Look up and look ahead

I’ve been coaching business leaders for many years now, and one of the most remarkable changes I often see is the very physical effect it can have.

The first time I ever really noticed this phenomenon was with one of my earliest clients – we’ll call him Frank (that’s not his real name). Frank had a building business and the very first time I met him, I went to his home, and he greeted me with the words ‘welcome to the house of stress’.

After a few months of coaching, I began to notice something; Frank was not only mentally, but physically different. He stood up straight, he met your eye, his face was no longer scrunched up with tension.

And it’s an effect I’ve continued to see – I even had one client whose bright blue eyes I didn’t notice for months as he was always looking at the ground when we started working together.

Then there was Charles, another client who I had in the early days and who my PA, Hazel (a woman with a memory like a steel trap) didn’t even recognise when she returned from holiday, such was his physical transformation.

While there are no quick fixes to create these physical changes, one idea I always keep in mind comes from one of my hobbies – motorbike riding.

When you ride a bike, you need to always focus not on the road immediately in front of you, but what’s ahead – my instructor always asked what’s the next vehicle I could see.

This way, you don’t concentrate on the corner you’re riding, because you saw it 200 yards back. Instead, you focus on where you’re going – and that’s a great analogy for business and to get you to lift your head.

I also see parallels with the way we teach our children, with the model of the teacher at the front. If you have someone who’s not confident, they won’t look up at the blackboard or the teacher for fear they’ll catch the teacher’s eye and they’ll ask them the next question.

So the way we teach people, in many cases teaches them to be withdrawn and look down, with the consequence being they don’t become as confident as they could be. They look down, they don’t draw attention to themselves, and that affects the way they learn and progress – it’s all connected.

But to succeed in life, we need to hold our heads up and look ahead, focusing on where we want to be – not just where we are.

Ready to hold your head up? Head to Calendly, book in a call with me and let’s discuss your goals and make a plan so you can achieve them.