Yeah, BUT...

There is an emerging Mindset Series that started with my interview with Coach Josh called "The Value of Coaching" and followed up recently with "Are You Truly Coachable". I spoke from the position of being coached for over 20 years and being a coach myself for the past 7 years. The topic today is a major pet peeve and a classic tell-tale of someone UNcoachable and UNteachable. It's when I hear the words "Yeah, BUT..."

I know I've been guilty of it in the past but when I recognize it today it just irritates me. This is a major fundamental to overcome. It falls under our mindset. Are you coachable? Many say they are. But few really are. I did a coaching call recently. This cleaning company owner was operating solo to do houses during the week and was growing a team to do commercial cleaning nights and weekends. I dug and dug until I understood the why behind the goal of wanting to grow commercial with a team. The goals and the why were awesome. The strategy was not and during the call I realized that the mindset was not either. Here's what I discovered. This solo cleaning mom with a full-time job dad had to pay a certain amount of money for daycare. Many listening to this podcast can relate to that right now. She did not know her numbers, so there's the next fundamental flaw. I helped her figure out her numbers because I'm really good at this. Her solo house cleaning profit was basically covering the cost of daycare give or take. The commercial was not bringing in much because the revenue was just big enough to pay for the cost of a team. The hope was to grow commercial but maintain the residential to pay for daycare. This made absolutely no sense to me. Her goal was to earn $40,000 as a second income in the family. That's an awesome goal! I showed her how she could do that as a residential solo cleaner. Then I heard it. "Yeah, BUT..." Then she had a reason why she can't do that. I told her how she could hit her goal as a commercial solo cleaner and I got another "Yeah, BUT..." and another reason why.

There's always a reason why you can't. There's also always a reason why you can. If you look for an excuse, you will find it. And if you look for a solution, you will find one. In "The Magic of Thinking Big", Excusitis is listed as one of the failure diseases. In this case it was very clear to me. She could easily increase her solo house cleaning to $3,000 per month profit. This would net $1,000 after daycare and might be worth it. $2,000 or $3,000 net after daycare would be better! By the way, if she was earning $1,500 and daycare costs $2,000 no one would take that deal. I don't think daycare is worth it for a mom unless the thing she does to create income creates at least $500 per month over and above the TOTAL cost of daycare. This is daycare expenses, plus gas, food prep, lost time, etc. That was the direction I was taking her. She could build up the solo house cleaning profit herself, hit the $40,000 income goal and forget about commercial cleaning. When I sensed the desire to grow commercial with a team, I switched to different coaching to help her achieve the $40,000 goal. Her strategy was to continue farming out her kids to daycare for another 1-2 years. My coaching and experience would have her stay home with her kids and hit the goal in 6 months! Her answer each time was "Yeah, BUT..."

These are some of the most dangerous words in the English language when used together. It might not sound like it but when used in combination it shows me or anyone out there that does coaching that that person is UNcoachable and UNteachable. Their mindset is not ready for growth. They are not allowing themselves to operate in all four windows. They have some level of pride and fear speaking for them (and they probably don't even realize it). These two words are holding them back. "Yeah, BUT..." is acceptable to many people because they do it too. Many people will say, "Oh, I understand sweetheart." Or, "I understand. That's got to be hard. That makes sense." And whenever you EXCUSE their EXCUSE, you're allowing them to continue in their excuse making and never get ahead. That cripples people. It enables them to keep doing the things that keeps them stuck. This is a mindset flaw and it irritates coaches to no end.

Newer coaches don't recognize "Yeah, BUT...". They try to do another angle to get through to the person. They keep trying and trying and then end up getting frustrated because that person refuses to let go of their failure disease and be cured. Experienced and wise coaches recognize "Yeah, BUT..." the first time they say it. That coach will then say something like this. "Hey, I hope that was helpful and let me know if you need anything else." They may say. "Great! I hope that works out for you." They will quickly look to end the call because they know that person is not coachable and they are wasting their time. This is how you can lose your coach very quickly. Make excuses why you can't follow their guidance. You see, you may be used to your friends and family enabling your excuses. But a great coach will not put up with it. If this describes you or offends you or makes you mad, you better listen closely. "Yeah, BUT..." will kill your dreams.

Do you know the other two words that will kill your dreams? "I CAN'T." You can change these two words to three and simply say. "How Can I?" This immediately removes all excuses and introduces a world of possibilities and opportunities.

This is true for the lady I was coaching and it's true for you. You can optimize your solo cleaning business to earn full time income through part time cleaning without the drama of employees! Get access to this game-changing training for only $57 per month or $597 per year in the Solo Elite Membership atsmartcleaningschool.com/elite. Members get access to the full ISO Model Course to optimize your solo business, plus access to the Solo Elite Community, bonus podcast content, access to private coaching and additional courses at 50% off! You can also sample the membership with our brand new "Backstage Pass", which is found at smartcleaningschool.com.