RamonaCreel.com

The hardest question I can ask an overwhelmed person is, “With what do you need help?” (Not because most folks are unfamiliar with grammatical-correctness, but because they don’t actually have any clue what they want in life, besides the vague notion that it could somehow be “better.”) That’s okay — a good bit of what I do is help my peeps clarify (then prioritize) their wants and needs.

Tell-Me-What-You-Want-What-You-Really-Really-Want

Answers on the personal side range from “I’m tired of my life feeling so out of control” to “I want to actually complete the projects I’ve started and only half-finished” — from “I’d like to get out of debt and become financially independent” to “It’s time for me to adopt some healthier habits” — from “I’ve got to get better about drawing personal boundaries” to “I’m not happy in my job and am ready to make a career change.”

Business replies include everything from “I’m just getting started and I have no idea what all I need to do” to “I’ve been in business for a while and I feel like I’m stuck” — “I want to be more effective with my clients” to “I don’t understand why folks aren’t hiring me, or what I need to do differently to close a sale” — “Entrepreneurship is stressing me out and I need to find a way to make it all more manageable” to “I’m ready to take my existing company to the next level.”

Fine-Not-Fine

You have this habit of forcing yourself to be “fine” all day — but then when you turn out the light and are lying in your bed, you realize that you’re very fucking far from “fine.” There are times when you manage to convince yourself that everything is okay — but your dreams suggest otherwise.

Folks (even those who know you well) presume you’ve got your shit together — because you don’t act as if anything is wrong. You appear outwardly cheerful and responsible, living your life like any other functional human being. You don’t do drugs or drink yourself into oblivion or engage in self-harm — you don’t scream or cry or throw things. So you just lie there in the dark, being fine-not-fine.

Being fine-not-fine is a hard habit to break.

It’s too hard to feel because all you feel is lousy — disappointed, overwhelmed, worried, frustrated, sad. So you decide to stop feeling. But you can’t just shut down the negative emotions — all the good stuff disappears along with them. You can’t remember the last time you felt joy or excitement or passion. While other people are talking about foreign ideas like “hope” and “optimism,” tomorrow fills you with a sense of dread.

The best you can manage right now is to maintain a good facade and hope that you can just suffer through it — the thought of “making it better” seems as remote as winning the lottery or traveling into space.

Over time, it’s all gotten backed up in your system — you can feel the pressure building, and you wonder when it’s finally going to blow. “When,” not “if,” because you know it’s just a matter of time until you can no longer hold it together. What you really need is an emotional laxative.

In Your Personal Life

– you’re sick-to-death of being surrounded by stacks and piles and a general sense of chaos

– money seems to just disappear, and you have no idea where it’s gone — you know you’re pissing your hard earned cash away on stupid stuff, you just don’t know how to plug those spending leaks

– you’re tired of having to skip out on fun activities because you can’t afford them

In Your Work Life

– the spark is gone — you just don’t love what you do anymore, and you’re not sure how to fix it

– you’re finished doing work you hate because the money is too good to leave — it’s time for a change

– you know that you want to do something “else” for a living — but you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up

– you used to play with the big boys, but you’re just not feeling at the top of your game anymore

– the market is suddenly flooded with a bunch of newbies, and you want to stay competitive

– your business has grown so much that it’s now more than you can handle and you’re overwhelmed

– you really need to bring in some help (be it employees or outsourced freelancers) — but the idea terrifies you

– you’re so busy serving current clients, you don’t have time for prospecting

– you don’t just want your company to be a carbon-copy of someone else’s
“proven” systems

– you want to become a thought leader in your field, not a worker bee

– even at the very start of your entrepreneurial adventure, you’re aiming
for something more than just “self-employed”

– you want to stretch yourself, to go beyond what your colleagues are
doing, to make a lasting mark

– you’d like to work for yourself — but you have no clue what to do or how to do it

– you attempted to start your own business in the past — and failed miserably at it

– you’re self-employed — but you’re working your ass off to just barely break even (if you’re lucky)

– your business is steady but it’s gotten dull, predictable, stifling — you’d love to take it to the next level if only you knew how

– you wish you could find more satisfaction in running your current business

– you’re tired of how hard it all seems — you wish you could bring in (and serve) more clients with less effort

– feel like you don’t know what to do to get a potential client to say yes — your free consultations aren’t turning into paying customers, and you avoid having sales conversations because you have a fear of rejection or bothering people

– you’re close to giving up on being an entrepreneur

I’ve Struggled Since Pretty-Much-Birth — Is There Any Hope?

Naw man — you’re fucked. (Really? Is that what you actually expected me to say?) ‘Course there’s hope! Pinpointing-what’s-working-and-not, figuring-out-the-steps-for-having-what-you-want, and successfully-navigating-those-from-one-kind-of-life-to-another-transitions — these are all skills that anyone can learn. Don’t believe me? That’s okay — I’ll believe it for you until you can believe it for yourself.

I’ve Failed So Many Times Before — What If I Just Can’t Do It?

First off, are you exactly the same person today as you were back then? Stuck in equivalent circumstances? Possessing identical neuronal circuits and thought patterns? With a carbon-copy collection of experiences tucked under that 80s-throwback cummerbund? No — you’re a wholly-completely different human being.

Second, you can frame boo-boos as failure, or (using the “fuck-ups = experience = better-future-decision-making = success” equation) growth. In my world, you’re only defeated if you don’t learn — and trouble seeing the lesson just means ya got cloudy eyes. (But I’m happy to loan you my clear-as-that-freshly-windexed-sliding-glass-door-you-ran-into-and-busted-your-nose-on ones.) Apply said knowledge to your next sadder-but-wiser attempt, progress a tad farther than before, call it a “win,” and get on with your day!

Third, you’ve just-barely-goddamned-tapped-into what’s possible — that’s when you give up?? “Haven’t achieved it” doesn’t mean “never will.” It means you need help getting there. One of my greatest skills is recognizing the seemingly-invisible in others, then turning that vision into a one of those new-found-awareness-suddenly-lets-you-think-in-a-whole-new-way-a-major-ah-ha breakthroughs. You’re not broken, you’re blocked — please let me pull out my problem-solving plunger and unclog them psychic drain

But I’ve Worked With Other Coaches, And It Hasn’t Helped.

Uh-huh. This is not your typical “coaching” — it’s something far more comprehensive and life-changing. And let me tell you why.

How Long Will This Work Take And How Much Will It Cost?

Fair question when hiring a carpet-installer, auto-mechanic, or any other possessing-concrete-diagnostic-measurements-about-how-to-fix-what’s-wrong technician. Not-so-much when your success is dependent upon YOU.

Would you ask a therapist to give you a time-frame for overcoming depression? Of course not. How about requesting a flat lose-twenty-pounds-and-build-impressive-biceps fee from your personal trainer? Gimme a break. Attorneys with no clue how complex your legal problems are until they’re at trial? Request a “job rate” from any of these folks, they’ll laugh your asses off — as might I, if you ask the same from me.

I never say “it’s going to cost-x-amount-and-take-this-long to organize that closet or make your company profitable or get you out on the road” — ‘cuz I work with dynamically-evolving humans facing a myriad overlapping issues that morph and change throughout the course of the program, whose dreams and desire are in constant flux, and whose life circumstances look totally different from one day to the next.

You’re purchasing a professional relationship, not a commodity. I shift mindsets and permanently alter less-than-constructive patterns, and I do it until you decide that you no longer get enough value from the program to be worth the investment — only you can decide when that happens.

Why Is Your Program So Much Spendier Than That Ebook I Saw On Amazon?

Because this isn’t an ebook – this is a comprehensive life-change program. If you want to read about authenticity, you’re welcome to check out my blogs. (Which are free — unlike that Amazon book!) If you need an inexpensive DIY option, I offer my toolkits and meditations as stand-alones. Just because you can’t go whole-hog doesn’t mean you can’t do SOMETHING to get started in the right direction. Even a single step is better than standing still.

I Really Need Your Help, But I Can’t Afford You. What Should I Do?

You should get your spending priorities in line, save up, and stop allowing rationalization to control your decisions. Seriously — if you wanted a house/car/trip and didn’t have the cash, you’d trim those excess fast-food-starbucks-channels-you-never-watch-magazines-you-don’t-read expenses from the old budget.

When you see that purchase as a gonna-benefit-you-for-years-long-term-investment, you become waaaaay more willing to sacrifice on its behalf. And frankly, if whatever-you’re-prepared-to-give-up for that vehicle/domicile/vacation ain’t also a no-brainer when it comes to business-growth, personal-improvement, and dream-realization — you’ve got some serious out-of-whack going on there. The cold-hard-fact is that if you want it badly enough, you’ll make a way. If not, you’ll make excuses.

I’m sure you fence-sitters are familiar with the pain a rectally-inserted-post causes — so lemme make this choice real clear. If money weren’t an issue, would you commit? (I’m talking about an of-course-in-a-heartbeat-without-hesitation-I-need-you-and-only-you-to-help-me level of certainty?) If the answer is “yes,” let’s find a way to make money NOT be an issue — we’ll use your freebie consult to work out a customized I-want-this-now-how-do-I-pay-for-it plan. There’s always a solution, we just have to find it.

In the mean time, I do also offer a variety of lower-cost-flat-rate “solutions” to particular problems — in the form of trainings, toolkits, reference manuals, and issue-specific-strategy-sessions.

I’m So Busy Right Now — How Will I Ever Find The Time?

If you’re sitting back hoping a free calendar block will drop into your lap, you could be waiting a long while. You want it to happen — you’re gonna have to actually MAKE the time. Remember our just-seconds-ago discussion about finding a way to pay for that desired life change? Same goes for the clearing-away-of-temporally-wasteful-distractions-in-order-to-focus-on-a-scheduling-priority.

That having been said, there are moments when so-much-going-on will get in the way of our work — for example, I’d never suggest starting a program with someone who’s three-days-away-from-a-cross-country-relocation. Or mid-IRS-tax-audit. Or about to give birth. Or hospice-caregiving-a-dying-parent. In those instances, we’d wait until life’s had a chance to calm back down. But most of the scheduling conflicts my folks face are completely-with-a-little-creativity-and-healthy-use-of-the-word-no-as-it-relates-to-gratuitous-external-obligations-overcome-able. Let’s use your freebie consult to see about your situation.

But….But….But….

Yes, I know. You need to talk to your spouse/boss/partner first. You have to figure out what to do with the kids/staff during our calls. You worry that your excitement will flame-out after the first couple sessions. You aren’t sure how to get the entire family/work-team on board. Will folks think you’re incompetent-and-unable-to-solve-your-own-problems if you ask for outside help? And what about the stress of completing the damn homework in-between-times? Maybe you’re better off just maintaining the status quo?

I get it. Change is scary. And no matter how sure your heart is that you need to do things differently, your head keeps getting in the way — grasping at any possible excuse that saves you from having to commit.

But dude — look how much effort you’ve put into convincing me that you can’t. What sorts of amazeballs things do you think might happen if you invested that much energy into convincing yourself that you can?

Sounds Like A Lot Of Work — Can’t You Just Sell Me A Ready-Made Plan? I’ll Pay Extra To Have You Do The Work For Me And Just Tell Me How To Implement The Dang Thing

Some consultants will offer to come in and do things “for” you — write a business plan or craft a resume, set up a filing system or declutter a garage, create an RV-buying-requirements-checklist or plan an amazeballs maiden voyage.

You don’t have to lift a flipping finger.

You also aren’t going to learn a fucking thing.

I believe in working “with” my clients — you need to be involved in the process so you can acquire the skills that make you a stronger, better, more capable human being.

Empowerment is the cornerstone of my philosophy. (I can’t help it. Blame the Social Worker in me.) It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper for you to have me teach you how to problem-solve on your own — rather than having me come back again and again to tidy up your messes.

Instead of looking for a miracle cure, you’d do better to think of our work like the hiring of a personal trainer. You can’t expect to have a new body overnight. It takes time to burn away the flab and build up muscle — then you have to stick with it every day to maintain your results. But as your own-personal-Hanz-and-Franze, I’m here to pump you up!”

How Do I Know If We’ll Be A Good Match?

First you need to have a clear idea in your head of what you expect from me, what sort of role you see me playing in your life. Then consider what kind of time/effort you’re prepared to put into your own growth. Last-but-not-least, read my successful-client-relationship requirements, and see how well they align.

How Will My World Be Different When We’re Done?

You tell me. (Seriously — I can’t read your mind. Nor is it my job to decide for you.)

Before this clutter-clearing-business-building-full-timing odyssey begins, Imma ask you take a minute and think about your intended destination. (Because changing any part of one’s existence sans a mental image of that “new you” is like applying makeup while driving down a bumpy road. With your eyes closed.)

And I’m talking about your own personal end result — not what your spouse wants, not what your friends think you “should” do, not the latest magazine-or-talk-show trend. (Because blindly adopting someone else’s life-standards instead of choosing your own is like letting your 102-year-old arthritic-parkinson-stricken grandmother do your makeup while driving down a bumpy road — with her eyes closed!)

Paint me a five-dimensional picture of how you want life to be — what it looks, feels, tastes, sounds, and smells like. The more authentic and textured and JUICY you can make it, the more real it will seem to your brain, and the easier it will be to achieve. (As far as the old gray matter’s concerned, seeing is believing — and we’re all about duping those dumb-ass brain cells, if it gets you where you need to be.)