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Controversial topic alert! 

I’m kidding, kind of. Look, having a strategy behind your business decisions matters. I’m not saying ignore strategy, I’m not saying strategy doesn’t matter, I’m not saying just-freaking-wing it. Heck no. 

I am saying that depending on strategy alone isn’t going to get you where you want to be.

I am saying that focusing solely on strategy is a recipe for burnout and overwhelm.

I am saying that strategy is one piece of the puzzle, but without some other key pieces you’re not going to get very far.

See, your mindset has to back that strategy up. And for a lot of business owners they totally ignore the mindset piece and jump straight into whatever Guru X says you have to do to get more followers, have more clients, and make more money. Then, when it doesn’t work, they go through this slump of feeling like sh*t, beating themselves up, considering throwing in the towel, and then being seduced by the next big strategy. It’s a cycle — one you might be familiar with, yeah?

That cycle is pretty dangerous, actually! It ends up with you feeling like you’re not good enough, or not cut out to be a business owner, and just overall defeated. I want to tell you something:

Nothing is wrong with you.

And, nothing is wrong with the strategies either, honestly.

You’re just skipping a really important step that makes all the difference.

Right now, at this rate, you’re sacrificing your focus, your energy, and your stamina. Every day is a rollercoaster of emotions, a rat race to try the next big thing (while balancing the other existing things), and depleting your willpower to keep going. You might feel completely disconnected from your business, from your purpose, and you’re losing that essential ingredient of WHY you’re even doing this. At this rate, the change you wanted to make, the impact you wanted to have, the people you wanted to help… it’s all dwindling away with each and every idea you sling at the wall only to watch slip down into a puddle on the floor.

I know, it’s rough. I’ve been there too. This is what only focusing on strategy gets you — worn out, fed up, and stuck with what to do next.

So, what are you losing by this current way of operating? You tell me. Who are you not impacting? Who are you not helping? Who are you not supporting? Your clients? Your family? Your kids? I know this is probably coming across a little harsh, but when we start to really think about the consequences (yes! The CONSEQUENCES) of our actions or lack there of… that’s when we feel inspired to try a new way. That’s when we get inspired to make a new choice.

And that’s all this is. A choice. You have a choice to do things different.

And like I said — it’s just a small step you’re skipping over. It’s easy to skip over it, too. See no one really tells you about this step (at least not in detail), and you never really learned about it growing up or in school.

That step is called your mindset. And it’s not as scary or as fluffy or as whatever-word-you-come-up-with as you think it is. It’s simple, actually — once you commit to making it a priority.

But you have to commit. Are you open to that? I mean I get it — hustling through strategies is one option, but how has that been working out for you? So why not try another way?

When I say do the inner work, do the mindset work, do “the work” — it sounds pretty out there. I know that. I agree with you! All of the uber successful people attest their success to “mindset” but they never explain what that means.

I’ll tell you what they mean.

They experience the exact same sh*t you do. The same problems. The same frustrations. The same amount of time in a day…

And they perceive it 1111% differently than you do.

And they do that because they made a choice to do that.

And how they perceive it is a result of their beliefs and their thoughts, and how they perceive it affects their action and their results.

Have you ever heard someone say, “it’s all about your perception?”

They’re right – IT IS.

And so “the work” that people talk about is the act of changing those perceptions. That starts with changing thoughts and beliefs. And results in changing actions and results. It’s a pattern, it’s a system, it’s a formula.

In fact, I’ve created a system using this knowledge that will help you start doing “THE WORK” for yourself. It’s called The Belief Breakthrough Formula and I teach all about it inside something I hosted recently called, “The Success Mindset Workshop”.

Inside the workshop we dive into all of this more in-depth and I give you an actionable, step by step formula to bring into your own life AND a 30-day system that will take you just a few minutes a day to complete. This will allow you to let go of your old limiting beliefs and start rewiring your brain for success.

And THEN, when you go out there and try the next strategy you’ll be equipped with a superpower you’ve always had but never utilized. Your Mindset. And with that, you’ll be unstoppable.

What big takeaway or ah-ha did you just experience reading through this? I'd love to know! Leave a comment below or let's connect on Instagram.

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How many courses or programs have you bought over the course of your business? How many coaches have you worked with? How many times have you heard promises that this will change your business, drank the kool-aid, and got… nowhere? 

Probably more than once, I’m guessing.

It’s a shitty feeling, I know. And it’s easy to blame that person, think things like…

They lied to me!

Or

They shouldn’t have sold to me!

Feel familiar? Yeah, there was a time when I thought those things too. I remember the particular program I bought and how resentful I felt towards the course creator a few months later. It was so much money (now in retrospect, not that much), and I was so green and new, and I just had no idea — they swindled me! I was the victim! 

Except, I wasn’t. I tuned in to all of her periscopes (back when that was a thing, lol), I watched multiple webinars, I was a fan. I believed in what she was selling. AND I knew plenty of people (and still do) who got crazy amazing results from her programs. But I didn’t, and that wasn’t fair, and poor me.

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I’ll also make note: I didn’t complete the course, or even make it half way through. I didn’t do the work. I just expected my first idea to work and when it didn’t - I jumped ship. So basically… I thought just the mere act of investing in this program would mean I was a millionaire, overnight, and that no other effort would be required.

AND THEN, I got pissed at HER when it didn’t happen.

Do you see the utter and complete irony, ridiculousness, and victim complexness going on here?

And now, here’s the big question…

Are you doing this too?

Be honest.

The number one thing holding you back in your business is the idea that everything is happening to you and that you aren’t in full and complete control of your life. Because you are. In my above example  — who purchased the course? Who didn’t do the work? Who gave up like 20% into the material?

Instead I spent a lot of time using this excuse of HER, HER, HER. She made me like her. She made me want to work with her. She made me do this, do that, do whatever. 

No…

No one makes you buy a course. No one makes you give up a quarter of the way through the material. No one makes you not do the work and wallow in your own pity party. You do that, all by yourself.

The truth is, you’re the one that is stopping your progress. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can change it...

...And the better off you will be. I promise. Because while this sounds potentially mean and aggressive, the fact is: when you take ownership over your life you also get to take ownership over your results. Owning that experience meant I got to own what I did next and make a decision to go on to make a lot of money the following years.

If this is resonating with you, I have a question you can start to ask yourself. Maybe put it on a post-it note or something so you see it randomly throughout your day. Simply ask yourself, “is this thought serving me?” Because thoughts like, “I can't believe this is happening to me” or “ugh, they’re making my life so hard” or are never serving you. If you move your position into one of ownership, and being at cause those change into questions and questions are what move us forward. They become thoughts like, “What caused this to happen?” or “what’s making things feel hard right now?”

Do you see how that simple shift then puts your brain to work to SOLVE the issue. It puts you back in that position of power to find resolutions, versus just sitting all alone at your pity party for one?

To boil it all down, the number one thing holding you back in your business is you. Harsh, I know. However, the number one thing that can move you forward in your business is ALSO you. The number one thing that can make you a millionaire in your business, or work 3 days a week, or change the world with your business is ALSO you. You are in control here, so stop giving it away.

What big takeaway or ah-ha did you just experience reading through this? I'd love to know! Leave a comment below or let's connect on Instagram.

Check out the Instagram Live I did on this topic below!

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I see a lot of people preaching the power of positive thought on the internet. While that is amazing and I love me some high-vibe energy, I do worry that there’s a bit of a “glossing over” of the idea of positive thought and how to utilize it in your mindset practice. I worry that the “glossing over” might lead to frustration, resentment, or even abandonment of mindset practices — so I want to set the record straight.

Your affirmations, positive thoughts, mantras, whatever won’t work if you don’t believe them.

Because here’s the deal: Belief is 99% of the battle. If you don’t believe that things can and will shift, then you won’t do the work and make it happen.

So while good vibes and uplifting ideas are valuable, getting yourself to a place where you actually believe all of that matters… more. It’s kind of essential, honestly. If all it took was saying “I’m a millionaire” 1111 times, we’d all be a millionaire by now.

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But the truth is, you have to believe you are a millionaire. And that’s intrinsically a bit harder, right? Because, well, you’re not a millionaire. If you believed you were a millionaire, truly, really believed it – you would be one. It would have to come into your reality. It would have to manifest in this physical world we know and understand. 

How do you start to believe that you are a millionaire (or whatever it is that you want)?

Phew. Where do I start? That’s why there is a thing called “The Work” right? Because there are layers of beliefs, stories, and decisions that tell us we aren’t a millionaire, we aren’t worthy of being a millionaire, that it’s unsafe to become a millionaire, etc., etc.

And even if you’re logically, consciously, thinking right now - “no, I REALLY want to believe I am a millionaire. I believe it. I’m a millionaire. See?”

You don’t believe it. You don’t believe it with the same amount of knowing and expectation that you have about the sun coming up tomorrow. The belief, the expectation, the “well of course” attitude is the goal. And while it’s easy to fake that externally, if you look inward you will start to see that really… that can feel kind of hard, right?

I’ll use a different example, one with less pressure and emotion than money. In my own life I have a very strong conviction — a belief — that I always see triple numbers. I know it. I expect it. Just this morning I went on a walk and I saw nearly all the sets: 111, 222, 333, 444, 555, 666, 777, and 999. I didn’t see 888 today, but it’s about 2:00pm in the afternoon and I feel quite certain that I’ll see it before the day is over. 

When I go outside on a walk, or watch TV, or even browse random clickbait on the internet - that expectation is, just, there. It’s been building over the last 3 years or so and I believe it as much as I believe the sun is coming up.

My name is Kaitlyn and I see triple numbers everywhere. Now here’s why that happens so easily and so readily — it’s not a stretch. I’m not attached. If I don’t see 888 today I’m not going to throw in the towel on this whole manifestation or mindset thing. It doesn’t impact the statement, “I’m Kaitlyn and I see triple numbers everywhere” AT ALL for me. Same as if it’s cloudy and gloomy tomorrow morning and I don’t physically see the sun rise — I still know the sun will rise every day.

I say all of this to say: the triple numbers thing works for me because I believe it. At this point in my current reality, clearly the millionaire thing isn’t quite a belief yet or else I’d be a millionaire. I’m working on it — and the work looks like figuring out why that’s so hard for me to believe and letting go of the shit that keeps me from believing it. That’s it. 

So the question here for you is what affirmations are you currently using in your day-to-day and do you actually believe them? The follow up to that question is, how could you either:

1. Work to believe them more, or

2. Find a smaller thing that you CAN believe that will get you closer to that?

I teach more about this inside the EASE Mastermind. Click here to learn more.

What big takeaway or ah-ha did you just experience reading through this? I'd love to know! Leave a comment below or let's connect on Instagram.

Check out the Instagram Live I did on this topic below!

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My own personal mindset journey started over 3 years ago, and I know it’s still in its infancy. I’ve moved leaps, strides, bounds in how I see and understand both the world and my mind AND I know there’s so much more work to do. The number one mistake I see when people decide they want to do this work is this —

They try to BE a new person, overnight. They try to overhaul everything in one go. 

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Creating a good mindset, a positive mindset that works FOR you instead of AGAINST you - that is a journey. A process. Sure, with NLP and hypnosis and other tools like that we can really uncover and work through limiting beliefs quickly - but the overall idea that you intentionally control your thoughts to create your reality? That’s a habit, that’s a pattern, and that takes time to form.

Like most other habits people want to curate, we tend to go “balls to the wall” and try to do everything all at once, overnight. You know what I’m talking about: I’m going to go to the gym, be vegan, grow my own vegetables, juice fast, AND do 1000 crunches a day starting tomorrow morning right after I finish this box of Oreos.

Feel familiar? Yeah, we’ve all been there. Never works, right?

The problem with that is we’re working from things like changing our behaviors or our environment when in reality what we are wanting to shift is at that identity level. Even if we lay our gym clothes out, set 18 alarms, and pay for a fancy gym membership - if we still identify as a person who loves Oreos and hates the gym… nothing will change. At least not long term.

A better method would be to change at that identity level. To let go of that old identity of “I’m a person who LOVES OREOS and eats a box at a time” or whatever you have and shift to “I’m someone who loves health and fitness” or whatever you want it to be.

So this same idea applies to people getting started in mindset work. Suddenly they’ve got the crystals and the tarot cards and 32 books downloaded to their Kindle, a subscription to Gaia and Headspace, a new journal, and affirmation post-its stuck all over their mirror and fridge and computer. I’m not calling you out - I have almost all of those things, too! But the issue comes that they do all of this and then…

Expect everything to just work.

They don’t do the work. They don’t change at the identity level. They don’t BECOME a more mindful, aware person. They don’t BECOME someone who controls their thoughts and creates their reality. They become someone who’s holding a pretty rock with their eyes closed listening to “tha-rt Bree-ish guy” on Headspace telling them to take a breath.

Again, not talking shit. I love crystals and Andy Puddicome (founder of Headspace) and all of these things. I’m just pointing out that they aren’t effective if you’re just putting these items on your to-do list and racing through them with no idea why or what or how and not working to shift your identity at the same time. Those things are tools that will help you do the work, but you’ve got to actually do the work, too.

We’ve GOT to change at that identity level. We’ve got to IDENTIFY as someone who IS the things we want to be — whatever that is. And that’s generally not an overnight one-and-done type exercise. That’s a commitment to asking yourself “what does someone with this identity think/do/act right now?” AND THEN THINKING/DOING/ACTING that. Following through. Forming the habits, forming the patterns. Abandoning the old identity - because you’re going to have to let that go to form your new one. 

And in that action is when we start to find our limiting thoughts and beliefs, our resistance, and we have to decide and choose to overcome those things too. For example, you might want to identify as a million dollar business owner and know that a million dollar business owner delegates a lot of work out, but feel resistance when it comes to some of those ideas in your business because “you can do it better” or whatever. That’s a limiting belief! That will need to be processed so that you can actually step into and embody that million dollar business owner mentality AND THEN create a million dollar business. That’s not overnight. That’s work. 

So, while most of this article might feel sassy and snarky (it’s just my writing style, idk) I’m actually, truly, saying all of this to tell you to lighten up. Be easier on yourself. You don’t have to change everything overnight - that’s not the goal here. You can start doing this work AND have a bad day, AND have a negative thought, and still be successful at doing this work. The mere fact that you are aware that there is work to do and WANT to dive in is something to honor and celebrate - MOST people go through their entire lives completely unaware of these concepts.

If you want the crystals and cards and all that - have that. I love that stuff. I use it daily. BUT, I want to encourage you to know that those things aren’t the work, they’re tools that may help with the work, but the real work comes down to you shifting your identity. That takes time, practice, dedication, and forgiveness for when you “mess up” (because you will, we all do - we ARE human). It’ll get easier - it’s just like tying your shoes or driving a car - something that eventually becomes automatic, if you keep practicing.  I know you can do it, and I’m excited to see what’s next for you.

Ready to dive into your own mindset practice with all the guidance you need to understand, apply, and implement? Learn more about coaching today

Check out the Instagram Live I did on this topic below!

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