How Your Mindset Is Keeping Your Business Stuck16 min read
Why is mindset work the most strategic aspect of your business? If you’ve ever doubted the power of mindset, if you struggle to maintain a consistent mindset routine, or if you find yourself feeling self doubt, fear, overwhelm, and limiting beliefs when it comes to your business or your life, this article is for you! In this post, I outline WHY your business problems are always mindset problems, HOW mindset work allowed me to quantum leap my business within 12 months, and WHAT you need to do to create a rock solid business success mindset.
For the longest time, I thought mindset work was a waste of time.
I had built a successful corporate career helping organizations create strategic plans and implement them so that they could make more money.
If anything, my education, career experience, and background taught me that strategy is king.
So, naturally, I thought mindset was too “woo woo” to yield any real results.
I believed it was for “weaklings” who wanted to sit around on their butts all day and talk about their feelings instead of getting the work done.
Boy oh boy was I EVER wrong about the importance of mindset when it comes to business success.
Whether you’re thinking of starting a business, actively trying to grow your side hustle, or have been in business for years and are working on scaling to the next level, this article is for you.
Today, you’ll discover
- real examples of WHY my distaste for inner mindset work created massive struggle in my business
- exactly HOW everything changed when I started prioritizing my mindset
- WHAT you need to do to get to the next level in life and business
If you’ve ever thought mindset work was ridiculous, or if you’re struggling with managing your mindset consistently, then let’s dig in!
WHY my distaste for mindset work created struggle in my business
I’ve always had big dreams, and a solid belief that I could (eventually) achieve them.
I had no idea that I needed to work through some serious limiting beliefs in order to get there.
On the surface, I felt confident in my ability to succeed.
This surface level confidence coupled with my background in strategic planning & process improvement created a cycle of very ineffective “strategic” planning for my own business….
This involved listing out a thousand things I was going to do over a very short (and completely unrealistic) timeline in order to get to $100K, feeling good about it for approximately 2.2 seconds, then feeling massively overwhelmed at the amount of work I had just created for myself, and giving up on the whole thing altogether.
My brain would then convince me that I just needed a better strategy, so I would start all over by recreating a different plan to hit 100K, only to end up right back where I started, and feeling more defeated than ever.
Do you ever feel like you’re just missing the secret strategy everyone knows about except you? And if you could JUST figure out what that was, you’d be well on your way to massive business success?
I felt that way too. I literally spent weeks thinking through different plans instead of actually doing any work!
And because I failed to realize that I had HUGE mindset issues around success, like…
- I didn’t think I was worthy of financial abundance / wild success
- I believed it would be a lot of really hard work to get where I wanted to go
- I thought that money doesn’t come easily to me
- I didn’t think I was good enough to actually do this the right way…
I couldn’t solve the mindset issues that were standing between me and the results I was chasing.
This created massive struggle for me because every single day I felt like I just needed to use brute force to cross off a never ending to do list of business tasks.
All along I was feeling massively insecure, full of self doubt, and completely overwhelmed.
But instead of addressing those issues, I just kept plowing through my to-do list with a fierce (and unhealthy) determination until I burnt myself out and could justify taking a break.
It sounds insane to me now just typing this out – but it was a reality I was very deeply caught up in for a long time in my business. I felt like I was on a constant roller coaster of productivity followed by long trenches of feeling like it was never, ever going to work.
I’m going to tell you what changed, and what helped me realize that my success (or lack thereof) was actually all in my head, and not in the strategy I was or wasn’t applying at that time.
But first, let’s take a look at some very specific examples of the challenges I faced in business, that taught me that it is ALWAYS a mindset issue.
Real Examples of why your Business problems ALWAYS come back to mindset
Signing clients
When I first started my coaching business, I struggled to sign clients. I figured this was normal and necessary…
(fast forward, I now realize it IS common, but completely UNNECESSARY… if you want to bypass this step, let’s chat.)
My beliefs going into every discovery call sounded something like this:
- This is going to be really hard.
- They’re going to hate me for trying to sell to them – I don’t want to be too pushy.
- They’re never going to sign up – I don’t know anyone who actually gets coaching.
- My rates are too high – they won’t be able to afford this. Or maybe they’re too low – they won’t think I’m experienced enough.
- I’m stealing their money. They have families to feed.
- Who do I think I am?
- This is going to be a waste of time.
SHOCKING SURPRISE: I didn’t sign any clients when those thoughts were circling in my head.
A few months after building an effective mindset practice, I jumped on discovery calls with excitement, THRILLED to be talking to humans I KNEW I could actually help with figuring out what they wanted to do in life and starting or growing purposeful businesses, and I KNEW they were ALREADY a “yes” when they got on that call.
I FULLY believed that they were jumping on the call because they were ready to invest in themselves, back their commitment to their dream, and work with me to create wild results in their businesses.
SHOCKING SURPRISE: My conversion rate became 100%! This is UNHEARD OF in this industry (it’s typically 10-20%). I got the opportunity to serve 5X as many clients as the year prior! And my revenue went up 100x between my first and second year of business.
With this simple (but earth shattering) mindset shift, I had already made my entire 2020 income in my FIRST MONTH of 2021.
Here’s the thing – my strategy didn’t change. My belief in myself and what I was capable of changed everything.
Whether you’re struggling to land clients in an online business, or struggling to get a new business idea off the ground – put your to do lists aside for a while and ask yourself where your mindset is at (I’ll give you some powerful questions to dig into at the end of the article!)
The Constant Planning
I thought my incessant need to plan the next 3-12 months of my business was actually a responsible thing that “good business owners” do.
Truth? It was only a mindset block that had me believing that
- I can’t handle the uncertainty that comes with entrepreneurship
(and so I need to create that certainty by mapping out complex plans so that I feel like I have some sort of control over the outcomes) - There’s a right way to do business, and a wrong way
(and until I figure out the perfect strategy / the secret everyone else knows about but me, there’s no point in trying anything because what if it’s not the right way?)
Through inner work, I learned to create certainty from WITHIN me, instead of looking to external circumstances to dictate whether I could feel secure or not.
I learned to lean into uncertainty, and trust that I could figure it out when I got there.
I stopped planning everything from A to Z, and started focusing on the next step in front of me (A to B), believing that it would get me where I needed to go in the end.
If you’ve got a tight grip on the outcome and you’re trying to control everything that happens between where you are and where you need to go, detachment is going to be big for you.
Let’s talk about what that looks like.
Quitting My Day Job
I spent 2 years building my business on the side of a full time job and a part time job so that I could quit those and spend my days doing what I really, truly loved.
Well, when that point came and I was ready to let go of the steady paycheck in exchange for the opportunity to dive into my business full time – sh*t hit the fan!
I FREAKED OUT – massively!! I thought FOR SURE…
- My entire business would fall apart as soon as I quit my job
- I’m going to have too much time on my hands and not know what to do with it
- The pressure of making money will crush me, and make me despise my business
- I need to do ALL THE THINGS to keep my business afloat, so I better fill every waking hour of my day with random business tasks so that I can feel productive and less scared about the uncertainty that comes with entrepreneurship
SHOCKING SURPRISE: Massive anxiety followed the 2 weeks after I quit my job… even though I had just had a $19K CASH MONTH in business…
My brain was making up all sorts of stories for why it wasn’t possible for me to succeed and had I let it run its course, I’m 100% confident my business would have become a nightmare that I didn’t want to be around and I would have failed it.
Luckily, at that point I was consistent with my mindset practice and I had my own mindset coach that could slap some sense into me when my brain was doing “its thing” again, and I was buying into it.
If you’re getting close to quitting your 9 to 5 to pursue entrepreneurship full time, and you’re freaking the F out, I would love to talk you through the decision to help you identify the right next steps for you. Book in a time to chat right here.
How I established a rock solid mindset for success
So, what changed?
How did I stop letting my brain sabotage my success?
How did I step into my full potential and create wild business results that make no sense? Like creating $35,197 5 weeks into 2021?
I invested in a business coach
Honestly, because I thought I needed help with strategy… and she very quickly showed me the patterns my brain was falling into, and how they were actually keeping me from the very thing I wanted.
I realized, through coaching, that I couldn’t even flag a mindset problem! I ALWAYS thought it was a strategy problem.
I literally said to my coach one day, “I’m feeling super anxious about my business, I have no idea where my next client is coming from, I’m very stressed out about the one I just onboarded, I’m not confident I actually know what I’m doing… I think I need a different PLAN to hit my goals next month.”
I always thought it was a strategy issue – and having an outside perspective that wasn’t as emotionally invested in my own issues helped me to see that my brain played some pretty mean tricks on me and where I actually needed to focus was on my MINDSET.
Becoming aware of these limiting beliefs, and the patterns my brain created every time we hit a new level in business, allowed me to DECIDE what I was actually going to believe.
By the way, there’s nothing I love more than supporting you with figuring out what you want in life and making it happen. If you’d like to receive weekly tips and strategies for building a thriving business and living a fulfilling life, join our intimate email community by signing up below
I’d love to get to know you better and you can always unsubscribe if it isn’t filling your needs.
I learned to trust myself & prioritized My Mindset Work
Regardless of what my brain was saying about the situation. ..
Now, I’m the most logical person you’ll ever meet, and for the longest time I truly didn’t believe I HAD a “gut” to trust.
In truth, I couldn’t hear what my gut was saying because my brain was screaming at me so loudly.
The year everything changed for me in business was the year I focused on trusting myself.
I decided that I am always making the right decision, even if my brain tells me otherwise.
I told myself that it is safe for me to trust myself and I am worthy of trusting myself.
I reminded myself that the Universe has my back and I am REALLY good at getting what I want when I make a full body decision around it.
I decided that there are no problems here. Nothing is wrong. I am doing EVERYTHING right. And it is safe for me to receive money without doing a ton of work.
These were MY areas of weakness in my personal mindset, and they may sound very different for you, but I highly encourage you to take a look at what you brain is telling you about you, and how that is and isn’t serving you in your pursuit of your goals!
Questions to ask yourself to evaluate your mindset
If you want to dig into your beliefs, ask yourself
- What do I believe about my ability to succeed in business?
- Success means having to ____ (fill in the blank)
- How would I act differently if I was 100% confident in my inevitable success?
- Money is ___ (fill in the blank)
- Where am I playing small? What thoughts make it feel safer to play small?
And if you’re struggling with these questions, please reach out to me and let’s talk about the gremlins that are keeping you stuck.
How I help my clients create the confidence they need to achieve their wildest goals
As a life and business strategist, I get wildly excited about helping you lead a purpose driven business & live a fulfilling life.
That requires clarity, confidence, and consistent action.
Confidence comes up with my coaching clients every single week as we try new things, step outside our comfort zones, and dare to elevate our lives and businesses to a whole new level, over and over again.
Clients that feel directionless in their business, unmotivated / inconsistent in their action, and not fully confident in their ability to actually hit their most important goals – they TRANSFORM through my coaching practice.
If you want to start a business to escape a mediocre 9 to 5, or if you already have a business that you want to take to the next level, but you feel pulled in a thousand directions, unsure of where to focus your time and energy, filled with self doubt or overwhelm about what to do next, and not really seeing the results you want – I’m here for you.
Book in a time to chat about how I can support you in creating the clarity, confidence, and consistent action to move mountains.
Over the course of my years in business, I’ve come around…
From thinking mindset work was time wasted on pointless woo woo, to realizing that mindset work IS the MOST strategic thing I could do for my business, I’ve seen DRAMATIC changes in my success.
From making 5 figures a YEAR in my miserable 9 to 5, to making MULTIPLE 5 figures A MONTH in my purpose driven business, doing what I love…
I can guarantee that the thing holding you back from that next level of success, is all in your head.
I’d love to support you in creating breakthroughs (in your mindset AND in your business) so that you can achieve your wildest goals faster than you thought was possible.
Here’s your chance. Book in a time to chat about where you’re at, where you want to go, and what’s getting in your way. I’ll help you get some perspective on the steps you can take to create breakthroughs in your business and personal life!
And I’d love to know, so please comment below, what’s the biggest mindset block you find yourself facing right now?
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