How to make better business decisions (as a coach or entrepreneur)

Today, we are discussing how we can make probably the best decisions in business - or in any aspect of our lives - using a value scoring method.

I hope that after reading this, you can make some of the best decisions in your life or business which align with your values. Before we start, I would like to share that I have a done-for-you Discover Your Purpose workbook which you can share with your clients and your community. I will put the link in the description box.

You can sell this workbook in your shop, you can use the exercises during coaching sessions or even create your own course using the exercises in this done-for-you workbook. It saves you so much time especially because we all know it takes so much energy to research, write and design a workbook from scratch.

And I write my materials using my counselling experience, so the exercises have more depth than an AI generated workbook. You can save your time and go enjoy your life or spend more time coaching your clients - whatever rocks your boat. And also feel free to like or rate this episode if you like it!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand!

If you gravitate towards this blog post, I am going to make a safe guess that you may be at a crossroads, you may be confused whether to pursue another business idea or add a new offering, whether to expand your niche or maybe you are debating whether you should take a break from your business.

When you are confused about a decision, you may have resorted to surfing through forums like Reddit, asking other people for their input and advice, reading books and blog posts to help you make decisions.

Or if you are more spiritual, you may have also done meditation practices or other practices which allow you to touch on your intuition or other things like automatic writing or other esoteric practices to get your answers. If you are an overthinker, it is not new for you to go through all sorts of methods to get answers to your questions and help you make decisions.

I love all these methods but you may want a more grounded method to make better decisions regarding your business.

Listening to other people’s opinions may not be the best move, considering that everyone has their own set of beliefs which they may project on you.

It is alright to keep an open mind when listening to advice from others, but you also have to have a firm grip on your own values and preferences if you want to make decisions which truly make you happy.

What about the traditional ‘Pros and cons’ list?

I’m going to guess that we all have written a ‘pros and cons’ list before. It is a very logical way of making decisions. One thing to take note of: it does not take into account of what makes you happy.

Just because Decision A has 5 pros and 1con does not automatically mean that it’s a good decision. Especially if that one ‘con’ makes you dread that decision very much. So what is arguably one of the best ways to make a decision?

I’ll share the 3-step method with you now. I call it the Value Scoring Method.

Step 1 of how to make better business decisions : Correctly identify your genuine core values.

I am going to emphasise the word ‘genuine’ here. For example, if you are someone who values ‘wealth’, you may feel the need to not admit it to yourself because society in general does associate wealth with greed and other negative things.

One of my top values in life is ‘fun’ and I used to find it difficult to admit that because fun is seen as frivolous and a ‘useless’ value.

But after going through my counselling trainings in the past (I used to work as a counsellor), we learnt that fun is a very important human need. As much as fun, beauty and entertainment get a lot of flak as being ‘unimportant’ in society, these elements raise the frequency of the planet. And happy individuals are loving, kind and compassionate.

Anyway, for this step, I want you to be as honest as possible with yourself.

If you find it uncomfortable to admit that one particular value is valueable to you, you may need to do some shadow work surrounding it. So, I am going to need you to be authentic and genuine in this exercise.

You can set a timer for 5 minutes on your phone and write down as many of your core values as possible. You can do a quick Google search for suggestions if you wish.

If you need a convenient suggested list of values, this can help:

Freedom, fun, ambition, fairness, family, excellence, honesty, authenticity, belonging, sense of community, courage, creativity, efficiency, generosity, health, harmony, integrity, kindness, love, loyalty, recognition, responsibility, discipline, wealth, human connection, security, friendship, peace, consistency, diligence, simplicity, alturism, inner peace,

At the end of 5 minutes, you may have 10, 20 or 30 values listed - the more, the better.

Step 2 of how to make better business decisions : Narrow down and choose your top 5 values

You can look at the list of values you have written, I want you to choose and circle 5 of your topmost values. Again, let’s bear in mind to be honest and authentic with ourselves. This should be a straightforward exercise. Give yourself some time to choose 5 values which mean the most to you.

Step 3 of how to make better business decisions : Write the decisions you are confused about on a piece of paper and give them a score from 0 to 5

I will explain this further. If you are confused between two decisions, write both decisions down. If you are confused about 3 decisions, write them down. What you are going to do next, is to give each decision a score.

If Decision A meets 4 of your 5 topmost values, it gets a score of 4 out of 5. If Decision B meets 2 out of your 5 topmost values, it gets a score of 2 out of 5. I think you get the drift.

So with this step, you will instantly uncover which decision aligns with your values the most. It is, thus, safe to choose the decision which has the highest score.

This Value Scoring Method is a simple way to make better decisions in business if you need a grounded, practical method which also honours your likes and dislikes.

If I want to go deeper into the complexities of decision making, I can do so, but I choose to share a method which is easy and works well.

If you want to share this method with your clients and help them make very good decisions, you can get my done-for-you Discover Your Purpose workbook. This value scoring method is included in that coaching workbook.

If you like my work, you can download a free Discover Your Clients’ Innate Talents coaching tool from my blog. It is a straightforward exercise which helps them to uncover their talents and gifts in a snap.

That is all for today and take care.

Shikah

3 signs you are a highly sensitive coach or business owner (and what to do about it)

I've always known that I'm a sensitive person and as much as I cringe to admit that, it's a fact that I have accepted.😄

Well, much of society still views sensitivity as a flaw or weakness. But in essence, sensitivity simply means that your nervous system is easily stimulated.

From my observation, there are 3 characteristics which are common for sensitive people in general.

#1. You have relatively low energy levels. You get drained easily, your energy levels vary drastically throughout the day, and you need to 'decompress' after socialising or meeting people and clients.

This happens because sensitive people tend to pick up and absorb other people's energy and emotions subconsciously. This means our brains are processing all these unnecessary information all the time. Is it mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting? Yes, very.

#2. You overthink alot. We sensitive people think too much sometimes. We are always trying to put ourselves in our audience's shoes, we are afraid of offending our audience and I have also seen business owners who feel hurt when people unsubscribe from their email list.

The good thing about overthinking is that, your work is usually of pretty good quality because you pay attention to detail. The downside is that we may take a long time to launch courses and workbooks because we think too much!

#3. You can't bulldoze your emotions. If you don't have the mood or motivation to do something, it's almost impossible to do it 😂. A task which usually takes 15 minutes can take you 5 hours if you are pushing yourself to do it when you are 'not feeling it'.

Talking about emotions, some of the less sensitive business owners have no issues sending 10 'last chance' emails on cart-close day.

It may annoy some of their subscribers but if sending 10 emails in one day results in good sales, they have no problem just focusing on their sales goal.

Like one obviously less-sensitive copywriter said in a recent course I took : "Screw other people's nervous systems." 😂

Some of them can promote their services relentlessly and tirelessly every single day and I admire their tenacity for that.

If you are a more sensitive person, obviously you may not feel comfortable with these strategies.

But you can run your business in a way which supports your nature.

If you identify as a sensitive person, you may notice that you need to set up routines and habits to thrive in a society which generally celebrates 'being strong' and views sensitivity as a 'weakness'. 😄

So, how can you thrive if you are a sensitive coach and business owner?

Let me share 3 ways which work for me to balance my sensitive nature + be productive.

#1. Introspective activities + alone time. You may realise that you need a lot of alone time to recharge your energy levels after socialising or even after being out and about.

Journaling, time to reflect and reconnect with our intuition are crucial for us sensitive people to be out best selves.

Sensitive people absorb other people's energies subconsciously all the time and it weighs down on us psychologically and emotionally.

#2. Creating your own high-vibe cocoon. I personally do this by sticking my Airpods in my ears whenever I am commuting or out and about. 😂

Everyone has their own preferences, but I like playing my favourite upbeat pop songs to keep my mood and frequency high when I'm out.

This is not done to block people out. 

But it can be done to intentionally create a high-vibrational bubble around us.

As a sensitive person, you can easily pick up people's shifts in facial expressions, people's energy and people's emotional states if you commute in silence.

Listening to upbeat music, an uplifting podcast episode or audiobook can train us to focus on more positive things and reduce having our energy unintentionally sapped by other people's denser energies.

#3. Consume uplifting content. If you are a sensitive person, you may react strongly to even the 'smallest' things.

Hence, you may need to be very intentional about the content you read, watch or listen to.

If watching graphic videos of children suffering in other parts of the world, footage of people being shot, horror movies - you get the idea - affects you psychologically and emotionally, obviously, this habit is not helpful for your well-being.

I know someone who had to temporarily uninstall Instagram on her phone because she kept coming across videos of children suffering in another part of the world and it affected her far too much.

Social media is like second nature to many of us, and we can underestimate the effect that less-than-positive content can have on our psyche.

What about you? Do you identify as a highly sensitive business owner?

If so, which is your favourite method to help you thrive?

Let me know!

Shikah

How to Create a Self-Care Plan for your Coaching Clients (with Free Self-Care Assessment Template)

If your clients are like most people, they can intuitively sense when their self-care is out of balance, but may not know how to start their self-care habits in an effective manner.

This confusion, coupled with a busy or demanding lifestyle, can equate to them procrastinating any form of self-care until something more dire happens - such as burnout or becoming unwell.

Creating a personalised self-care plan tailored to their needs is the first step they can take to feel empowered, reduce stress and possibly prevent burnout.

If you want a step-by-step outline on how you can create a self-care plan for your coaching clients, you may want to continue reading.

Step 1 : A self-care assessment or self-care audit

This step is crucial because it highlights the specific self-care needs which may have been unintentionally neglected whilst your clients are busy pursuing their goals.

Creating an assessment of any kind can be a daunting task even for experienced coaches as it requires thorough thought and insight.

I have used my insight and experience derived as a former counsellor to help create a 25-question self-care assessment for you.

Use this self-care assessment template during coaching sessions or even as a free opt-in freebie for your coaching blog (to get more subscribers).

Step 2 : Create self-care goals for each self-care category (there are 5 main categories)

Goals should ideally be specific and realistic. After completing this free assessment, you can then nudge your clients to create 3 self-care goals for each of these categories :

• physical self-care

• emotional self-care

• spiritual self-care

• social self-care and

• mental self-care

Step 3 : Create a personalised Self Care Menu

A self-care menu is a fun spin to simply creating a list of their favourite self-care activities.

Your clients’ Self-care Menu can be in the form of a mindmap, a table, a calendar or a simple bullet-point list if they prefer a minimalist style.

This Self-care Menu should ideally include at least 20 activities which offer mental peace, joy, relief or a feeling of expansiveness and gratitude to them.

This Menu should be personalised to their needs and if they need ideas, they can choose to reflect on activities they have done in the past which offer them feelings associated with self-care.

Examples include spending time with supportive people, introspective activities such as journaling, participating in active meditations or going for therapy.

Step 4 : Intentionally schedule activities from the Self Care Menu into a weekly planner

Some of us have the perception that self-care activities do not need to be scheduled. I beg to differ.

When your clients schedule self-care activities into their week, they have a higher chance of committing to them.

This is especially true if they have a demanding career or a fast-paced lifestyle. Their self-care needs may just fall to the wayside in favour of more ‘productive’ work-related activities or they may choose easy, passive activities such as bingeing on a TV series.

You may want to encourage them to schedule self-care activities which actually enrich their lives, bring them joy, energise them mentally and emotionally or activities which create pleasant memories.

Step 5: Helping your clients balance success with self-care

Which self-care needs are your clients likely to neglect when they are experiencing a busy or stressful period in their lives?

You may encourage them to list them down.

For example, they may neglect their sleep, exercise, meditation or hobbies when they are actively pursuing their goals.

You may ask them these questions or even create a worksheet with these questions:

1. “Which self-care needs do you usually neglect when you are busy?”

2. “What does it feel like to neglect these needs?”

3. “What may happen if you choose to continue ignoring this self-care need?”

4. “What is one small action step you can take to pay attention to this self-care need?”

Want to offer and sell a Self Care Masterclass to your coaching clients?

You can choose to conduct a 60-minute masterclass to teach your clients how to create their own self-care plan.

If you want to launch + sell your own 60-minute Create your own Self Care Plan masterclass, you can get this done-for-you masterclass.

I wrote this masterclass using my experience and insight as a former counsellor working in a government ministry.

With 80 fully written, fully-designed slides, a workbook and a fully-done script, you can launch your own masterclass practically overnight (or sooner ;)).

I hope this has been helpful for you in some way.

Take care,

Shikah

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 stop mindless scrolling : 3 options for you

In this video and podcast ep, I want to share 3 questions you can ask yourself whenever you feel tempted to mindlessly scroll on your phone.

Part of the reason why I felt motivated to create this episode was because I watched a video by another entrepreneur where she was sharing some strategies that we can do to to stop ourselves from doomscrolling.

I have created a simple 3-question-process to help you redirect your focus once you feel the urge to scroll mindlessly.

This is what I’ll cover in this video and podcast ep :)

• Why do we do scroll mindlessly?

• How is mindless scrolling not good for us? Isn’t it just a harmless passive habit?

• My personal experience with mindless scrolling and why I want to reduce this habit.

• 3 questions I ask myself when I feel myself sitting down, taking out my hp and swiping

• What I’ve done last week to replace mindless scrolling

I hope this video and podcast episode is helpful you.

Take care,

Shikah

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If you are a coach, an aspiring coach or a mindset influencer and you want to run your own productivity masterclass, you can get my done for you productivity masterclass.

I have done 80 Canva slides for you. It's brandable, so you can change any of the slides to suit your needs if you want to, or use them as they are.

I've also included a done-for-you workbook and also a done-for-you script. So all you have to do is just launch it, conduct a Zoom master class, and sell the recordings.

I hope that will help you to save time in your business.

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