GABRIEL URIBE

IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL get the best tools that I have incor-
porated into my daily practice to increase my prosperity. When I stop
using serving as a marketing tactic, and I start serving as a way of being,
everything changes; this was my experience in coaching. Having great
tools for coaching is important, but it’s vital to know that those tools are
valuable only to the extent that they serve my customers, and can im-
prove their wealth.
60 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

CREATING
WEALTH EVERY MORNING

Derek the Deep-Sea Doctor and the basic principles of

consistency

ONE OF MY CHILDREN’S FAVORITE stories is Derek the Deep-Sea

Doctor by Leo Timmers. They love the story, and I’ve found that it also
illustrates a lot about my own professional and coaching philosophies.
The beginning of the story introduces us to Derek’s daily routine:

“Every morning Doctor Derek dives to the bottom of the ocean in

this special doctor’s submarine, looking for fish and sea animals in need
of help. Whether it’s a stiff-tailed dolphin, a sardine with bad breath, or
a jellyfish with a backache, Doctor Derek always knows exactly what to
do. Soon he bumps into his first patient…”

This first paragraph is an example of something that I make the core

of what I teach my clients: the difference between intensity and consis-
tency, and how important consistency is in creating wealth. Dr. Derek‘s
focus on daily routine is why I use his example. When you want to create
more wealth, in order to achieve your desired results, consistency is going
to help you much more than uneven spurts of intense work. For example,
one of the most important lessons I've learned in my CrossFit training is
that to achieve results, consistency is more important than the intensity
that you show during the same time. Think about intense moments of
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 61

exercise as opposed to long routines. The first option is going to be more

difficult, but only over a short period of time. It’s intense, but improve-
ment only comes with consistency.

This is something I repeat for my clients often: "Consistency is more

important than intensity in creating wealth.” Over the course of one day,
you can call everyone you know, advertise on social media, and franti-
cally promote your services and products. This would be like running a
10 km race, followed by an hour of exercise at the gym, and then finish-
ing by playing two or three games of football with your friends. If you
managed to do this and survive, the days following this insanity would
be painful and unproductive.

Most importantly, working like this would make it almost impossible

to see any lasting improvement in your long-term performance.

Returning to Dr. Derek, the tool for creating wealth is in the first
two words: "Every morning.” ​Every day, Dr. Derek sticks to his routine
– he is constant and consistent. Dr. Derek doesn’t check on his patients
“from time to time,” or “when he feels inspired.” He doesn’t leave his
work to “when he wants to,” or “when someone else wants him to.” Dr.
Derek is committed to his patients and his work, and he performs his
duty every day.

Derek is also serving his patients. The aspect of service that Derek
shows us is his dedication and commitment to using his skills and abilities
for the benefit and growth of others. Wealth creation isn’t only generat-
ing more revenue or gaining new clients; even though these are import-
ant parts of growing a business, when you serve generously, you end up
becoming wealthy. Derek is fulfilled by his service outside of how success-
ful he may be as a professional because to him, service makes his spirit
and his patients wealthy.

Serving consistently: That is how you create wealth. And in order

to serve consistently, you have to develop a routine and stick to it. That
62 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

routine has to focus on your clients, and on how you can serve better.

I want to leave you with questions to answer. The first being, what
do you think about service and wealth creation? How does it compare
to Derek’s methods? How can you serve better and become wealthier in
that way? And finally, how can you be 5% more consistent in your vision
of service?

TH E C A P TA I N ' S LO G

When one of my clients tells me they want to begin creating their own
wealth, I ask them to show me their calendar, or some kind of method
they use to track the time they spend in their attempts to generate new
business. Upon hearing my request, they usually stare at me, their faces
hovering somewhere between disbelief and doubt – because they are not
aware that a sale cannot exist without a conversation with someone first.
Therefore, if we start paying attention to how much time we spend in
these talks and exchanges, my experience has shown that there is a high
probability of creating more wealth and serving more consistently.

Because without that emphasis on consistency – that gradual and per-

sistent work towards growth I’ve been talking about – there hasn’t been
a need for them to track their progress in this kind of way. Good re-
cord-keeping, however, is an absolute must in this move from sporadic
successes to continued, dependable growth, so my clients and I work on
developing a system that works for them and that fosters service consis-
tently and productively.

I call this system “The Captain’s Log.” This tool is based on the un-
derstanding that conversations and direct interactions with customers
are an absolutely necessary component for any professional advance-
ment, and that the time you spend serving should be spent consistently,
but also purposefully. This log is really meant to be a tool for you to
realize how consistent (or inconsistent) you are in your own service, and
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 63

to show you how and where you can improve your service and create
more wealth.

The Captain's Log is one of the tools I use with clients who want to
create more clients themselves, but who have also not learned how im-
portant consistent practices are. The log itself is simply a kind of record
keeping that physically shows a client how many minutes they’re spend-
ing every day on conversations or activities with the intent to serve and
create a business exchange. This log helps them visualize how much time
they put into these activities. It also helps them track their own service –
the more time they spend tracking and visualizing these activities, and
the more time they dedicate to their service, the more aware they are of
how effective that service is, and where they need to improve. With this
realization, they can create wealth with direction and purpose.

When we begin setting up a log, I ask my client to record, for a week,

how much time they spend on activities that may occasion some interac-
tion or conversation aimed at generating business, and that is the time
they record. For example: an e-mail inquiry may take 2 minutes, a phone
call to schedule a meeting may take 5 minutes, attending an appointment
with a prospective customer 65 minutes, etc. All of these times are re-
corded in the log for further review. Whatever times we record in the log
should have something to do with pursuing new or ongoing possibilities
for further service and wealth creation. After taking this first recording,
the only thing I ask my client is to commit to increasing the number of
minutes per day they spend on service-oriented conversations.

As an example from my own practice, a client I worked with began

their own log, and during the first week of reporting noted that 25 min-
utes on average each week was spent on pursuing conversations with po-
tential customers. During our consultation, we focused on increasing this
one minute per day or per week. When we finished the first stage of the
recording process, she had increased her average nearly 60 minutes a
week on this aspect of her work. As a result of this increase, and because
64 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

she was so diligent in tracking her minutes, her income nearly doubled.

There are a number of guiding questions to consider when beginning

a log, including:

How many minutes a day do you spend on activities that will eventu-
ally improve your service interactions and create wealth?

How much more time would you like to devote to this in-
crease every day?

Returning to Derek, it’s important to know that he didn’t simply

“dive” or “dip” his submarine into the water: he “submerged” it. Every
day, he approached his work as something that required enthusiasm and
generosity. He pursued his patients, even though he wasn’t technically
treating them yet, and he made sure to prepare himself fully for the good
of his relationships with his clients. What do you do to submerge yourself
for your customers? In the interest of finding more clients? What can you
do today to make sure you’re giving your future prospects enough time
and attention? And finally, what can you do to spend more time being
productive, rather than just trying to catch up on all the work for projects
you already have?

Derek is also always "in search of" a generated list of duties, problems,
and prospects. He has a clear idea of what he’s doing when he’s doing it,
and he knows who his clients are. Based on that, I give you another list of
questions to ask yourself: What kind of clients do you like working with?
What kind of people form the basis of a market for your services? Could
you describe who they are and what problems you can solve for them?

The excerpt ends with the phrase "they might have problems..." We
know what kind of problems Derek has to deal with, and how they may
present themselves. This invites us to think about our own professional
history, and how our own unique abilities help us solve problems for oth-
ers. Think about what you’re good at – how can this knowledge, guided
by your own abilities, help others? What do you have to give, and where
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 65

can you be the most capable person you can be?

To put this in different terms, how can you inhabit a paragraph like
the beginning of Derek’s story? Try to insert yourself into the action a
little more. Think of it as a formula, where you plug in your own name
and your own story to fit the structure we’ve gone over so far. If it were
me doing this, it would look something like this:

"Every morning, Coach Gabriel Uribe submerged himself

in a day’s work full of networking and pursuing new clients,
seeking people who are willing to work with him to improve
themselves, and assisting people in solving their problems.
An entrepreneur out of cash, a director with no time for her
family, an executive struggling to find meaning in his work.
The Coach knew how to treat them. He quickly found his
first patient…”

N OW IT' S YO U R TU R N

"Every morning, (YOUR NAME) submerges into (AN EXCHANGE

WITH YOUR CLIENTS) in search of (DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL
CLIENTS, OR THE CLIENTS YOU WANT TO SERVE). A/an
(DESCRIBE THE PROBLEM YOU ARE CAPABLE OF SOLVING
WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS HAVE RECEIVED YOUR
SERVICES). (YOUR NAME) knows how to treat them…”

To finish: If you make this formula a daily routine, and fill in the
blanks every day with your own work for the next 66 days, then my expe-
rience tells me that the results will be much like Derek: “Right away he
found his first patient...”
66 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

B EG I N S E RV I N G A N D CO NTI N U E TO S E RV E

Serving as a Profession

The fusion of two worlds: My profession and the business of my profession

Coaching is a service-based profession, and like any other similar pro-

fession, coaches should base their wealth creation on serving as a first step.
As in the previous section, service needs to begin with a conversation, the
purpose of which is to serve the other person. This kind of service, how-
ever, moves beyond simply working toward getting paid. Instead, using
this model, service becomes a way of being, and a way of living.

In principle, any professions that are service-based should fundamen-

tally value service when creating wealth, and not the actual act of making
money. For example, the first thing that a chiropractor does is serve you
when you arrive at his office. He asks you to lie down and begins to work
on your back, and as a result of his good work and service, you pay him
and continue the relationship with him. In this example, like in coach-
ing, the client creation process is based first on your service and then
receiving your payment after.

You need to establish yourself as someone who can serve them unique-
ly, even if they have worked with other coaches or are familiar with what
a coach can do for them. They don’t have the experience of working with
you, so you need to create an experience for them through your service.

A common problem that I share with some of my coaching colleagues

– who are also my customers – is how fragmented my approach used to
be as I was marketing and selling my coaching services, and how that
fragmentation left me inconsistent and unfocused. This is because I spent
a lot of time establishing a division between the time I was spending
coaching and serving, and the time I spent selling. I viewed making sales
as the “hard part” of my job, and I also thought that selling was always
opposed to serving. The selling is not the “hard part” of coaching – once
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 67

I understood that, I began to focus more on my coaching and on improv-

ing my service. When I started to focus more on serving others than on
selling, I actually found myself spending more time on the part of coach-
ing that I loved and valued the most, and I became more prosperous as a
result of coaching more people.

During a conversation with a prospective client, I could hear a voice

in my mind telling me, “If you want to appeal to this client or make
the sale, you have to please him, be nice, look nice, or behave in a spe-
cific way, even if this is not always very clear.” Or, “When he becomes
your client, he will see your full capabilities as a coach.” These kinds of
thoughts put the brakes on expressing myself fully as a coach in a session.
In this situation, my mind was constantly divided between telling myself
that “This is the time to sell” and “This is the time to serve.” This creat-
ed confusion for me, and the results were not great.

I had conflated when I should sell and when I should serve. I had
created and focused on the “hard part” of the job. My mind was divided
between establishing when it was time to sell and when it was time to de-
liver my product or service, and at the time I didn’t know how to use both
aspects of my job to create further successes for myself.

Since this happened to me a lot, I'm very empathetic when I hear

clients tell me, "Gabriel, I'm terrific at what I do, but I’m having a lot of
trouble with my sales." Or, "Gabriel, my trouble is that I don’t know how
to sell," or even, "Sales just don’t come naturally to me."

In response, I ask them, “What part of your profession don’t you

like?” Most of the time they tell me that selling is the least enjoyable part.
If I ask them about the part that they love the most, 99% of the time the
answer is the coaching part – just like me.

What I noticed that worked for me was to erase the artificial division
that I had created between selling and delivering my services, or, when
I should sell and when I should serve. When my own coach helped me
68 W h en a ll BoatS r iSe

erase this barrier, I chose to integrate what I enjoyed most about my pro-
fession, serving through coaching, with the not so enjoyable part, selling.
The result was that selling became a part of my coaching, so every mo-
ment of my day I was coaching and serving the person in front of me. At
all times I am a coach and at all times, if appropriate, I am coaching.

In other words, I am always serving, and there is always a potential

for me to serve.

This was my mind before integrating the service part of my profession

– when I was still trying to separate my service from my selling:

And this was my mind after integrating both my service and selling:

My profession
is Service
Service.
Every moment
is good to
to serve
serve
through selling
or vice versa.
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 69

E V E RY B O DY I S A CU S TO M E R: N O O N E I S
S I M PLY A PRO S PEC T

One benefit I found following a perspective that emphasized how

"Every moment is a good time to serve” was that I stopped making a
distinction between prospective clients and clients that had already en-
gaged my services, or current customers. When I sat with a person, and
they were directly in front of me, it didn’t matter if they hadn’t taken the
plunge and committed to my coaching on a more official or permanent
basis – as a result, every meeting or encounter I had with people was ac-
tually a coaching session for me.

This approach had provided me with unexpected benefits. After a ses-

sion with me, even if that person didn’t hire me, or did not hire me at the
time, my skills as a coach improved, and I became a better coach. After
that session, my mission as a human being to serve as a matter of wealth
creation and to inspire other people was solidified. Finally, some of those
same people who would not hire me turned into further successes when
they referred others to me.

An example of this approach in my own coaching happened one day

when I met with a client, and we had a coaching conversation. He asked
about the possibility of continuing our work together. He told me that, at
that moment, he could not hire me. One morning, almost a year later, I
was watching a video about how the body has a chemical reaction every
time you finish something, and that this generates a feeling of advance-
ment and fulfillment. Because “getting things done” was one of the topics
of a few of our conversations, I suddenly remembered him. I sent him
an email with the link to the video and a short message telling him why
I had decided to contact him. I told him, “I remembered you as I was
watching this; I hope this can help you.”

Five days later, I received a response from him. In his reply, he talked
about how the video resonated with him, and also about how he was, at
70 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

that time, more financially prepared to pursue further sessions.

He was enthusiastic about beginning again:

"Hello Gabriel,

Thanks for the video! I really liked it, and it helped me ease my cur-
rent stresses. You know, I have a little extra income secured for the next
three years... I was thinking of investing in something, but I think that I
had better invest in me!

Last year you made a proposal. Is this still available? Shall we contin-
ue? When can we start?

Best Regards!”

At that time, truth be told, I had forgotten what proposal it was that I
had made, but now, years later, he is still my client.

The question now becomes: Can you integrate this approach into your
career or business? And if you treated all the people with whom you interact
as a part of your everyday professional life as a client, what could you do to
change how you approach your own service?
Serve them, and you will grow rich.

A S K I N G D I FFE R E NT Q U E S TI O N S: “ W H AT' S I N IT FO R
M E? ” VS. “ W H AT' S I N IT FO R OTH E R S? ”

Changing the way you serve also changes your bottom line, or what
you ultimately want to achieve for yourself and your clients. My coach
Andrew Presley taught me the distinction between asking myself “What's
in it for me?” versus “What's in it for others?” This has become one of the
main tools of thought that I teach my clients. It is also a cornerstone of my
service philosophy, and is complementary to Steve Chandler’s teaching.

Early in my career as a consultant and coach, in order to gain the rev-

enue I wanted, I had a daily routine. To achieve this, I would call twenty
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 71

people a day, maybe half of which would end in ten or so appointments.

These ten appointments would become five diagnostic meetings, and
from those twenty initial interactions, two would become full coaching
clients. While this pattern was consistent, it was very one-sided.

These indicators of success were extraordinarily helpful for creating

consistent practices, but the intention behind my work was based solely
on one question: “What is in it for me ?” My only real focus was to gain
more or make more money for myself. This focus was to stick to my rou-
tine, and thus make more money. This approach made me doubtful of
how effective I was, and made me question my abilities because of the
amounts of negative responses I got. It created doubts and fears, and a
resistance to continuing my calls and serving my clients in that way.

Getting to the key performance indicators (KPI) every week was a

struggle, mainly because the question “What's in it for me?” was running
my operating system. When I learned that I should be asking a differ-
ent question, things improved. Instead of focusing on myself and what
I could gain from being a coach, I began to focus on how I could serve
others, and began asking “What’s in this for them?” I started to take a
different approach that focused on this new question, and when I did, I
began to feel like I was flowing more easily, while working on my KPIs
the calls, the scheduling appointments, the ultimate yield in clientele was
suddenly changed in a positive, more productive way. I discovered a to-
tally new operating system.

Coming from a different approach, or changing the operating sys-

tem to the question “What’s in this for them?” made a big difference
in me, because every task for my KPI became more meaningful. This
marked a significant shift for my own company, because at first every-
body in my company was coaching and consulting for large companies
in Mexico, and doing our jobs to earn money for ourselves. After this
shift, we realized our jobs meant more than simply making money for
ourselves – what we were doing reached beyond our own lives and helped
72 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

these large, important companies avoid bankruptcy, and our coaching

was generating more wealth, peace, and happiness in Mexico. This shift
gave us a lot of meaning on a day-to-day basis.

Another benefit that I discovered after this shift was a greater sense of
security and confidence during my interactions and conversations with
clients. In addition, it became easier for me to view my own commit-
ment and consistency in a more tangible way, connecting with my com-
mitment, and becoming the best version of my coaching self. All of this
helped quell the feelings of doubt, fear, or even boredom that had started
to creep into my mind when I had conversations with clients, because it
is very difficult to be wrong when you are truly serving others.

A S K I N G “ W H AT’S I N IT FO R M E? ”

In my experience, the majority (98% of people) in this field are preoc-

cupied with sales or financial gain, and as such, when they pursue wealth
creation they often come from the question “What’s in it for me?” This
can be money, connections, or building their reputation. This approach
may seem like it could be profitable in the short term. Long-term, how-
ever, this is not a strategy that is successful in the coaching profession, or
even to a greater extent in other professions and their own clients.

This is because when I'm only focused on myself and what I can gain,
talking about what is in this for me and if what I want is money, I am only
interacting with another person based on a desire for more money, or for
my own living. Somehow, clients can sense this, and there is something
lost in developing a relationship with them because of this. They sense
that you do not have a genuine interest in them as people, and that you
only care for yourself and making more money.
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 73

A S K I N G “ W H AT’S I N IT FO R OTH E R S? ”

Asking this question instead of “What's in it for me?” is an important

shift in philosophy for coaches. When you begin interacting with others
based on this shift, you can approach problems and difficulties from a
more powerful position. This is because there is a reassignment of value
based on what others can gain from their work with you. The emphasis
on your part needs to be on giving and sharing. I share what I can, and
the return is based on that generosity.

I explained this concept in a workshop once, and after I presented this

concept of being more generous, I asked one of the attendees how long
it would take for him to get someone to give him $10,000 USD. A little
overwhelmed with his thoughts, he replied, “About a month.” Then, I
decided to try a thought experiment. I asked him to imagine that I gave
him $10,000 USD in $100 bills. I then asked him, “How long would it
take for you to share that amount of money with people just passing by in
the street?” With an incredible energy, he responded: “It would probably
take me only ten minutes!”

This exchange exemplifies the difference between asking those two

very different questions. Instead of asking “What's in it for me?” or “How
long does it take me to receive money?” the question instead becomes
“What's in it for the others?” and “How long will it take me to share
this money?”

Once, I was arranging a meeting with that same client, and he wrote
the following in response:

“I have a full agenda for the next five weeks… giving three to five pro-
spective diagnostics per day... giving away $100 USD… right and left. :)"

So when you begin your day, ask yourself: How much wealth do you
want to share today?
74 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

B E LI E F I N M Y OW N VA LU E A S A COACH VS. CR E ATI N G

M O R E VA LU E W ITH M Y COACH I N G

Who Am I to Charge That?

I have worked with clients who wish to increase their income but hold
certain beliefs that limit them and keep them in a constant struggle be-
tween financial abundance and scarcity. One of the most common prob-
lems I've discovered with coaches is that they do not believe in the value
of what they are doing. That is, they are not clear about the value that is
created during a session with a client, and they believe that asking ques-
tions, listening, and accompanying a person through his or her journey
is not enough to charge for it.

This is why I tell my clients that they don't need to believe in nothing
– they need to start creating value for their clients. In my experience, the
best strategy I have for creating value is to think in terms of the benefits
that the other person will obtain by interacting with us. Some questions
that help me focus on this are:

How can I serve this person with all my talents and get paid?

How much money, peace, or freedom can this person create by hav-
ing a session with me?

Steve Chandler once told me: “A customer does not pay you for the
hours of experience or the certifications you have, he pays you because he
perceives that you can or can’t help him solve a problem.”

Stop thinking about whether or not you are worth it or if your coach-
ing skills are good enough, and start being willing to create value for
your client.
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 75

PAY TH E E NTRY FE E (O R A Q U OTA O F TH E

U S E R I G HT S)

When it comes to a person who is new to the profession as a coach,

consultant, healer, theta healer, or therapist, but is not new to the profes-
sional world, I have seen that they can fall into “the impostor syndrome,”
and come to the conclusion that they have to go through a sort of hazing
in order to consider themselves a “true” or “actual” professional.

My own thought when I first started coaching was, I'm new to the pro-
fession, so I can only charge very little for my services.
Talking to my first coach, Andrew Priestley, about a new customer, I
asked him to help me determine how much to charge. He proposed that
I charge a figure that, at the time, was one I had thought was completely
off-limits to me, and when I found myself doubting this, I told him, “I
don’t have enough experience to charge this amount.” And then he asked
me: “Who told you that?” I told him that during one of my coaching cer-
tification classes I participated in, one of the tools used during the session
was a very confusing pyramid that included several categories of coach-
es, hours of experience (flight time), and fee rates for coaches.
76 W h en a ll BoatS r iSe

This is my interpretation of that pyramid:

At that moment, all I understood, according to the graphic, was

that I could not charge more than 600 pesos per session – something
like $60 USD.

During this session, my coach helped me realize that this graphic had
neither sense, nor more real support than what I gave to it.

He explained to me that there is an equation for wealth:

W=V x L

Which translates to:

Wealth = Value times Leverage

That is, wealth is created by the amount of value that we can deliver,
times the leverage the other person perceives that they can apply in re-
sponse to the value we are delivering. For example: my business knowl-
edge, my experience with failing two projects, and my leadership skills
generate value, and then someone else can leverage – or take advantage
of – the value of these attributes.
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 77

This was quite evident when I started working with a client and dis-
covered he had a cash flow problem because the clients he was taking
were agreeing to pay him for his services, but he was seeing nothing of
this agreement.

The belief that had triggered this situation was that he thought those
customers were “good customers,” and if he claimed what they owed
him, they would view him as a nuisance – and being painted as bother-
some was his worst fear.

When we explored this concept of a “good customer” together, he

defined a “good customer” as, among other things, someone who should
pay what they owe on time.

With this in mind, he undertook the following homework: During the

next two weeks, each morning for half an hour, he would call every cus-
tomer that had outstanding payments overdue by 91 or more days.

At the end of two weeks, he recovered approximately 80% of past due

payments, and as a bonus he got a couple of new contracts.

After these two weeks, he also discovered that only one customer had
a negative reaction with regards to the collection, and this was only be-
cause after 180 days he had not received a billing statement for his ser-
vices. Obviously, this will help my client implement some improvements
in his administrative process. The wealth was created because my client
could leverage my value (coaching tools and business experience) to re-
gain his cash flow and create a couple of new contracts. Reviewing what
happened in this example, my client in his first two sessions received a
big Return on Investment (ROI) – because the benefits he received from
interacting with me not only justified my fees, it led to a return for him.
He got more than he paid for, and even with my new higher fees, and
without all the time and experience that I thought I needed, the session
was productive and beneficial.
78 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

Your client pays not just for your knowledge and experience, but be-
cause most importantly, he feels as though you can help him. The real
value in your capabilities lies not in how qualified you are or in how
much time you have in your file, but in whether or not you can truly help
your client in achieving what he wants.

Thus, having experienced this rate clearly, the pyramid became a ref-
erence rather than a limiting rule.

B ACK S TAG E …

At the time my first coach explained this wealth equation, my home-

work was simple: I had to put a larger number on my fee proposal.

However, this change did not come easily; it took me about two stress-
ful hours in front of my computer, debating about changing the number
in the box for the proposed investment.

Voices popped up in my head like, “What will this client say about
me?” “Certainly he will not have this much money,” and “ Who are you
to charge this amount?”

Finally, I decided to put an approximate number of what my coach

had suggested (for example, instead of 100 I put 99).

When I presented the proposal, my client, in a stony silence, saw

it, stared at me, and all he finally said was, “Can I pay it in two in-
stallments?”

With this fee stretch, the real change came in my practice and com-
mitment to my client. As a result of this new fee, I was determined to
deliver more value to my client to honor what he had paid for.

These are the concepts, tools and examples you need to be more
prosperous:

Be willing to create value for your clients.

 Cr e ating W e a lth ev ery Mor ning 79

The client pays you for the value he receives – not for your cer-
tifications.

Wealth is created with the value you have times the leverage the client
can use your work to do themselves.

Now it's your turn to apply this in your own practice.

TH E M YS TE R I O U S M I S TE R M A R K E T

During my coaching certification, on the last

module the topic “What to Charge and How
to Charge” included a brief slide with infor-
mation on how much a coach could charge.
On the slide there were terms such as "fl ying
hours" vs. "hourly rate," and at that time it was
suggested that a person with my hours of expe-
rience as coach could charge the equivalent of
$60 USD per session. The instructor fi nished
by saying, "That is what the market pays."

At the time, I thought that if I began charging

that amount, I could not pay my debts and sur-
vive, unless I had about sixty clients per week. This situation made the
early years of my practice as a coach confusing because I was constantly
questioning how I could determine and know how much I should charge
for my services, and how I could justify charging that amount.

There is a lot of literature available with regards to pricing. However,

this is largely based on examples from industrial work that is focused on
the exchange of a product, and there is little information on how to set
prices in more professional, service -based fields.

In Mexico, there is a saying in the world of consulting and profes-

sional services: "Depending on the toad is the stone." This creates a
80 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

victim-based mindset because it means that the amount of your rate is

determined by the size of your client, and not by the real value you create
with your service. Additionally, this train of thought generates a sense
of doubt and uncertainty whenever a new proposal is submitted for a
coach’s consideration.

I have worked with clients in creating their own rates because this
issue was vital in my development as a coach.

When we meet for the first time, some customers talk about their rates
and fees as if they were subject to a superior and omnipresent being called
“the Market.” They say things like “My rates are based on the Market,
and if I raise them that would remove me from the Market,” or “The
Market does not pay for X or Y,” “I am charging what the Market says
I should,” et cetera. They treat an economic entity as if it was some kind
of a tyrannical God, and the worst part is that they have blindly sworn
undying loyalty to it. The big problem with having these thoughts is that
this blind devotion negates any further possibilities for growth because it
makes us think that we will be excluded forever from the all-important
“Marketplace,” and that this exclusion will leave us with a life full of fear
and anxiety.

When I listened to this presentation on how much I was supposed to

charge, and even whether or not I could charge one amount and not an-
other in my coaching class, I confronted reality and I determined that
Mr. Market would not be my business partner or god, so the rates that I
assigned my services would only reflect the value of my own service and
to what extent my service improved the lives of my clients – not what “the
Market” told me they should be or do or reflect.

Once I made this determination, the little voices that told me,
"Uff, Gabriel, this is very expensive. And what if they do not hire you?
Remember what happened to Juanito, who was not hired because he was
very expensive? And he charges less than you?” The voices that generate
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 81

these doubts when I wrote my proposals were dissolved when I cut “the
Market” out of how I valued my services.

These voices have never been silenced 100%, because the final pur-
chase decision is always on the client’s side. However, the final decision of
how much to charge is always mine. So I can create very clear parame-
ters indicating that there are customers who can pay my fees and others
who cannot. The paying parameter becomes one of my requirements for
accepting new clients. This perspective gives me a greater peace of mind
because thinking about whether or not this customer can pay always gen-
erates anxiety for me, as I have no control or power over the answer.

Once, I had a client who had developed an incredible service that gen-
erated an extraordinary value for the people who received it. However,
she was struggling with the Mysterious Mr. Market and how much she
believed she could and should charge for this important service. We dis-
cussed her charging between $300 to $500 USD. Her fear was that if
she priced her service too low, they would not hire her because the client
would not appreciate her or her services, and if she priced it too high,
they would not hire her because it was too expensive. The real problem
was not what numerical value she should assign her service, but rather
the battle that she was waging with herself as a result of the stranglehold
Mr. Market had over her, paralyzing her and preventing her from win-
ning or being confident in her own value.

One day during a session, she was insisting that it would be impossible
to sell her services for $500 USD because "all her friends" had told her
that at that price, she would not sell – the Mysterious Mr. Market would
say “NO.” Whenever Adriana thought that no one would pay for her
service, anguish and fear started to appear because of the strength with
which the Mysterious Mr. Market clenched her.

I asked her if any of her friends worked in the exact same industry or
if they sold the exact same product that she did, and if any of them had
82 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

relative success in their own industry.

To all of my questions, she answered with an emphatic “No!” And

then, I watched Adriana begin to counter the Mysterious Mr. Market,
and finally escape the suffocating grip that had kept her paralyzed. She
came to the determination that she wanted to test a new price with some
people, and to offer her services at a price of $500 USD.

A couple of months later, I was with another customer and asked him
if he would be interested in having a couple of sessions with Adriana, and
that if he did, her fees would amount to $700 USD. My client agreed,
telling me, “Of course, if you feel that will beneficial to me, tell me what
I need to do to contact her." A few hours later, Adriana called me – a bit
sad – and said, "Gabriel, I don’t think I can sell my service for more than
$500 USD. People will not pay me that much." I saw the Mysterious Mr.
Market grab her again and I said, “Please call this person. He is starting
a project with me and he will work with you for $700 USD.” Adriana
smiled and from that moment forward, she learned how to escape the
headlock of the Mysterious Mr. Market.

A year later, the basic service Adriana offers is for $700 USD, and as a
result, she is creating various projects and her practice is growing in pros-
perity and impact. She is refusing to allow the Mysterious Mr. Market
to dictate her worth and value, and she has seen how moving away from
“the Market” does not mean that her professional life has died.

My question for you is:

Do you or the Mysterious Mr. Market determine your fees today?

G ROW I N G 49E R S S T Y LE

It was during my third time participating in the Steve Chandler Advanced

Client System Program for coaches that the super coach, Nathaniel
Montgomery, helped me create this tool to help grow my coaching practice.
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 83

My session began with me outlining what I wanted and what was keep-
ing me from achieving my goals; my intention was to increase my rates,
but I was afraid because of the voices I heard that were saying things like,
“What is your client going to think of you?” and “What if your client no
longer wants to buy your services?" However, I was determined to over-
come these fears and discomfort towards my professional growth.

Nathaniel began to ask me about the voices I heard and little by little,
I began to realize that the voices were happening only in my head, and
that there was no real evidence to reach the same conclusions the voices
seemed to be making themselves. In fact, I even had real evidence that
my clients were willing to pay higher rates and continue to grow in their
commitment to me and my service.

A little later in the session, a deeper concern of mine emerged, and a

voice said to me: "If you raise your fees, you will lose all of your clients
and you and your family will starve to death." My coach and I were sur-
prised that I had invented such a dramatic story based on an event that
did not exist, in a future that didn't exist, either. However, this thought
made me quite fearful, so instead of ignoring it, I could see that it was
guarding a deep desire to provide and care for my family and not jeop-
ardize my economic safety.

Therefore, we leveraged my fear through a strategy that was inspired

by the San Francisco 49ers. My coach told me that when Joe Montana
played for the San Francisco 49ers, the team had the following strategy:
They made three short passes and one long pass every game. This strat-
egy was so successful that it led them to win several Super Bowls. So, we
created my own version of a 49ers-style growth strategy. This consisted
of four short passes and a long pass. In my practice, that meant four new
proposals at current prices, and the long pass was a proposal with the
new, higher fees.

This strategy allowed me to continue building solidly on my practice,

84 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

since I was allowed to protect what I deeply wanted with regards to pro-
viding for my family. A few months later, the long passes – the new,
higher amounts – had become short passes, and I was able to continue
growing. Think about what kind of strategy you can build for yourself:
Something that addresses your fears, but also stretches you a little and
will make you grow.

My questions for you are:

For you, how much does a short pass represent? And what
about a long one?

CR E ATE YO U R OW N W E A LTH H A B IT S
TH RO U G H S E RV I CE

It is said that when you repeat an action for 21 days it becomes a habit.
I still don’t really have a scientific explanation as to why it’s 21 days and
not 23 or 30 days, but what I have concluded as certain is that a habit is
created through repetition, either consciously or unconsciously.

Simple habits such as brushing your teeth or getting dressed before

leaving home are formed from childhood. During my adult life, how-
ever, I realized that I had not formed any habits with regards to wealth
creation, and as a result I had not developed any routine activities that
contributed to wealth creation.

Everyone consciously or unconsciously has habits that create results

from day to day. I have found that there are habits that can be incorpo-
rated into your daily life in order to create new customers and wealth.

Before I knew of this tool, I was flooded with feelings of uncertainty

at the end of every month because I felt that every month I was starting
from scratch, and I had to begin creating customers and, most impor-
tantly, money. This feeling was very uncomfortable and it led to my tak-
ing several not very useful or productive actions as a result.
 Cr e ating W e a lth Ev ery Mor ning 85

When I understood and assumed responsibility for my own results, I

began to realize very painfully that whatever results I did not like were a
direct consequence of the habits that I held at that point in my life.

During a coaching session, I made note of this situation and started

writing down all of the things that happened throughout my day that
gave me peace and fulfillment. Initially, I made a list of many things in
my life, and then began to see which of these aspects were the most im-
portant to me – spending time with my spouse, with my children, serving
customers, getting paid, writing, exercising, etc.

After the exercise, my coach asked me: “If you dedicate yourself only
to the things that give you peace and fulfillment, what would you do?”

I answered:

• Spend time with my wife

• Activities with my children
• Write
• Serve customers
• Exercise
• Get paid
The next question I had to answer was, “On an average day, a day in
which you are not totally focused nor totally productive, how much time
do you spend on these activities?”

I thought for a little bit, and wrote down some of my times.

Then, he asked me, “What would be the minimum time in minutes

that you would wish to devote to these experiences every day?” The time
I answered with was shorter, but not significantly. Following my answer,
my coach asked me, “Do you think it's possible for you to do these activi-
ties on a daily basis?” I said yes, emphatically. He then wondered, “What
would you do to ensure that you will commit to those activities every
day?” Immediately, I answered that I could draw up an action plan, get
up early to exercise, set a schedule to write. But when I reached the part
86 W H EN A LL BOATS R ISE

about serving a customer and getting paid, I realized that I would be re-
quired to do something before I got any kind of result. This could mean
making an appointment with a client, generating a new conversation, or
serving a customer. After some practice, I arrived at the following list of
minimum daily activities that will bring me peace and fulfillment, and
these became my habits of wealth creation:

• 30 minutes of physical activity

• 20 minutes of involved conversation with my wife
• 20 minutes of involved activity with my kids
• 15 minutes of writing
• Performing two activities that lead me to serve a customer
• Finally, you need to ask yourself these questions:
• What are your wealth creation habits?
• What would be the minimum commitment required of you to
establish your wealth creating habits?