To celebrate the one year anniversary of Lis(t)a Coaching, I wanted to reflect upon how the past year has been. And I find that being an entrepreneur feels a lot like running a marathon.
The first kilometers never count
I still remember the first weeks as if they were yesterday. I worked really long hours to make a professional looking website, an inspiring instagram account and to legitimise everything. I was often doubting if it was ‘worth the effort’. The simple reason why I pushed through, is because there was not so much left to do in the beginning of the pandemic… but I am beyond happy that I did it.
A marathon, not a sprint
If there is one thing that I learned, then it would be to look at your actions for the long run. Every step, post or action your are doing now will have an affect on your future. Big or small does not really matter, because people will remember.
Therefore I found it really important to offer from the first moment a good quality (running) service. I don’t remember how many times I have changed things and asked feedback, all so I could offer a reliable and good coaching. I was very fortunate to receive a lot of help from Jeroen Vanpoeyer, who helped me define the first steps. The beginning was tough and a lot of work, but it definitely paid off.
In it for the long run
Ask every entrepreneur, but no one starts with the idea of doing this ‘for just a while’ (believe me, all the paper work you have to endure… you don’t do this just for fun 😅) . So when I founded Lis(t)a Coaching, I started thinking a lot about what values are important to me as a coach but also as an entrepreneur. I came up with the following;
> As coach, I find it important that there is a good connection between athlete and coach through open communication and feedback.
> As entrepreneur, I want to offer a transparant and honest service. I don’t want people to be working with me and having a feeling like I am stabbing them in the back or being two-faced.
In my opinion, those are important things to consider when you start, because you can never change a first impression.
Finish line
If I am really honest, even after a year I still don’t have a clue towards what I am heading. But one thing I am certain about, is that I love being a coach and working with people to reach their goals. For the future, I hope once COVID is over, I can enter some of my athletes into competitions and to be able to keep on offering the same service as I am doing now.
I really like to think that ‘the best is yet to come’, so to talk about a finish, which feels like an end to me, if still far away.
A huge THANK YOU to all my runners who trust(ed) me, to the people that supported me and to all the other entrepreneurs that inspired me.
