WARNING! Being In Cahoots With Phil Can Change Your Life!

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This is a guest post by Debbie Stokoe from Social Butterfly Comms. She is passionate about helping small business owners to rebalance through Wellbeing and Spiritual Coaching.

I’d been seeing enticing posts on social media for Phil Teasdale‘s new training course, ‘In Cahoots” for a few weeks but I could never make the dates. I first met Phil when I did Enterprise Made Simple‘s  Going For Growth residential business training a couple of years ago near York. I was impressed with his down-to-earth yet powerful training style, and the fact that he was an entrepreneur AND a genuinely nice person. I recently did the course again when I was in a business slump, and it helped to reinvigorate me and help me to get my focus back.

In January Phil went to Babson College, a private business school in Massachusetts to learn current best practice on entrepreneurial training (I remember his posts on LinkedIn and it looked AMAZING). Based on what he learned, he has created an inspirational one-day training course that focusses on growth. After hearing great things about the training and the promise that it would lead to spontaneous dancing, yesterday I decided to check it out!

The training is delivered in the stunning Acklam Hall in Middlesbrough, where Enterprise Made Simple is based. I’d visited once before and love the fact that it’s surrounded by nature and has a lovely restaurant! I entered the training room, greeted Phil and took a seat next to an emaciated-looking attendee. Alex the Skeleton represented the typical entrepreneur, worked to the bone due to spinning too many plates. How many of us identify with that?!

There were nine of us on the course, including a holistic therapist, photographer, accountants, hair salon owners and creative entrepreneurs. Within the first hour, I was already really inspired. Phil explained that the one-day training led to a three-month programme, which included membership to a private Facebook group. Each attendee is given a personalised route plan to execute over the following twelve weeks. One of its main aims is to help entrepreneurs overcome limiting beliefs which can keep us playing small. Being honest with yourself is key to the success of the programme, as well as taking ACTION and taking calculated risks.

I don’t want to give too much away here and spoil the surprise of the course content so you know what to expect, but the tasks very quickly made me focus and made me realise that I didn’t have unlimited time to chase my dreams! You look at things that are holding you back, your goals and really get clear on the benefits of what you have to offer. Being a copywriter I’m good at figuring that out for my clients but not so hot on remembering to do it for myself!

I think my favourite part of the day (apart from the lovely lunch) was when we looked at different levels of ideas (from the more grounded ideas we have to our wildest, most far-out dreams). This led to my a-ha moment. I want to organise wellbeing retreats abroad for business owners but thought it would happen next year or when I felt more ready. I bit the bullet and emailed a previous client in Santorini to ask if I could book their hostel for a week. Within an hour they said YES. I don’t think I would have taken that action without being on the course. I know deep down that I’m ready to teach and train but have been holding myself back out of fear (I was a teacher ten years ago and became ill through stress).

I was seriously impressed with Phil’s wellbeing tasks that he set for us at the end of the training (prioritise your personal stuff THEN work in your diary). I also love the idea of a business development day with a twist which combines travelling with planning. We were also advised to turn off our tech between 10 pm and 9 am (something I talk a lot about in my wellbeing Facebook group Breathe In Business).

I’m excited to be part of a three-month programme which will provide extra support to step out of my comfort zone and really go for it this year, and be part of the journeys of the other business owners that also attended. Having some accountability is crucial for growth. In Cahoots provides this and the inspiration you might need to swallow that frog, step out of your comfort zone and make positive steps forward! I can’t thank you enough Phil!

The next In Cahoots training days are on Tuesday April 24th at Hexham Abbey and Friday 27th April at Acklam Hall (£90 per attendee). The day runs from 9.30am to 3.30pm. Please click on the links to find out more and register to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!

To find out more about Enterprise Made Simple and their business training courses click here