I might turn into the Incredible Hulk?

One of the best things about my work is that I get to work with lots of people who have a deep expertise in their specialist subjects. Folk who have done their 10,000 hours of practice, who’ve studied hard and have often come up with their own unique way of doing things. I love this because I get to dip into these pools of knowledge and work with experts, so I’m always learning.

You probably recognise this in your work. You’ve been doing what you do for years now and built up your special set of skills, capabilities and a depth of experience in your practice. Your best clients love you because you make a real difference for them.

But

Because I admire my clients for their deep expertise and the amount of work they’ve put into developing their skills, I sometimes get angry on their behalf. Sometimes I worry I’m going to turn into the Incredible Hulk, because I get so cross.

What is making you turn green and muscly, Julia?

I see all these folk with deep expertise getting ripped off by their clients because they’re using the wrong business model. Too many people are trapped in the trading time for money business model, when, by simply thinking about things in a different way, they could change the way they work. Forever.

I wonder if this applies to you?

I know only too well, because this was precisely my situation. For years. And years. I set up my consulting business back in 2001, doing all kinds of bits and pieces on a day rate. After a while, I’d got a reputation, made some connections and had regular clients and contracts. Brilliant, I’d got clients, I was earning money, it was all sorted. Little did I know…but I’d got onto the hamster wheel of never-ending client projects and would take a long time to get me out.

In fact, I have to confess, it was only by accident that I stumbled into a productised services business model for my coaching work. And then, by experiment (and repeated failures), I developed further and further away from trading time for money. Adopting an asset-building, productising mindset got me off that client hamster wheel.

To break free of the hamster wheel, I had to change my mindset about how to make a living.

To be free of the trap of trading time for money, we all need to move away from that crappy fixed idea of our work being an exchange of time for money. It is entirely possible to separate out how we spend our time and how money ends up in our bank account.

Changing my mindset from the trading time for money consultancy set up through to productised services and then to the higher-impact, lower-time commitment products like cohort programmes is what has changed my earning power. And my ability to feel comfortable with going for a Huevos Rancheros brunch while reading a space adventure crime novel on a Monday morning before heading to the office to do interesting, exciting work I love.

Most people are still stuck on the hamster wheel in the rat race

Quick note – why are all these terms for having to spend your time trapped in repetitive tasks about small rodents? Hamsters, rats, groundhogs…Yes, just checked, groundhogs are rodents.

Most people are stuck on that hamster wheel. Not able to take time out, except maybe a couple of holidays a year. And unable to be spontaneous and fully present to do what they want to do on a Monday. Or a Tuesday…or any of the other days. Living for the all too short weekend.

And this is what makes me cross. Because if you’ve built up your treasure chest of magic, the superpowers of expertise you’ve worked so hard to accumulate (and you might not even know you have this), then…life does not have to be quite such a grind.

Join me in my mission

I’m on a mission to get as many people as possible off that hamster wheel and into a new productising mindset. I’ve already been through this with a few hundred people, so I’ve tested out how it works. The good news is that you’ve already done the hard work. You’ve already:

• Got a business up and running
• Worked with loads of clients, so you know what they need
• Built at least part of the infrastructure we’re going to need, for example, your social capital and network, brand, website and all those business bits and pieces.

I’m sure you take all of this for granted, because you’ve needed it anyway, but believe me, having these foundations makes the next part so much easier.

And of course, you probably don’t even notice the main asset you’ve built over the years. Your expertise. AKA Your magic or your superpowers.

That’s what we’re going to use for the next stage – we’re going to productise your expertise.

Check out Productise Your Expertise