Hi everyone, it’s Pat here, and it is July already. I’m so excited because I did want to share a few insights with you based on some conversations that I’ve had with some people lately, some colleagues and some business friends, and so it’s all around the topic of the fact that yes, it is July, and while I’ve titled this “I’m bored,” some of you might be thinking oh this might be for the moms right now because the kids have been out of school one week, and some of them might be bored. However, that’s not the case. That’s not the topic. That’s not what I’m going to cover here.

July has typically been a time in my business where we do a lot of reflection. I take a really good look at the business and I ask myself, with respect to vendors, suppliers, processes, systems, team, clients, products, all of that, website, what’s working, what’s not, what do we keep doing, where do we stop doing, what do we start doing? That’s my typical process for the month of July.

Now, in the course of conversations lately, and also in July, I make an effort to reach out to a lot of my colleagues, my friends, and talk to them about what’s going on in their world, and a common theme that has come out of it this week, which I found very interesting, right up until the last hour, was that expression, that statement that I’m bored. Many of you, many of us have been doing our business the last five years, six years, seven years, eight years, 10 years in the same way, and so of course you’re bored.

Listen, I’ve hit states of boredom too, and so I wanted to talk about that because when you’re doing the same thing over and over, you’re going to get the same results, and for those of you who are feeling bored with any aspect of your business, for something to change, something’s got to change, and that’s what I want to talk about because what people say to me is, first of all, how do I recognize that I’m bored?

Well, first of all, the fire’s gone out of your belly. Secondly, you’re finding it harder and harder to jump out of bed in the morning and get to your office, wherever that office might be, and thirdly, when you do get there, I should say if and when do you do get there, you just find yourself staring blankly at a computer screen and/or just looking at that phone, knowing and recognizing you should be making phone calls, but the interest isn’t there, the energy isn’t there, the fire isn’t there. So that’s how you can recognize a state of boredom.

All right, what to do about that and how do you change it up? Now, I do have a few suggestions around it. Number one, and what has worked for me, is to do an inventory of yourself, so take a look at and make a list of your skills, your expertise, your talents, your interests, things that you’ve achieved, succeeded very well at, and just compile that list. I would take a really good look at the list and also make a list of where and what and how you’ve invested in yourself as a business owner over the last many years.

I, for one, have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in my personal and professional development over these past eight years, so the Pat who moved here to London and relaunched her business is not the Pat who’s sitting here today. I’ve evolved, I’ve grown, I’ve changed, things have changed around me, people around me have changed, and so you’ve got to take a look at that, and rather than become stagnant or complacent or bored, the opportunity is here to sit back right now, today, and make that list of skills, talents, expertise, of certificates, of anything that you’ve learned, people that you’ve met, places you’ve been.

I’ve had the blessing, the good fortune of traveling around the world three times in a private plane for a month each time, since I’ve moved here. The former Pat never had that experience. This Pat has, and as a result, I’ve become a really great blogger for food and travel. I’ve really grown my list of subscribers on TripAdvisor, so again, as I’ve said, things change, people change, you’ve changed. So the first step in turning this around and getting that fire back, and getting excited about life again is make that inventory list.

So for me, I started back when—my friend Louise, who lives in Alberta, when we were in our 20s we worked together for the town that Fort Saskatchewan. I was human resources. She was the financial controller. An unlikely pair of friends, but every noon hour we made a commitment to go work out. I’ve always had an interest in physical fitness, in staying healthy, and staying flexible and mobile, and so we also decided together to get our personal fitness trainer certification. We weren’t going to do anything with it, we just loved to learn and become a better version of ourselves, and then as years went by and as I was getting prepared to get married, I went to Weight Watchers. What bride doesn’t go to Weight Watchers to lose weight before your big day?

So I went to Weight Watchers and then, over the course of time, I actually was employed by Weight Watchers for a period of eight years. A lot of people don’t know that about me. Three years full-time doing marketing, professional speaking, recruiting, all of that, and five years part-time as a group leader, and yes, very much a part of the Weight Watchers team. Again, I’ve always had an interest in health, nutrition, and wellness. It’s just inherent in who I am, and so as I started to make that list myself to think about who am I as a whole, what do I bring to the party, what do I bring to this world, what more can I offer in that capacity that brings me joy and satisfaction, and where I can integrate it into my business. So that’s number one, take your inventory number.

Number two; assess from that inventory what you can incorporate into your current business. What is in alignment with who you are now, with your core values, with your business, and that’s a key part of it. The other part of it is based on that, what piece of that is the market prepared to pay for? What need is there out there? What will they pay for and who will pay for it? That’s a big piece of doing business. You’re in business to make money and to make a profit.

So take a look first, do the inventory. Secondly, what piece of the inventory can you integrate into your current business that is in alignment that will also bring you joy and satisfaction?

I look at this chapter of my life. I’m going to be 67 next month. I have no plans of stopping or quitting or slowing down. However, I do want to do a 180 and continue to look at what’s out there and what can I add a value to what’s out there and what is needed, and who will pay me? So be thinking about that, and then thirdly, the third step in this is to choose one of those items from your inventory list and start to incorporate it into your business. You don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater where you’ve got a successful, thriving business happening, but take a look at what can you add that’s value added, that makes sense?

For me, those of you have been following me, you know I’m incorporating health and wellness. My new signature talk, which I’ve already taken out to the market, is You’re Killing Your Business Because You’re Killing Yourself: Five Steps to Turn it Around Today. So I talk about my five non-negotiables when it comes to health and wellness, and staying a viable, mobile, upright, healthy, happy entrepreneur, and so what is one thing you can incorporate?

For me, it’s health and wellness. Another piece to that is that I’m starting to offer health and wellness retreats, so I’ve done two beta tests on a new format for a mastermind, and the major focus has been on transforming your life to transform your body, and therefore, transform your business.

So take a look at your list. Take a look at what your market needs, wants, and will pay for, and what’s one thing you can incorporate into your business to bring that spark back to your life, to bring the spark back to your face so you will attract people to you?

There are many people walking around now and they’ve got boredom written all over their face. I’m so bored. Well, that’s not very attractive, people, so find the one thing that you want to incorporate into your life and into your business right now. These are three easy steps to do that, to move from boredom into some fire and energy and more money these days.

All right, with those three tips, some of you are going to be sitting there saying, “All right, that sounds pretty good, but I don’t know how to do this.” I can help you with that. I do have another mastermind coming up in August, the end of August right here in London, where I live. It’s a day-and-a-half format. Some people have already, some people on this feed, have already had exposure to that and there are great testimonials and great feedback from it, great results coming out of it.

So, for those of you who are interested, that you’ve gone through step one, step two, and step three that I just shared, and you want to go the next step with me behind closed doors in this by-invitation mastermind, because I pre-screen people, then go to http://hirepat.com/coi

That stands for Circle of Influence. http://hirepat.com/coi to get the information for the health and wellness type retreat here with me in London end of August, at the beautiful Idlewyld Inn, and I will walk you through the steps of how to take these three steps and more to bring that fire back in your belly and to energize yourself so that you too will attract that type of energy and clients to you and to your business, and that’s it. It’s a simple 1-2-3 step, and then a follow-up to take action and make it reality for you. Would love to help.

All right, that’s it for today. Take a look; I’ll post the link here for you. Talk to you next time.