Kaitlyn Kessler | Mindset Coach + Online Business Mentor

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Okay, But What The Heck Even Is Mindset Work

Doesn’t it seem like literally everyone attests “mindset work” to being the thing that transformed their lives and businesses? And that’s great and wonderful, I guess, but not very clear as to… uhm… wtf they’re talking about.

Let’s break down what the heck mindset work even is: a big umbrella term! It’s a hard word to define because it’s a word that encompasses countless tools, modalities, and practices that all - in so many ways - try to accomplish one major thing.

And that major thing, in my opinion, is seeing ourselves as pure potential and giving ourselves more choice. Which, yes, I admit, is still kind of vague.

But whether we’re talking about TIME techniques, EFT, embodiment practices, pleasure practices, journaling, meditating, WHATEVER… if we zoom out far enough the real thing we’re doing is creating choice for ourselves.

Let’s think about that specifically — take my 1:1 practice, for example. Clients come to me with varying needs, but it’s usually something along the lines of: I want more money and more ease in my business and I don’t want to work so hard anymore and I’m tired of slinging strategies at the business and getting nowhere fast. Now, to over-simplify and make a point, they’ve given themselves very few choices here.

They’ve said:

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  • ...I have to work harder to make more money.

  • ...I need a new/different/unknown strategy to grow my business.

  • ...I can only make X amount of money with what I am doing.

Do you see how all of those are decisions that they’ve made, probably very much based on what they’ve seen and experienced, so it feels really, really, REALLY true? We all do this, by the way. This isn’t something to find fault in or beat yourself up for. I’m not of the “radical responsibility” camp that wants to shame you for the ways you see the world — there’s so much at play there, from societal conditions to childhood conditions, and more, that it’s NOT YOUR FAULT you’ve come to these conclusions.

In fact, I’d argue that a lot of the conclusions you’ve come to are a form of self-preservation and protection, and that, frankly, is an incredible tool our brains bring to the table. Can you show some gratitude for your mind being so hell bent on protecting you? That’s love.

Now, I digress — back to choices. So MINDSET WORK is this big umbrella that includes so, so, so many tools, practices, and modalities that are all at their core there to help you create more choice in your life.

  • The choice that you can make more money without burning yourself out.

  • The choice that you can grow your business in a way that feels good for you.

  • The choice that your worth isn’t tied to how hard you work or how much you make.

And so on.

My Favorite mindset Tools, Practices, and Modalities

Like I said, there’s a lot of options here. Which is great, because this work is NOT a one-size-fits-all solution. Inside my program The Daily Mindset Method we learn the essentials and basics of a great daily mindset practice and a more extended mindset ritual — AND then we dive into various ways you can make that YOUR OWN. This is SO important.

So maybe you’ve dabbled in meditation, followed a few tapping videos, etc. and haven’t quite found a *thing* that connects with you. Totally okay! You’re not alone. I want to encourage you to not give up on the idea of doing this work just yet, and invite you to keep exploring ways and means that feel good for you. This is a practice, a growing, evolving, changing thing. The destination of MORE CHOICE doesn’t necessarily change, but the ways we can get there… well, there’s many and I’m sure that more than a few will resonate with you.

For me, personally, I have a few favorite things I rely on AND I’m constantly dabbling and experimenting with new practices because… it’s fun for me. I like to learn and test and assess. But currently, my “mindset work” primarily consists of:

  • Journaling: This is my day 1, haha. I am a big journaler and have always been. I’ve talked about it at length on this blog and on my podcast, but for me, it’s such an easy tool to see what’s really going on in my head. I journal every morning but not always with a set goal or page number in mind. Sometimes it’s as  simple as answering the questions of “what’s present” and “what do I want” and sometimes it’s much more in depth around a certain idea, belief, or fear.

  • Tapping or EFT: I love tapping for feeling and releasing emotions. When I first started doing this work more seriously, I fell into a pattern of thinking I could control my thoughts and my emotions and I quickly learned that control isn’t the goal. Feeling and processing is the goal. Through tapping this practice of becoming aware of my thoughts and emotions AND letting myself properly feel them (instead of pushing it down) has become easier and easier. 

  • Pleasure Practices: This isn’t as naughty as it sounds, it’s more like a meditation practice. This is a newer addition for me, but it’s essentially moving a little bit slower in parts of my day and appreciating all that is around me. An example is really focusing on my coffee in the morning, thinking about how it feels in my mouth, how the warmth feels when I swallow the coffee, and so on. It’s interesting how much more joy we can find in the mundane moments of our day when we look a little bit closer. You can try this now, pause, take a deep breath, and tell me what you feel. Like physically. For me, right now, the air is pretty cold because I turned the air conditioning down during the workout I just finished. So now I can feel the wafts of cool air hitting my forearms and if I close my eyes it almost feels like the air when you’re near the beach. It has a bit of a flow to it, it’s not constant. Now nothing GRANDIOSE happens because of this practice, it’s not like I feel the air and then BAM $10k shows up in my bank account, but it does let me slow down, be more intentional, and notice my thoughts easier.

In my experience, all of these practices give us a glimpse into our minds. They let us see and hear and notice the “choices” we’ve made and creates a pause for us to determine if that’s a choice we want to continue to make, or if we want to start unpacking what it would look, feel, sound, be like to make a different one.

It’s not always as simple as, okay, now I make the choice to make $10k a month. But if you started with… I choose to believe that it’s possible to make $10k a month working 20 hours a week… and then notice what comes up after that? Maybe a thought like, “well that’s not possible for a girl like me?” okay… what makes you believe that? And so on. This is where a coach can be helpful, to ask you those questions, but to be totally transparent you very much can do that on your own too and various mindset practices can help you to tune in and uncover those answers and comfortably start to make NEW choices from a more expanded view.

That might sound weird to claim, because I am a coach who works with people 1:1 and obviously love having clients, haha, but it’s important for me to be clear that this work is not something hidden behind a closed door or paywall. A coach can HELP, sure. Potentially even move you along quicker. But you’re fully capable, whole, worthy, deserving, allowed, etc. to do this work, too. I hope that makes sense.

When you’re ready to dive into more tools and practices to support you on your journey, click below!

What questions do you have about mindset work? Send me a DM on Instagram!

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