What do you want to be when you grow up?

I often have people say to me they love the idea of being a thought leader and running a practice, but they don’t know what their thing is. So they don’t start. 

No, no, no, no, no. 

NO. 

You don’t need to need to know what your thing is to start. Indeed it’s actually a pitfall to lock in too early on what you want to be when you grow up. 

I made that mistake. For a decade I persisted with Love Your Business, my first coaching offer in the small business market, because I’d locked in on my first thing. Which was great, except no-one bought it. I was over small business and by the end I wasn’t loving my own business. 

So now when people say to me they don’t know what their thing is I say perfect. Let's talk about what you’re going to be when you grow up in three years. 

First come up with 20 things you could do. Twenty offers you could take to market. With at least three different areas of expertise, serving at least five different markets. 

Then over three years try 12 of them. Run 12 experiments to see if people will buy them, and if you enjoy actually doing it. Expect half to fail. 

Then in three years when you have done six things that have worked, then we’ll talk about what your thing is. 

Until then it’s at best a waste of time, and at worse an indulgent procrastination.