We had the good fortune of connecting with Donna Deteau and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donna, what do you attribute your success to?

Getting results for my clients. And the mindset to get the results. I really can’t separate the two; they are inextricably intertwined. So let’s talk about results first. Coaching or guiding my clients is all about the results. Changing their results. Getting bigger & better results. That’s why people hire a coach; it’s because they don’t like the results they are getting. Maybe they’re stuck. Maybe their business has only grown by 20-50% each year. Maybe all their relationships are unravelling. Whatever it is…whatever is happening…they are not getting the results they want. So how do you change to get bigger & better results? Most people look at their behaviors and start there. But when you work on your behaviors first, the results you will get will be temporary at best. Never permanent. Never. Have you ever gone on a diet to release some weight? The first thing people do is say to themselves, “OK. I’m going to cut down on sugar and carbs. I’m going to go to the gym 2 x a week and I’m going to walk 3 x a week.” And the first week or several weeks, these new behaviors kick in and work. But then, there’s a bad day. Or a neighbor drops off a killer chocolate cake. Or something happens that creates a lot of stress. And bam…there goes the diet. What you have to do is start with your thinking…your thoughts. You HAVE to change your thoughts about food, releasing weight and maybe even your self-image. To put it in a nutshell, our thoughts produce our feelings. Our feelings produce our behaviors. And our behaviors produce our results. When you concentrate on your thoughts and changing your thoughts, the chain reaction ends with new behaviors and new results. Permanent results.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
First, I don’t think anything great we accomplish is easy. If it was easy then everyone would be doing it and we know that’s just not the case. I’m an entrepreneur and while I thought being an employee was difficult, it’s nothing compared to being an entrepreneur. But the greater the difficulty, the greater the reward. I cut my entrepreneurial “teeth” on 2 other businesses. They were successful but nothing compared to what I’m doing today. I realize there are thousands, probably millions, of coaches in the world. What sets me apart and what I’m most proud of are the results I get for my clients. I say “I get for my clients.” I give them extraordinary, life changing tools and formulas and THEY do the work. Becoming wealthy financially, for example is a science. And all sciences are based in formulas. Becoming wealthy or achieving anything we want or becoming the person we want to become…it’s all based in formulas. When you work the formula, you get the results you want. Like I said earlier, it’s all about the results. Overcoming difficult times & obstacles & challenges…overcoming anything is accomplished by changing our thinking about those challenges. Once we change our thinking (and yes, there are formulas for changing our thoughts) and how we perceive these challenges, it becomes so much easier to work around or through them. We will always have obstacles, difficult times and challenges. Always. I get excited when I see my clients approach them with different tools, different mindsets and get different results. That’s the most exciting thing about what I do. Watching people change, grow, take risks, make quantum leaps and create their future selves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When people visit, I always take them to the mountains. The Colorado Rockies are beautiful any time of year and there’s so much to do there. Just being in the mountains is therapeutic to the body and the soul. Sitting on a porch in the mountains drinking a cocktail is better, I think, than being in the city sipping a cocktail. The air is clearer & cleaner, it’s cooler, and no matter where you look, the views are stunning. If they’ve never been to Colorado before, I would show them a little around Denver: there’s the Denver Mint, Natural History Museum, Mollie Brown’s house and other historical places, the museums and, of course, the restaurants. Then we would head to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs followed by a trip to Pike’s Peak. In a week’s time, we really couldn’t cover all of Colorado so some highlights might include the Black Canyon in Gunnison, soaking in the springs in Glenwood Springs, and then visiting the ski resort towns such as Vail, Beaver Creek, and Breckenridge. We would be lucky to fit all that in a week’s time!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First, my parents and my family. I have a big family so the list of names and how they helped create who I am is WAY too long to list here. Next, my first mentor, Patrick O’Shea. He was the first example of someone who had learned to live “inside out.” Third is Michael Wright. He was the first person who recognized that I was an entrepreneur, not an employee. That was a huge turning point in my life. Next was not a person but a nonprofit where I was Executive Director. Dress for Success Denver gave me the passion to grow people. And this led to to my coaching business. Finally, Bob Proctor & Sandy Gallagher of the Proctor/Gallagher Institute. They created a program, Thinking Into Results, that has completely transformed every single aspect of my life. With this program, a program that I use in my coaching, I’ve learned that we can change our mindset; we can actually changeHOW we think. And when we learn this, we can achieve absolutely anything we want to achieve. I could tell you stories of how my clients have changed and have made quantum leaps and you wouldn’t even believe these things could happen.

Website: www.elevatespark.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatespark/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-deteau-6969ba15/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/212968100132416/

Image Credits
AnnaPhillipsPhotography

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