What my clients have taught me

One of the really cool things about the women I get to work with is what they teach me in return. I’m always inspired by what they do and I appreciate all of the learning they share with me. Here are a few standouts: 

The horse goes before the cart for a reason.

In a recent conversation, I told a client I thought she was putting the cart before the horse. What I meant was she was taking the right steps but in the wrong order. After a little thought, she came back with the insight that we put the horse first because the horse creates momentum for the cart. I honestly had never thought about it this way and now I’m a little in love with the idea that we do things in a certain order not just because it makes sense, but it also creates momentum for future steps. 

Generosity rules.

One of my clients packs her email newsletter with all sorts of goodies: spot-on insights, great book recommendations, shout-outs (complete with backlinks) to people she loves and her latest Spotify playlist. I’d say about 97% of her newsletter is shining the spotlight on others. It feels just like her and is one of the newsletters I faithfully cozy up with a cup of coffee to read. 

If you can dream it, you can do it. 

One of my favorite photos is the view from another client’s office. Sitting at her desk, she can see the mountains and the city spread out below. What’s amazing is it’s the view she’s dreamed about for years as she searched for commercial property to purchase. The result of this clear dreaming is the exact space she wanted, with the exact view. She’s already started buying items for her future, still-being-dreamed-about vacation home and I can’t wait to see those photos. 

The details matter. 

You know all those little technical details, like checking all the links on your website, making sure all of the wording is appropriate, that your SEO is working for you? To me those aren’t fun at all. But one client has taught me that consistently caring for these kinds of details means she has a website that easily attracts new clients. Most people probably can’t say that their website is a major source of potential clients, but she can and I’m keeping that firmly in mind as I redo my website. 

When you put structure and meaning in place, you make stuff happen.

Cal Ripken holds the MLB record for most consecutive games played (2,632). I’ve started calling another client “Cal” because she’s committed to walking every day and getting her steps logged. She’s out there no matter the weather, which is really saying something because she lives in Minnesota. She decided one day that she was going to do this, connected with all of her reasons why it was important and booked it in her calendar. She surrounded herself with a framework that’s helped her turn the goal of “getting my steps” into more than just something she does, it’s part of who she is.