And that’s a little confusing, right? Because if all of these people are crushing it and they all took different approaches… Well, what gives? What’s the path? What steps do you take?
I notice that this is when people start to get in a place of flinging shit against the wall and trying a ton of different strategies for like a week at a time and getting frustrated when it doesn’t seem to pan out. They jump from tool to tool and decide none of it works and they must be broken.
Well, here’s the good news - you’re not broken!
And the even better news - ALL of those strategies probably work.
And the BEST news - the strategies don’t even freaking matter.
I’m serious. They don’t. They all work for different people and so the common denominator must be something else.
And that’s how we land on the mindset piece.
Because it’s not about beating an algorithm or figuring out Facebook ads or coming up with the most innovative Reel. It’s about your decision, commitment, follow through, and trust — and you work on THOSE things through mindset work.
You might be thinking now, but wait, you mean that airy-fairy-fluffy-woo-woo shit?
Yup.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. It CAN be, sure. It can be big and vague and nebulous and talk about karma and past lives and yadda yadda yadda. Or it can just be simple and effective tools to look at your thoughts and process through your beliefs and stories that hold you back.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m way into the woo. But that came later, that came because it was interesting and fun for me. The practical, simple mindset work is where it started and what has made the most difference in my life and business. And that’s what I want to help entrepreneurs like you understand. Don’t write off mindset work as something “not for you” but rather, look at what it is practically doing, and make it WORK for you. AKA make the woo work for you. Which brings me to my next point….
What People Get Wrong
I see this a lot in our space. People say things like “I’m blocked” (no, you’re not) or that they are “trying to be positive enough” (you’re a human, that’s impossible) or a million of other little things that just don’t HELP or SERVE you on your journey.
So let me give you the quickest rundown of what we’re doing here. ALL we’re trying to do is notice our thoughts and see them as thoughts, not as facts. You are the thinker of your thoughts, not your thoughts. If your brain says, “I’m a failure” that’s not inherently true. That’s a thought and thoughts are NOT facts.
The tools I’ll share with you are designed to help you remember and recognize THAT going on in your life.
Tool #1: Stillness
I am intentionally calling this stillness because I know meditation can put up resistance right away. I’ve heard it all: I can’t meditate, my mind doesn’t turn off, etc., etc. and I get it. Me too, sometimes. So let’s just call it stillness and make it a little simpler.
When I say stillness, what I mean is literally… not moving. Not looking at your phone, not listening to that podcast, not unloading the dishwasher. Literally, stillness. Now your thoughts might not still, but that’s okay. But can you, for even just 2 minutes a day, give yourself an opportunity for stillness?
You might be wondering why this matters. Well, all those thoughts running rampant through your mind, that you’re assuming are facts, are doing that on autopilot. And when we invite stillness in, it gives us a moment to move to being the observer of those thoughts. It gives us a little space to say, oh that’s a weird thought. Or oh, I wonder why I am thinking about this.
Now this might sound like meditation, and it kind of is. Meditation asks you to try and still those thoughts, but I find that can be quite a leap for some people. So can we start with just simple stillness. We might go on a thought spiral, and that’s okay, but as soon as you do notice it can you come back to being the observer of those thoughts and be in stillness?
Inside my program Mindset: Simplified we do this on day one. People love day one. It opens up a whole world for them that they never even realized before and it really does start to shift everything. I know it sounds simple, because you’re like “okay, I get it, thinker of my thoughts…” but when you start to really INTEGRATE that (aka not just read it and logically understand, but live it) so much can open up for you.
Tool #2: Journaling
In a similar way, journaling helps you see your thoughts. There’s a pause between thinking what you are going to write and actually writing it, and that SPACE offers you the same exact thing as stillness does. It’s an opportunity to look at your thoughts and notice… oh, that’s new. That’s interesting. That’s curious.
Now the key here, with both of these tools, is that you let go of judgment of your thoughts. We’re the observer, remember, not the judger. This is easier said than done, and I get that. So let it be a PRACTICE. Notice when you are judging yourself for a thought. And if it helps you, say to yourself, as silly as it sounds, “I’m choosing to let go of judgment around this thought”.
The self judgment that we all throw at ourselves is harmful. Can the goal here be to stop making yourself so damn wrong all the time? Can there be a place, if not all the way to acceptance and love, at least to not hatred and anger? Can we slowly move that needle from “I’m such an idiot” to “That’s an interesting thought”? I call this childlike curiosity and it’s something I try intentionally to hold onto as often as I can. When I notice I’m judging myself or making myself wrong, I try to move to… how interesting. How peculiar. How curious. I try to embody that childlike wonder - not judgement - but just wonder about what my brain and thoughts are doing.
Journaling is something that comes quite simply to some and is confusing as hell to others. If you need a simple prompt to get started, why not try, “what’s present today?” and just catalogue what comes up for you. You don’t have to overanalyze it or try to have some sort of epic breakthrough. Just get in the habit of taking your thoughts out of your head and putting them onto paper.
You can also check out this blog post for some ideas!
Tool #3: Gratitude
Gratitude is something everyone and their mom talks about, so I know you’re not surprised to see it on this list. I’m going to shift it a bit though, into something that every client I’ve ever shared this with has been surprised to hear.
I don’t want you to express gratitude for the things you’ve accumulated or your surroundings or even the things outside of your control (like the weather or trees or whatever). I mean you CAN do that, that’s fine. But if you’re going to pick one way to show up in gratitude, I’d rather you show up in gratitude for yourself.
What are you grateful for about you? What are you grateful for you doing, believing, working on? What are you grateful for you accomplishing or growing in? What are you grateful for you taking time for, making space for, or learning more about?
Do you see how that differs? I’ll give an example. I used to struggle with gratitude so I’d start with things around me - I’m grateful for coffee, for this computer, for the way the light comes into my office. And those things are GREAT, that’s wonderful. But when I started incorporating things like, I’m grateful for how I show up for my clients, I’m grateful for my endless curiosity, I’m grateful for being really committed to my spin classes… whew. Things shifted. I became more empowered, I became more aware of my strength and my abilities and my confidence soared.
And so I share that with you. Show gratitude for whatever you want but be sure to include YOU in there too. Because I have no doubt that you are the bomb diggity and worth expressing a little gratitude for.
On an ending note…
There are countless more ways to bring mindset into your business and the results are… well, the results you are no doubt seeking. The strategies are important, sure, but they won’t happen with the mindset piece. That’s where you start, that’s the common denominator between the people you admire. They were willing to do THIS work and that made the implementation and action and go-go-go work easier and more effective. So start here. Start now!
When you’re ready to dive into more tools and practices to support you on your journey, click the button below.
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Cheers to that!
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