➡ Dr. Andrew Kaufman, in his True Health Report, discusses the challenges faced by individuals in the truth community who are committed to spiritual development and honest business practices. He argues against the notion that living truthfully requires one to become a hermit or destitute, instead advocating for a life of abundance. His guest, Laura Bolton, shares her journey from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of integrating business and personal life. She also highlights the role of coaching in helping individuals make choices and behavioral patterns that lead to desired results.
➡ Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone. It requires self-discipline, accountability, risk-taking, and perseverance. Many people are misled by the idea of quick success and easy money, but the reality is that building a business takes time, dedication, and passion. It’s crucial to offer something of real value and to be genuinely passionate about your work, as this will drive you to persevere even when things get tough.
➡ The text emphasizes the importance of providing genuine value in business, rather than relying on marketing tactics or selling false hope. It suggests that the key to long-term success is becoming highly skilled and passionate about what you do, which will naturally lead to satisfied customers and referrals. The author also highlights the effectiveness of giving potential clients a taste of your service, rather than just telling them about it. This approach, they argue, results in a sustainable business built on relationships and real results, rather than quick, short-term gains.
➡ The text discusses the importance of having the right mindset and passion in achieving success, whether in sales, entrepreneurship, or any other field. It emphasizes that strategies and tactics are only half the picture, and that one’s inner beliefs, thoughts, and emotions play a crucial role. The text also suggests that working for someone else or being part of a successful team can be a viable path to success. Lastly, it highlights the value of asking questions and gaining insights, rather than blindly following others’ strategies.
➡ It’s crucial to take time to understand what you truly want in life, without being influenced by others or societal expectations. Being honest with yourself allows you to pursue your genuine desires, rather than wasting time and resources on things you don’t truly want. It’s also important to question your own actions and beliefs, building self-awareness alongside external awareness. Lastly, setting boundaries, especially with digital distractions like social media, is key to focusing on your goals and saying no to things that don’t serve your desired life.
➡ The text discusses the importance of focusing on personal growth and avoiding distractions, particularly from social media. It suggests that spending too much time consuming content can prevent us from achieving our goals and improving our skills. The speaker encourages us to prioritize our time wisely, considering the cost of our actions, and to seek solitude to stay centered. They also mention a free 30-day detox protocol for improving health, which can be downloaded from a provided link.

All the sales and marketing gurus, they all say make the offer seem easy, make the results seem guaranteed, make it a no brainer, all of this stuff, that’s what’s being taught. And so then people are selling their services with this narrative. And unfortunately, it’s just all bullshit. This is the true health Report, where critical appraisal fuels true freedom. Hello everyone, and welcome to the True Health Report. I’m your Host as always, Dr. Andrew Kaufman. Now, I want to talk about a slightly different topic, or at least the central topic of today’s report about business and entrepreneurship.

Because I think as individual men and women in the truth community who have made a commitment to a spiritual development path and to living in the truth, I think from my experience, we face two major obstacles. One of those obstacles, of course, is that the corporate business practices that we see, right, the marketing, the pr, et cetera, rub us the wrong way because it doesn’t fit in our perception of natural law. We don’t want to be hustlers and take advantage of people. We don’t want to use marketing gimmicks to sell. We want to have an honest business where we provide real value in our products and services.

And then secondly, there is a prevailing opinion that in order to live in the truth, we need to essentially become hermits and become destitute. And in fact, that is not really, I don’t think what God intended. I believe that he intended us to live in abundance and that’s what we’re provided in this natural environment. And so I want to help have this discussion and overcome those, you know, perhaps fears or worries that you will be, you know, sucked into the greed matrix simply by having a successful business and by amassing wealth or abundance. So to hash out these matters, my guest today is Laura Bolton.

She has a lot of experience in coaching and in business and has brought a new model, right, called a creative partnership, which is a way to integrate good business practices and the values that I introduced, but in a very ethical and spiritual manner. So welcome. Laura, hello. Hello. Thanks for coming on the show to have this discussion. Would you mind telling the audience a little bit about, you know, your experience of how you led to this and perhaps introduce your, your way of conceptualizing this issue. Yeah. So, I mean, gosh, there’s so much to say about me.

I’m not going to give you my life story. We’ll be here all year. But in terms of, I guess, entrepreneurship, I was in the corporate world for 15 years. I did a lot of work around change management. So change Management projects, really looking at the people side of change, which is the element that most companies don’t even think about. And then, you know, as I was going through my career, I never felt. And I’m sure people that are listening can relate to this. I never quite felt like I fit in. I never felt. It never felt right to me.

And so I was kind of like, almost in two different worlds. There’s this aspect of me that didn’t feel good about it, didn’t feel like it really kind of worked for me. But then I was also deeply in the programming of you have to get a job and you have to have job security and you have to work really hard and get promotions. And it’s all of that, which is the classic societal conditioning. But it always. I never felt like, I guess in my soul, I never really felt good about it. It never felt like it.

It kind of aligned with me. And so eventually I just left. Just all of a sudden one day, I just got to a point where I think sometimes a switch just flips. And I just. Laura, was it like that you experienced cognitive dissonance when you were, you know, in that role, but your mind and spirit were diverging? I think so, yes. And it wasn’t just work. It was the way I was living. It was like I was living the typical, what I would kind of affectionately call a normie life. So I had a big house and a partner and a flashy car that I used to whiz around in.

And I had this great job, and everyone would go out drinking at the weekends. And it was just like this sort of typical normie life. And I was doing it, but I never. There was something that was off. There was something that was kind of missing in my heart. And when I left my corporate career, I also sold my house, I left my partner. I literally changed everything. And one of the main reasons that I actually left corporate was because I was having a ton of health issues. So I was constantly at the doctor’s surgery, I was constantly being given medications and just getting worse, having a variety of different problems, from, you know, anxiety to repeated, like, chest infections, to problems with my gut to problems with my skin.

And I actually discovered functional medicine and started getting into that and biohacking and holistic health. And I started to change my lifestyle completely. And most of the issues that I had actually cleared up, believe it or not. Well, I certainly believe it because that’s exactly what I preach. I know, I know. And so that was kind of. I guess my. That was kind of My first, I guess, stage of awakening was awakening to the health aspect and the medical industry. And it’s funny because I look back now and I can’t even recognize that version of myself taking medications, going to the doctor.

Like, I haven’t been to a doctor or taking medications for over 10 years now. Like, and just the idea of doing that seems so foreign to me. It’s like I can’t quite believe that I was like that. And I think that’s what happens when you awaken. You can’t go back because once you’ve seen, you’ve seen. And then in 2020, obviously I woke up a lot more to all sorts of other things. But I started my entrepreneurship journey after I left corporate and I went into coaching, but it was more focused on high performance health. So I was working with athletes, CEOs, entrepreneurs to optimize their health.

And then over the years that has transitioned into entrepreneurship and helping people with their businesses, but also just helping people with their life. Because business and life is not separate. You know, everyone talks about this work life balance, for example. No, business is just one aspect of life and all those aspects are interconnected and influence each other. So if I’m coaching someone around business, it’s not just about business, it’s about their whole life and their inner world. Because the inner world is what determines the choices you make, the behavioral patterns that you have, and then hence the results that you actually get.

And so, you know, a lot of people are looking for business strategies and tactics. I don’t do any of that. I don’t give advice, I don’t teach, I coach. And coaching is very different to teaching and advising, which not a lot of people seem to realize because the whole coaching industry has just become an absolute mess. Which is why I don’t like to call myself a coach. Right. Well, let me, I want to make a few comments. And you know, let me also say that I think that psychotherapists are also. The same kind of thing has happened in that industry because they’re supposed to help you have insight so that then you can take action.

But people view it as they’re doing everything for you. Yes, right. But what you mentioned about how your business, I mean this is especially true of an entrepreneur, is not separate or distinct from the rest of your life. It’s when you have a typical corporate or blue collar job, you go there. It’s at a totally different location that you don’t ever go. Besides that time you punch in, you punch out, that’s kind of a Different experience, what we’re talking about here, right? It’s your goal. Right. It’s your entity, it’s your idea, it’s your passion. Right. So of course it’s going to be integrated in every aspect of your life.

And this, you know, plays out for me in my, in my own experience, exactly as you describe. And perhaps even more so because I run my business out of my home. So, you know, I’m going from a meeting, you know, right. To a family meal and then back to another meeting. And you know, of course you have to make time in your schedule for all the things that you want to do, but you have the ultimate flexibility. And there’s no time when I feel like I am, you know, a CEO versus a dad, you know, versus a friend.

It’s. They. I just smoothly go back and forth between all those, all those roles. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s the same. It’s the same for me. And I think that’s, you know, entrepreneurship is very, very different to working for somebody else, working for a company. And I actually, I actually don’t believe a lot of people can be successful entrepreneurs, which might be a little bit controversial because I know people say anyone can if they really want to, anyone can be an entrepreneur. I think in theory that’s true. But in all my experience, what I’ve observed is that some people are just not, they’re just not kind of like wired for it.

They’re not cut out for it. Yeah. You know, I spoke. Laura, what do you think, like the main difficulties, right, or roadblocks that some of those people who aren’t suited for it would experience? Like what, what’s the barrier? Right, for them thriving as an entrepreneur? I mean, I think, I think probably the, the biggest difference is that you are having to self lead, you are having to self manage. It makes me think, this discussion makes me think about someone that I worked with a few years ago who was previously working for a company and was then trying to be like, build a coaching business.

And they were just repeatedly, like procrastinating, not doing what they said they were going to do, just in avoidance. And when I talked to them about it, they actually said to me, well, the thing is, when I worked for someone else, if I didn’t do my work, I would get in trouble and potentially lose my job. And I’m like, yeah, but you’re doing the same thing. You are not making money because you are not doing the things, but there’s no other person that you’re going to get in trouble. With or you’re going to sort of lose something.

And so it’s kind of like a mindset thing where when you are on your own, you don’t have anyone giving you direction. You don’t have anybody that you, that’s going to pull you into an office and tell you that you’re not performing or anything like that. You are, you’re the boss and the employee. That’s a big change for a lot of people. And I, and I think that’s where, that’s where they struggle. And also just, you know, just, just being on your own, it’s, it’s not easy. Um, and I think also a lot of, if we look at the, I guess the sort of personal development and entrepreneurship space, especially on social media, there is a lot of narratives around it being easy to be an entrepreneur.

Like we see this with all the courses, 30 days and you’ll be making 10k months. They’re everywhere. It’s like a joke with me and my other coaching friends, like oh, 10k months program. It’s like when I was younger they had, you know, buy real estate with no money down. Yeah, right. Courses on QVC and such. Yeah. And so there is this, there has become this kind of belief that oh, you just need to do a 30 day program or you just need to follow this other person’s strategy and you will be really successful making lots of money, helping lots of people.

And unfortunately it’s just all bullshit. I think it’s more like Ben Franklin. 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Yeah. It’s a narrative that people believe and we like to believe it. Because humans have become conditioned to want quick and easy. And that is then used by, I mean we see it with all the sales and marketing gurus. They all say make the offer seem easy, make the results seem guaranteed, make it a no brainer. All of this stuff, that’s what’s being taught. And so then people are selling their services with this narrative, but it’s a false narrative.

It’s not actually true. And having been an entrepreneur for 10 years and having worked with many, I can tell you it’s just not true. It takes time and it takes dedication and passion and drive to build a business. And because people then realize, oh actually I’m not getting these quick and easy results, a lot of them give up. And that’s kind of like what I mean about entrepreneurship is so different. You have to be the boss, the leader and the employee. You’re doing it yourself and it takes time and so when people have this illusion that, oh, I just need to do a few things that this other person says, and then I’m going to be making loads of money and it’s going to be easy, it doesn’t ever transpire that way.

And then people get disheartened and, and give up. Right. And Laura, it’s. It’s the same exact thing with health, right? People want to stick to the allopathic system because it promises a quick fix. But of course, that’s deception, as you pointed out. And many marketing and sales strategies are based on deception, which is something that, you know, we don’t want to engage in. But let me summarize a few of the traits that you brought up that kind of will help people decide if you’re cut out, you know, to be an entrepreneur. And you certainly, you know, mention self discipline and self accountability, right? Because there’s no one else who will hold you accountable.

And of course, you know, with that comes risk and responsibility because if your ideas and your efforts don’t succeed, then, you know, it’s your fault. And of course, you know, you’re, you’re not just risking your reputation, but, you know, you’re putting your money on the line because you’re going to have to, you know, have some form of funding to operate any business, even if it’s only a couple of thousand dollars, right. And either you’re going to borrow that and be responsible to pay it back, or it’s going to, you know, come out of your bank account.

So you have to be, you know, willing to learn from your mistakes and take the risk of losing. And then I think finally you talked about really perseverance and commitment because, you know, chances are the first thing that you do is not going to succeed. And you’re going to have to then go back and try something different. Not necessarily a different business idea, but, you know, change your offer, change your strategy, find, you know, new customers to sell it to, new leads, et cetera. Your strategy for those things is going to, you know, be wrong or maybe inauthentic.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the things that really helps with all of that is having a genuine passion. If you’re just doing it because you think it’s just an easy way to make money or it’s just a way to not have to work for the man. No, if you don’t have the passion for what you’re doing, if you’re not really enthusiastic and driven, you just won’t persevere. I mean, you can only Persevere for so long doing something that you’re not really passionate about. Like, so it’s like with coaching, I’ve come across so many people who are like, oh, I’ve just left corporate, I’m going to be a coach.

And then the first thing they do is look for a course on how to get coaching clients and they do all their social media and they create a fancy website. None of that is helpful, but that’s what everybody does. In order to become a great coach, you have to be really passionate about coaching and you have to get good at coaching. If you are good at coaching and you’re also good at building relationships with people, that is all you need. I don’t have social media, I don’t have a website, and yet I have clients because I have persevered and am deeply passionate about getting as great at coaching as I possibly can.

So it’s about the craft. What’s your competency? And many people are trying, they’re using sales and marketing tactics to get people in, but then they can’t deliver a high value service. When you’re able to be really, really good at what you do and give value to people and they get value from it, they continue working with you, so they will renew, but they’ll also recommend other people to you, which is really how I run my business. So I did the opposite. I mean, to start with, I did all the courses and the social media and spent so much time doing that and it didn’t get me anywhere.

And I’ve met so many other coaches, and not just coaches, but other types of entrepreneurs who have done the same thing and it does not work. So you have to focus on getting really good at your craft and being really passionate about creating value and being of service to people. And if that’s your passion, you will persevere. If it’s not, you just won’t do it. Right? This is really a super important point because now in the information age, we do have access to all of this educational material and I think some of it can be useful when it’s used as a tool.

But it is vital that whatever you’re offering in your enterprise that you’re planning on starting, it has to be something of real value, right? It can’t be that you just want to be an entrepreneur and you can sell this, that or the other thing. It’s like that that thing is, is the, the most important thing because that’s what provides the value. And you should focus on, you know, one, are you capable of delivering that and, you know, two, how can you increase it beyond what your initial expectations? And that is what is ultimately going to attract customers.

Those other, you know, tools that you mentioned, you know, like marketing and websites and such, that’s only to help new people find out about what you have that’s so valuable. It’s not anything in and of itself. Right. It only serves a purpose to spread the word. Yeah, absolutely. And I’ve, you know, everyone falls into that trap. Like I fell into it because I didn’t unders, I didn’t understand entrepreneurship. I didn’t, I didn’t know what to do. And so there’s all these people selling all these amazing courses with all these testimonials which are probably, you know, made up or just their friends or whatever.

And there’s all sorts of tricks and it’s something I’ve been observing for many years. Like the tricks that people use. What you see online, most of it is nonsense and we don’t like to believe that that’s the case, but it actually really is. And so, yes, being passionate and actually getting good at what you do logically is going to have more satisfied clients and it’s going to result in people recommending you. If, if someone comes to you because you’ve got a great sales tactic, but then they don’t get value. Well, they’re not going to renew. Like, if I think about my business, they’re not going to renew and they’re not going to send anybody else my way because they’re going to think, well, that wasn’t very good.

It’s like if you went to a restaurant and the food was absolutely terrible, would you go and recommend it to your friends? Would you go back to the restaurant? No, you wouldn’t. But if you go to a place, it could be a holiday destination, it could be a, a restaurant. If you go somewhere that’s amazing, you tell people about it. Right. You’re not being paid, you’re not even being paid to tell people about it. You just want to tell people about it because it was great. Do you know there’s a longer term business, There’s a KPI in business.

Exactly. Related to that. Your net promoter score. Right. And what that is is would your customers recommend you to someone else? And I think that is an excellent way, you know, to assess are you really providing value? You know, and it’s a good marker of success. Absolutely. I would say it is the marker of success because, you know, if you’re getting people coming in because you’ve got this really great sales funnel. And you’re using, you know, manipulation tactics, which is really what sales is to, you know, to get people interested. Okay, that’s fine if you’re able to deliver, because then they’ll be happy and then they’ll recommend you.

But what’s happening with a lot of people is. And I’ve spoken to, I’ve done lots of research projects and spoken to so many people about this. They do these courses. It doesn’t really work. Um, and so they don’t recommend it to anybody else. But then the person is getting more people coming in because their sales and marketing is so effective. Some of these people do make money because what they’re really selling is hope. People are desperate. Oh, I, I need to make money. And then there’s this easy, like, wonderful strategy that you’re going to learn, and it’s all going to be great.

People get drawn into that because it’s, it’s, it. It’s not. They’re not marketing on what’s real. It’s marketing hope. And it just doesn’t work for most people. And then they end up wasting their money, which I’ve done myself, and it’s a real shame. We need to just get back to basics. If you think about logic and the basics, it makes sense to just get really good and be really passionate about what you do and actually deliver value. It’s so simple. But hardly anybody seems to talk about that because that doesn’t really sell, you know, if I say, well, you know, you can become a coach, but you’re going to have to, like, get super good at coaching.

You are going to have to study and practice and do loads of sessions with people, and you’re just going to have to keep going and it’s going to take you years. People going to buy my course? No, but it’s the truth. Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And I think, you know, we have some examples like this that we’ve all experienced in life, like when, you know, a new restaurant opens up, but they do things totally different. They don’t advertise, but suddenly, like, everybody knows about it and there are lines down the street. Right? We’ve. We’ve seen that.

And why is that? Right? It’s because what they’re offering is distinct and of high value. Right? People go and eat it and they want more and then they tell their friends about it. Right? And that’s the kind of, you know, strategy for growth that we want to achieve here. We don’t want to take shortcuts, use you know, gimmicks and tactics. Right. We, we want the product to be so good that people come running for it. Absolutely. And there’s a great book by Cal Newport, he’s the author of Digital Minimalism, which is probably what people know him for.

But he has a book called so Good they can’t ignore you. And it’s about, this is what it’s about. It’s about get so good, get so competent at what you do that people can’t ignore you. And that’s the key to, to a long term business. You know, if you just want to make a quick buck, short term, designing a course, using all these tactics to sell it, you’ll probably make some money. But it’s not going to last. It’s not going to be a sustainable business. And I think the best business is, is, is one where over time people actually refer you.

And when I look at my client, I mean my clients tend to be like really successful entrepreneurs, you know, who have already, already pretty experienced, but most of their business comes from relationships and referrals. Right. That’s the common theme. If I look at all the coaches I know, the vast majority of coaches do not make hardly any money. They just don’t. The ones I know who do, they have the same approach that I have. So I look for patterns, I look for commonalities between the people that aren’t doing very well, the people that are doing really well.

What does that look like? And that is one of the characteristics that I’ve seen very well. And you’re saying that comes about because the coaching services they provide actually get people the results they’re looking for and then they tell other people about it. Yeah. And even, you know, like, like my approach, you know, people say, well, hang on, you’re not on social media. How on earth do you, how on earth do you get clients? And I say to them, before social media, how do you think one would get clients? And they say, and they, and they think about it and they say, relationships.

Yeah, right. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. It starts with relationships. Like it, and it’s, it’s like, you know, keep it simple. I literally just meet people. Yes, I have referrals now because I’ve been doing this for a while. But even, even still I will meet people. It might be through networking events or maybe someone sort of just connects me with someone else who’s thinking about, maybe, maybe I could do with some help. And I don’t have a sales pitch. I don’t have a sales strategy, I don’t do marketing. I literally have a chat with them and then if I think that they’re like serious about change and I think that it’s something I can help them with, I offer them a complimentary two hour session, a deep dive session, and I coach them for two hours to give them the experience.

And if they want more of it, they know what they’re paying for because they’ve just had two hours of it. So I think giving people the experience of a service is much more powerful than telling them about it and putting out loads of social media posts. You’re not getting the experience. It’s like if you tell someone about a restaurant and what the food is like versus them actually eating the food, what’s going to give them the best experience? Well, it’s eating the food because then you know what it actually tastes like rather than someone telling you what it tastes like.

And so that’s literally all I do. And because I do add value, because I am competent, most of the time people say I’m in. So I don’t need social media or websites or anything because I just meet people and have conversations and offer them coaching sessions. So I think the principle there, I know I’m talking about coaching, but the principle applies to any service business. Give people a taster, give them. Right. I can, you know, like in my business, right, where I do occasionally work individually with clients, but mostly I, I teach groups, right. Through workshops and courses and.

But in order for people to experience that, like in your model, I don’t offer them a two hour, you know, one to one experience, but I do give them my protocol and I do give free masterclasses so that they could see what my teaching is like. They can see how it is developed into a clinical protocol that they could use to improve their health. And then they decide, right. If they think that that approach is good for them and then, right. The opportunity is there to engage in it at a variety of different levels depending on, you know, where they’re at and what they want to do.

Yeah, I’d like to also, I’d like to give an out for people who may be realizing at this point that they’re not cut out to be entrepreneurs. Or maybe they do want a rather quick influx of money, but not in a way that they would be cheating and lying and stealing. And you can find someone who already has a valuable product and service and work with them or work for them. Right. And if you are working in something like sales, if it’s a high ticket item. Like many coaches charge thousands of dollars because they bring that value to their clients.

If you sell for them, right. You could potentially make pretty good money in a very short period of time. Right. So there are opportunities for everyone out there and to stay in this, the truth space. Like I personally, in my business, right, I’ve hired, I think I have nine or 10 people on my team right now and they all get to follow, you know, the same kind of spiritual path, but working for someone else without the pressure or the all encompassing aspect of being the entrepreneur. Yeah, absolutely. There are different ways to do it and I think being open to that.

And again, this is about your mindset. It’s looking at possibilities, what are the potential opportunities and being open to those I think is really, really important. And yeah, collaborations and being part of a team of somebody else who’s already doing well, those are, those are still ways that you can work for yourself in a way and earn income. It doesn’t have to be one person completely on their own. But that requires an open mind and I think really being able to spot opportunities and being open to opportunities and being flexible I think is another important thing.

And you know, this really speaks to. When I say mindset, you know, I guess it’s, it’s really what I call the inner landscape. So it’s our, it’s our beliefs, it’s our thoughts, it’s our, it’s our emotions, it’s our level of, you know, our level of kind of inner development that really kind of sort of influences or determines how, what we actually produce and how we actually perform. Again, everyone’s looking for the strategy, the hacks, the process, the tactics, that’s all fine and there’s value to that. But if you give, for example, let’s say as an example, there’s a sales like the best sales script in the world.

So you’re a salesperson and you are given the best sales script in the world that’s been super effective for other people. That alone is not going to make you successful. It’s how you deliver it, it’s how you come across. It’s your energy, it’s whether you believe in the service or the product, it’s, it’s how you speak, it’s everything. And so if you have like someone who doesn’t, they’ve got a sales script, they don’t really believe in what they’re selling, they don’t have confidence, they’re not really that passionate about it. They’re nervous, their energy isn’t Great. Is that sales script going to be effective? No.

So the tactics is stuff, it’s only half of the picture, right. Because they’re, you know, when we interact with people and, and when we put out things to the world, right. We are projecting that energy. I think we’ve all had the experience, you know, when we’re maybe in a group setting having a lively conversation and then suddenly someone walks in the room and everyone goes quiet, quiet. Right. It’s, that’s because that, you know, individual just walked into the room is bringing something totally different. It doesn’t match the energy. Right. And, and that’s the experience when, when you’re doing it, you know, for the wrong reasons, like to please someone else or just to make a quick buck or you, you don’t have internal confidence.

You’re, you’re just filled with doubt or you feel useless, but, you know, but you’re not honest with yourself or confronting those things, then whatever you put out there is not going to attract the people that you want it to, 100%. And this is why you could give 10 people the same, like 10 people could go through the same course, for example, learning the same strategy, do this, do that. So they have the kind of like practical, this is what you do. And some of those people will do it well and get success from it, and other people will get nothing from it.

And that is because of their inner landscape. And that’s the bit that a lot of people miss. And most people don’t like looking at that because it’s the uncomfortable stuff. It’s like, oh, I have to change. No, I just want the strategy, I just want the tactics. I just want the ten step plan. But if you don’t do the inner work, it doesn’t work. And so that’s the, that’s the, that’s the work that. I mean, that’s really the work I do. It’s inner work and helping people. You said this earlier, like helping people to figure out a way that’s best for them and what feels aligned for them.

Because the problem with following other people’s strategies and processes and ways of doing things is that it may not be aligned with you. It may not be the best way to even do it. And so, you know, as a coach, I spend most of my time just asking questions. That’s the foundation of coaching, is questions. Because when you ask questions, you get awareness, you get insights, you start to realize things, you start to be able to figure things out for yourself rather than outsourcing your authority to someone who’s claiming to be a business guru and telling you what to do.

Right. And this, I think, is a fundamental issue, not just in entrepreneurship, but in the world, and I’m sure you’d agree, is the outsourcing of authority. Absolutely. It works the same way in my consultations. For most of the time, I’m asking questions and listening and that elicits all the important information. And then I see the same forces intervene and that’s when people don’t end up meeting their ultimate goals very successfully. There are ultimate truths, Right, related to this and we’re kind of getting at that at the, at the base layer, so to speak. So, and you know, in my own experience in business, so of course, like, I would never allow, like gimmicks or deception, but you know, there are legitimate marketing strategies.

So I have implemented some of those. I have professional copywriter, you know, write some emails that would follow those strategies. And then other times I put all that aside and just write from the heart about what it is because of course I have the passion and belief about what I’m doing and I’m just conveying that, you know, to those people. And it’s always more successful when I do that. And of course, less expensive. Yes. But you know where you have come to in this, right, Introducing the inner work, it almost makes me think like, are you kind of combining the role of, you know, coaching with spiritual mentorship and is that maybe a way to describe the creative partnership model? Well, when I say creative partnership, I mean, I mainly say it because I just don’t like the term coaching.

Because. Because as I said, the whole coaching industry has become a mess and people don’t really understand what coaching is. And so when you use the term coaching, they’re interpreting that in their understanding. Or maybe they’ve come across somebody else who says they’re a coach who’s like terrible and offering some dreadful course which isn’t coaching. And so that’s kind of why I don’t really like using the term. But what I’m really doing is I’m co creating. So I am, I am helping. It’s like, what do you want to create? Like, what kind of life do you want to create? It can be to do with your health, it can be to do with your business, it can be to do with just your happiness, like anything.

It’s like, where are you now? What is it you want to create? And I work with them side by side to create. So it’s a creative process because we are actively creating a new Reality, we’re creating whatever it is that they. That they want. And what they say they want isn’t usually what they actually want. So that’s part of the process because at the start you have to establish what do you actually. True. What does your heart really want? Often our wants are what we think we should want or what society wants. And so earlier in my career, I would work with people that would say, I want this, and then they just wouldn’t do the work.

And what I realized was it’s because they don’t really want it. Yes. And so it’s really important, I think, for everybody to step back from all the noise online and what everybody else is doing and to really spend time with yourself and work out, what kind of life do I want, what kind of business that I want, what is it I really want to do, like, truly, without the influence of others. Because when we’re constantly being bombarded by the views of others, which if you’re on social media at all, like, it’s never ending, it’s very challenging to actually connect with your heart and to decide what you want because you’re so influenced by everyone around you, whether it’s physically around you or whether it’s online.

We get sucked in. Oh, yeah, I want that. And it’s actually, deep down, not really what we want. It’s the shoulds, it’s the conditioning, it’s all of that stuff. So I do think that’s a very important thing, whether they’re an entrepreneur or not. I think it’s really important for everybody to figure out in my heart, like, what do I want? Like, truly. And I think that’s the starting point. When you’re honest about what you want and you’re willing to be honest with yourself, then you can move forward and create it. If you don’t, then you’re just spending time, energy and money trying to create something that actually, deep down, you don’t want, which is a waste.

This really reminds me of a lesson that I learned from Neil Kramer, who is a spiritual, spiritual teacher, and he talks about, like, that, you know, the institutions of our society, right, that surround us as we come into the. Into the world. Present us a menu of choices of what to want, how to achieve it. Right. How to spend our lives and that. That even though there may be thousands of choices, it is really a limiting construct because we can be free to choose any path we want, of course, as long as it doesn’t infringe upon someone else’s path.

But we don’t have to stick to, you know, these things. And, and if you really ask yourself these questions, you know, why am I doing this? Is it really just to meet the demands of our culture? Or is it really, you know, in some way? Or is it, is it really your personal goal and your personal journey and that’s, that’s what we want it to be for you? Absolutely, absolutely. And, and you know, this is the key. It’s questions, you know, as people who are kind of like on the awakening path. And we love to question all the stuff that’s going on out there, right? Yes, but not in.

Like we all love to do. This is something I’ve noticed with the sort of truth and freedom community. Oh, we love that. We all say question everything, but we don’t question everything. We question everything that others are doing. But the real power is when we start questioning within and asking ourselves the fundamental questions, like, why am I doing this? What is it I truly want? Even when we say things like analyzing, what do I mean by that? Like, that’s another thing I noticed. People say things all the time and I ask them, what do you mean by that? And you know, the interesting answer, which is what most people respond with is I don’t know.

I’m like, you are literally saying things, but you don’t know what you actually mean. Oh, I’ve never thought about it. No, that’s the power of questions. Because if you’re not asking yourself the questions like, why am I doing that? What does that mean? Why am I saying that? It’s that self awareness. You’re building that self awareness in addition to having the external awareness. And I think this is a big challenge. I’ve spoken about this for years, but I still think this is a big challenge for people who are more freedom minded. And on that awakening path is awakening is not just being aware of all of the evil nefarious agendas of the world and what’s going on and what’s happening and what’s coming, that’s only half of it.

Like true awakening is awakening to yourself. It’s asking those questions of yourself, being honest with yourself and looking at yourself in the mirror. And that’s uncomfortable and we don’t like discomfort. And so I think that willingness to be uncomfortable is really, really important for anyone who wants to create any kind of change in their life. It’s really a willingness. It’s not that they can’t. It’s are you ready? Like, are you ready and willing to actually look within and make the changes that are required in order for you to create a different life. You know, Laura, this is really such an important point.

I was very fortunate that when I started, you know, waking up to the truth, that I had a good friend who encouraged me to also look at the self and the spiritual aspects of. And I think there are some psychological traps in the waking up process because, you know, one is that it’s very easy to fall into fear and paranoia because you’re now learning that there are so many kind of dark forces working against you. Yeah. And you know, the other aspect of it is that you feel a sense of victimhood. Right. Because you’ve been played, taken advantage of, etc.

Prevented from realizing your full potential. And that draws you away from looking at your own role. Right. Saying, though, you know, all this is true, but I also remained ignorant to these. I, you know, went on playing the charade, even though maybe I had a sense that something wasn’t right, like you described before. And now I have to look at myself and rethink how I’m going to approach life. And that’s, I think what you’re, you’re saying has to be the starting point in order to be successful, not just in business, but in any major pursuit that you have going forward.

Yeah, absolutely. And I, I do, I do think that, you know, awakening as you know, is a process. Right. So we go through different phases, and I think there is always a phase for everybody going through this, which is like despair and oh, my goodness, like, I can’t. It’s like your whole worldview, like, everything is being shattered and like you can’t believe how much, like, awful stuff is going on and like, no one else sees it. And we’ve all been through this. I think it’s a natural phase. I don’t think it’s something to. That’s wrong. I think it’s a natural part, kind of the earlier part.

Right. It’s just like the grief process, in a sense. Right. Well, essentially is the grief process, if you think about it, because you’re kind of grieving the world you thought you knew, you’re grieving what you believed. So there is a, there is a, an element, I think, of, of. Of grieving. And I think it’s important that we, that we go through that stage. I also think a lot of people get stuck in that stage, as you kind of just alluded to, and then they’re not creating what they want. My observation over the last few years is that having spoken with many, many aware entrepreneurs or people trying to be entrepreneurs, most of Them are broke.

And yet the people who are like not awake and are just doing all the sort of matrix normie things, they’re all making money and it’s like, guys, if we’re going to create a new world, and you sort of mentioned this earlier, it’s like we have to work to create and to create abundance and not let this awakening actually be a detrimental thing to us personally. So I do think, yeah, we go through those kind of, oh, the dark stages, the horrors and we’ve all been there. But then is the time to start looking at yourself. And in what way do you need to change in order to create what you actually want? And one of the aspects of that is that I’ve certainly noticed even with super successful entrepreneurs is the distractions these days.

The distractions particularly of social media. It is such a big problem for new entrepreneurs and really established successful entrepreneurs. Like the kinds of people I’ve been working with for years who have done super well. Social media and digital distractions never used to be a big problem for them, but it is now. I literally had a 50 year old client that was addicted to TikTok multi million dollar business, super successful, like been an entrepreneur for like 30 years and was struggling because constantly on TikTok, also Instagram, also X. That is a big problem for I would say most people these days.

It’s, it’s so, so really for me it’s about having boundaries. Every single client I work with, a big part of it is boundaries. Boundaries with yourself, boundaries with others. Being willing to say no to what’s not, not aligned with the creation of what you want. So is it in service to the life you want to create? If the answer is no, say no to it. That is one of the most challenging things for people I found in my experience. They are constantly saying yes to things which are not aligned, distractions, all sorts of things. And that’s taking their time and energy and focus away from where they actually want to go.

So that’s a major thing. Gosh, I am getting pulled all the time to be, be more involved in social media and I’m keep resisting because, you know, and it’s not to me, it’s not an addiction. Maybe there was a time when I was, you know, really into it many, many years ago, but I pretty much avoid it, you know, unless someone else pulls me in. I spend, you know, most of my free time learning about different subjects, you know, that I am passionate about, that I feel will be helpful for me to navigate the world. But you’re Right.

This is a major thing and you know, it’s like, oh, you can make so much more money if you do this. And you know, it, it certainly can help. But you know, what’s the price you’re going to pay? Where, how do you balance it? Right, Because I think you can use it as a, a business tool to communicate, but you don’t want to fall into that trap of getting too tied up in it. And also like the trap of, you know, the ego, right, because you, you get notoriety and recognition and then, you know, then you want more of that, right? You want more fame.

And that is not related to you providing a quality, high value product or service to people. Yeah, absolutely. And this is where we get thrown off course. And it’s why I, you know, I don’t spend much time consuming content from other people. Because it does influence you being on social media because it’s designed to be so addictive. It does affect you, it does influence you. And so spending regular time alone, you know, in the quiet just, I think really helps you to just stay centered. It helps you to stay on your path. If you’re spending all day looking at what this person’s doing, this person’s doing this strategy, that strategy, you’re getting pulled all over the place and it takes you away, it makes you ungrounded and then you’re looking at, well, yeah, but this person says this and then this person says to do something different and then we get really confused and then we say we’re not clear, we don’t know what to do.

If you cut out all the noise and actually sit with yourself, you’ll figure out what to do. So I think the, avoid the minimization of consumption so that you can focus on creation is really important. And when I’m working with clients, the thing that I, you know, a sort of consistent theme is I didn’t have time to do that, right? Oh yeah, I know. I said I’d do that, but I didn’t have time. Or I might give them a sort of exercise to do on their own and I didn’t have time to do it and they hate me for this, but I love doing it.

I say to them, okay, can you go into your phone? Oh no, yeah, the kiss of death right here. And look up the screen time and then click on social media and send me a screenshot. And the look on their faces, it’s like, because they know, they know the reason that they didn’t have time because there’s no such thing as didn’t have time. It’s just what’s important to you? What are you spending your time doing? So the reason you didn’t have time to do that one hour exercise is that you spent 10 hours on social media this week.

And they’re like, I think it’s probably more like 10 hours a day, but to some people, but, but imagine if you take that time, like even if you’re only spending two hours looking at content, right. A day, that’s 14 hours a week that you could be focusing on developing your skills, meeting people, building relationships, like working on your business, like having fun, like doing anything other than just consuming this content. It’s it. And like you said earlier, it’s, it’s, it’s about, okay, what’s the downsides? So you might say, well, being on social media, I kind of, you know, I learned some stuff.

Okay, cool. You could spend 24 hours a day learning stuff and you never learn everything. But what’s the downside? Oh, well, I didn’t do this and then I forgot to do this and then I didn’t have time to do this. There’s always kind of upsides and downsides to everything. So you have to look at what’s it costing you. Even if you’re gaining something from it, what’s it costing you? Is it really a priority? And I truly think that the digital addiction that most people have is one of the biggest factors that is holding them back from actually taking action and moving their business and life forward.

Well, I certainly couldn’t agree more, Laura. This has really been such an informative discussion and I think it really not only gives people an idea of what they’re getting themselves into when they’re thinking of starting or running their own business, but I think we can also see clearly how the work that you’re doing will benefit people in all aspects of their life. It’s not limited to the scope of business. Right. It’s not teaching marketing strategies. Right. It’s really more about helping people create a life that is going to result in happiness for them. And I think we’re very appreciative of that.

Can you talk, tell people? And we’ll have everything linked below. You know, how they go about getting a discovery call with you and where they can learn more about, you know, what you are thinking and writing. Okay, so there’s, there’s two things. So the only thing I have, the only kind of online presence I really have is substacks. I recently started a substack called Contrarian Musings and that’s me just sharing my thoughts on all sorts of different things, but particularly around the stuff that we’ve been talking about. So yeah, you could maybe share the link to that.

As I said, I don’t have a website at the moment or anything, anything else. And to contact me, the only way to contact me is by email. So that’s just Laura Jane Bolton protonmail.com yeah, that’s it. That’s as much as much as very brave of you to give out the email. I hope it doesn’t get too flooded. But but you know, folks definitely do reach out if this appeals to you because Laura has a lot to offer. Well, thank you everyone so much for tuning in and I know this has been very valuable information and I can’t wait to see you on the next True Health Report.

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