I set up my dream business a year ago and after reflecting on how quickly the time has flown by, I realised that there was much to be celebrated along the way. I share my personal motivations and a few of the lessons and insights I’ve learnt.

I was motivated to create Life is Today Coaching and Publishing because I wanted:

-No more of the glass ceiling; Personal progression is really important to me and over the years there were too many times when I felt that I wanted to give so much more to a job role but I simply couldn’t because the promotions weren’t available, or I felt that I was being held back by office politics. So, why not set up my own business where there is absolutely zero glass ceiling and even the sky isn’t the limit! Ideal for the trailblazing rebel in me!

-To make my ideas come to life and be as creative and spontaneous as I desire; I’ve always been in touch with my creative spark in different forms such as writing, speaking languages, arts and crafts, producing outcome-based resources for teaching and generally creating what is in my heart and mind. Life is today was the ideal platform for me to tap into more creativity for a different audience.

-To have the freedom lifestyle that allows me to look after my mental health and physical well being, which is so important to me. This allows me to take days off whenever I want or need, live a flexible life that isn’t boxed in by a
9am-5pm or hours of administrative box ticking, to travel as and when I need to (for business or pleasure) and to be the creator of my destiny,

-To actually just be able to be me and not have to apologise for seeing things from a different perspective. Life experiences have taught me an incredible amount and I no longer wanted to dilute that I saw things differently. I
also wanted work to be about doing all the things that interested me; psychology, human behaviour, brain science, motivation, finding solutions and overcoming adversity. Sometimes, there are just some things like sitting in pointless meetings or boring offices that are just soul-destroying!

-To work with like-minded people who are go-getters and want to make something of themselves and their lives, and if I can help in the smallest way as coach and teacher, than it’s a pleasure. On a bigger scale, I wanted to positively impact more people not just children, on a worldwide scale. We really do need each other together, more than separated.

-To live my life’s purpose and fulfil my personal mission ‘to inspire others to inspire themselves’ (This intuitive insight came to me last week, when I decided to take Friday off as a ‘Do nothing day’ just because I wanted to recharge and reenergise.

-And, finally to truly walk the walk of following my heart and make every single dream come true-because that is what our dreams are for; to be realised!

I had no idea a year ago that I would achieve all I have: I have set up and now run three businesses, achieved two certifications of NLP (Practitioner and Master), travelled monthly, self-published my first book and 98% finished my second book (! ), created a great list of supportive, loyal and genuine subscribers and readers, coached clients around the UK, USA and Europe and still teach Languages. Oh, and the best thing is that I get a good night’s sleep, get to the gym/pool and can stop and go as I need to-bonus!

So, a few of the lessons that I’ve learnt:

-My business is not my identity. I’m still Leila; the person who is driving the business forward through my own understanding, knowledge, experience, failures and success. The business is my responsibility and the vehicle that helps me to connect with amazing people that I meet on a daily basis for whatever purpose we all serve each other.

-There is a genuine need for people to work with coaches in order to improve themselves and their businesses, but maybe a lack of understanding of what coaching is and how it works.

-The daily constants are love and fear. I’ve learnt that even in business fear just wants to be acknowledged and shown through love that everything is ok, the unknown and personal growth are worth it, so NEVER GIVE UP! Life is to be enjoyed and not to be wasted for a moment! The other daily constant is that every single day is about learning, making mistakes, forgiving, improving, developing my knowledge and leading myself forward each day, always with the clients that I work with in mind.

-Collaboration in business, rather than ‘competition’ is so much more fun, authentic and life affirming than competing-The way that I see it, I can’t help everyone and neither can the competition, we might as well play respectfully, and share!

-There is always a fellow business colleague around who is willing to help and share their expertise, who is open to learning in order to improve their own business.

-Being an entrepreneur is like being in a really cool club of like minded people, who have a great, driven, creative and fun energy about them

-Like attracts like and I’ve been really blessed to make some great friends with business owners and we appreciate that we’re trying our best and in this together.

-The downsides have been that it’s not easy, especially at the beginning to get your head around everything that seems to be thrown at you in terms of what you have to know and do. In fact, it feels as if everyone is telling you what to do, or you should do this or that.At the beginning it was incredibly overwhelming. Now, I just say ‘Nope, I don’t need to do that, or try that or sign up for this, or pay for that’ unless it is the wise decision that will help me, to help my clients better. There were also quite a few times where I thought of giving up, but the feeling was too strong to ever do that. The right people came into my life at the right time, and said ‘Keep going’. So, I am! I am still a loooong way away from the Business and NLP Mastery that I want to achieve. One day at a time.

-Opportunities come to you when you are willing to open the door. Always keep an open heart and an open mind.

-Faith over doubt. Every. Single. Time. This has been my mantra for years and it continues to be so as my business journey continues.

-Have fun and enjoy life otherwise what is the point?! It’s absolutely possible to make your dreams come true, see my journey as proof of that xxx

Are you thinking of setting up your own business? What excites you? Have you set up your own business and what valuable lessons have you learnt?