What Do You Need Today?
In my day job, I work with a business coach. She specifically coaches CPAs to grow their practices, and I pay her a lot of money to help me in my solo-entrepreneurial journey. It’s been my recent opinion after moving to rural, middle-of-no-where Idaho that finding good people to help you with life are worth their weight in gold.
Each time Geraldine, my business coach, and I meet, she always starts the meeting the same way… “What do you need from me today?”. The first time it caught me off guard. Didn’t I hire YOU to tell ME what I need?
It didn’t take me long to realize she was going to ask me this question every time we met…and I’d better have an answer for it. In fact, she’s trained me to think of the answer days in advance of meeting with her.
Throughout our time working together, the answer to her question has been a true problem that needs to be solved:
“I need help dealing with a difficult client.”
or an emotional truth:
“I’m not feeling confident this week. I need a pep talk.”
or real practical help:
“Can you read through my website’s copy?”
Either way, Geraldine shows up each time with a solution, cheering me on, or rolling up her sleeves. (Did I mention she’s worth her weight in gold??)
But the lesson of her question “What do you need today?” goes far beyond building a business.
The question is relevant every day, in ever facet of life - for all of us.
When was the last time you asked yourself what you need today?
If you’re anything like me, admitting you need something will fall to bottom of the priority list every time. And if what I need requires me to tell someone that I need something, that need will get kicked straight to the curb.
Because, the truth is…sometimes I need to be alone. Or sometimes I need to put headphones in and cook in the kitchen (it’s cheaper than therapy). Or I need my husband to do the laundry because I can’t find one more sock match without screaming. Or I need to borrow a tiller from a neighbor (thanks Debbie). Or I need us to cancel everything on the calendar this Saturday and go on a family hike.
Admitting I need something is hard. In fact, I felt disgustingly selfish and inadequate just writing that last paragraph.
But the honest truth is that if I stop to pause and ask myself what I truly need today, there’s almost always an answer. And the answer usually isn’t the end of the world like my people-please-brain would like me to believe.
Pause.
What do you need today?
No, seriously, think of an answer. I’ll wait.
Now the trick is actually doing it.
Enjoy this post? You might also like We’re All On A Boat
