[00:00] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddhart here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secrets on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness, and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.

[00:37] You what's the greatest lesson that I have learned in business? I started my business years ago, what feels like a lifetime ago. And I know that when I began, I knew nothing. When I say nothing, I mean nothing about business. I'd learned coaching, so I understood fairly well. Coaching and the grow model and psychology, at least at a beginnerish stage. But I knew nothing about marketing, branding, sales, finance, accounting, you name it. And I remember at the time feeling very scattered, also very unclear, and there was just a lot of new concepts. And I also remembered that I thought business would be easier. I think I didn't realize there were so many different aspects to it, that marketing in and of itself is a field you could actually just focus on, or that leading a team is a huge topic, or the managing your accounts and all the VAT and different things is also another topic. So I think I underestimated the different complexity, but it's also what made the journey fun and kept me learning, kept me on my toes. And I have loved learning about business, actually, just as much as about psychology and people and relationships and leadership and self leadership and personal development, all those topics. The number one lesson that I've learned is that business is a long term game and from someone who's fairly fast paced, used to be very impatient. After years of meditation in the norm, this was something I radically underestimated. I would think, for instance, when I started something and reached out to potential clients, that it would start the following week or in two weeks. What you quickly realized is that sometimes after years of posting on LinkedIn, someone who's been following you for six months or a year or more reaches out and is a potential client. Or maybe you start building a podcast, for instance, and years later you can invite some of the guests you look up to most. Not the next week, not the next month years. And for me, this is a concept that's still something I'm struggling with at times. Mostly because when I kick start something, it's because I have that initial fuel and passion. I want to bring it into the world at least within a month or two. And if someone tells me, oh, we can schedule this for in six months or in a year, for me, it almost feels like that's nonexistent. An example would be that someone recently told me they could put me in touch with the publisher, maybe for my next book. And I've literally just launched my book, The Magic of Focus, and I thought, wow, next book, which I am planning on writing soon, I'm thinking, but it won't be out for a year or two, already meeting the publisher. But then I just remember business is a long term game. You meet them now and then. Maybe they are, maybe they're not a year from now or two years from now, but the relationships that you build now pay off a year, two years from now. There are times in business where things go fast. You can meet someone at a workshop and work with them the following week. It does happen, but a lot of times, relationship building, marketing content, running a podcast, building authority, getting onto shows and blogs, all of these things, writing and publishing a book, creating your TEDx, all of them take quite a bit of time. So what does this mean? If you're a business owner, are you in for the long run? Are you willing, if you have a podcast, for instance, to create 200 to 300 episodes before you can start monetizing it, are you willing to have hundreds of contacts and bin hundreds of relationship to get those two, three, four well worthy, great, fantastic connection clients? Are you willing to spend an hour every day for a year to write a book to get it out? Do you project yourself in the long run? What happens is most people and ask yourself which category you're in. They either struggle to start, but once they get going, keeping that momentum is easy. Or they begin really fast, but they're not staying for the long run. In the first case, if you struggle to start, find something to get you started. Find an accountability, a coach, a peer person, someone who's in the same field. Find someone that gives you that boost, that gives you that energy to get started, so that you begin. Because you guys, once you've begun, you're the ones that can draw out thousands of episodes of a podcast, for instance, or build all these relationships. Because once you get going, then it's easy for some of you. That's the biggest hurdle. Now, if you're like me, getting started is a fun bit. This is where you begin, this is where you're inspired, this is where you're creative. But then keeping that momentum, like, seriously, another LinkedIn post. I must have written thousands. That's when it's hard for some of you, if you're like me. So my trick for this is creating novelty within that change. So with the podcast created, six seasons shifted a bit the way I did things, and focusing on the novelty that's within that consistency. And sometimes it's a struggle, but sometimes it enables you to kind of shift a bit of perspective and feel like you're doing new things all the time still while looking consistent to the outside world. So this is something to maybe reflect a bit upon, to actually think? Are you in for the long run? Is this something that you're willing to wait on 23456, 710 years till your business really kicks off? And some people it's five years, some people it's ten. Of course you need to earn enough to live then, otherwise you might need to have a side job. But if you're earning enough to live, taking things to the next level can take a long time. But that doesn't mean you just wait. You take massive action every single day. You just don't exactly know when it kicks off or when it shifts, or when suddenly you're in demand and your clients are always coming to you and you're not going out to get clients. There's a point, there's a pivot point, there's a turning point. But you can't anticipate this. It happens in a way that's organic from all the actions you're taking. And for those of you who've reached a tipping point and felt that shift, amazing. Well done. It means all your hard work is paying off. For those of you who haven't, that's fine. It takes the time it takes. I guarantee if you're taking those actions and you're moving forward and you have that momentum and you have that drive and you're being consistent, some point something gives, at some point it pays off. It's just like I said, business is a long term game. Thank you so much for tuning in. Hope this episode was useful. Wishing you an amazing day.

[08:25] Thank you so much for tuning in today to the Focus Bee show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, so let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.