our illusion of immortality. We see that opportunities aren’t endless and that time is finite. It’s perfectly natural to search for excitement and more meaning.

And that was before the Pandemic and the “Great Resignation”

A recent study found that three out of four professionals surveyed said the Pandemic has altered their career plans.

49% said that the Pandemic has caused them to reflect on what they wanted from their career, or employer, prompting them to look for other job opportunities.

I’m kind of surprised it’s only 49%

Thinking deeply about what you really want out of your career, and for your life, is a natural and healthy part of midlife.

It’s also pretty intimidating. Even when you’re feeling dissatisfied and uncomfortable where you are. Especially when you’ve invested so much time and energy establishing yourself as a professional or building a business.

So the natural reaction is to suppress feelings of apathy and lost purpose and that ‘autopilot’ mode. And bury yourself in your work. Hoping the feelings will pass and that you’ll somehow get your mojo back.

Then another January comes around and the feelings come back, again. You’re a year older and you repeat the cycle.

There is a better way.

I’ve learned that pushing down feelings of discomfort doesn’t make them go away. In fact, researchers have found that bottling up emotions had an adverse effect on your body and your mind.

The constructive way to deal with these feelings is to acknowledge them, discover the underlying cause, and create a productive response. And that’s pretty hard to do when you’re so close to the subject.

Here’s the good news.

You’ve got more options than you think.

And you don’t have to abandon what you’ve created to fly to the island and open a margarita stand.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Don’t fall into the trap of slogging through to retirement in the hopes that you’ll find satisfaction.

Give yourself the gift of some thinking time to reflect on what’s really working well for you – and what’s driving you up the wall. Write it out longhand.

Because it’s only when you confront and name a challenge that you can start to solve it.

What are your Top 3 opportunities?

What if you made just one of them happen?

What’s stopping you?

Leave a comment below and let’s get over that thing holding you back.

Scott Ashton’s Experience with Coach Doug Brown

March 10, 2022 Doug Brown Client Story

Scott had just purchased his first company after a successful career in engineering and sales. He came to me by referral because he wanted to make sure he was successful in his first business owner/CEO role – where everything was on the line. I’m so grateful he decided to share his story in this video.

In our year together Scott grew his business by more than 30% while separating it from the seller’s business, relocating the company, and upgrading his team.

“… I think that’s a direct result of how we managed this process together. And the … the sessions that we had and how I think about the business, how I think about the team. I think the results are, are very tangible …” – Scott Ashton

Scott is another example of the kind of smart, driven, and purpose-driven executive who makes my role as an executive coach so satisfying. He was fully committed to our work – even when it make him uncomfortable – and that’s when it was most valuable to him.

I’m proud to have Scott in my family of coaching clients and to have him as a friend.

Are you trying to transition into a new role – or transform yourself or your organization?

If you’d like to discover whether you’ve got what it takes – and whether we’re a fit go ahead and click below to apply for a free, no-obligation strategy conversation. I only have a few spots available each month – so don’t delay.
https://summitsuccess.typeform.com/calldoug

[00:00:00] Doug Brown: So, Scott, just kind of starting out, how would you describe how things were going before we started our work together and what got you to the point where you said I need some help?

[00:00:11] Scott Ashton: Well, it was chaos. That’s the only succinct way to put it, we had just bought the company in May of 2020 which was in the middle of COVID. My wife and I were in two different states across the country. So, I was down here in Florida, and she was up in Connecticut working on the financial transition and manning the rest of the family and manning the house up in Connecticut.

And I was down here, we had just taken over the company and trying to get to know the business, the customers, the employees, and we were trying to do all of this simultaneously, separated by 1200 miles. So, it was pretty frantic, and it was a pretty frenetic pace, and it still is, but for the first six months, it was pretty chaotic. We started working together in August and my thoughts around that were that I had always wanted to work with an Executive Coach, I have always believed that there’s value in that coaching regimen and having some accountability to somebody who is on your side.

And so, I had always wanted to do that. And at this point, now that we own the business the stakes were higher because it was our money, it was our employees that we were responsible for and there were a lot of unknowns and unknown known knowns. And so, through a recommendation through a friend of mine, Paul, I reached out and he just said, you know, why do you need us now? Why now? The stakes were higher, and that was the reason why I knew that I needed to have somebody on my side who was providing a little bit of a combination of insight, butt kicking, just listening and some really solid advice to help me, protect me in some ways, protect me from myself.

[00:02:05] Doug Brown: So fast forward to where you are now, about what, 10 months later?

[00:02:09] Scott: Yeah.

[00:02:09] Doug Brown: How is life different than it was back in those days?

[00:02:13] Scott: Well, it’s still pretty fast paced, but that’s the nature of owning a business, but it is much less chaotic. A lot of the lessons that we discussed through the course of the entire engagement, you know, have really kind of stuck with me as, as what might my Branding Coach calls micro scripts. These slow down, , , that goes through my head and it must go through my head 10 or 12 times a day. and not just when I’m driving to work, you know, through the course of the day, whenever we’re dealing with an issue or I’m dealing with an employee it’s slowed down.

The other thing that, , you know, in terms of a transformation is we talked a lot about managing energy and that is also something that is in my mind all, if not like just continuously through many times throughout the day, , in terms of how I manage my energy, my mental energy, , and just conserving my financial energy.

Just conserving that energy throughout the day and shedding things that use energy without providing any value. And I’ve had to do that a couple of times with major things that were, that were consuming a major amount of energy without a lot of return, where I think before our engagement, I would have tried to hang on to that.

For a lot of reasons of ego, some insecurity about giving something up, , you know, feeling bad about walking away from something and, , during, and after our engagement, I look at that and say, well, you know, , my energy level has to come first. And so I’ve been able to shed a couple of things that were no longer really value added and that’s added tremendously to my ability to be able to manage and focus on the company.

[00:04:04] Doug Brown: So, what kind of transformation did that allow you to make for your staff and in your business, where was your business then and where is it now?

[00:04:13] Scott Ashton: Well, I may have been driving a dominant tornado, so that played itself out quite a bit during the initial transformation. Just from the nature of my personality and the situation, another micro-script that we talked about frequently was using pressure versus force and the difference between the two in terms of leadership style and what not.

And you know that’s been another, I think, big transformation in terms of how I lead and really stepping back and letting the company operate rather than succumbing to my nature which is to jump in with both feet, both hands and take center stage and kind of crowd everybody else out.

So, I think there’s a lot less of that, which again has helped me conserve my energy which has been pretty powerful and allowed me to focus on the things that only I can do in the business, you know, major relationships whether it be external, internal, I’m thinking about the organization at a different level rather than what’s happening today, thinking about it long-term.

So that’s been a positive improvement and I think it set me up for success as we move from the transition of the business from separating it out from a much larger organization to creating a stand alone company, which I have today, but that was a pretty hectic transition because we had to unplug every system that we had, which was provided for by the former parent.

And we had to create it from scratch so that was a pretty hectic transformation and transition that we had to make now that that’s behind us, all of the lessons that we talked about really come into play because I think if I had reverted to my instincts it would have been far less successful.

[00:06:09] Doug Brown: And along the way, you had to make some pretty significant staffing adjustments too, right!

[00:06:15] Scott Ashton: Yeah. And, and that’s always difficult because there are people who make the journey with you and people who can’t make the journey and, you know, that’s where the accountability comes in because on the one hand your instinct is okay, well, let’s just get this done. And, you know, so on the one hand, it’s good to have somebody on the reins saying, let’s think this through let’s take a measured approach at this. And then once you get past that point, now let’s execute. And there were times where through the course of our discussions over many months, there was a little bit of the former and a little bit of the latter and some of the advice was, well, it’s not going to get any better, so let’s just deal with it right now.

Others were, let’s hold off and think this through and maybe there’s another solution. And we were able to do both of those I think to the overall benefit of the company.

[00:07:15] Doug Brown: Terrific. What measurable improvements can you look at over the last eight months as a result of our work together?

[00:07:23] Scott Ashton: Well, the business has grown. I mean, we’ve grown our business somewhere between 30 and 40% in the middle of all of the chaos of moving, relocating the company and changing our personnel and just taking over the ownership and having to get up to speed on the company. We’ve grown the company substantially.

So, you know, I think that’s a direct result of how we managed this process together. And the sessions that we had and how I think about the business, how I think about the team. I think the results are very tangible and, I didn’t keep it a secret from my team that we were having our sessions.

And so they also saw the difference and the ideas that I would come back with after a session or just generally how we approach problems. So, there were a lot of different tangible, both financial and just kind of cultural results that I think really helped the business.

[00:08:26] Doug Brown: So as now coming through all that, being in a much better place, how do you feel that’s really helped kind of your overall life?

[00:08:34] Scott Ashton: It settled me down a little bit, that’s probably the biggest thing is it’s settled me down. You know, work-life balance as an entrepreneur is never good, especially when your spouse is working with you in the business but you know we’re very happy down here, we’re happy with the business. And you know, again, managing my energy has been… has helped me say no to some things that I really wanted to do and just weren’t good areas for me to focus on.

So, staying focused I think has actually helped me a lot in terms of just work life balance and not being such a frantic freak all the time.

[00:09:17] Doug Brown: Okay. What was one unexpected benefit or bonus that you got from our work together that you might not have thought of when we got started?

[00:09:26] Scott Ashton: A lot of people that I talk to whether it’s on podcasts or that they keep a day journal and I don’t. And so, I think I’ve missed out on a lot of things because I don’t have those records to go back to and being able to go back through our notes through our discussions and, and kind of relive the journey has been a really pleasant surprise because I go back and I keep very detailed notes of our discussions and, the pre-work and what not.

And I look back to where we were when we started and where my head was and I often… as I was writing up the pre- work, initially I felt like I was whining and… but I look back, you know, it really has been a… it’s been a fun amazing journey. And I think that was, that was one of the kind of, well, that was one of the little Easter eggs, if you will, of working together was having that documentation trail, almost like a journal about what the transformation has been and some of the things that we’ve gone through.

And honestly, some of those things that I haven’t dealt with that I still need to deal with, but they are much less critical than I thought they were at the time. And that gets back to slowing down and, you know, thinking about the things that I should be slowing down on and the things that I should be accelerating.

[00:10:54] Doug Brown: So, what would you say to, if you had a friend or a colleague who is thinking about working with me, what would you describe that? Like and what would you say to them?

[00:11:05] Scott Ashton: Well, first I would say to do it you know, the relationship is great. Just being able to send a quick email to somebody who really understands what you’re going through and what the dynamics of whatever the situation that you’re dealing with is very, very helpful.

It also helps and Doug, you’ve done a great job helping kind of frame what my… what the issues are at any particular point in time. So that’s been very helpful. The other thing, just from my own, how I like to think is I tend to think much more unstructured, well, something in some respects I do.

And there were many times where we kind of set off on one path and I would set off on this stream of consciousness where there was some really just insightful nugget that you know, it was almost transformational and the ability to do that and to have somebody to bounce those ideas off is very, very powerful.

And you can’t do that. You have to be unstructured in a structured environment. I think that was really a wonderful thing, to be able to have that structure to allow me to be unstructured. And I think you were flexible enough to let me kind of follow those trails and create those insights, which I thought was fantastic.

[00:12:34] Doug Brown: Well, I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. Any final thoughts you wanted to share on our little journey?

[00:12:43] Scott Ashton: Yeah, you’ve got to come into coaching with an open mind and you’ve got to be willing to be a little or a lot vulnerable, which is very difficult.

I’ve always not really been all that self-reflective, so initially it was a little bit of a challenge but after that we got comfortable very, very quickly with each other and developed that rapport. And it quickly became one of the most valuable things that I was doing with my time.

And so, I highly recommend anybody considering using Doug to absolutely go ahead and do it.

[00:13:22] Doug Brown: Okay. Thanks, Scott. I really appreciate your time.

What to Look for in a Coach

March 4, 2022 Doug Brown Leadership

When I interview potential clients we always talk about their experience with coaching.

Many talk about sports coaches they had growing up in high school and college.

Others have tried group coaching and even one-on-one private coaching.

Often their experiences have been less than ideal – or worse.

One person had a “life coach” picked for her by the president of her company. That coach gave her such sage advice as to be mindful of her wardrobe when in meetings with men. What?!

Another person related a story where the leader of a national coaching organization said that he didn’t really care if their members achieve their goals, as long as they paid their dues – just like a gym membership.

Oy! No wonder people are skeptical about coaching and coaches.

If you’re thinking about coaching for the first time – or maybe again – you might consider looking for these qualities in any coach that you interview.

Experience. How well does your coach know your profession, your business, and your industry? What has he or she accomplished? What have they overcome? You want someone who’s walked the walk in real life – not from a book. Ask about clients they’ve worked with who are in similar situations. Read testimonials. Talk to references.

Attitude. Great attitude comes from time and experience – including making mistakes and figuring out how to recover. The right coach will have been through it all and have perspective and a sense of humor about it. You’ll want a coach that is patient, persistent, and determined.

Willing to share. A great coach will share their experiences with you – including the bad ones. If you feel like a person is holding back, or won’t share how they stumbled then keep looking. Seek radical transparency and a real person.

Listens and asks great questions. You need a coach that listens to you – both for what you say and what you left unsaid. A great coach will read between the lines and ask questions that make you stop and think more deeply. They will hear you and challenge you. They will help you see truths you don’t want to see – when you don’t want to see them – in a way you can digest.

Access and focus. You ought to have open access to your coach at all reasonable times – not just during your regular sessions. Your coach needs to be responsive to you and your needs. You’ll also want to be wary of programs that take each person from the same place of beginning and work you in a lock-step linear progression – because that’s not how life works.

Accountability. You’ll want a coach that holds you accountable to show up and do the work. You’re making a significant investment and part of that is getting the push – and helping you knock down what’s in the way.

KLT. You need to know, like and trust (that’s the KLT) the person who will be your thinking partner, confidant, and mentor. Take the time to establish that at the beginning. If the coach won’t open up or it doesn’t feel right – then keep looking.

Did you find this helpful? Would you like to know more? Click here to get the complete Guide to Picking the Right Executive Coach or send me a direct message and let’s set up a discovery call.

Either way, don’t wait because I only have a few more openings this quarter – and you don’t want to miss out.

You Don’t Really Need a Coach, unless …

March 3, 2022 Doug Brown Career Advice, Leadership

Why would a successful professional go out and spend their hard-earned money on a business or executive coach? After all, they are successful already. They aren’t broken. And they’ve made it this far on their own. So what’s the point?

You’ve been reading my messages (or at least some of them) for quite a while now. So you know I’m not afraid to tell it like it is.

So here’s the truth: You don’t really need a coach if you already know everything there is to know, don’t need to make any improvements in your world at all, you can see the world as it is with perfect clarity, and you’re 100% satisfied with your business and your life.

That’s right, you don’t need a coach, unless:

You have a lot at stake and need to move fast to keep up and get ahead.
You value a completely safe and confidential relationship where you can get an unbiased perspective and honest feedback on your most vexing problems.
You know that having personal attention and accountability accelerates your results
You want to avoid distractions and shiny objects that rob you of your valuable attention.
You’ve tried other group programs – just to find you could have taught the course.
You want a subject matter expert who can provide proven solutions and show you how to implement them.

And you’d only want a coach if you wanted to make more money, faster, and have time to enjoy the life you’ve built.

Besides, an investment with at least a 6x ROI wouldn’t be that interesting. Yes, that’s right research proves a significant positive ROI on coaching:

A Fortune 500 company wanted to study the ROI of Executive Coaching. They found that 77% of respondents indicated that coaching had a significant impact on at least one of nine business measures. In addition, they uncovered that overall productivity and employee satisfaction were the most positively impacted areas (which in turn has an impact on customer satisfaction, employee engagement, quality, annualized financial results, and more). In all, their study concluded that Executive Coaching produced a 788% ROI. The study noted that excluding the benefits from employee retention, a 529% ROI was produced. (Executive Briefing: Case Study on the ROI of Executive Coaching, Merrill C. Anderson, Ph.D., MetrixGlobal, LLC)

According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), 86% of organizations saw an ROI on their Coaching engagements, and 96% of those who had an Executive Coach said they would repeat the process again. Behind these results were tangible as well as intangible factors. Tangible factors were areas such as increased productivity, higher levels of overall employee performance, reduced costs, growth in revenue and sales, higher employee retention, and higher engagement of employees. Intangible factors were increased confidence of those being coached, improved communication, stronger employee, peer-to-peer, and key stakeholder relationships.

Additional documented benefits:
Improved executive productivity (reported by 53% of executives)
Improvements in organizational strengths (48%)
Gains in customer service (39%)
Increased retention of executives (32%)
Enhanced direct report/supervisor relationships (>70%)
Improved teamwork (67%)
Improved peer-to-peer working relationships (63%)
Great job satisfaction (52%)

Nope, the real question if you’ve read this far is this.

Why are you denying yourself the proven benefits of having a guide who can make your life easier, more effective, more profitable, and more satisfying?

Surely you deserve it, right?

There is no special trophy for figuring it all out by yourself. Do we think less of athletes like Tom Brady because he took advantage of all the coaching he could get?

If you’ve read this far and you’re thinking that you really should check out the “coaching thing” then you have two options: Get more info with the Guide to Picking the Right Executive Coach or send me a direct message and let’s set up a discovery call.

Either way, don’t wait because I only have a few more openings this quarter – and you don’t want to miss out.

Onward!

-Doug

How to Escape the Debate Loop

February 25, 2022 Doug Brown Management, Mindset and Mental Health, Productivity, Time Management

The Endless Loop is a set of instructions that lacks a functional exit so it repeats indefinitely until it is terminated by some external action or force. The term comes from the computer programming world.

It’s also the thing that sabotages professional careers and businesses.

The endless debate loop happens when you find yourself debating which step(s) to take to improve your professional and personal life – but you’re not exploring them.

The unchecked debate loop can take on a life of its own as your active imagination creates stories about why exploring options is a bad idea, too hard, too complicated, or that you might not like what discover. Or that maybe you will like what you discover and then have to make a choice?

I’ve seen so many successful professionals and business owners who’ve come to regret getting caught in the debate loop. Like Harry, who had a successful dental practice. His internal debate loop around retirement lasted nearly 10 years until time and the market left him with few choices.

Here’s how to escape your endless loops.

First, name it. Call it what it is. When you give it a name you give your brain the ability to think clearly about it and figure out how to solve it.

Second, write down what you hope to accomplish. You’re probably debating how to get someplace, but not where you want to go. Getting clear on the destination will help you set waypoints to achieve. The route comes after you set the destination.

Third, pick just one of the options you are debating and give yourself the assignment to investigate it – just as you would if you were assessing a case or a new project for someone else. Pick a defined date to report out what you’ve found – even if it isn’t complete.

Finally, stop trying to do this by yourself. I’ve escaped multiple debate loops because I had the right coach at my side. They helped me learn to ask better questions, evaluate results, make better choices and avoid regressing back to debate loops.

What’s one debate loop you’d love to escape?

More Time Won’t Solve These Problems

February 9, 2022 Doug Brown Career Advice, Career Management, Strategy, Time Management

I’ve been teaching time management strategies to lawyers for more than 20 years.

Most attorneys come to our CLEs for tips and strategies – many of which they’ve heard before – like time-blocking, scheduling the whole appointment, turning off notifications, and working in block time.

But all the best tips in the world aren’t going to solve the underlying problems that cause the time to get away from nearly everyone.

So let’s look behind the curtain at the real issues. You’re going to have to address those if you want to get better at “time management” so you can ultimately find happiness and satisfaction in your work.

The deeper issues fall neatly into 6 categories:

Attitude and Mindset around time, change, and getting stuff done.
Strategy and Planning.
Setting Priorities
Scheduling
Focusing
Delegating

Ready for the quiz?

Use the attached self-assessment to grade yourself in each category. And then pick a single area to work on each month – one at a time.
Take Your Free Self-Assessment

Work on the underlying issues and you’ll be on your way to giving yourself the time freedom you crave.

Have a great rest of the week.

Oh, and if you’d like a free to debrief session on your self-assessment just
Click Here and we’ll set it up. But don’t wait. I’ve only got a few of these sessions available this month and you don’t want to miss yours.

Avoid the #1 Career Limiting Move – Even If You Work for Yourself

February 9, 2022 Doug Brown Career Advice

Neuroscience shows that our brains treat failure and uncertainty the same way.

That is, they feel the same to us. This is why many people would rather avoid change because the feelings are really uncomfortable.

Research also shows that fear of change is one of the single most career-limiting moves you can make.

By the time you reach “midlife” – however you define it – you have a lot invested in building your career. You’ve created habits and routines to provide many types of certainty – financially, emotionally, physically, and even spiritually.

That doesn’t mean that you’re particularly satisfied or happy. Just that you are certain.

Thinking about making a change – whether it is within your field or to an entirely new area – triggers lots of FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt), like:

Will I be able to support my family?

What if I’m not qualified to do something else, or not good at it?
How will my partner/kids/parents/friends feel if I make a change?
What if I make a change and decide I made a mistake?

And I get it. I’ve lived through this myself, multiple times. It’s scary.

But I was determined not to let FUD keep me from finding career satisfaction.

I knew I had to get comfortable with the uncertainty that comes with change. Heck, more than comfortable, I had to master it.

I got curious. I researched and experimented and found the formulas that work for me – and that unlocked a career I couldn’t have imagined.

Researching what a change might be like and how to do it does not commit you to make a change.

The knowledge gained will give you the insights you need to make an intentional decision and avoid the career-limiting move.

Don’t let fear of change hold you back. Find out exactly what to do so you don’t have to wonder “What If”.
I’m getting ready to launch a program to get you going.

Click here to be included when it’s ready: https://summitsuccess.lpages.co/whatif22

How to Escape the Endless Loop

February 5, 2022 Doug Brown Career Advice

It’s also the thing that sabotages professional careers and businesses.

The endless debate loop happens when you find yourself debating which step(s) to take to improve your professional and personal life – but you’re not exploring them.

The unchecked debate loop can take on a life of its own as your active imagination creates stories about why exploring options is a bad idea, too hard, too complicated, or that you might not like what you discover. Or that maybe you will like what you discover and then have to make a choice?

Here’s how to escape your endless loops.

First, name it. Call it what it is. When you give it a name you give your brain the ability to think clearly about it and figure out how to solve it.

What’s one debate loop you’d love to escape?

Oh, and if you’d like help with your escape just reach out and let’s talk. Go here to set it up. https://summitsuccess.typeform.com/calldoug

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