When I was a little girl, we didn’t have a television, so my main entertainment was reading. I would pull my beanbag chair up to the fireplace and dig into a pile of books. My favorites were anything to do with myths and adventures, like The Hobbit and Watership Down.

One winter break, I inhaled the entire 7 book series of the Chronicles of Narnia.

When I turned 11, in 1977, I went to to the movie theater with my family and watched agape at the original Star Wars movie (which, cosmically, was filmed in my home town of San Anselmo, California).

So it is not really a shock that the work I was drawn to in my adult life centered on the theme of transformation.

Helping people get from where they are to where they want to be, through challenges and obstacles, in a way that builds their confidence and belief in themselves, is the driver behind everything I do.

I believe it is the essence of being in a service business.

Whether you are a lawyer or an accountant, a consultant or a hairdresser, your clients come to you because they long for something they don’t have and trust you to take them on a transformational journey.

Not all journeys have to be full of mysticism and challenge. Some journeys are compact and pragmatic, delivering exactly what your clients are looking for in an efficient and effective package.

Often, in the interest of time, we want to skip the analysis of the transformation and jump to the packaging of services, asking questions like:

• What are people buying this year?
• How can I use AI to simplify my delivery?
• How much should I charge for my services?

To answer these questions effectively, you first need to understand the transformation your client desires, and exactly what they need to make the shift.

Only then can you decide the best way to package the offering, how to deliver it and how to charge for it.

Here are examples of transformations:

• From tired, depleted and grumpy to full of energy, motivated and optimistic.
• From panicked about payroll and cash flow to relaxed and well-resourced with a full bank account.
• From lackluster team results and a hostile workplace to smashing goals and a joyful workplace culture.
• From feeling resistant and sick about marketing to consistently and easily planting seeds for new clients every day

Here are some questions to help you define the transformations you want to lead this year:

Core Transformation Questions

Where is your client starting?​
-What do they want that they don’t have?
-How do they feel?
-What do they know?

Where do they want to be?​
-What will their life look like when they obtain what they want?
-How will they feel?
-What will they know?

What must they know, say or do in order to get where they want to be?
​-Define skills or knowledge they need
-Define behaviors they need to practice
-Define scaffolding or systems that will help them get what they want

What must they give up in order to get what they want?

There is a reason we stay stuck in old patterns or habits. It can feel scary to give up a well-worn way of doing things. But it is a critical part of achieving transformational change.

The Ultimate Outcome

When you do this work well as a transformational guide, your clients will feel better, stronger and more capable.

Often, they already knew what they needed to do, they were just afraid to do it.

That is why our role as a guide is so important.

It is like this passage from one of my favorite books in the world:

“You taught me the language of the world” said the boy.
“I only invoked what you already knew to be true,” said the alchemist.
-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist​