The Plan Isn't the Part I'm Most Interested In

Hey Coach, 

I've been thinking about a question lately that I could use your help answering. 

But first, let me explain why. 

I recently listened to Darren Hardy tell the story of Barefoot Wine. When the founders started the company, they thought they were in the wine business. So naturally, they focused on making great wine. 

The problem was that great wine didn't matter much if nobody could find it or buy it. 

Between them and the person drinking their wine were distributors, buyers, store managers, shelf stockers and others who controlled whether that bottle ever made it into someone's shopping cart. 

Eventually they realized something important: 

They weren't just in the wine business. They were in the distribution business. 

Once they understood the real problem they needed to solve, the business took off. 

That got me thinking about the work I've been doing with coaches for all these years. 

Maybe Productivity Isn't Really the Problem 

I've spent a big part of my career helping coaches become more productive. 

We plan our weeks. Identify priorities. Protect recruiting time. Delegate. Build better systems. Organize recruiting. Create boundaries. Figure out what our Level 10 effort should go toward. 

All of that matters. 

But I'm starting to wonder if there's another problem underneath all of it. 

Because most coaches I know aren't walking around completely clueless about what they should be doing. 

You know you should plan. 

You know recruiting can't continually get pushed aside. 

You know you shouldn't spend your entire morning in email. 

You know your assistants need to own more. 

You know you probably shouldn't be answering work texts from the couch at 9:30 at night. 

Knowing isn't usually the hard part. 

Doing it consistently once coaching happens might be. 

You make a great plan Sunday night. 

Then Monday morning a player is waiting outside your office. Your AD needs something. An assistant has a question. Practice changes. A recruit wants to talk. There's a compliance issue. You open your inbox for "five minutes." 

And suddenly it's 3:30. 

The plan didn't seem unreasonable at 7 a.m. 

It just didn't survive contact with your actual job. 

This Is What I Want to Understand Better 

After 24 years of coaching and now years of working with coaches on productivity, I'm spending a lot of time thinking about this: 

What actually prevents good coaches from working the way they want to work? 

Not what productivity tip you need next. 

I want to understand where things actually break. 

Maybe you start every week with a plan, but other people's needs constantly take over. 

Maybe recruiting is important, but it keeps losing to whatever feels urgent. 

Maybe you've tried planners or time blocking, but you can't stick with them. 

Maybe you have assistants, yet everything still seems to come back through you. 

Maybe you're productive at work, but the only reason it works is because you're finishing everything at night or on weekends. 

Maybe it's something I haven't thought of. 

And that's why I'd really like your help. 

Hit Reply and Tell Me This 

Don't overthink it. You don't need to write me an essay. 

Just finish this sentence: 

“I know what I should be doing to stay on top of my job, but what usually gets in the way is __________.” 

I'd love the real answer. 

Not the answer you'd give your AD.  

The answer you'd give another coach sitting next to you after a long day. 

I'm asking because I want the things I create and teach through Busy Coach to keep getting better at solving the real problems you're dealing with, not the problems I assume you're dealing with. 

Maybe I'll discover we're focusing on exactly the right things. 

Maybe you'll tell me something I haven't considered. 

Either way, I want to hear it. 

Because after all these years of talking about productivity, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the goal isn't to turn coaches into better planners. 

It's to help good coaches build a way of working that can actually survive the reality of coaching. 

Hit reply and finish that sentence for me. 

I'll be reading every one. 

Win the Day. 

Mandy Green
Helping coaches win at work without losing at home. 

If you'd like to book a free 30 minute strategy call with me, book your call here: https://calendly.com/busy-coach

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