TCFBO #018: The Heart of Success

Read Time: 2.5 minutes

In the early 2000’s, Paul’s Mum gave him a book she’d been recommended called “The Heart of Success – Making it in business without losing in life” by Rob Parsons.

On the back of the book was a quote which read:

“Before you read one more book about how to climb the corporate ladder read this: it will help you make sure the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”

At the time we’d both left the corporate world of ladder climbing and were embarking on a journey of self-employed ladder climbing.

However, it took a few years for the message of the book to really sink in.

You see, we were still allowing our egos to set the direction we were heading in, rather than our hearts.

We were still striving for success as defined by the world at large.

We hadn’t taken the time to get clear on our hearts’ desires.

We were too busy attempting to be successful to really define what success looked like for us.

Looking back, we wasted a lot of time pursuing things or fixing problems that were ultimately irrelevant.

Some of the things we pursued even ended up being detrimental to our health, our wealth and our happiness.

We were focused on climbing the ladder but we’d failed to realise it was propped up against the wrong wall.

But things changed when we both got clear on the vision each of us had for our lives and our business.

Were our individual visions entirely the same?

Not at all.

But what we discovered was that they were more aligned than they were misaligned.

And in the areas where the visions differed, it gave us a chance to really understand what the other person wanted and why they wanted it.

This gave us an opportunity to bring our visions into closer alighment with each other.

And the “why” we wanted something was always more important than the “what” we wanted.

Something we’ve discovered through working with our clients is that, when a person describes their vision and we ask them to tell us what they love about their vision, they tend to describe “what” they love.

“I love my house on the beach.”

“I love going skiing twice a year.”

“I love playing football with my kids.”

It’s only when they dive deeper and answer the question:

“What is it you love about…

…your house on the beach?

…skiing twice a year?

…playing football with your kids?”

that they really start to get clear on the “why” that drives them, what their heart’s desires are.

Your heart’s desires is what you truly desire.

Your heart is what sets the direction for your life and your business.

The “things” you desire are simply examples of what you get by focusing on your heart’s desires.

We worked with one client who was forced by external circumstances to completely change their business.

When they did so they said to us:

“This isn’t anything to do with my vision.”

So we went back and looked at what they had described during their life and business vision sessions.

It turned out that everything they had described in their vision in answer to “What is it you love about…” (i.e. their “why”) was in their new business.

The business had changed.

The “things” in their business had changed.

They’d pivoted.

And yet they’d still created their heart’s desires.

Getting clear on their life vision, their business vision, their heart’s desires had meant that they had subconsciously set their ladder up against the right wall…even though it was a new ladder they were climbing.

So if there is one thing we would encourage you as a business owner to do, it would be to get clear on your life and business visions before doing anything else in your business.

By doing so you may find that many of the problems you’re currently facing, or the things you’re currently pursuing, are completely irrelevant and can be eliminated.

Your time on this planet is limited.

Don’t waste it climbing a ladder only to discover after several years of effort that it is propped up against the wrong wall.

Let us know how you get on and we’ll see you next week.

Paul & Philly

P.S. You can buy “The Heart of Success” here. It’s a book we thoroughly recommend.

P.P.S. To access all our previous newsletters, click here.

Whenever you’re ready, there are two ways we can help you:

1. Discover how to create a life and business you truly love with your copy of “Backwards Planning - A Simple Method to Move You and Your Business Forward” from Amazon.

2. To work with us through the entire “Backwards Planning” process outlined in the book, you can apply to join The Clear Focus Business Academy.

The first step is to book a facilitated Life Vision Session which we conduct one to one over Zoom. This session will not only give you clarity on what you want from your life but will give you the opportunity to experience how we work and ensure we're a good fit for each other before deciding whether The Clear Focus Business Academy is right for you. It comes with a 100% money back guarantee, so if you're not entirely satisfied, simply let us know at the end of the session and we'll issue a full refund.