Every human being, especially overworked, overwhelmed, and overly busy entrepreneurs, will receive numerous wake-up calls over their lifetime.  What's a wake-up call?  It's that very personal, shocking, upsetting, and significant event that grabs your attention, shakes you up, and strongly encourages you to slow down and think.  It's too significant to be brushed off, ignored or easily forgotten.  It demands that you stop taking people and your situation for granted and stop sleep-walking through life.  It wants you to awaken! 

While painful, a wake-up call wishes to teach you a valuable lesson...IF you are receptive to learning and growing.  If you aren't open to receiving the gift of insight, it will be both painful and without any real benefit...what a shame.  Don't waste a valuable wake-up call.  As a business coach for over 16 years, I have seen countless small business owners and professionals deal with dozens of different wake-up calls.  Here is a small sampling of some of the more common wake-up calls: 

- Health challenges, physical or mental
- Marital challenges or divorce
- Legal problems, business or personal
- Financial struggles, business or personal
- Death of a loved one or close friend
- Serious illness or disease inflicting a loved one or close friend
- Struggles with addictions, you or a family member
- Your kids getting into serious trouble
- Business crises and major setbacks
- Loss of key customers, employees, vendors or suppliers
- Betrayal by someone you trusted, personal or business
- Your own illness or near-death experience
- A serious accident
- A super dumb mistake that hurt yourself or others
- A bad economy
- Government regulations, industry-wide challenges, or game-changing technology
- Unresolved messes that have festered
- General business owner blues or even burnout

Can you relate to any of these wake-up calls?  How did you respond?  Did one or more of these get you to change your ways?  To become a better person or owner? 

Wake-up calls can frighten you, grab your heart, stress you out, embarrass you, knock you to your knees, and steal your peace of mind.  God knows I have had my fair share of wake-up calls... some that blind-sided me and some I flat out caused.  However, I believe they all serve a real purpose.  They are to remind us that we are fragile human beings and that we aren't immortal, invincible or super heroes.  That we are far from perfect and in fact, very much broken.  That there is no place for arrogance in business and life.  That life is not fair.  That tragedies happen to everyone.  That we all make dumb mistakes we regret.  That we get off track and lose our way.  That certain things are beyond our control. 

Though unsettling, these wake-up calls can teach us great lessons and humble us.  With the proper perspective, these wake-up calls (just like business coaching) get us to slow down, reflect, count our blessings, learn valuable lessons, make adjustments, and move on as better people and owners.  At times, they even teach us to ask others for forgiveness and make amends.  Again, don't waste a wake-up call...make something good out of something bad. 

When confronted with a wake-up call you caused, you must take responsibility and own it.  If it's a wake-up call that merely happened to you, you still must face the reality that it happened, accept it and deal with it.  No place for denial.  You must treat wake-up calls as gifts so you can learn from them, avoid the mistake in the future, correct your course, and improve.  You must also learn to forgive yourself and stop beating yourself up.  For serious wake-up calls and challenges, be sure to seek professional counseling.

Please do not delude yourself.  As long as you are alive, wake-up calls will surely come.  However, if you continually face reality, have good awareness about your life and business, don't take people for granted, participate in on-going business coaching and accountability, and do enough self reflection, many of these wake-up calls can be averted or softened.   

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System