This may sound counterintuitive, though it’s key if we’re building a business for the long haul.
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Mindset
If you’re used to doing things right the first time, getting the A+, impressing the teacher, and winning the awards, this is for you.
As you launch into business for the first time, or simply take things out of comfortable and into the next stage of growth, you need to know that chances are things won’t be smooth sailing. You’re going to have to get use to getting C’s and D’s, and definitely some F’s too.
For as much as I like to talk about ease and flow in your business, there’s a lot to be said for the power of discomfort, too.
Discomfort can come up when we’re growing and stretching in new ways to get to a powerful new place.
But it can also come up as a warning sign that we’re not on the right path. Here’s how to tell them apart.
Feeling overwhelmed? Here’s how to separate fact from fiction, and to move past those overwhelming feelings so you can stop spinning and calmly, gracefully move forward.
For as much as I like to talk about playing big, let’s talk about how starting small will help you get there.
When we get inspired to “go big,” we usually can’t see the path to get there at first. So we make plans and fill our planners with the best of intentions…but we’re often left frustrated when it doesn’t happen the way we thought it would.
Let’s face it. There’s often a lot of mental gunk that comes up for folks about money when they start a business. Lots of mental drama around wanting more, confusion over pricing, and questions about value. The worries seem to be endless.
But for some folks, there seems to be a particular chain of worries that sprout up when we start doing work that we love to do.
We think we should change our prices (because we’d do it for free anyway, we just love it so much!) or that we should offer a discount (after all, we don’t want to seem greedy!), or we bend over backward to accommodate the smallest objection (I want this to be available for everyone in the whole world!).
If you’re like most of the creatives I know, you love to overthink the business side of things. When you’re doing the work you love, be it making a new design, writing another chapter, or working with your clients, no problem. It’s all FLOW.
But when it comes to doing some task on your marketing list, you find yourself overthinking the whole thing to death.
Analysis paralysis comes on strong, and before you know it you’ve been thinking about that “great idea” for months!
Yikes.
The best cure I know for analysis paralysis, overthinking, or any other form of procrastination is to push yourself into action RIGHT NOW.
When you have been excited about something for a long time and you’re on the cusp of making a big move, you’ll probably experience resistance in your actions and beliefs. The way it shows up can be sneaky because it can seem like we don’t have any part in it, but often times we’re unknowingly sabotaging our own actions.
Change and growth can be SUPER uncomfortable, so instead of just recognizing that discomfort, our brains do a great job of throwing up all sorts of barriers and excuses (aka resistance) to keep us exactly where we’re at.
You know those days where you’re feeling a little discouraged by business?
The days where you haven’t made one sale.
Those moments when you feel disappointed that you only have one client.
The times where you start doing the math on what you have currently and what you need…and it feels daunting.
Yep, those days happen. But you have a choice as to how you’re going to deal with them. You can either decide that it’s a lost cause and you’ll never get there. You can get sucked into the overwhelm and start googling jobs on Craigslist.
Or you can ask a few simple questions about how you can take just one baby step forward.
When you’re in charge of managing your time and your projects, you might get to the end of the week and think “where did the time go?! What have I even done this week?”
At least I know how that’s how some weeks feel to me!
It’s easy to have one week blend with another, and let projects get stretched out further than you’d like. It can be hard to keep yourself on track sometimes. But a quick weekly reflection can really help you to get clear on what’s working and what needs work.
I got an email earlier this week from a friend who is in a tough spot with his business. He said that he feels like he’s in triage mode with his business. It’s definitely an emergency and he doesn’t know how to fix it, which really bothers him because he’s a super smart guy. He’s used to fixing things. He’s used to being a solutions guy.
The fact that he can’t figure out what is the best next move isn’t because he’s not smart enough. It’s because he’s running on empty and feeling panicked.
Discipline is key to running your own business. But, man it can feel like drudgery sometimes.
If you find yourself putting off things that you need to do for your business time and time again (even though technically they’re in your “plan”), this video is for you.
These two mindset shifts have made a big difference to ensure that I don’t get distracted by the shiny objects that pop up constantly in my day.