The Naked Couple Podcast

Aga’s and my self-development journey is not all business

5 weeks ago Aga & I could not run to the end of the road. Having given birth 8 months ago Aga had more of an excuse than me. I never had that excuse, my fitness declined as a result of a series of unconscious decisions.

In life, we all make decisions that affect our future. Often we make these decisions without thinking, only to kick ourselves at a later date.

I realized that I had fallen into the habit of making bad decisions when I stepped on the scales and saw I was 3 stone over my preferred weight. Lockdown had affected me badly, That’s not true, It was the decisions I made during lockdown affected me badly.

Ultimately I am responsible, I made the bad choices and I was now paying the price of poor health. I had used the excuse of my gym being closed to not train. I was at home more and often unconsciously stood at the fridge finding my latest snack.

The worst thing was, I had made a decision at the start of Lockdown to eat healthily and I was. I couldn’t understand why I was putting the weight on. OK, I wasn’t training much but my eating was pretty good. I wasn’t going out for meals and ordering many takeaway’s, so why the extra pounds around the gut?

When I worked out what had gone wrong, everything changed. It was so simple, everyone can do it.

I started to look for my unconscious decisions and change them to conscious ones instead

Read about how I made the changes I needed here -

https://www.taylormadecoaching.co.uk/how-to-win-with-small-steps/

This is an extract from a blog my partner wrote on our website - 

Today is my birthday and as always I spend time reflecting on the year passed. Last year there was talk of Coronavirus but Lockdown hadn’t hit. I had a wonderful day, full of surprises and a lovely dinner at the Blu Nann, Felixstowe.

I was 7 months pregnant at the time and looking forward to giving birth for the second time. My thoughts of a lovely birth were quickly replaced with anxiety and stress as the world reported the Corona Virus outbreak. Lockdown arrived and my family and I were petrified that the baby could get harmed. 

We spent most of our time indoors scared to go out. When we did venture for exercise we kept our distance in fear of what might happen. The uncertainty I had that I would have to give birth alone scared me. My partner missed out on scans and hospital visits and I felt alone at times. This certainly wasn’t how I wanted my pregnancy to be and it upset me greatly. 

All through this we were also trying to survive financially as one of our businesses was closed for Covid. The strain this put on us at the time was immense. Looking back I don’t know how we coped. 

Thankfully the baby was born on the 8th May 2020 and all was well, my partner was allowed in and we witnessed this miracle together. The pressure of pregnancy and business seemed to vanish as we welcomed little Lucy into the world. 

Due to Lockdown we were left to our own devices to bring her up, there were no family or professionals around to give us their opinions, we actually enjoyed this to an extent. We made decisions based on our opinions and had no guilt feelings of maybe doing something wrong. 

As the family grew so did my partner and I’s relationship, the extra time together and a new baby really brought us together like never before, We worked out plans to increase our income and supplement the gym closure. We reworked finance deals and reduced our outgoings. We had clarity on what to do and how to do it. 

Life started to become really good. As the schools closed this presented extra challenges. Being a mum, business woman and now school teacher was exhausting to say the least. However not all was bad. My partner's daughter from his previous relationship got to stay with us a week on and off. This was amazing for us all. She bonded with her new sister and helped add extra fun to the house. 

 became such a strong family during lockdown. With all this new energy and enthusiasm for life, I decided to study a diploma in Life coaching to compliment my business. Having a little more time at home I read book after book on the subject, studied my course and completed all the exercises. 
This was an amazing experience as not only did I learn how to change the lives of others I learned how to change my own. 

I re-sat all my goals and visions for my life with my partner, we analysed everything and made exciting plans. I took my new enthusiasm for life and decided to push our boundaries. I started to eat healthier, run regularly and improve my fitness. Most days I am running along the seafront working my way up to a 10K target. 

After my run I am building our other businesses. I managed to do so well, I treated myself to my dream car, a lovely Porsche and I bought a flat for an investment. These are things I never dreamed I would have a few years ago. However with a new mindset, a vision and a plan I made it a reality. 

To read a few tips on what I did to allow me to move on with my life and be a success visit 

https://www.taylormadecoaching.co.uk/what-a-difference-a-year-can-make/

7 things that building a business did to improve my life

1.    Improved my wealth

2.    Gave me more time with the family

3.    Paid off all my debts

4.    Built a great network of people

5.    Met my partner

6.    Enabled me to invest in other investments such as Bitcoin

7.    Gave me confidence

Business has given me so much in life. In this episode I talk about how my business has impacted positively on my life. 

Sales can often be looked down upon as a profession, people get scared of sales and think they could nevergo into sales. 

The truth is we all sell and er sell on a regular basis. Most people dont even realise when they are selling. 

Today I talk through a few techniques I use when training people in selling themselves and there products. 

I hope you find them useful. 

Been an awesome week for me in most ways however its that time when I get a bit down as my daughter goes back to her mothers and I miss her so much.
In this episode I try to pick myself up and talk about how I deal with it and what I do to improve the situation. 

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. --Henry Ford

Going from A-Z in life or business never goes straight up in a line with no setbacks. Problems happen and life can be a challange. 

The best thing to do to move your work and personal life forward quicker and have more fun is to get the crap done quickly. Everything you don't want to do or all the stuff you are unhappy with, get it done and over with ASAP.

Once you get into the habit of doing this you will improve everything. 
Your job will be better, you will have more time to add value
Your business will grow for the same reason
Your relationships will be better as problems will be sorted faster

And you will have more fun in your life. 

Read the full article here - https://fb.watch/3UFrp17anc/

What do you do when your business spirals out of control and takes over your life? In this article I will show you how to take control of your business and get back the Freedom you wanted when you started trading. 

Being out of control, spinning many plates and burning yourself out is no fun. Setting up and running a business can be time consuming. Every day counts and you must do so much to succeed. 
When you start a business It’s exciting, especially at the start when everything is new and needs testing. However if things go wrong or grow too fast you can quickly lose the enthusiasm and start resenting your business. 

You may find your workload increases as you struggle to keep going, or an upturn in business surprises you and you have to dig deep to keep up.The extra hard graft needed can impact negatively on your personal life and you stop having the fun. Of course we are all different,some love the hard work, the hustle and grind. They live to be at the office 7 days a week working for 12-18 hours a day.

For me I never wanted that life. As they saying goes ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ The unfortunate thing was, I quickly started to live that life. When I bought my company back in 2010 I was thrown in at the deep end. I had employees for the first time, I had work and ways of doing things that were completely new to me. Basically I had purchased a nightmare.

The enthusiasm I had presale quickly disappeared. I felt consumed and out of my dept. I hated going to work and hated how I was changing as a person. I lost contact with all my friends, I was tired and stressed all the time. 

I went from having a lovely life with a great work / home life balance to working 7 days a week. I was often oncall working through the night. I had no time for family and my life went into free fall. 

Even though I was the new boy, I was the owner of the company, so everyone would come to me to ask what to do. I made it up as I went along and tried my best to look like I knew what I was doing. 

Inside I was scared and lonely, outside I was acting and playing the brave business owner working so hard to be a success.

I actually lived my life like that for years. Looking back I have no idea how I did it. If it was now a decade later, I don’t think I would have the energy to see it through. I may have quit.  

Luckily I educated myself and I learned of a way out. I learned how to take control and step back from the business. 

At this stage of my life I wanted a company where it supplemented my life and did not consume me. I did not want to work 7 days a week. I had a small baby and I wanted to spend time with her. 

I knew if I couldn’t turn things around I would sell up. I also needed to turn things around to make a living and support my family. It was a vicious circle I was trapped in.

Then came the simple method I still use today to take control, I built a system. I built systems that worked for my employees, my business, my customers and myself. 

Read the full article here - https://fb.watch/3UFrp17anc/

Providing for one’s family can be a daunting task, especially as income dries up. Having children can be stressful at the best of times, children not being at school whilst you try to work can be ultra stressful. 

So how do you cope? Especially if you are out of work and trying to find another job or start a new business? This is a tricky one, personally I have found it easier than most because I have worked from home for many years. The only difference I have now, is I rarely go to my office anymore. In the past the office offered a nice break and quiet times with adult only conversation. 

Now I am surrounded by an 8 month an 8 year old and a 12 year old. Trust me, working out how to increase a business and make more money is not made easier when home schooling and entertaining kids is thrown into the mix. It can be done however by creating good routines and planning ahead. 

It’s not easy however, and even harder when your back is against the wall and you have financial worries. This is something I know all too well from my past and more recently as my gym has been forced closed more than it has been open.   

There is nothing worse than trying to keep a brave face on things at home when you have worries at work. I regret to say I have not always been able to get that part right. In the past I could never switch off. I would be obsessed with working until I solved a problem, even if this meant I stayed up all night thinking about it.

It was so tired and stressed. My kids would want to play and I would make a half arsed attempt to interact whilst texting, calling and emailing people. I missed so much because I was never present in the moment. My relationships suffered and I did as well.

These days I stress much less, I have learned to control what I can and leave what I can’t. I have more time with my family and enjoy myself much more. My businesses are doing much better and I have far fewer problems to sort out. 

The biggest contributing factor to me becoming more successful at home and work was one simple thing that you may not believe. It was hard to do at first and I was scared to do it. But when I did it changed everything. I became less stressed, more energised, happier and focussed. My relationships got better and my time with the children improved.

The single best thing I did was put my mobile phone out of sight. Many will feel terrified about doing this but it’s a game changer. The problem with mobile phones are, they are not just phones. They hold everything a pc would and more. 

My phone is like  a friend with benefits. I use it at times that are convenient and leave it when I have better things to do. Here's why -

Read full post here: https://www.facebook.com/Coach.leetaylor/posts/724870074861124

When you lose a job, it isn’t good enough to just send a CV out to anyone and everyone, sit back and wait. Make a plan of action instead. Work out what you need to do and when. 

Sit back and ask yourself a question: 

“How can I take immediate control of my life?”

Then Decide what you really want to achieve in life, stay focused on your results and make a commitment that no matter what happens around you, your decision stands and you will do your very best to get the results you desire.  Your decisions will determine the actions you need to take and different actions produce different results. 

We as humans always run from Pain to pleasure, it is how we are made. Problem is when you want to make changes and get out of your comfort zone you have to go through some pain to get to the pleasure.

Always ask yourself. what the outcome will be by going through the pain? If it's positive, make a decision to do it and go for it. 

Keep pushing through the pain and you will get what you want. 

Starting again after years in the same job can be daunting. Many feel scared that they won’t be able to find long term employment again. 

 What do you do if you now find yourself out of work? Many do what they know best, send their CV out as much as possible and look for another job. They jump into a huge stream of people trying to swim upstream to get to the one job at the end. 

So how do you take fear and anxiety away when all around you is falling apart? Here are 3 quick wins to help you take control and get back in the game.

1. Talk to people, don’t keep everything to yourself. 

I have been guilty of this in the past. I thought a problem shared was a problem doubled. I would stress and strain all night long looking for solutions. These days I have people around me who I know and trust. Everything has improved since I started opening up. 

My home life is way better because my partner understands my pain and can help me. I get solutions quicker because I can talk to smarter people than me. Friends who have been through the same experience or educated in an area you struggle are often a source of Free help. Failing that there are always coaches and mentors who can guide you.

2. Learn a new skill.

Life is competitive, if you find yourself out of work take it as an opportunity to learn something new. I recently mentored a Black Cab driver, his income has almost ground to a halt because of the Pandemic. As a consequence, he did a handyman course and offered his newfound talents to his local community. Whilst not earning the same as before, he has a purpose and an income to support himself and his family. He will return to the cab when Londoners return to work but he has new skills and is enjoying life again. The stress he had has gone, he has multiple sources of income now and the ability to reinvent himself if needed. 

3. The Goal activity

When you lose a job, it isn’t good enough to just send a CV out to anyone and everyone, sit back and wait. Make a plan of action instead. Work out what you need to do and when. A great technique I teach people is what we call the ‘Goal activity’

Start by writing out the Goal you want to achieve. Be specific and really think about what you want. If it is another job – where do you want to work? Who for? What Location? What job title? What Salary? What does the office look and feel like? How do you look and feel like?

As you write, write in the context that you have already achieved your goal. Do this to embed it in your mind what you want and how it will feel. 

Now give yourself a date you achieved your goal on. It must be realistic, as does your goal. No point in writing on the 3rd of March 2022 I landed my dream job of Astronaut and was the first man on the moon. That job has already been fulfilled. 

Now you have a goal you want to achieve and a date you want to achieve it by do this……Write down at least a minimum (and I mean minimum) of 20 things you can do to achieve your goal.

Don’t worry about the order, just write 20 or more things to do. The more you can write the better. 

Once your list is complete pick out 2 or 3 reasy things to do and do them immediately. Doing this will put you in a great mood and get you on track to getting what you want. 
Mark all the other list entries as a number….

1. Really important
2. Important
3. Not so important but needs doing
4. Someone else can do this for me

Place all your tasks into your diary and start working through them. This exercise will give you so many ideas and get you excited. Just by doing and executing will help you keep focussed and take away negativity.