5 Effective Self-Coaching Tips for New Solo Business Owners

Do new Internet businesses really need the services of anbusiness Coach, even if they can afford it? Being that onenof my roles is as an Internet business coach I am somewhatnbiased and would generally answer "yes" to my own question!
Nonetheless, it is possible to effectively self-coachnregardless of whether you have a flesh and blood businessncoach or not.

While a student in the International Coach Academyn(www.icoachacademy.com) I also had a demanding full-time ITncareer with a major investment bank. And during my ownntransition from salaried employee status to that of startup
Internet business owner, I used the following 5nself-coaching tips regularly on myself.

1) Be Amenable To New Ideas:
One common outcome arising from the latent behavioralntraining received in schools and corporate life is thatnlots of folks seem to immediately resist even looking atnimplementing new ideas. What could account for this? Mynexperience as both a schoolteacher and a generally (!) goodncorporate citizen suggests that we learn throughnsometimes-painful experiences not to upset the proverbialnapplecart. Do you detect the scent of failure and potentialnridicule in all of this? You do? And you're absolutelynright!

The challenge for solo business owners is toncontinually seek out new ways and means of boldly going.
Sorry, I mean of boldly achieving business objectives!
Realistically, if only 1% of these new methods end up beingnsuccessfully applied to your business, it could still be thendifference between ordinary and extraordinary success.
Which do you want?

2) Experience Life To The Max:
Here's a saying I recall that brings this into focus:
"there are people worrying about what they will be doing innan ete
al afterlife who have no idea how to spend a wet
Sunday afte
oon."

The more richness and vitality you can find in the ordinarynaspects of your everyday life, the better equipped you willnbe to handle the ups and downs, and yes the occasionalnboredom, of running and operating your own solo business.
So, what are you going to enjoy doing on the next availablenrainy Sunday afte
oon?

3) Compassionate Accountability:
My most useful coaching has occurred when I helped clientsnfocus on raising their sense of ownership around two basicnissues: awareness and responsibility. As far as selfncoaching goes, responsibility means accountability. You
accountability.

And yet, even in the supportive andnnon-judgmental privacy of a private coaching relationship,nsome of my business coaching clients become apprehensivenwhen they first learn about exercising personalnaccountability. It's almost as if they'd been ordered to gongive a public lecture entitled "My Personal Failings as anHuman Being and Business Owner"! And no one in their rightnmind would enjoy doing that. But of course exercisingnpersonal accountability is not like that at all.

The frequent drill of compassionately but directlynobserving your thoughts and actions can result in increasednaccountability and subsequent desire to make realisticnimprovements. Just do it and watch how the regula
intention of becoming accountable begins to alter the verynobject of accountability itself...

4) Get To the Point:
Getting to the point is in danger of becoming a lost art inna corporate world where taking responsibility is sometimesnlike being exposed to a highly contagious and caree
limiting disease!

And that's probably why it surprises many new Internetnbusiness owners when they comprehend just how many hours inntheir already busy business days are being expended in notngetting to the point.

In this arena I have again found that self coaching worksnwell with simple acts of observation. All you have to do atnthe start of each activity is to ask yourself : "what's thenpoint of this?"

Keep asking and you'll get answers. OK, so had you anpurpose in mind before reading this article? If not, getnone.

5) Good People Skills:
Perhaps these are the illustrious people skills so belovednof Corporate HR Departments and Executive Recruiters!
Probably at least 95% of solo businesses do not exist in ancommercial vacuum apart from the rest of us. There are humannbeings we sometimes call customers and vendors with whom itnis to your direct advantage to get along in a polite andnrespectful way.

I suggest that the number one change you cannmake for your own peace of mind and happiness in your solonbusiness is to create a formal courtesy system. There arenmany ways to do this and a wonderful and highly successfulnway is revealed by the Australian dentist Paddi Lund in hisnengaging book, "Building The Happiness-Centred Business".
And yep, "Centred" is Australian English spelling! I highlynrecommend this book. And say hello to the Solutions Pressnpeople for me!