Hey Reader,

Today's newsletter was born from an example about my business but this SO relates to everyone with everything. If you have to make decisions in your life. Then this is for you. Keep reading.

It's been about a month since WholeYOUniversity has been closed down, and now that I am moving on and creating another program, I can feel the effect of all of the lessons that I have learned and how much they are benefitting me.

It took me 5 years to learn all of these lessons and they have helped me make my business, and very importantly MY LIFE the absolute best. And feeling them all solidify for me makes me so pumped that you get them all here in just 10 newsletters!

Today In the Rebellion

• 10 Lessons I've Learned Running a Half a Million Dollar Coaching Business, LESSON 8. The best Results come from decisions made in neutral.
• Notes & Quotes To Noodle On
• A little post-Italy Travel Note!

This is Lesson #8: The Best Results come from Decisions Made in Neutral.

Aka let's not get all hot and bothered 🙃

I think one of the things that is hardest about owning a business is that you are in charge of everything. And that creates so much pressure.

I’ve always believed that pressure helps us create great things 💎 I’ve never been afraid of pressure.

I realize over my years of owning my own business - that the pressure is different. For me, and I know other business owners can relate, it felt more like SURVIVAL.

I’ve learned over and over and over and over, thanks to my biz, that making decisions out of a place of survival has never served me well.

All of my favorite decisions I've made in business - the ones that have felt the best implementing, the ones that have gotten my clients the best results, the ones that have helped me make consistent money - those came from a fun and neutral place.

Looking back I could probably sort all my business decisions into three separate categoires.

1️⃣ Survival

2️⃣ Over excited

3️⃣ Neutral and fun

And I will tell you, they outcome of all of those decisions would probably look like:

Survival = more stress and worry and discomfort in implementing.

Over Excited = probs 50/50 big fun high moments and super lows of whoa that was a mistake.

Fun Neutral = always a successful, I feel good and solid in this - sort of a very happy grounded feeling that usually grew with excitement over time.

So what does this mean for making decisions? I think it is obvious.

We want to stay out of survival, we probably also want to stay out of over excited and stick in the fun and neutral place.

Easy? No - easier said than done for sure.

So how do I we this?

I think it starts with becoming aware of what we are even feeling in the first place.

This is where two things have come in helpful for me - journaling in the morning and having a coach.

I journal most mornings - just to check in where my brain is at, and get it where I want it to be.

And I talk to my coach with weekly calls and lots and lots of messaging in between because a coach is an objective observer to the emotions that I am feeling.

Getting to that positive neutral position has always helped me to make sound decisions that works for current me, future me, and my business and clients too!

But this isn’t JUST for me.

This is also a HUGE and IMPORTANT thing that as I started coaching and coaching more - I realized ALL of my clients also need this. All the people in the WORLD NEED THIS.

So much so that in my coaching programs we started using the language of ‘getting to neutral to make a decision'.

When you think about health coaching - there is so much about it that is NOT neutral.

😔 The shame you feel about your body.

🥴 The dislike and disappointment in how your body looks or feels.

😞 The guilt for eating something ‘bad’

And making decisions when we feel that way has never served any of my clients well. So we would practice getting to neutral for those times and thoughts and moments so that they could make decisions that mattered.

No matter where we are making decisions - in our biz in our life - with our food and our health - Neutral is the place to be!

In Coaches College, I teach my coaches how to get to neutral themselves so when they get that hot feeling, where they are nervous, uncomfortable and the conversation feels like it is going to go to a really tense place that they can come to neutral.

And then I also teach them how to get their clients to also come down to that neutral place when they are fired up as well.

This is a HUGE piece of success for me and my clients and I know everyone around the world can benefit from it too.

(You can get on the waitlist for the next round of Coaches College here)

Listen to this learning (with more detail and commentary) on the podcast:

Notes & Quotes To Noodle On 🧠

There's a book that I read YEARS ago in my teacher training, and I really think that it changed so much about the way that I taught, and still interact with my clients. A lot of these practices are things that have set me apart from other coaches.

The book was called More Than Meets the Eye, by Donna Skolnick. It's all about how relationships shape the spaces that we create.

One of the things that she said that I have ⭐️ starred and remembered forever, is that it is our job as people leaders to see more in them than they see in themselves.

Part of this is easy, because we're the objective observer and don't hold emotional criticism AND it can also be hard, because we often create expectations for people we lead without really realizing it.

Another point that she makes is that our own mood, energy level, expectations, preferences and personal issues follow us into the spaces we lead in. And we NEED to be aware of this.

I see this all the time, where coaches and leaders - guide their clients to the ONE decision of their preference. ❌ This goes against everything I believe about being on the planet. We are here because we are unique and individual - not to be the same. So when we lead people, we do it not based on our preferences, but from a place of neutral and with THEM in mind.

She also says that there is a difference between accepting who your learner is vs tolerating them. One of the BEST things I have EVER done working with people - is leading them with THEIR strengths. 🏆 They are so much more successful when we use the strengths that are natural to them.

🧠 We also want to always be treating our learners like they KNOW things. We want to ask them questions - 'how is this working for you' - not make assumptions. This is the easiest way to change a disempowering conversation into an empowering one.

And one last strategy that I am reminded of that has served me so well in the classroom, with my clients and honestly even in my relationships - is to THINK OUT LOUD. 💭

This for my learners and clients models for them how I make decisions - which is SO powerful. It is me showing how my brain works so they can see it and it isn't a mystery to them on how I draw conclusions or use my strategies.

And in my relationships - it keeps things clear and less confusing (or at least I hope it does haha)

This book feels ages old but all of these strategies I learned about in like 2009(?) still stand with me today!

A little post-Italy Travel Note!!

We had SO much fun traveling around Italy. And like when we go anywhere, I kept thinking - dang, why do we live in the US, we should be living here. And I am always ready to pack up my bags and apply for a visa.

But when I came back this time, I had a really different epiphany of feeling. I was filled with just so much love for all the things about life.

I think it comes from a gratitude practice I've been doing lately (yikes I guess I'm becoming THAT person haha). But all I am doing is every single day finding something that when I stop to look at it and appreciate it - it creates that ✨warm happy feeling✨ inside of me. Kind of the giddiness of wow, this is me right here right now WITH this beautiful thing!

It was fairly easy to do in Italy - obvi. But since I have been home, and now that I have been doing it for a month or more - it has been so easy. And it has made everything about life feel so much lighter, and fun.

It's spread that giddy feeling we loved in childhood and I think we all chase in adulthood through out my normal days.

I share this 1. so that I can stay accountable to still doing it because its been so simple but so profound for me. And 2. so you can do it too!

Happy Giddy Making!

​

Later Alligator,

Kayla

p.s. there are TWO ways to work with me.

1: Coaches College is my signature coaching skills program where I teach coaches autonomy based coaching strategies that will get their clients better and faster results and get the coach more money while doing it. You can get on the waitlist HERE!​

2: Want to get my hands on your brain, business and life? Hit reply and inquire about 1:1 coaching availability

​

​

​

​

​

​

​