From The Business Coaching Chronicles What Are You Subscribing To?

One of the more interesting situations I have come across in my personal business coaching practice has to do with what someone was subscribing to.  When I ask most people or when I am asked myself, “What am I subscribing to?”….my first thought is that someone is asking me what I believe.

With this particular client, the issue was not just what they believed or were subscribing to.  It was all the magazines they were subscribing to.

Staying Focused Is Subscribing To The Right Thing

This particular business owner had had a very good business.  But, over time he had become bored with it.  With boredom comes loss of interest.  With loss of interest comes loss of activity.  And with loss of activity sales, profits and morale start to plunge.

The general manager of the business was stealing from it. To top it off, payroll taxes had not been paid to the IRS.

This owner had stopped subscribing to personal and business growth and the results were disastrous.  The small business success that had once been a reality was now a distant dream.

Boredom: You Can Start Subscribing To The Wrong Thing

To fill the boredom and feel important this self-employed business owner had an addiction to magazine subscriptions and to magazines in general.  Besides subscribing to over 50 magazines he would go to the local Barnes and Noble and purchase up to $200 in magazines a week.  And, which didn’t make sense, very often he would purchase the same magazine over and over again since most of them came out monthly.

The obvious question is how do you go from running a small business well for almost 20 years to having it be a disaster?

Low Self-Esteem Can Lead You To Subscribing To The Wrong Thing

Low self-esteem or a poor sense of self-worth will lead to poor choices.  To boost your self-esteem you will start doing things, in this business owner’s case subscribing to magazines,  that temporarily make you feel good but in the long run can have a devastating effect.

Financially, the magazines, when we looked at it in depth were costing him over $1,000 per month and took upwards of 20 hours out of his work week.

What Is The Real Problem Here?  Only Then Can You Start Subscribing To The Right Answers

As our relationship developed the business owner started to reduce the number of magazines he subscribed to.  But, we weren’t out of the woods.  The key question for me was, What was causing him to have this extreme focus or possible addiction to subscribing to and purchasing magazines?

It was his personal life which included a bad marriage and a difficult relationship that his wife had with their only child.  When he went home at night he couldn’t stand to be in the same room with her where she watched TV.  He would go into another room and read magazines.  He had always loved to read.

But now the magazines and the reading were just an escape.

Solution:  Subscribing To A Better Vision Of The Future

Over a period of months we collaborated together to develop a happy vision of the future for my client.  As we started to take those steps, the grip of the magazines and subscribing to them began to weaken.

For him to achieve the business and life he desired magazines, and magazine subscriptions in over abundance, could not be part of his success plan.  He became more focused every day on taking actions to lead him to the future he desired.

He developed new habits and new disciplines.  He became focused on good things.  Within 18 months the business was profitable and the IRS was paid off.  The general manager was fired and replaced with a person who took the business and the service it provided to a higher level.

Unfortunately his marriage after going to counseling individually and together ended in divorce.  Today his business and life are in a great place.  All it took was no longer subscribing to the wrong things and bad relationships.

If you want a better future do the following.  Create a happy and better vision and start subscribing to it.