Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this…
Fair warning, for some, THIS CONTENT MAY BE TRIGGERING.
If you’ve been in and around the world of The Wellness Business Hub at all you know that I’m not one to bullshit and sugar coat things. This blog is no exception.
That being said, I wouldn’t put out possibly triggering content for no reason. So, while these mindset elements can be hard to swallow, they are a doorway to success.
These 5 Mindset Elements are a glimpse into what I believe it takes to be a successful health practitioner. If you get triggered, I invite you to go deeper and explore it because there’s no better inspiration for growth than a trigger.
Let’s dive in.
Mindset Element #1 – If you need to ask someone else if you, yourself, are capable of being successful, then chances are the answer is no.
Doesn’t matter how you frame it…
When you ask some version of – do you really think it’s possible for me to grow a successful business? – you might think you’re questioning how crowded the industry is, if you have the skills needed, or even just want a little reassurance, but when you peel back the layers of your psyche what you’re really saying is…
I don’t believe I can pull this off.
That disbelief is making you look outside of yourself for validation, reassurance, or permission.
Let me assure you when you hit the many inevitable roadblocks that come with starting a business (or any other big goal), outside reassurance won’t amount to much of anything.
Roadblocks don’t care about what others think you can do. They care about what you think you can do.
Period.
It’s your inner conviction that will pull you over that roadblock. It’s your irrational, unwavering belief in yourself and your purpose on this planet that will pull the extraordinary amount of effort out of you that it will take to reach your goal. Nothing else. No one else.
How can you know for yourself whether to go for a goal or not…
Ask yourself this question…
If I asked a whole bunch of people whether I should go for this goal or not and they all said no…would I still go for it anyway?
Before moving on, let me stop for a second to be clear on something…
I’m not talking about asking for mentorship here.
There’s a huge difference between going to a mentor for help and asking whether you can or will be successful. I ask my mentors for insight all the time. I’m all about taking the easy route and getting fast results. So if someone else already has something figured out, I’d much rather learn from them than try to figure it out on my own.
Mindset Element #2 – Specificity of purpose vs just a cool idea.
I hate showering. (Sorry if that’s a little TMI)
You see, the shower has become a breeding ground of ideas for me.
Every time I go in there I come up with another idea.
One day it was Sports Moms Unite. A platform full of healthy lifestyle information for busy Moms with kids active in sports. I was so excited by the idea that I went to buy the domain name. When I saw it was already registered to someone, I even started writing an email to the owner offering to buy it from them.
Luckily, it was at this point my inner voice kicked in and reminded me of my purpose.
Bringing all these cool ideas into reality would be amazing and completely doable because I know how to build a successful business, but it’s not realistic to take on every cool idea.
I know I’m not alone in this sort of scenario. Practitioners ask me all the time… do you think this or that idea could be monetized, or do you think weight loss is a good way to go because it’s an easy sell?
There’s nothing wrong with these cool ideas. Go for them if that’s what you want.
If you have a big, audacious purpose though, one that fills your heart and soul to overflowing, one that you know you were put here on earth to achieve, I urge you to set the cool ideas aside and stick to your reason for being. You owe it to yourself and the world to see that purpose through to reality.
Don’t just doddle away at the purpose, get obsessed with it.
Get obsessed like a 3rd grader who’s going to fight to wear the same pair of pants to school every day for a year without caring if they have holes, are dirty, or smelly.
Here’s why…
Even though you were put on this earth with this purpose, it doesn’t mean bringing that purpose to life won’t come with challenges. Committing to the purpose and getting obsessed means when those inevitable bumps in the road show up, they won’t knock you out of the game. You’ll have the guts and will to get back up and keep going.
Here’s the tricky part about purpose… it doesn’t always go in a straight line. The road to a purpose can have lots of twists and turns along the way.
When I graduated as a registered holistic nutritionist, I was ready to rid the world of Candida. No one and nothing was going to stop me. My obsession with making sure no one else would suffer the effects of candida is what kept me going on the long days when no one showed up at my office. Needing to support myself, I went back to the gym I used to work at and started offering weight loss consultations. Helping women lose weight became my “new purpose.”
If only I knew then what I know now…
You see, that shift in purpose to weight loss is what inspired me to create my first signature program WOW! Weight loss.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that program would be the catalyst for changing everything in my life. It was that program that made me realize I wanted to help nutritionists, which expanded to all wellness practitioners, change the way they run their businesses so they can live the life they deserve.
When I say purpose, what I mean is that deep down, pit-of-your-stomach feeling that drives you forward. A purpose is where you can work on something 24/7 and not get tired. That doesn’t mean the purpose doesn’t shift as you go. These shifts can be vastly different from each other, though often there’s a connection of some sort.
So if you feel like you’ve been dabbling here and there, that’s okay. The important thing is to follow that purpose feeling in the pit of your stomach and keep moving forward. Eventually, you’ll get where you need to go.
That’s a successful mindset.
That’s the mindset of a successful health practitioner.
If you don’t have that purpose feeling yet, that’s okay. Commit to keep moving forward and your purpose will find you.
Mindset Element #3 – Work Smart, Hard & Long
There’s a popular saying that I love… entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.
What do those few years look like?
They look like long, hard days filled with sacrifice.
I know that’s not what you want to hear. Believe me.
It would be nice to be one of those people that built a successful business working 20 hours a week. It would be nice if the dudes that say you can build a business working 10 hours a week were right. The truth is… they are few and far between, and 10 hours a week may be possible after 5 to 7 years of 60-, 70-, or 80-hour weeks.
There’s a common thread between successful business owners, they are all willing to devote every waking minute to the business. Not that they do or will, but that’s how much they love their work.
That was the hard news… now for the really hard news…
You will have to sacrifice.
Building a thriving business, especially if you’re already working full-time, does mean giving up time with family and friends.
Here’s what I can promise you…
If there is ever a worthwhile sacrifice, this is it.
You’re not only investing in your future and all the futures of those around you, you’re showing all of them what it means to go for your dreams and to believe in yourself and what’s possible.
So, yes, you will miss out on your kid’s swim lessons and some bedtimes, and will need to bow out of fun activities so you can use that time to build your business.
Just remember, it’s not for nothing. It’s for a very worthwhile reason.
One way to make all this less painful is to hyper-focus during those times of sacrifice. There’s a direct link between the focus you put in and the momentum the business moves at… make the most of it.
Why am I so focused on bringing this point home?
There’s a trend in the heart-centered world that life should always be in balance. When it comes to the start-up mode of a business, balance just doesn’t factor in and that’s okay.
As Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Eat, Pray, Love says… sometimes being out of balance at one point in your life brings balance to your whole life.
Mindset Element #4 – My idea/niche/situation is different, this won’t work for me, that’s not how it’s done
I was about to get fired. The manager at the gym I was working at said if I didn’t start bringing in more revenue, they would have to use the office I was using for nutrition consultations for something else that would bring in more money.
Hitting my sales goal looked impossible. I stood there crying in front of my manager because I really didn’t want to get fired. I explained to her that my sales goal was impossible. It wouldn’t leave any room for the free consults that bring in the paid consults and I would drown in all the prep time needed to create plans.
The manager, very thoughtfully, said… why can’t you sell group packages?
I pushed back saying…
Because I can’t, you don’t understand, I have to do it this way, all of my clients need individualized programs and I wouldn’t even know how to put together small groups and that isn’t the way I was taught and nobody does it that way.
It was excuse, after excuse, after excuse.
What seems so obvious now, but didn’t then, is that I was fighting for my limitations. I was fighting to stay stuck.
I needed a mindset overhaul. I was in a fixed mindset when what I needed was a growth mindset.
How can you tell the difference?
A fixed mindset comes from the idea that we can’t make meaningful changes to those elements that make us who we are, our character, intelligence, and creativity.
A growth mindset likes challenges and doesn’t believe in failure, only stepping stones to growth.
Here’s a good way to tell whether you’re in a fixed mindset or a growth mindset…
Look at how you react to challenges.
Do you immediately start thinking of reasons why an idea won’t work or do you get excited by the opportunity to grow even if you know it will be hard work?
Fortunately, my fixed mindset didn’t last long. My growth mindset kicked in and took on the challenge my manager had set before me.
You see, it was this push from my manager that started me on the path I’m on today. I let my mind open up to her idea of a group program and created the WOW! Weight Loss program.
Commitment to a goal is important, but it’s just as important to stay flexible in how that goal becomes a reality.
The mindset of a successful health practitioner is open to alternatives, open to suggestions, and open to exploring options. Work from that space and success will follow.
Mindset Element #5 – Enjoy the ride
If there’s one thing I wish I could change, it’s being able to share exactly what happens to people that start a business.
There’s a saying… What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
I tend to believe there’s some truth to that…
Building a business is one of the toughest challenges to undertake.
It’s a roller coaster ride…
One minute you’re on cloud nine from making a sale and the next your computer crashes in the middle of a webinar, you don’t know how you’re going to pay your bills, and the doubt people feel about you being able to make it can be palpable.
I guarantee you’ll want to wave a white flag of surrender often.
What I also guarantee…
The exhilaration you feel on the other side is worth it.
Yes, you will be pushed to your limits and face challenge after challenge, but you’ll walk out the other side with a totally different mindset of who you are, what you deserve, how you serve, and what you want out of life.
It’s this ability that we teach…
The ability to bump up against fear, your own demons, and challenge everything you thought was true and yet pursue your dreams anyway that I wish I could blast all over the internet and put in big bold letters on a lead magnet, but I can’t. Most people would be freaked out. Most people just want a signature program and done-for-you content and that’s okay. They may have no idea what they’re in for, but they’ll be happy to have made it through when it’s all said and done.
It’s like this quote from Byron Katie says…
Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do.
Are you ready for a mindset overhaul? Book a call at free mentorship call.
