Making Space Is the Real Work

There’s a lie we tell ourselves when something really matters - and it sounds sensible enough that we rarely challenge it. “I’ll do it when life calms down.” But life doesn’t calm down. It fills every available gap, expands into every spare minute, and before you know it, another year has passed with the same intentions and the same results. This is something that’s been coming up again and again in conversations with our practitioners lately, especially those growing or stepping into a coaching franchise. Why ‘finding the time’ is a myth When you’re starting a new business - or trying to make your current one actually blossom - you have to make space for it to grow. Not someday. Not eventually. Not once everything else is sorted. Because that version of time doesn’t exist yet. We all have the same twenty-four hours. Nobody is hiding a secret stash of extra minutes. So if something new is going to live in your life, something old has to go. That’s not a productivity hack. It’s a law of reality. You can’t add without subtracting. And pretending otherwise is one of the quiet ways people sabotage themselves while telling themselves they’re being patient. If your diary is already full, your dream has nowhere to land. Growth doesn’t happen in theory. It happens in booked slots. Between wanting change and creating it is a decision most people avoid. What usually has to go (and why it feels uncomfortable) Sometimes it’s obvious. Sometimes it’s not. Maybe it’s your nightly dose of EastEnders - the ritual that signals the end of the day but also quietly eats an hour you’ll never get back. Maybe it’s a couple of evenings away from your partner while you focus on building what you say you want long-term. Not forever. Just for a season. Maybe it’s sleep - yes, sorry - maybe the alarm needs to go a little earlier so progress happens before the world even knows you’re awake. None of this is about being brutal. It’s about being deliberate. Because if you don’t choose what gives way, life will choose for you. And life tends to choose your ambitions first. In every successful coaching franchise I’ve seen grow sustainably, there’s been a moment where the person stopped waiting for permission and started protecting time like it mattered. Because it does. Comfort is expensive. It just sends the bill later. Why doing more of the same won’t get you more Here’s the part people don’t love hearing. If you keep doing what you’ve always done - thinking the same way, prioritising the same things, reacting to the same chaos - you are going to keep getting the same results. Wanting “more” while living the same schedule is a contradiction. Bigger business. Better income. Deeper impact. Greater freedom. Those outcomes require different inputs. This is where mindset and logistics collide. You can have all the belief in the world, but if there is no protected time for action, nothing changes. This is one of the foundations we build into our coaching franchise model - not motivation, but structure that supports momentum. Because motivation fades. Diaries don’t. When something is written down, booked, and non-negotiable, it moves from fantasy into reality. It becomes part of who you are, not just something you talk about wanting. And yes, it will feel uncomfortable at first. That’s not a sign you’re doing it wrong. It’s a sign you’re doing something new. Making space is the real work You want more? Bigger? Better? Then you need to schedule it in. Literally. In your diary. Blocked. Defended. Treated with the same respect you’d give a client appointment. The truth is, you can be, do, or have anything - yes, anything - but not without making space for it. Magic doesn’t just arrive. It needs somewhere to land. And this is why so many people hover on the edge of change without ever stepping into it. Not because they lack talent or intelligence, but because they never cleared the ground. Whether you’re building your first offer, growing a coaching franchise, or trying to turn potential into something tangible, the question is the same: What are you willing to let go of so the next version of your life can exist? Because until something shifts, nothing does. by Gemma Bailey (with the help of Ai) https://www.peoplebuilding.co.uk/franchise