Imagine you have a gorgeous new Lexus siting in your drive way….but it has no gas in it. Or that Santa brings one of the new Mac books….but it’s missing the vowel keys.

The point here is that these things are great, but without some of the missing pieces (like gas and the right keys) they are almost useless.

Sadly, that’s just how some folks run their business. Lots of great things and loads of possibility, but some fundamental pieces not firmly put in place. So the result can be less than desirable, and frustrate the heck out of you!

This is why you can feel like you are working and working and working, and may not have gotten where you want to be.

When you read the rest of this article, I’ll show you the three key pieces you need to have an integrated business and what it looks like if these are missing for you.

It started by noticing trends. I was seeing client after client with the same challenges. It was either they had great ideas and lacked the proper mindset to pull them off, or the opposite was true. Maybe they didn’t have the right idea of what to do next or know what was possible in getting their business out in the world in a big, bold way.

Here were wonderful people with great visions for themselves and the clients they were to help, and yet they were not being as effective as they could be.

Why? Because their business didn’t have the 3 key ingredients to make it integrated.

I guess I should start with what I consider the definition to mean. The dictionary says this:

in·te·grat·ed

adjective
combining or coordinating separate elements so as to providea harmonious, interrelated whole.

In order to support my clients and help them put more of the right pieces into their businesses, I created my 3 step model/paradigm that weaves into the business all the parts necessary.

Here’s the pyramid that depicts the formula.

Let me describe what each of the pieces are and why you need them to be solidly in place.

Structure – This is represented in two places…business and personal.

Business structure = we look at what you are selling, how money comes in, how things are leveraged, how you spend your time, etc. It’s like an architect laying down the proper foundation before the house it built.

Personal structure = this is where your identity come in. Where we work out and release any fears/doubts, or blocks in your way. You can’t have one without the other if you want a business that works.

Spirituality – This is the spirituality of your own understanding, and not meant in a religious sense. If your business is to have a heart, you’ll need to grow your ‘center.’ And that center (in my opinion) is to connect more deeply to what your source is. You may have heard me say that the entrepreneurial journey is like a spiritual path. I say this because when you step up and say yes to running that mission-driven business, you will need to become more of a leader, more bold, more self-aware, and more able to weather the sometimes stormy patches that you encounter. And the best way to navigate through these is to have a strong spiritual connection.

Strategy – After we build the right foundation, get you and your business connected spiritually, then we add the strategy which is like the gas in the car! Good strategy is the gold. It’s the thing that takes the confused, overwhelmed entrepreneur and allows them to settle in, get into action, and uplevel their results.

Are you seeing where you may need some tweaks? What I discovered is that most of us have one or two working well, but need that third one integrated.

Let me share with you what happens when you have just two in place and are lacking the third critical piece.

Structure + spirituality only = Missing strategy means you will feel scattered; marketing and sales are inconsistent, thus you won’t be charging or may not be making enough.

Strategy + structure only = Missing spirituality will show up as you or your business feeling empty and your customers feeling like your business has no heart.

Spirituality + strategy only = Missing structure means that you are not grounded. The risk here is that you are likely to get off track and follow others’ blueprints or bright-shiny-objects, and your clients may not know how to work with you. Missing personal structure means that your emotions may be running you and you don’t have the way to settle down with them.

What’s the solution? The first step is awareness. I’d suggest that you take an honest look at what’s working and not working. Best yet, get an outside perspective on your business. Ask your clients or mastermind partners to share with you what they see your strengths are and where you could use a bit more support in. And feel free to visit my Go Bold Mastermind program because in 9 months we’ll work on strengthening these so you can have a fabulous, integrated business you will just love!

Wouldn’t it be nice if you just set your course when you started your business, and knew exactly where you’d wind up? And imagine if you could just plug in the goals and directions and waaa la! You end up precisely where you thought you’d be.

Well, that may happen to a very lucky few, but for most clients I work with, there are certainly some major detours along the way. Usually it works like this …. Inspiration hits so you set the course and plan around that. But then something comes up. Maybe it’s an opportunity that takes you in a new direction. Or usually it’s the opposite. The thing you set your sites on didn’t pan out so you shifted gears. So instead of success being a straight line, it zig-zags with seemingly unrelated pieces. Trust me…at one time or another in your business, you will encounter some roadblocks.

That’s where I come in. In the last newsletter I spoke about the “Dig-Excavate-Renovate” process which you may want to read about. You see, as a coach/consultant, my job is like a big eraser. With clients I help them erase old beliefs. Fix crappy websites. Repair marketing that hasn’t worked. Mend broken mindsets, and finally birth the brilliance that’s living just under the surface of the blocks and barriers.

So let me tell you a story. And this story is about finding the gold living in the rubble of a business once we have started the excavation. Keep reading and you’ll find out not only what the process is, but why it’s so crucial that you go through it.

Let me introduce you to “Maria.” (Not her real name, although she did give me permission to use the essence of her story.)

She is quite talented, but didn’t have the belief in herself that she needed. This bright woman had tons and tons of potential, but she was letting her ‘stuff’ get in the way. During coaching, one call would be positive and she’d move forward, but then the next one she’d be lost and swimming around in a pool of doubt.

In fact, there was one session when she was ready to give up on even having a business. But I took a stand for her and would not let her quit. I reminded her that we had to do some digging and ‘clean up’ work, and that even though she was taking a few steps forward and two back sometimes….she was still making progress. Thankfully, even though she didn’t believe in herself, she believed in my belief in her. That was the thing that kept her going.

And how it often happens, the business she came to me to grow morphed into something she never would have imagined.

With Maria we dug, and excavated, and now are in the renovation process.

But it was in the excavation process that the most amazing discovery occurred.

After doing loads and loads of NLP, EFT, and other work to move away the big boulders of disbelief, doubt, and disempowering messages from her history, what emerged was a game changer.

See, Maria has always been very serious and driven. She was raised that there was no room for fun or play. Just work and being productive.

But in the rubble of what we uncovered was the part of her that as a child loved to play the flute, dance, and be playful and carefree. When we found this aspect in her, the shift came when I suggested that instead of making her work something she HAS to get done, she was to invite the younger, playful part to express and have fun with what she was attempting to move forward.

She took to this and loved the experience. The website that had been stalled got done. Her opt-in got put up. And the biggest delight? She finally OWNED her new business. She went from being tentative to really seeing that this next version of her business is something she’s been doing for years, and quite well. So now she and I are working to monetize it and help her share her gifts with the world.

Now how does this relate to you? This is a story about the process that business owners go through. My hope is to show you that if you sometimes wonder why you aren’t going faster, you just need to do the digging-excavating and renovating.

These are the stages of Maria’s story and the journey you can take for yourself as well.

1. Get to the Starting Line. Let me just be honest here and say that sometimes, we aren’t even at the starting line. Meaning, there is clean up or other work that has to happen just to get us in the game. So make an honest assessment of yourself. And not to turn you into a victim or bring blame here, but really realistic. When I just started my business I was going through a divorce and had two small kids. That meant my energies were VERY scattered and often business was not my top priority. That’s an example of not even being at the starting line. I had to clear up what I was going through to be able to fully focus. Step #1 then is to look at the ‘stuff’ that is on your plate or in your life that is interfering.
2. Do the work to dig out from what’s holding you back. Very often this is one of those things where you can’t see what you can’t see. So if you have experienced a stop/start pattern and are not seeing the results you want, there’s something in the way. Usually it’s all mindset related, so you need to start clearing away the blocks you may have. If you want to really learn how this is all related, sign up for my free training call on 12/6 where I share how the Inner Game and Outer Game are connected and what you need to do to integrate them.
3. Find the gold in the rubble. As we uncovered with Maria’s story, there is much ‘juiciness’ in your journey. As I have been sharing in my Blind Spot to Brilliance interviews, very often the things that we take for granted, devalue, or can’t appreciate show the seeds of our greatness. Once coaching exercise is to go back into your childhood when you were small and free of the roles and rules and responsibilities you later took on. What did you love to do? What were the themes of your play? What did you act out or dream about? That ‘child-part’ has wisdom from your soul and if you listen to it, can find you much more joy in how you do your business. (Mine strangely enough was playing ‘fairies’ with my friends where I’d wave my magic wand and make their dreams come true! Not too far off for where I am today, right?
4. Express differently. Maria had a whole list of ‘should do’s’ that were de-energizing. When I suggested that instead of making something happen to make money or get a task checked off her list, and that she just write for the sheer joy of it…it all clicked. So with this step you tap into the part of you that just wants to share what you have. For a moment take away your marketing brain, get out of your politically correct way of speaking, and dump your business owner self. Find the part that wants to share and let that part speak. It may or may not end up being marketing copy, but that will get you moving, add a fresh perspective, and bring loads more joy and fun to what you are doing.
5. Get support. Probably the most critical piece. I liken this process to “Midwifing Your Magnificence.” This entrepreneurial journey can be one of the most rewarding AND challenging things you’ll ever do. You need someone who will love you, take a stand for you, not let you quit when you get discouraged, and hold a bigger vision for you than you can for yourself. This process is quite deep and very relational, and from time to time requires some loving butt kicking even, but the process is best done with a trusted guide. If I can be that for you, I’d be honored.

So, as we head into fall and you see the leaves changing, the weather shifting, and things start looking different, I want you to imagine what you and your business could be like if you found the brilliance inside you and expressed it in a bigger and bolder way. I can’t wait to see you shine!

Peace and blessings!