Consultant

MINDSET Exercise #1:

1. Write your eulogy. You are going to die someday. This is a 100% predictable event. Don’t overlook how powerful it can be. When you bring crystal clarity to your life, you can better reverse engineer it and prevent ‘drifting.’

2. Create a mission statement for your life. Different from a eulogy; a mission statement can give you a compass for how you live on a daily basis. Do what is important to you. Say, “No” to everything else.

Create a health-span financial plan. Assume you’ll live longer than your parents and require more money than your financial planner told you. There is no limit to what you can do, so why not go big?

LIFESTYLE Exercise #2:

3. Do you want to speak to large audiences or small?

4. Do you want to speak at all?

5. How far are you willing to travel to speak?

6. Are you comfortable presenting and teaching online?

7. Do you have a curriculum or methodology that can be formed?

8. Would you like to consult or coach? Do you understand the difference?

9. Who do you know in your industry who has the lifestyle you’d want? What industries outside of your own could you study (for fresh ideas)?

PLATFORM Exercise #3:

10. Where do your clients go online and offline?

11. Go where they go, but no further. If 80% of your clients are on LinkedIn, no need to bother with Tik Tok. If they read INC magazine, but don’t go on Facebook, focus on INC.

Don’t hire a publicist, marketing firm, or start on your book just yet. Complete the remainder of the exercises below. Soon, you’ll have a clear mission and solution your audience is hungry for.

CONTENT Exercise #4a:

12. What are you passionate about? (business AND non-business)

13. What are you good at? (list more than one item)

14. When you look at these two lists above, draw a line between any cross-over.

15. If you have more than one connected line, you’ll need to prioritize. Do this by:

Ease. Which one could you teach right now, without preparation?

Revenue. Which one has the highest perceived margins?

Uniqueness. Which one could you drill down into a micro-niche?

CONTENT Exercise #4b:

You may want to focus on leadership fundamentals for the healthcare industry, but do they want this? Now that you have a general idea, it’s time to vet and validate your idea with your audience. You need to spend a solid amount of time on this part because when you’re done, you’ll not only create great solutions, but bankable ones.

Go to your existing network or go to LinkedIn and create a profile of who your ideal client would be. Create an avatar that is not only demographic, but psychographic as well.

16. What do they do? (job title)

17. How long have they done it? (experience)

18. What industry do they serve? (SIC code)

19. Age/Gender/Race?

20. Family/Single/Kids?

The next part may be weird, but do it anyway. If you do, your messaging will be subtly laced with their words, feelings, and values.

What car do they drive?

How do they dress?

What are their political beliefs?

How do they see themselves spiritually? What are their values?

SOLUTION Exercise #5:

Go back to exercise 4a and look at your passion + skills.

21. Do they align in your current industry?

22. Does consulting, coaching, or teaching in this industry excite you?

23. What do you stand for?

24. What do you stand against?

If what you wrote down in exercise 4a does not excite you, go back to those 2 lists at the beginning of 4a and invest some additional time in self-reflection.

If you are still stuck, use the process of elimination:

25. Write down 100 things you want to be, do and have.

26. Select 10 (and only 10) with the understanding the other 90 will never happen.Prioritize those 10 by passion. Select the top 1 and go back to exercises 1-4b.

AUTOMATION Exercise #6:

27. Write down your exact deliverables. Be clear on what you will do and what you will not. “Scope creep” can become an issue for new consultants eager to please. You can overdeliver, if you choose, but don’t go hog wild.

Name

First NameLast Name

Email

example@example.com