We learn to do life by experience, don’t we…..and the reality is we are not always very well equipped for some of the experiences life throws at us. Like navigating relationships, losing someone you love and running your own business.
These have to be the 3 most challenging experiences life has given me and recently I have been reflecting on what I have learnt and how much that underpins my work as an Intuitive Coach. It has made me realise that many of the pitfalls of starting out in business (and in life) could be avoided with some really simple advice…..
“Know yourself, Believe in yourself and take ownership of the habits and patterns that trip you up so you can change them”
If you are super self motivated and you can take the sentence above on board and action it then you don’t need to read the rest of this blog! But for everyone else let me explain this to you a little bit more.
(1) Know yourself: by this I mean work on getting a really clear sense of your own identity. Who are you outside of your job, your qualifications, your family and you relationships? What are your values? What do you stand for and believe in? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What is your vision for the future and what legacy do you want to create?
When we know these things we are uniquely positioned to make choices about the people we hang out with and the direction of our business and personal relationships that are in alignment with who we are and that creates a life that is more fun, more satisfying and that expresses the truth of who we are.
(2) Believe in yourself: I would say that 80% to 90% of the problems my coaching clients bring are self worth problems. This is no surprise to me, having had to work through my own self worth issues for many years. When we don’t have high self worth and self belief we don’t put ourselves forward when we know we want to. We second guess every decision we make and we procrastinate on the things that are most important to us. In business we feel unable to take action on our most important goals. We hide from the spotlight and play down our success. We constantly look for the “shiny object” will be the answer when ultimately, the answer is inside us all the time. Investing in growing your self worth is the best investment you will ever make. It will pay dividends in every aspect of your business and life.
(3) Take ownership of the habits and patterns that trip you up so that you can change them : Otherwise know as self sabotage, these things show up routinely in life when we are just starting to get traction on our most important goals. They can look like binge watching netflix instead of working, overeating, opting out with drugs and/or alcohol or simply finding a reason not to keep working away at what it is we really want. The truth about habits and patterns is they are simply well worn pathways your brain has created in response to experiences in your life. They show us where our fears are and just as our brain has created them to keep us feeling safe, it can create new pathways that move us towards what we want rather than away from it. The sooner we own these self destructive habits and patterns the quicker we can start creating new more supportive responses to our fears.
Over the 4 years I have been coaching I have become crystal clear on the effects of low self worth, ignoring habits and patterns and not really knowing yourself in my own life and those of my clients. That’s why I now take care of these 3 things first for my clients, because no amount of business strategy, social media planning or marketing will get you the results you are after if you don’t know yourself, believe in yourself and free yourself from the habits and patterns that routinely trip you up.
If you feel like you are clutching at straws in your business or that life just keeps on giving you lemons instead of lemonade get in touch and lets talk about which of these 3 things could be getting in the way for you. Book your free chat here
Photo by Kristina V on Unsplash