It’s Holding You Back More Than Anything Else

There's one thing that shapes your success more than any strategy, framework, or tactic.

I've previously covered increasing your rates, how to get more engagement on LinkedIn, and how to create a group program that delivers results.

Do you know what matters more than all of those?

Your self-image. Aka what you believe to be true about you. It can sound like...

I am X.
I've always been Y.
I've never been able to Z.

They can appear somewhat harmless: I'm not someone who can nap.

Or they can have a much more obvious impact on you + your ability to grow your business: I don't like marketing + I'm not good at sales.

The problem with these "truths" you hold about yourself is they become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you "don't like marketing", then you let yourself off the hook from spreading the message about you + the awesome work that you do. If you believe you're "not good at sales", then you'll avoid making invitations + offers to potential clients.

Or when you do, the delivery is half-assed + lacking confidence.

And the not surprising subpar outcomes will be "OK". Expected even. Because "you're not good at it", so of course it didn't go well.

The pattern (and the crappy results) will continue to repeat themselves.

These deeply held "truths" extend to your beliefs about money. I was in a session with a mindset coach who was explaining the concept of money floors and and money ceilings. Everyone has these floors + ceilings whether you consciously realize it or not.

And these are numbers you'll hold yourself to.

Your money floor is the amount that you absolutely must make, no matter what. It could be that you just have to make enough to pay your monthly bills or it could be you must make $100K a month. And as an entrepreneur, if it's looking like you won't hit your money floor, you'll do everything imaginable, to ensure you that you do reach that number. You'll dig deep into your resourcefulness + take massive action. You'll find a way.

You also have a money ceiling.

An amount of money that you're comfortable making. Anything above your ceiling is unknown, intimidating, and doesn't match up with the internal image you have of yourself. So to keep you safe, if you cross that amount or even start approaching that number, you start pulling back.

You begin sabotaging yourself.

It could be getting distracted with new ideas, putting off important tasks, ignoring the things that are guaranteed to bring in revenue, or even outright destructive habits. It's wild. And in retrospect, I know this is one of the things that stopped me from going any further in my music career.

But let's go back to the session with the mindset coach....

When she was done talking about the concept of money floors + money ceilings, she led us through an exercise. And afterwards, there was some discussion. I shared that when I started Growth Habit, I hit $10K/months more or less out of the gate because my money floor was $100K a year.

I did everything to ensure that I hit that number.

I had left a six-figure job to start my business, had a mortgage, and two kids. I couldn't allow myself to make any less than that. Someone else on the call gasped hearing me say that. They then shared that when they started their coaching business, their money floor was zero because they had told themselves "I'm starting out, I'm supposed to start at zero".

You have deep seeded beliefs that impact your behaviours + actions, and those actions + behaviours shape your outcomes. 

Want to start uncovering hidden beliefs that are holding you back?

Write down what instantly comes to mind when you try to complete the sentences below. Include all thoughts, feelings, and associations. Don’t filter or overthink, write the first things that come to mind.

• Money is ________
• Rich People are _________
• Owning & running a business is ______
• Entrepreneurs are _____________
  
  

I'll see you next Saturday.

Btw - I'm excited to be one of the judges for Speaker Slam's upcoming Brand Builder Competition. You can check it out here.

P.S. There's two spots open in The Impact Accelerator. To be considered, you need to be a coach, consultant, or expert doing meaningful work, be damn good at what you do, and have happy clients to results to show for it. This is an invitation for you if you're tired of going at it alone, want to get to that next level, and be held accountable to bringing your big visions to life. You can peep the details here.