Dear Helen,

Today was the agreed upon payment deadline for getting started with a new high level client, and I haven’t heard anything. Should I just let it go and assume she changed her mind, or am I being a scaredy cat?

- When to Move On?

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Dear When,

Your question is a good one, and the most honest answer I can give you is – it depends.

Is this someone you’d really like to work with (as opposed to wanting to work with her because you really want the income)? If so, I’d recommend giving her a call and finding out what’s up. Be curious. Tell her the reasons you’d like to work with her, reiterate what the anticipated result of your work together is and ask if that’s still something she wants. See if there’s some obstacle to getting started that you can help her work out.

If she’s not someone you really want to work with, I’d let it go and go look for someone who is. Too often, heart-based business owners pursue clients and projects that are less than ideal, in the belief that something is better than nothing. It’s not.

The problem is, it means you’re taking action from a mindset of lack and “not enough.” If it does eventually pan out, then you’re stuck with something you didn’t really want in the first place – and often have spent lots of time and energy getting. Time and energy that would have been better spent attracting clients and projects that make you happy.

It’s your choice which end result you really want to create.

Dear Helen,

I spend way too much time working on my business. I would like to take breaks away regularly but I’m afraid everything will fall apart if I do.

- Curious Coach

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Dear Curious,

We want your light to shine, but that doesn’t mean you need to be the sun around which everything in your business universe revolves!

You’d be surprised how those people and projects we think will crumble without us, don’t. (And not just in our business, by the way.)

In fact, it will make your business stronger as you move in the direction of creating systems, procedures and programs in both your marketing and service delivery that don’t require your constant personal input to function.

The first step? Declare a regular day off. Hey, go crazy and declare two! And then take it, without fail, every week. Once that’s under your belt, come back and we’ll talk about what’s next.