Using your intuition to run your business

Have you used your intuition to make small business decisions before? What was the outcome? You can share your experience here :)

Hi there! Thank you for joining me in this episode today. I feel called recently to experiment with running my business in an intuitive way, following my inner voice and my inner guidance.

I have seen how coaches claim that working with their intuition helps them run very pleasurable businesses, makes business feel so easy and they also claim that abundance - or money - comes flowing in buckets when they run their businesses following their inner guidance.

I am curious to see if this is a sustainable or practical way of running a business. I am not saying that intuition is not important when it comes to business, but I am interested to see how I can merge my inner guidance and intuition with the business demands of our 3D practical, real world.

If you are new to me, I’m Shikah and I create done-for-you workbooks and masterclasses which coaches can sell to their clients. I’ve been running my business for 4 years now, since the global lockdown in year 2020. I have always run my business in an intuitive manner, I would say that I run my business with 60% intuition and 40% logic. I want to increase the percentages to be 70% intuition and run my business using my intuition more often. I will be experimenting, I will be trying out law of attraction techniques, energetic techniques and sharing the results with you guys.

I am not referring to grand scale results, but I am referring to little, tiny, everyday results of running my business the intuitive way. I want to see if conducting our business using our intuition will result in more ease and more money.

How long will this experiment last? Probably it will be a lifelong experiment - I don’t know. I will share my experiments and results for as long as I feel the inclination to do so.

To start off this experiment, I’ve followed my inner voice and created this podcast episode. It doesnt sound like much. But the intuitive feeling I get feels like a mix of curiosity and excitement. It’s not an over-excited feeling. Imagine a dog excitedly wagging its tail. It’s not that type of over excitement. But the excitement I feel to go through this experiment feels as though it is something I look forward to doing everyday.

I feel happy to do these micro experiments and see the results. So I’ve followed my intuition and inner voice this week to go through with this experiment. The result so far? I feel pumped, I feel excited to create podcast episodes all over again.

In the past, I love creating podcast episodes too, but they feel like a business necessity more than something fun, you know?

Any downsides to following my intuition to go through this experiment? Well, I realise that I may have to be more vulnerable to the public if I do this. I have to share my real business experiences, the real mental and emotional struggles that I’m sure many of us face whilst running our businesses.

So yes, being more vulnerable and more open is a downside in my opinion because I am a 100% introvert.

So share with me, have you followed your intuition regarding your business recently?

Have you taken any small steps driven by your intuition? And what was the result? You can email me your experience or leave a comment.

I’ll see you in my next episode. Bye.

Have you used your intuition to make small business decisions before? What was the outcome? You can share your experience here :)

Dont have a rags-to-riches story? Three methods to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story.

Hi everyone, Shikah here. Today we will be discussing whether a rags-to-riches story is necessary for you to sell your courses or to sell your services as a coach.

At the end of this episode, you will have 3 techniques you can use to boost your credibility as a coach if you don’t have a dramatic rags-to-riches past.

Before we start, I want to mention that I have a done-for-you Confidence Workbook which you sell on your coaching website. It is fully customisable with Canva so you can make it your own. I have written the text and content for you so you don’t have to think what to offer to your clients or community this week.

It’s a workbook, but you can repurpose it to be a blog post, or a high value lead magnet to get more subscribers. Or offer it during your coaching sessions and save so much time and money. I will place the link here and you can check it out if this is something you need.

Alright, let’s get back to this topic. If you have been listening to podcasts, you would realise that many big-name coaches have a rags-to-riches story.

I came across one money coach who said that was living in the front seat of her car with $10 in her pocket before she started her business.

I came across another one who said that her mother was a drug dealer and she had an abusive father.

I also came across another manifestation coach who said she was living on her grandparents’ couch whilst launching her business.

So you may be wondering, firstly, why do these coaches tell these stories of their past? And what if you do not have a rags-to-riches story?

What if you have an average middle income family background? What if you come from a privileged background? Does that mean that your coaching has less value?

Frankly you don’t need a rags-to-riches to be a successful coach. However, I understand the some coaches want to prove to people that they overcome many difficulties and hence, their coaching is very powerful.

That’s why they bring our focus to their difficult past. These coaches may also be targetting a group of people who have the same type of challenging life.

This is an unpopular thing for me to say, but it may be eye-opening for you to know this. I have attended business seminars in the past. And the business coaches will literally encourage business owners to come up with some rags-to-riches story.

They will ask you to dig deep into your past, recall something that made you feel grief or some other similar emotions. And literally write your rags-to-riches story on the spot. Because in business, emotions sell. So the logic is that, if you can evoke emotions in people, you are going to sell more.

This is one reason why coaches like to draw your attention to their ‘troubled’ past. Another reason is because they want to prove to people that their coaching techniques work.

However, this is ironic, but people may be more drawn to you if you have a more average, non-drama background. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do feel that many people do not have dramatic childhoods.

There are a great many of people out there who have mundane, almost uneventful past. There is no need for you to dig up or worse, write a fake rags-to-riches story simply to show your coaching worth or play with people’s emotions.

You can own your past even if there is nothing dramatic about it. Being authentic is a fresh direction to take in business. So how can you showcase or display your coaching abilities without resorting to dramatic stories?

I will share 3 techniques with you.

Technique #1 to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story

Think of a time you have overcome a challenge in the past which relates to your coaching expertise. If you are a self love coach, you can share a time when you overcame a self-love issue for yourself or help others do the same.

Do take note that even overcoming a small challenge counts because let’s face it, we face small challenges everyday. If you can share with your clients how to,say, make wise decisions in 3 steps for example, people can relate to that.

Technique #2 to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story

Check and see if you have any related certifications. You don’t necessarily have to take long courses or a degree program for this. Perhaps you can even take short courses which give out certifications.

I think certifications are very helpful even though we have seen many coaches claiming that they have made 6-figure years without certifications.

Usually, we need to put in some hard work and effort to get through even a short course, so it’s a good thing to do for us to gain knowledge and get certs to our name.

Certs are a tangible representation of someone who continually upgrades themselves.

Technique #3 to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story

Consistently show up on YouTube videos, podcast episodes or other types of video content. The keyword here is ‘consistently’. Perhaps uploading a video every week or go ‘live’ on Instagram every week or so.

Videos are obviously the fastest way for you to gain trust, respect and show your expertise to the world. There are instances where I have gained so much knowledge from listening to someone on just two podcast episodes, that I was ready to buy her mid-priced course.

Well if you are new, YouTube is a good option for you because your videos will show up on people’s ‘suggested’ videos even if they are not subscribed to you. YouTube is a great way to get fresh views and for people who don’t know you to know you.

I have so many coaching tips to share with you so that you can get inspired and motivated about your business.

You can join my email list of 9000 coaches and I usually email a few times a week with coaching tips to help you with your business.

I’ll see you in my next video and take care. Bye!

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What to do when someone belittles you or your struggles (share this with your coaching clients)

Listen to this post:

My podcast link

What should you do if someone belittles your struggles? 🤔

I remember seeing a married-into-wealth influencer post an Instagram post two years back. 

She shared in that post that she had been struggling to go to the gym and to keep up with her exercise routine recently.

I didn’t expect the barrage of sarcastic comments she received. 

“Wow, it must be nice that your biggest problem right now is going to the gym.”

“Such a hard day for you. People are dying out there.”

“You have a hard time? What about all the other women juggling full-time jobs, motherhood and chores?”

My eyes widened a little in surprise as I read those comments.

You may have had this experience too. You posted an everyday struggle on IGS and you get judged for it. 

I want to say that ALL our struggles are valid. 

One reason is because, all of us value different things. 

That wealthy influencer clearly values a healthy lifestyle and her health a lot.

Her critics likely do not value having a healthy lifestyle as much as she does and attacked her values, which they judged as ‘insignificant.’

This applies to you too.

One thing you can bear in mind when you get judged for having a seemingly small ‘first world problem’ is that, you value different things from the people who judge you.

This also reminds us not to judge other people’s problems. What we see as a small or trivial problem may be important to them.

In the video and podcast ep above, I shared 3 other things to bear in mind when someone belittles your struggles.

I hope this helps you in a small way.

Sincerely,

Shikah

How to overcome shiny object syndrome in business : 4 ways

I was listening to a course from an intuition coach and she interviewed a business owner who was experiencing ‘shiny object syndrome’.

You may have a friend who is killin’ it in real estate.

Or another friend who is in an enviable safe and secure job.

Or you may know another coach who charges $400 for one hour of ‘chatting’ with her (true story!) and you may feel a bit of FOMO and be tempted to… try these endeavours.

Hold on for a sec because there are 4 things we can take note of before diving head first into a new direction.

In the above vid, I shared 4 ways for you to overcome shiny object syndrome so you don’t end up distracted and losing focus and achieving nothing at the end of the day or month.

Here is what I talked about:

✔️ How to identify if something is a true gut feeling or just empty excitement 

✔️ A little extreme way of handling this situation which may work for you

✔️ When to take action on an idea (all parts of you have to be on 100% on board)

You can watch the vid or listen to the podcast ep above.

Or read a gist of it below:

Method 1: Know your values like they are at the back of your hand

If your top value is ‘freedom’, you may want to think hard before starting a new endeavour or creating a new offer which needs you to be at a specific place at a specific time. Or an endeavour which needs you to stick to strict deadlines.

What to discover what your values are? You can download this coaching tool and use it on yourself. Or use it with your clients or park it in your blog as a lead magnet

Method 2: Live out that dream!

This is an extreme method but it works for some of us. If you have this exciting feeling about pursuing a side line as a real estate agent, for example, go all out.

Create an Instagram account for this imaginary sideline. Create a free website for it.

Research on the exams and papers you will have to take. Buy the books and read them. Literally live out that dream. If it’s not meant for you, you may lose interest in a few days.

Method 3: Know where that excitable feeling comes from

Does it come from your gut or do you feel this giddy excitement feel mostly in your head area?

If this excitement mostly centres around your head area, there is a high chance that this idea satisfies your ego and not your higher self. Which means, be careful with any idea that gives you empty, giddy excitement Wait it out and see if it fizzes out after a few days.

Method 4: Only jump into an endeavour if you are 100% on board with it

Even if a small part of you is unsure, sort it out until all parts of you are on board with this idea. If not, this small part of you will drag you down, slow down your progress, make you second guess yourself and give you emotional stress.

If you want to run a masterclass about setting aligned goals, you may like this done-for-you masterclass which is ready for you to launch.

I hope this blog post, video and podcast ep will be helpful for you.

See you in my next blog post ;)

Shikah

How to be Productive and Self-loving at the same time : 5 productivity tips for coaches

I felt drawn to create this episode after seeing too many of us glorify productivity whilst chucking our mental and emotional health aside.

I'm sharing 5 productivity tips for coaches and entrepreneurs which allow you to achieve your business goals with minimal burnout.

Across this episode, I offer tips and strategies to help you maintain your productivity without compromising your well-being.

Below is a summary of the strategies I shared in the podcast episode and Youtube video.

#Self-loving Productivity Tip 1 : Know your ‘Peak Work Time’:

Understanding your peak work time is crucial for optimizing productivity without burning out. It starts with recognising the period of the day when you are most creative and motivated. This can stretch between 3 to 4 hours and varies from person to person. When you identify this peak time, you can schedule intense, mental-draining tasks during this period. Leveraging your most productive hours for demanding activities such as strategizing, writing, or creating content can boost your productivity alot.

#Self-loving Productivity Tip 2 : Leverage on Your Strengths and Interests

Another tip that I can share with you to be productive without burning out is to leverage on your strengths and your interests. If you see a vlogger or a business or a coach or another business person vlogging twice a week or releasing podcast episodes every day or, I don't know, creating reels every day, there's a very high chance that they enjoy doing these things.

They may enjoy being on video. They enjoy speaking in a speaking into a mic. They enjoy writing, and they leverage on their interests and their strengths to be productive. So naturally, if you are someone who is good with writing, you're going to take maybe 15 minutes to craft a script for your podcast episode. Whereas someone who is not a natural at writing or who does not enjoy writing, may take about 3 hours to craft a single podcast episode. Be aware of your strengths and your interest and and, outsource the rest.

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By the way, if you want to launch your own Productivity masterclass without all the stress of creating one from scratch, you can get my done-for-you masterclass here :)

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#Self-loving Productivity Tip 3: Plan Your Days in 24 hours in advance:

Another tip I want to share with you is to plan your days at least 24 hours beforehand. You may realize that planning and strategising take much of your mental energy.

So if you plan your days at least 24 hours beforehand, all you need to do today is just execute. And that makes you incredibly productive. You're not wasting hours and your mental energy and mental capacity planning what to do. You're just executing today. You've done all the planning and all that mental work yesterday.

So that is one way for you to be incredibly productive. And when you plan, you need to be really specific. For example, if you want to batch-write 3 emails to your subscribers today, yesterday, you should be writing in very specific detail what you're going to write in each and every email so that today you are just executing. Merely writing and scheduling them out. So that is how we can be productive, which is to be is to plan ahead with as much specific details as possible.

#Self-loving Productivity Tip 4: Follow Your Natural Rhythm and Intuition:

This concept introduces the idea of following your natural rhythm and intuition for the day. It involves tuning into your inner guidance to determine your daily priorities and tasks. This method requires a deep sense of trust and self-awareness. I have elaborated on this a little more in the video version of this blog post.

#Self-loving Productivity Tip 5: Let go of perfectionism

The next step that I want to share with you is to let go of your perfectionism because perfectionism slows us down, and it definitely affects our productivity.

If you're a perfectionist, there's a very high chance that you prefer to do all sorts of research before you start doing something new. But the thing is we are always learning, and we are always works in progress.

The thing about letting go of perfectionism is to be okay that you're doing your best with what you have at this point of time and to trust that the work you produce is going to be very helpful to your clients and customers at this point of time. And it's good to bear in mind that making mistakes is how we learn. There is no way for us to create the perfect book or the perfect course or the perfect offer or the perfect program.

Over time, we will always be tweaking our products and services. We will always be tweaking and making them better. So as we make mistakes, it's how we learn, and it's also good for us to remember that the most successful people in this world make more mistakes than we do.

If you want a done-for-you productivity master class which you can release to your clients, audience and customers, you can head here.

You can edit the slides, edit the workbook, and also edit the transcript to suit your audience, or you can use the done-for-you masterclass as it is. It's ready to go - you can immediately launch that master class right now and sell the replays, or you can add your own voice to it to it.

You can add your own slides, add a few slides of your own and add an extra lesson or add an extra worksheet if you want. It's editable with Canva.

Take care and may you have a productive and meaningful day today.

Shikah

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