I hang on to bananas. I do. When they get too brown for anyone in my house to be willing to eat, I put them in the freezer. We have a favorite banana muffin recipe so I save them to make muffins. (Tell you what, I’ll put the recipe at the bottom of this post because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want).

Anyway, I haven’t been baking, and the bananas in the freezer have been piling up. I can’t get rid of them, though – they have the potential to become something delicious my kids will inhale and so I hoard them like a weird fruit miser.

This week as I looked at those frozen bananas I realized they are like something going on in my life professionally: I’ve been hoarding emails. Some people reading this post have received an email from me within the last month letting them know that I started this new coaching business, Village Coaching Services. SOME people received it. Not everybody who should have.

Marketing myself, or rather my business, is tough, and I do what I can to make it as difficult as possible. You see, I am not the type to send out a one-size-fits-all blast. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I personally know everyone on that list (that incidentally I created 6+ months ago), I value their feedback, and they are important to me, and so I made sure that each message is uniquely tailored to each person. And it takes AGES. So I have only sent about one third of the ones I intend to.

But the ones I sent were a huge step and I’ll tell you why.

I have a few fabulous people who do coaching exchanges with me and lately I was getting coached on this issue of what has become THE EMAILS (again, I have been putting this off for months now). I described myself as holding onto them like a handful of gold, that they represent pure potential, and I knew that as soon as I let them go all of that potential would vanish, for good or for ill. And do you know what my dear, wise coaching friend said? “But you could get diamonds back!”

“On some level we know that there is never just one view of a situation. Our clients often get attached to one perspective, convincing themselves that it is the only true and accurate view of reality. We may witness them telling themselves ‘that’s just how it is.’”

From Blooming Willow Conductors Coaching Guide, Leslie Avant-Brown.

She was right, of course. Nothing could ever come from clinging to the POTENTIAL of a healthy, shiny professional network – only when that potential turns into something real and tangible  does it have value.

Just like rotten bananas and unsent emails, you and I are one chemical reaction or mouse click away from an incredible transformation. What I needed from my coach that day was a change in viewpoint, and it changed everything. I sent the emails (some of them) and I received responses – encouragement, advice, opportunities – all the things I hoped to get from a network that I couldn’t get if I didn’t transform potential into reality.

Coaching helped me take that step. And though I move slowly, it’s still forward, and I know there are more diamonds out there for me. What about you? What could your potential turn into?

And did you try the muffins??

Ingalls Family Favorite Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

1 egg

1/2 cup of oil

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 3/4 cups of flour

3 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp soda

Dash of cinnamon

1 cup of chocolate chips (or just pour…)

Directions:

Mash bananas then add the egg and oil and brown sugar, mix well. Stir in dry ingredients, then add chocolate chips. Spoon into greased muffin tin. Bake 20 minutes at 350F. Makes 12 muffins.