Ep #204: The Power of Intentionality in Your Business

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast with Amanda Karlstad episode number 204.

Welcome to The Life Coach Business Podcast, a show for coaches who are ready to up-level their business and take their impact, leadership, and results to a whole new level. If you’re ready to start taking powerful action and become the leader your business needs in order to grow and thrive, this show is for you. I’m your host, Amanda Karlstad, certified life and business coach, and entrepreneurial leadership expert.  Now, let’s get down to business.

Hello and welcome to the show. I hope you’re doing well. I am doing great. We are officially, as I’m recording this, into fall. I have to say we had a great summer. I have been reflecting over the last couple of days and talking with the kids about their summer and what were their favorite parts. 

One of the things that I am so proud to say of this summer is that we had so many new experiences and so much fun. It was just truly a memorable summer. We are just now officially back into school. We’re getting into the routine. So excited about the school year ahead and for what’s to come. 

I was thinking about this and thinking back to why this was such a great summer. I think there were a few reasons. As I thought more about this, there were some things that I was thinking about that directly relate also to business. Some lessons that I’ve learned along the way that I have applied, not only to my business, but also to my life. 

One of those big lessons is the power of intentionality and planning and creating with intention, with real intention, what it is that you want to create. So about a year ago, one of the things that I decided was that I wanted to create more peak experiences for my kids. I thought about what that actually meant, and how that could play out in our lives. 

One of the ways that I decided that we could do that was to play with that with our summer. When I look back at that process and that intentionality that I applied, it essentially allowed me to engineer what that could look like. So over the course of the next few months. Really, this is something that I think is a continual process and that I’m continually keeping in mind is really applying that level of intention to the time that we have. 

I got to the point where it was time to start really planning what summer was going to look like. I kept this idea in mind and what I thought might be some great experiences. As I look back, I am just so grateful for going through that process, for applying that level of intention, for expanding into more possibilities and being so intentional about our time, about the activities, the travel, all of the things that they might want to try. 

I feel really great about what they were exposed to, the experiences, the memories that they now have. I just think this is such a beautiful lesson in the power of intention and in the power of intentionally creating what it is that you do want. 

So whether this is in your life or whether this is in your business, one of the things that has been so present for me lately is the importance of doing that, the importance of taking the time to first understand what it is that I want to build, what it is that I want to do, what it is that I want to create in this world. Then to be intentional with how I’m actually bringing that to life in my business. 

I think one of the big contributors to my success is really understanding and deciding what that was going to be. I did this very early on. When I was first starting out. I really took the time to intentionally decide what I wanted to build, and that allowed me to then go out and to use that filter in everything that I was doing.

So even when I look back at how I have structured my programs, and how I’ve structured how I work with clients, when I work on the business, how my schedule flows. All of this is so, so important. It’s important to me, but it’s also important to the success of my clients. So I want to encourage all of you to really look at that for yourself and ask yourself if you’re really being intentional in your business growth. Are you being intentional in the work that you’re doing in the business?

I think this is so vitally important, no matter where you’re at, because I see a lot of coaches that spend so much time, that spend literally years working on things, doing things that are not really coming from a place of real intention. That might be something that maybe they’ve seen somebody else do and are trying to kind of replicate that in their business.

I had an example come up recently, with a client who was creating an asset and was creating something that she had seen another coach create. After talking through it, it was really clear that there wasn’t a lot of intention behind the why, behind why she wanted to create that. So we really spent some time and coached deeply on that.

I think that’s a really, really important practice. I think that’s a really important thing if you are building a business, and we all have the same hours in a day. We all have this limited time to spend in our business. So the time that you do have is so, so important that it is focused on the things that are actually going to create the type of results that you want to create. It’s really important to know that. 

I think that’s why it’s so important for coaches that are building businesses, that want to build highly successful businesses to be in an environment where you do have a mentor. You do have good advisement around the things that you are working on in the business so that you can apply that intention to all of the things that you’re doing. 

So you have that filter to make sure that what you’re focused on, where you’re putting your time, where you’re putting your money, where you’re putting your energy is going in the right places. So for all of you, I want to really recommend right now that you get clear, and that you take some time to decide, with intention, what it is that you want to build. I want to encourage you to really spend some time visualizing that and connecting with that and seeing that and going there in your mind each and every day. 

One of the things that has blown me away is when I look back at the early days of my business, and I look at where I am today. I see how I’ve created the business in a way that not only serves my clients at a really high level, but also affords a lot of flexibility in my life and how it has allowed me to work with amazing clients all throughout my journey. 

As I’m moving into this new season, I feel like fall is, for me, always the start of a new year. I’m also in this place where there’s also a massive expansion that is setting in. There is a calling that I have to lead and to serve and to impact in an even bigger way. 

While I can clearly see the vision and I’m holding that vision, at the same time, there’s a level of discomfort. There’s a level of not knowing all of the details. I’ve really learned that this is the entrepreneur experience. It’s the journey that inevitably will call you forward, that you will go on. 

As you build the business and do all of the things, the truth is that it often doesn’t feel good. The reason it doesn’t is because our brains crave that certainty. It craves knowing all the things. It craves understanding, being able to see all of the steps. It’s how we’re wired. 

So when we don’t have that certainty, that’s when I see for a lot of coaches who are in this process, when the doubt, when the fear, when the uncertainty, when you’re in a place where you might have that vision, but you’re not able to clearly see how to get there, that fear, that uncertainty, all of those doubts set in. 

If you’re not responding to those emotions that inevitably will come up with real intention, what happens is, and I see this for a lot of coaches, they start to what I call go off roading. They start to get way off track. 

It’s because their emotions, so often, are in the driver’s seat, and they’re allowing their emotions to dictate how they’re showing up in the business, how they’re showing up in the market, how they’re showing up personally. There tends to be so many energy leaks that I see happen when they’re not effectively responding to these emotions. Instead allowing those emotions to drive everything they’re doing. 

So I want to offer to all of you the importance of also feeling those emotions, understanding those emotions, and at the same time, understanding that in the same way that you’re feeling the doubt, that you’re feeling the fear, you’re feeling that uncertainty that you also, in that same moment, have the option to choose.

To feel emotions that are going to power you from a more productive place. Emotions that are going to help you show up in the way that your business needs you to show up. Emotions that are going to help you take action in the ways that the business is going to require of you. 

So I want to be clear here. It’s not about repressing those emotions, but it’s about being willing to feel them and also lean into what if you did have the certainty? Or what if you didn’t have the fear? Or what if you just decided that you weren’t going to doubt yourself or doubt what you were doing. 

Because just as much as you might feel the negative emotion, just as much as you might feel that uncertainty, that doubt creep in, those productive, positive fueling emotions are also just as available to you. It takes work. It takes intention. 

One of the most powerful ways that I’ve learned to create this is through that intention, through what we’re talking about here today. By deciding with intention how you do want to show up, by deciding with intention who you do want to be in the market, by deciding with intention that you will be one that arrives. 

Because what I do know now without a shadow of a doubt, I love the saying is that if you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand. I really believe that. I feel like I am living that right now in so many ways. It doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. It doesn’t mean that I do have every single thing figured out. It doesn’t mean that I always know exactly the right way, but I do know that I’m on the right path. 

I do know that through these practices, I have cultivated a level of self-belief that is now more than ever stronger in whatever that vision is, whether it’s in business or personal. That I know that it’s possible. That it’s there for a reason. I also know that it’s going to evolve and it’s going to change. 

So with that there’s a level of excitement. There is a level of energy in seeing what that is and looking forward to what’s to come. So as I look ahead to 2024, I am so excited to help so many more coaches get to where they want to go, to impact so many more businesses, and to impact so many more lives and families. This isn’t something that I personally take lightly because I really believe in this work. I really believe in the beautiful partnerships that I get to create through this work. 

I want to encourage all of you to go for it. I want to encourage you to do the thing, to build the thing, to take the messy action, to be willing to feel all the things, be willing to fail. Be willing to go all in, be willing to feel the discomfort of growth, be willing to do what’s required for your business, be willing to do what’s required for your next level of growth. 

Be the person who chooses to arrive, be the person who chooses to show up, be the person who chooses to become who they’re here to be. All right, my friends, that is my challenge to you. Have an amazing week. I’ll talk to you all again soon. Bye, bye. 

Hey if you’re ready for a real breakthrough in your business and want to grow and scale your business to at least six figures or more in annual revenue, I invite you to apply for my exclusive program The Mastermind at amandakarlstadcoaching.com/the-mastermind. I look forward to seeing you there. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Life Coach Business Podcast. If you want to learn more about how to build, grow, and scale your business and accelerate your results visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com.