A couple of weeks ago, I wrote to you about a conversation I had with my coach, where she asked me, “When are you going to stop treating your body like a rental car?” It was a wake-up call for me when she asked the question several years ago, and yet, in my email a…
“When are you going to stop treating your body like a rental car?” When my coach said that to me a few years ago, it stopped me dead in my tracks. “What do you mean, treat my body like a rental car?” “You only have one body, Brad. You can’t just turn it in at…
We’ve talked about my “boss” before, right? He’s a total nut job, always making commitments with unrealistic deadlines. He’s terrible at looking at a to-do list and having any idea of how long it’s going to take to complete that work. It’s his fault that I’m writing this email at a quarter of eight at…
I’m starting an occasional series where I talk about some of the lies I hear from the business owners that I speak to. They don’t always know that they are lying to me, but over time, I’ve come to hear these phrases as lies. Today we start with this one, “Sure, I’m a workaholic. I…
I could tell he didn’t want to sell his company. My client had supposedly called me to talk about selling. But right away, it was clear that something else was going on. You see, his business was doing great—it had grown bigger than he’d ever dreamed. The real problem was he was exhausted. I glanced…
Burnout is a big issue among business owners. Whether it’s younger business owners, who are overwhelmed and frustrated, or older business owners who tell me that they “just don’t have the energy for it anymore,” running a business is taxing on your attention and energy. So how do we get everything done without getting burnt…
As the boss, you get to see daily progress. When a deal closes, or a project finishes up, you know it. When a client is excited about the changes you made for them, you hear their praise. You have access to a lot of positive feedback that the rest of your team doesn’t see or…
I was interviewing team members at a new client’s company, and I heard a similar story from all of them. They loved working for this company; they felt like it was a place for them to thrive. The team was great AND they believed in the mission. In fact, everything was great, except…they were exhausted. …
It can’t keep going like this! You hustle to get more work (‘cause you NEED more work). But when the work comes in, too much of it falls on you! Yes, there’s a team, but it takes more time to get them to do the kick-off and set up the billing, and schedule the status…
My son, who works in the restaurant industry, sent me this fantastic podcast where David Chang interviews Chris Bianco (of Pizzeria Bianco) and Chad Robertson (of Tartine Bakery) about their lives and careers. It’s incredible; you should listen to it. But what struck me most about the interview was how the problems, fears, and challenges…