Ep #196: My Plan for 2018

Welcome to The Life Coach School podcast, where it’s all about real clients, real problems and real coaching. And now your host, Master Coach Instructor, Brooke Castillo.

Well hello there my friends. I'm very, very excited to talk to you today about my plans for 2018. I love making plans, I love thinking ahead, I am always at the end of the year before I've even started the year. And being a future-focused person who has gratitude ahead of time has really served me in my life, and I want to teach you guys how to do that because I think way too many of you are locked up into reacting to your life and feeling out of control of your life and not planning.

And one of the reasons why I think a lot of you don't plan your year is because you're afraid of failing, and you're way too caught up in the how of everything instead of being more caught up in the what and allowing there to be many avenues to get to the how and letting there be lots of hows to get you there, and if one thing fails, trying another one instead of just having the plan of this is exactly how I'm going to get this thing, and as soon as that how doesn't work you give up.

So what I want you to think about is what you want to have done at the end of 2018. This is the perfect time of year to be reflecting on what you did last year and also to be planning where you will be at this time next year. So if it's not something you've considered, I want you to consider best-case scenario, where are you a year from now. There are two things I like to think about. I like to think about who I will have become, what will have changed about me as a person, how will I have evolved, and the second thing, what will I have accomplished.

And when you can speak about it in first person, I have become more organized, I have become more efficient, I have become a better manager, whatever it is, I have become better at hiring, those are all things for me. And what I've accomplished is I have doubled my business in terms of revenue. That's where I will be at this time next year. That will be what I've accomplished. And you can say it like this, "I have accomplished this." You say it in first person as if you're already there, and I'm so thankful that I've done this because it's benefitted me, it's benefitted my employees, it's really been an example to my clients on what is possible, and what they may be able to do in their own businesses if they use these principles that I'm teaching. And that's what it's really all about for me.

There comes a point - I wanted to kind of address this, because I think it's kind of an interesting point, is there comes a point in your business, in your life, when you have achieved a level of success where it's no longer about the reason that you started, and this has been true for me in my weight. When I first started out to lose weight, I just wanted to look good in a bikini. I just wanted to stop struggling to be skinny all the time, and what it has ended up doing is really teaching me how to have a relationship with myself and really taught me how to feel my emotions instead of reacting to them. And the same is true with the drinking.

And initially when I started out to have a successful business, one of the reasons was I wanted to be an example of what was possible in terms of the money, what could be made as a woman who's a life coach in this industry. That was really important to me, but I think using that as kind of a scorecard is important but I want to share with you that once you get a certain amount of money, you stop thinking about money. It's so weird. It's like - I say all the time I used to like look at skinny people and be like, "Why aren't we talking about how skinny you are? Isn't that like the most important thing about you? We should just talk" - I wanted to be skinny so bad that I just wanted to talk to other people about their skinniness, which of course, that was the last thing they wanted to talk about.

And it's the same with money. It's the same that once you've achieved a certain level of financial success, it's so uninteresting. It's certainly not about the money at all anymore. It becomes much more about something bigger and deeper and more important. And I always wondered about that for people because I think when you're in this desperate state of wanting something so bad that you want to talk about the end result, and I think that that's a good thing when you're first starting. But as you evolve into accomplishment and success, what you realize is that the accomplishment and the success doesn't solve all of your problems, although you really wish that it would.

So let's talk about 2018 and what I've accomplished in 2018. Now, notice I'm talking about it in the past tense as if it's already done. I have focused exclusively my main focus is on Scholars, and making that the best coaching program for the price in the world. I actually think it already is, and I'm going to continue to focus on that. I will be mainly focused on creating an awesome experiencing for all of my members, and I will also be focusing on my marketing channels for that product to make sure that I can communicate clearly to people who want to feel better in their life, to people who want to learn more about being an entrepreneur, to people who want to work on their money mindset and their money skills, to people who want to stop overdrinking, people who want to stop overeating, and people who genuinely want to dive into self-coaching and what that means in their life in terms of their relationship with themselves and success.

So that will be my main focus. That is, and has been my main focus for 2018. And I love the idea that it's so simple, and if you haven't read the book, The One Thing, I highly recommend that you do. It's based around the concept that if you can pick one thing that will make everything else irrelevant or unnecessary, that you should do that because it simplifies and constrains your life, and I absolutely agree with that. Being able to just focus on Scholars and just focus on all of my students in Scholars and supporting Scholars is what made 2017 so extraordinary for me, and I will do the same thing in 2018.

So my business model is basically Scholars. I will be doing three other things within that, but the main focus on my business will be Scholars. So within Scholars, I will be focused on marketing and doing webinars and making sure my Facebook ads are right and my book funnels are correct and that everyone that I'm talking to is getting a really clear picture of what they can do to benefit in that year-long program. So that's my main focus.

I will also be doing on certification program per year as I have been doing. The certification program for 2018 is already sold out completely. So I already know that I'll be doing that, and we already have it planned, and the venue, and who's in it, and all of it is dialed. Jodie is just in the process of interviewing everyone and getting all of the details organized for each of the students that is attending.

I will also be doing a master class in 2018 that again is already sold out, and I will be teaching a six-day program to students who don't want to necessarily become coaches, but want to dive into the personal work that they need to do to take their lives to the next level. And the last thing I'm doing, which is also already sold out - so it's totally crazy because I'm speaking about this from 2017 but everything that I'm doing in 2018 is already sold out. So even if I talk about it in past tense or present tense, it's true either way. It's funny. But I decided to do a mastermind, I'll tell you guys a little bit about this because this is kind of cool. I decided to do a mastermind with my students who are already at least $100,000 and want to go to a million in their businesses, so we will meet once a quarter in 2018 and talk about their businesses and my goal will be to help each of them get to a million dollars in their businesses. They're all well on their way, and I'm just a little bit ahead of them on the road, and so being able to talk to them and having them talk to each other about how to take their businesses to the next level will be really exciting.

I also invited two other students who I think are amazing that want to get their businesses to the next level, and they are just barely at six figures, or wanting to get to six figures. So they have been invited to come along and do that mastermind as well. So one of the things that I think will be really fun is to share with you all as we go through 2018, the success that those guys will have because I feel like this environment and this mastermind is just such high quality, and it's people that really are invested in their businesses and working full time on creating their businesses and I know that many of you who listen to this podcast are coaches that want to build their businesses. So talking about coaches building million dollar businesses is my jam.

So I've been able to do that in my business, I want to show my students how to do that in their businesses, and really truly inspire anyone who is doubting what is possible in our industry. I think what's so amazing about what I get to do for a living is that I get to be my own entrepreneur, I get to create exactly the business that I want while I'm genuinely helping people. I'm helping people create the life of their dreams, I'm helping my students make their dreams come true. Super fun, my friends. I have to tell you, that is super, super fun. It's a beautiful life that I'm getting to live.

The other thing that The One Thing book talks about, which I think is kind of interesting, is a someday goal. What is your someday goal? For those of you who have been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that I am building a building called The Life Coach School. We're building it here in Allan, Texas, right outside of Dallas, and we will be running live courses through The Life Coach School. And one of the things that I want to share with you that Dean Jackson told me - I've talked about on the podcast before, is that when you think about your customers, when you think about the people that you serve, you want to ask yourself, "What is their dream come true? What is the dream come true for my customers?"

I asked this question a couple years ago as it applied to my life coaches that I was training to be certified life coaches, and I asked myself, "What is their dream come true?" and for so many of them, their dream come true would be to have someone else do all of the marketing stuff for them, all of the business stuff for them. They just really wanted to coach. And so one of the things that we tried to do is give them every single bit of the business piece that we can in our training, and that is one of the reasons why our training is so popular and sold out so far ahead of time is because not only do we have the best coach training tools in the world, in my opinion, but we also take you through the process of building your business.

Now, building a business is one of the most challenging things you can do because it's one of the most rewarding things you can do to have your own business is such a privilege and an honor and such an amazing opportunity I think. And so being able to answer the question, "What is their dream come true?" and create that program around that has served me, my company, and my students so well. And as we move forward and build this school, one of the other things that I really want to do is answer that question again. For so many people that want to be coaches and for so many people that want to be coached, I feel like I can be that conduit.

So when I think about my someday goal, I envision The Life Coach School being a place that employs coaches. So if you don't want to have your own business, if you're a coach and you don't want to have your own business, you just want to work for an organization that provides you with clients basically and you just get to come to work and show up and coach all day, that is something that I would love to be able to create. And I get so many requests from clients who want me to pair them up with a coach that will coach them specifically in my tools and what I teach.

And so my someday goal is to have an organization that does that seamlessly and beautifully, so I have amazing coaches working for me and I have amazing clients coming and getting coached by those amazing employees. So that's kind of my longer-term plan that I will be fleshing out within the next three to five years, and then executing over the next 10 to 20 years. That's kind of my vision that I have for myself. And I will tell you that someday I will listen to this podcast and be like, "Look at me, I didn't even know yet what I was creating", but I also have this confidence in myself that that will be done. That it's as good as done because I honor those desires that I have within me and I want to honor the desires and the needs of the market.

I was recently listening to a podcast and it was kind of stunning to hear this said, and the guy on the podcast basically said, "So many people have a business that they want to create and they have a job that they want to do, and they're trying to find people to accept it and buy into it." And what recommends is that you go out and find the people that you want to serve and find out what they want, and then give it to them. And I really feel like that's what I have done in creating this vision, is I have so many life coaches that want me to give them a job, that want me to just provide and avenue for them to be able to coach. And I have so many clients that want to work with coaches that I have trained, and I'm able to provide that in Scholars by using the tutors, but I want to take it all to the next level over the next 10 to 20 years, and really create an organization that marries those two things together in the most gorgeous building I can possibly create.

So that is my plan for 2018. My building will be done in October of 2018. We will be having our life coach mastermind then. I am so thrilled. Our first training that we will do in the school is in 2019. We're thinking probably February of 2019 is when we will do our first certification in the school. So that is my plan. I know for some of you it may seem like I'm thinking way far ahead, but before you know it we're going to blink and we're going to be there. That's how it feels today as I look back on 2017. Wow, that worked. That went fast, that was fun, and I want to say that every year.

So what is your plan my friend, for 2018? What is the one thing that you're going to focus on? What are you going to go and get for yourself? And what is your plan for creating it? Remember, you create your plan by writing everything down and then putting it in order, and then getting it on your calendar, and then executing on it no matter what. And I want to tell you something. If you're someone that's been listening to this podcast for a long time, I just had a call today and Chrissy, one of the women on the call today said, "I want to tell you, I've been listening to your podcast for years, since you started it, but only since I joined Scholars did I really start seeing the effects in my life." So if you're someone that's really ready to start executing, make sure you come into Scholars so I can help you take your life to the next level.

I want to hold my glass of club soda to you all with ice and lime and say cheers, let's have an amazing 2018. I'll see you guys next year. Take care, bye.

Hey, if you enjoy listening to this podcast, you have to come check out Self-Coaching Scholars. It's my monthly coaching program where we take all this material and we apply it. We take it to the next level and we study it. Join me over at the TheLifeCoachSchool.com/join. Make sure you type in the TheLifeCoachSchool.com/join. I'd love to have you join me in Self-Coaching Scholars. See you there.