What Changed in My Business

It took me two years to figure out how to make enough money doing what I love to support myself full-time (and not be eating pot noodles for every meal).

Two. actual. years.

Not two years of considering starting a business.

Two years of being in the thick of business, day in and day out.

Getting rejected.

Feeling confused.

Investing tens of thousands.

Being a starving artist.

Being told no. Again.

Sometimes, not even being told no. 

Just hearing... nothing.

Here's the thing:

Making your first dollar with your passion isn’t rocket science. 

1. You offer something

2. Someone buys it

You're in business.

But making consistent money with your passion? 

Money you can rely on coming in the door each month?

Never having to go back to another job?

That‘s a whole other ball game.

It takes something more than just passion and persistence.

It takes insight.

Trying to figure out what isn't working with your business when you're nose-deep inside it just doesn't work.

Because you can't read the label from inside the bottle.

That's where I was.

I was doing everything right. Showing up every day. Doing the work. Being persistent.

I was just persistently headed in the wrong direction. And I had no idea.

So what changed for me?

I got a mentor.

Someone who was exactly where I wanted to be.

Someone who could map it out for me.

Someone who could show me all the things I couldn't see. (There was a LOT). 

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to get a mentor sooner. Asap.

Not a freebie course or a one-off chat.

Someone who will actually talk with you.

I'm a coach and I can help you make consistent income doing what you love.

But it doesn't have to be me.

It just needs to be someone you truly believe in.

Someone who is where you want to be, and can genuinely help you get there.

Not someone claiming they know. (Don't get a mentor who is secretly struggling with the same things as you).

This is possibly the most important thing you can do if you want to make consistent money doing what you love.

Don't make the same mistake I did and wait two years to make your business work.

Do it now.

Your Mind Will Accept Anything You Tell It Enough Times

Brainwashing. It’s not just for cults.

(Now there’s a tagline).

But really. We’re all brainwashed. We brainwash ourselves.

Because our minds will accept anything that is repeated enough times.

On a neurological level, a thought is a particular pattern of neurons firing.

That thought becomes a deep-rooted belief when that pattern of neurons has been fired so many times it becomes the automatic pathway that our brain wants to go when a certain situation arises.

The only difference between something we believe and something we don’t is the number of times our brain has fired that neuron pattern.

Each thought has its own neuron pattern.

The more times you think that thought, the stronger that neuron pattern becomes, and the more easily it gets triggered.

And how do you get a neuron pattern to be stronger? Practice.

Like basketball, swimming or piano.

Choosing new beliefs is about practicing them until their neuron firing pattern becomes stronger than the competing neuron firing pattern.

In other words – if you want to believe something new, keep practicing the thought until you believe it more than the old belief.

Say it again.

Journal it on paper.

Find proof for it.

Tell it to your brain again and again.

Your mind will eventually accept anything you tell it enough times.

Goals vs Learning

Goals are not important in and of themselves. You set goals for the purpose of learning. – Will Smith

I heard this quote on a Will Smith video today.

It grounded me.

Note to self: Don’t forget it.

The Middle is the Trickiest Part

Right now, I'm in the middle of creating several goals.

The middle is the trickiest part.

The beginning has motivation from the initial spark of excitement.

The end has the final push "almost there" feeling.

The middle is like being alone on a desert island – that I CHOSE to go to 🤦‍♀️ 🌴

It's the grind.

The hustle.

I know I'm being tested to see how bad I want it.

To see if I'm willing to stay up late and get up early.

To see what I'm actually made of.

If I'm going to walk my talk.

(And y'all know I talk a lot of hustle-grind-keep-going-whatever-it-takes-never-give-up)

But it's one thing to say it.

It's another to do it on the days when all I want to do is anything but working on the goal.

Today's pep talk to myself:

Do not give up.

DO NOT GIVE UP.

You can do this.

You WILL do this.

It's decided.

It's already done.

Now make it.

How Do You Want the Journey to Feel?

The goal is important. It's the whole point. 

But 99% of our time is spent pursuing the goal.

Ironically, at the end of the day, it's the pursuit of the goal that fires me up.

Not actually reaching the goal.

I love the heart-thumping feeling when an idea comes knocking at 3am.

I love the determination of waking up every morning with a purpose.

I love the feeling of going to sleep at night having made progress.

I love the pursuit.

So instead of focusing on how I want to feel once I get there – I'm working on how I want to feel WHILE getting there.

DIscIpline is Self Love

Can we take a moment to thank our past selves?

Because I’m only where I am today because my past self was disciplined af.

I owe her.

She got me where I am today.

And when I let myself off the hook, it’s not self love.

It’s self-sabotage.

It’s making life harder for my future self.

Discipline IS self love. Gift it to yourself.

Where Will You Be In 3 months?

The result you’re getting now is a product of the work you put in 3 months ago.

Based on how you want your life to look 3 months from now, how do you need to show up today?

What thoughts do you need to think?

What action do you need to take?

Mine:

I need to be streamlining the processes in my business so it flows better.

I need to be doing my physio exercises not once, but twice a day to heal my shoulder.

I need to believe that I am capable of things much bigger than what I am imagining.

Crazy Week Thoughts vs Fun Week Thoughts

This week I have about 23648568 coaching calls.

I don't usually have that many scheduled, but this week is an exception.

I've been thinking about how to coach my brain through it.

My automatic reaction is:

➡️ This is going to be a CRAZY week

➡️ I'm going to be flat out

➡️ I won't have time for myself

➡️ I will just have to get through it

➡️ I hope I don't get too stressed out

But I've decided they aren't helpful thoughts.

Instead, I'm choosing to think helpful thoughts.

➡️ This is going to be fun

➡️ I love connecting with people

➡️ There is enough time for everything I want to do

➡️ This is an opportunity for me to show up as my ideal self

➡️ I am choosing to be relaxed and do this with ease

➡️ I created this, I am in control

➡️ Time expands for me

These thoughts feel way better.

Going into my week excited and ready.

Bring it on.

The Magic of Setting Impossible Goals

Being realistic is killing your dreams. Here’s why.

Don’t pass it up

Today I had back to back meetings. I sat a test. I drove for 6 hours to another city. Now it’s 1am and I’m exhausted. I don’t feel like writing my blog post, posting on social media or creating any content. I don’t feel like showing up for my goals like I’d planned to.

But here’s the thing about taking action: Your brain will always give you all the reasons why you shouldn’t.

My brain tells me “This is hard. Do we really need to hit this goal? Why not do it next year? Why not extend the deadline? Relax! Take a nap.”

And every day, it tries to justify not taking action today because “what difference will one day make? No one will know.”

It’s so tempting.

But there’s one thing that always stops me from giving in:

Thinking about the greatest people of all time.

Did Michael Jordan think, “I’ve already won 5 championships, why bother with a 6th?”

Did Katherine Johnson think, “Meh. I’m tired of working on this rocket equation. We can go to the moon next year.”

Did Sir Edmund Hilary think, “Ooh, this snow is a bit cold. Everest can wait.”

HELL NO.

They pushed their limits.

They stayed up all night.

They went without.

They did whatever it took.

And here’s why:

Because you don’t become great by passing up opportunities to develop greatness.

Today is one of them.

Don’t pass it up.