I’ve been known to find business and life lessons in some very unusual places – whether it be watching a reality show or getting locked out of my house in my pajamas!

So, in true form, I found myself with a clogged toilet a few days ago. Without a toilet plunger or much of a desire to go out and buy one. And here’s what I learned…

If you pretend it isn’t happening, it won’t fix itself. Yes, I confess, for the first few Business Lessons Learnedhours I tried the “ignore it and it will go away” approach. It didn’t work. Some of you are in total denial about a problem in your business – which could ultimately result in you going out of business. Is there a problem in your business that you’re pretending isn’t a problem? If you keep doing that, what will it ultimately cost you?

If you keep trying the same thing over and over, it will not give you a new result. Confession #2 – for about 8 hours, I tried flushing the toilet about once an hour to see if it would magically work. It didn’t. Some of you are approaching your business this way. You want a new and better result and you act like you’re going to get it by doing more of the same things that got you where you are now. Guess what? It won’t work, either. Many of you tell me you want to double or even triple your income and impact. A huge shift in how you’re being and doing things is required to make that big of a jump. (If it weren’t, everyone would get those kind of results, and as you probably know, very few people do!)

There’s always a solution if you’re open to finding one and ask the right questions. Ok, so I did eventually figure out that flushing every hour wasn’t going to solve the problem. And I still didn’t feel like venturing out and buying a plunger. So I decided that there must be another solution. And there was… more on that later. But here’s the thing, I had to ask myself the right question in order to find it. Many of you are asking yourself questions that keep you stuck – questions like “Why is this happening to me? Why am I the only one that can’t figure out how to make money in my business?” Well, guess what? That question will be answered, but in a way that won’t serve you – because it will just be a list of things that are wrong with you. The question that finally led to my toilet problem being fixed was “There’s got to be another way. Where can I find it?”

There are so many resources available to support you that there’s no reason you can’t be successful. Really – how did we ever get through life without the internet? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve Googled what I thought were the oddest questions and found tons of resources. So of course I Googled “How to unclog a toilet without a plunger.” Pages of helpful answers appeared! The same is true for the problem in your business. When you decide to stop pretending there is no problem and are truly open to a new solution, the solution will appear. It may be a person you “happen to” meet who can help you, a book that falls off the shelf when you’re walking by it, or a program offer that lands in your email. If you have a desire and a problem in the way, there’s a resource out there that can help you.   Are you “calling in” resources? And then are you saying “yes” to actually using them?  Or are you making excuses why you can’t?

And last but not least, the lesson that “just keeps giving and giving” in my own journey…

If you don’t ask, you don’t receive. It wasn’t until I “asked” for a solution that I actually received one that solved my problem. Asking is a HUGE part of your business success, especially in the area of business people tend to avoid the most – sales – which also happens to be the only area of your business that will bring in the money you want to make. I’ve written before about  lessons I’ve learned about asking – and yes, they just keep coming! I recently sponsored an event, and after speaking on the stage and making an offer, a couple of people who had not purchased wandered up to my booth “just to chat” and tell me how much they enjoyed what I shared on stage. After their feedback, I asked them “Would you like my offer for yourself?” They both said yes and purchased it. I realized after the fact that they would not have told me they were interested if I hadn’t straight out asked them. They wouldn’t have received the support from me and I wouldn’t have received the income from them. Where are you stopping short of asking in your business that is preventing you from making your goals?

For those of you who are still reading because you want to know how I finally unclogged my toilet – shampoo and hot water! Simply squirt a bunch of shampoo in the bowl, dump some hot water in there, and let it sit for a few minutes. And then – like magic – it unclogs itself!

Apply the lessons I shared above, and get rid of the “clogs” that stand in the way of the business results you want!

Do you know there’s problem in your business but can’t quite figure out how to fix it? Contact Kathy today to see if we can help you do that!


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