This morning, all it took was an email.
It came from a friend who did a little coaching with me. She was an outstanding client who took everything I could give her and ran with it. We only worked together briefly, but the progress she made in those few months was amazing.
And yet.
She still has one deeply held personal block that gets in her way. You’d never know it if you met her, of course. It’s purely a mindset issue, an area of doubt that she’s lived with forever and works around just fine.
To a point.
Now, I won’t embarrass her, but if you saw her, you’d be shocked that this has ever been a problem. Because she is a beautiful woman – inside and out.
But she hates having her picture taken.
So, it was tough for her to get head shots taken for her new website. They came out beautifully, but she still struggles with the whole idea.
Every now and then, the issue comes back up, and I know how alive it still is for her. It’s a block, a dent in her confidence, that she carries in her spirit, if nothing else.
And that does matter.
So she wrote last week to tell me that she’s decided to hire a top of the line photographer who’s several hours away, whose work is a major investment.
I immediately had tears in my eyes, because I know that photographer, and I know what it means for her to make that decision.
It was the courage behind it, the fact that she was willing to take this important step through her fear and into action, that got me.
And what she did, you can do, too.
As an entrepreneur, you’re probably used to thinking on your feet, creating in the moment, and flying by the seat of your pants from one idea to the next.
You never even stop to think about whether you CAN do something or not, do you?
The idea hits. You say, ‘why not?” and you just…Go.
BAM. :)
But somewhere along the way, you run into something that trips you up. It may be a skill you have to learn. A mindset you have to shift. A way of showing up in your business that challenges you to think bigger.
And sometimes – it stops you in your tracks.
It may be something huge, like whether or not to take your company to a global level, when you’re used to working in the States.
It may be something personal, like whether or not to start a blog, or raise your prices to a level that (truly) reflects your value.
But how do you get yourself past the internal speed bumps that slow you down, or the monstrous roadblocks that stop you completely?
There is a way, and it starts with this (deceptively) simple formula.
We covered this in a class I taught last week. It’s what I call the Scared Strong formula for reaching success.
D + C + A = R2
Decision + Commitment + Action
= Results (& Resilience!)
First, you decide.
Your first step, no matter what you are facing, is to simply Make A Decision.
So easy to say. So hard to do.
I know. :)
But when you decide, you are choosing to be what my coach calls “at cause” in your life and business. You are choosing to be responsible — that is, to own your ability to respond — to the opportunities and circumstances that show up in front of you.
To be “at cause” means to be the leader in your own heart, in your life, and in your business. It means that you honor yourself, that you treat yourself and your business seriously, and that you chart the course forward.
YOU are the one, the only one, who can take this first step.
Next, you commit.
Once you make that decision about a goal to reach, a problem to solve, a direction to go in, or just a new way you want to BE in the world — the next step is to make a commitment.
When I made the decision to move my tiny practice into the huge Victorian house where it is today, I stepped up in a big way.
But it was when I signed the contract that I really made the commitment.
The minute I signed that lease, I was, literally, committed – and for a moment, the jump took my breath away. But when I doubled the space a few years later, and grew from three to ten providers at my practice, it was that commitment that gave me the strength to get those results.
Because it is in the promise, in your commitment to follow through on your decision, that you will find the strength to carry through on the tough days.
Now, you act.
Without action, there is no progress. As someone said, “if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling backward.”
So you can talk all day long about all the great things you want to do. You can take great pride (and rightfully so!) in moving through those two very tough steps.
But if you quit there, nothing changes.
So the third step to the Scared Strong foundation is to take SOME kind of action. (You were hoping to get out of this part, weren’t you?)
There are many ways I help clients with each of these steps, but this where the work really is. Micro-moments and mini-victories lead to the greatest successes. And it is in those moments that your confidence takes hold.
THAT’S when things begin to shift.
So you get results.
This is the coolest thing.
When you follow this formula as you grow your business (and your self), you will find that you are moving forward in ways you don’t even realize.
Suddenly, that thing that freaked you out a year ago is no longer an issue at all. In fact, you laugh to even think about it now.
That’s what scared me? Really?
Of course, there are new challenges today, but that’s okay, because you know exactly what to do. Following these steps over and over brought you results, and taught you resilience.
So of course you’re ready for the next challenge – even if it’s a little scary.
All you gotta do, is make a decision. :)