When I started my first business in the online space in 2016, I believed that if I worked hard, learned all I needed to know about marketing, making the best use of social media, growing my email list, optimising my website etc, my business would succeed.

Does that sound familiar?

I had a vague notion at the time that ‘success’ meant I would have lots of followers, make lots of sales and have people saying nice things about my products.

And I thought when that happened I would ‘know’ my business was ‘working’ and that I could relax a bit feeling happy and accomplished, the feelings that had been missing in my 9-5 employment for a long time.

That’s what I wanted from my business. However, I very quickly discovered that it wasn’t going to work out that way.

It took me too long to figure out (which is why I’m posting this because I want to save you the time and hassle) that what I’d done was to completely underestimate how I would FEEL day to day undertaking this totally new, out of my comfort zone, venture. 

What I didn't REALISE I was doing 'wrong' was that I was completely overlooking the MINDSET that was actually holding me back from being able to create the feelings of accomplishment, confidence and peace of mind that I wanted as I worked in my business day-to-day.

My external focus on marketing, sales and my website (although all important pieces)

• Took no account of what I would think about results or lack of them (Why is this not working?)

• What I would make that mean for my fledgling business (What if this never works?)

• And what I would therefore make it mean about myself and my ability to be an entrepreneur. (I’m such a failure and everyone’s going to know it)

I heard about ‘mindset’ and believed that my mindset would improve as a by-product of business success, when in FACT it was the other way around.

I thought I just needed to try harder, work more, do more (although I didn’t know how that was ever going to happen, because I was doing as much as I could anyway and didn’t know where any extra time or energy could come from)

It turned out, I needed to be looking at things the other way round. Even though it sounded (and felt) counter intuitive.

I needed to focus less on the business

And more on myself as the business OWNER

So that I could stop looking to online business ‘gurus’ for answers and instead commit to being FOCUSED and DECISIVE, TRUSTING that I could make the best use of my time and energy to make solid progress in my business instead of burning out.

I needed to stop flailing about in a sea of Google searches and freebies looking for answers and the ‘magic piece’ that I was missing

And instead DECIDE that my business needed me performing at my best, knowing that I could find or create solutions MYSELF to any challenges I encountered along the way.

Approaching my business with the mindset of needing to find ‘the answer’ to make it work and push, push, push until I found it was not only leaving me feeling more and more demoralised, depleted and ruled by fear and self doubt

It was affecting the quality of action I was taking in my business too (if I was taking any at all. Most of the time I was stuck in analysis paralysis) and I realised that something needed to change.

I needed to focus on building myself as a business owner so that I could take the RIGHT action (for me) to build my business.

It felt counter-intuitive. It felt like I was slacking, but the more I focused on prioritising my mindset and personal development, the more I was able to take ACTION in my business from a more grounded place, with clarity, with confidence and with much more ease.

This meant I was finally able to:

• Embrace the work I wanted to do (instead of regularly wondering if I should quit business altogether) 

• Show up consistently on social media to share posts and do livestreams, all of which had previously left me sweating at the thought of what people might think or say (so I stayed hiding in ‘busy’ work)

• Build relationships, such a crucial component of business in the online space, instead of telling myself I would get into a social media posting routine ‘tomorrow’.

I still couldn’t find any more hours in the day, but because I was spending far less time and energy doubting, procrastinating and feeling #allthefear

I had the time and energy to take action on the ‘external work’ (marketing, making the best use of social media, growing my email list, optimising my website etc) without feeling like a nervous wreck.

That's why I know the KEY to you DOING the ‘external’ activities involved in growing a business is to focus on developing the SKILL + the right mindset to

• GROW your business in line with what you want for your life & according to your non-negotiable personal values so that you create the solid foundation that enables you to make decisive decisions and take business-growing actions with more confidence, energy and ease

• DEVELOP the skills to look at your business objectively so that you can make decisions with confidence, stick to them and, crucially, keep the faith and embrace new challenges so that you WANT to be in your business for the long term and 

• DEVELOP practices that integrate your success mindset into your life and business actions daily so that you continue to face the ups and downs of entrepreneurship without succumbing to the self-doubt and inner conflict that holds you back and spoils your day to day experience of your business by making you feel like crap.

That's how you can stop spinning your wheels, listening to every podcast under the sun and instead know EXACTLY what you need to do NOW to move your business forward, get in front of the right people and start drawing in more clients to serve (which is what we ALL want, right?)

If you’re ready to Build the Business Owner (who builds the successful, fulfilling, impactful business) click here to find out more and book a (no obligation, no pressure) call so that we can talk about where you’re at in your business, what you WANT (AKA your big business goals) and how my five-week BTBO hybrid programme can support you to create a different experience of your business and become the business owner you want to be.

Elle xo

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