What Mindset Work Is-- and Is Not

Changing your mindset ≠ waving a magic wand. Your outlook does not change the outward circumstances; it changes YOU.

Key topics:

✔️ As Pink says, "You gotta get up and try."
✔️ Getting out of a funk helps you see more clearly and it gives you more oomph to dream bigger and aim higher.
✔️ The rain falls on the just and the unjust. We're all gonna have those 💩 happens days in life.
✔️ You may be an exceptional person, but don't assume you'll be the exception to every rule.
✔️ Many business strategies take time. It's like planting a seed and nurturing it. Some seeds sprout quickly and bear fruit. Others don't. But generally speaking, we don't reap the harvest on the same day that we sow the seeds.


Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

Transcript

Unknown Speaker : 0:15

Hello, hello and welcome to today's episode of the Causey Consulting podcast. I'm your host Sara Causey and I'm also the owner of Causey Consulting, which you can find online anytime at CauseyConsultingLLC.com. Today I want to talk about how mindset work actually works. Sometimes people have a flawed idea that mindset work is like waving a magic wand, as though suddenly when you have a sunny disposition, or you start looking for positive things in life, opportunities to be grateful things that you want to attract more of into your day to day life, that suddenly any hardships Any struggles, any negative experiences will magically vanish. And everything will be wonderful all day long every day. I wish that were true. I wish that there were some magic wand that we could wave to make something like that happen. But that's not how mindset work actually works. I've been operating a four week solopreneurs boot camp for the month of August, and it's been great. I really have to give a shout out to the small group of solopreneurs that I enrolled, I have had the pleasure of working with some really terrific, motivated, bright individuals. And I want to share a story. I'm going to preserve this person's privacy but I do want to say that I'm sharing this tidbit from the boot camp with his knowledge and permission and blessing. So this client had hired an ad agency to start a Facebook campaign for His business. And the third weekend, when we had our coaching call, I could tell that he was down, you could just read in the mood of how he answered the phone, how I was acting that he was down about something. And he mentioned this Facebook campaign and it just hadn't gotten any results yet, and he was feeling down about it. And I said, Okay, well, how long has the campaign been running? Like, how long has it has it actively been? Like it's been through the approval process, all that's been done, and it's been shown to actual human beings For how long? And he said, Well, a little less than a week. So I said, Okay, well, does that seem like a long time to you? And he paused for a second and said, well, not necessarily, I guess. And so I asked him well, when you signed up with this ad agency, you know where they clear with you about expected results. I mean, I know there's no way That you can ever be 100% sure how long it's going to take. But did they give you just a general idea of how long it typically takes a client to get some kind of outcome or to at least get enough data to analyze? And he said, Yes, they did tell me that it typically takes two or three months of running the ad, or at set of ads consistently to even get enough data to be able to test so that you can start to figure out what people are responding to what are they not responding to? And what might need to be tweaked in order to continue some good AV tests. So I said, Okay, well, if they told you at the front end, that it would take two to three months to even get good data to collect. And it's been less than a week that the ads been up and running and why why are you letting that in? put you in a sour mood, like why are you letting that turn into a downer for you when, you know, it hasn't been long enough for you to really get good data from this test yet? And he paused. He said well, and then crickens and tumbleweeds. And I thought, Okay, well, what might be about to happen next? So I said, well, long pause. And then he giggled a little. And he said, You know, I guess we always want to think that we're the exception, we are going to be the exception to the rule. So if the average client has to spend two to three months, just testing and blowing some money on Facebook ads before they ever even get good data, like you always want to be the exception to the rule. Like you want to be the person that gets results in two to three days or is able to book a new client or a new set of clients almost immediately, like nobody wants to be the average client. In that situation. You want to be the exception to the rule. And that comment reminded me so much of something that I've heard Greg Behrendt say before, which is you may be an exceptional person. You may be exceptional at what you do, but you should not assume in life that you are always going to be the To the rule, when we start a new project, a new ad campaign, a new strategy from a place of impatience, that can be a very dangerous thing. And I have lived that before myself. I mean, in my first iteration of self employment, there was a program that I signed up for, and it was really going to be, in my mind anyway, like the Hail Mary pass, this was either going to be the thing, the sales funnel, the methodology, the thing that was going to start bringing in business consistently, or I was just gonna shut the whole thing down. And when I say that, I really mean it. Like in Gordon Ramsay terms, it was like shut it down, you know, and he's like throwing pots and pans and having a cuspid. That's where I was at. And it puts so much pressure on me and the system and the coach who was implementing the system and the prospects that I was talking to that, I mean, I'm not sure at that point, anything could have worked. Now, in hindsight, the system that I was using was not good. It was not a good and right fit for my business. And it was not a good and right fit for my personality as an introvert. That particular system that I was using, I believe, is really better suited to people who are highly extroverted, that want to have a lot of repetitive conversations with random people as an INFJ. I really don't. So it wasn't, it wasn't a good fit for me. But I think even if it had been more introvert friendly, I was in such a negative space. And it I was under such tremendous emotional and financial pressure that it would, it's hard for me to fathom that really almost anything would have worked in that Hail Mary pass type of situation. I had people in my life who would say, Well, you know, maybe you should get a part time job. Maybe you should take up Contract assignment or do some kind of side hustle or gig to just get some money coming in, you know, take some of that financial and emotional strain off of yourself, get another revenue stream, like do something other than collapsing under the weight of all of this pressure. And because I've lived that experience before, I know exactly how it feels. And I also know exactly how it plays out. If you are hard headed and stubborn, and you just want to dig your heels in and say no, everything has to happen my way. And on my timeline, and by whatever strategies that I've already bought and paid for Or else, the universe has a way of saying, okay, or else adopting any kind of strategy from a place of impatience, anger, desperation, extreme frustration. This had better work or I'm just gonna slam the door shut any anytime you're in In that kind of a mindset, you're setting up so much pressure and such a death grip on everything, that it's extremely difficult for really anything to succeed under that kind of circumstance. So at this point in time, people are usually receptive to the idea of changing a negative or toxic mindset. All right? Well, if these things are hampering my progress, what can I do instead? Some people become further disappointed or further into a pit of despair. When they figure out that having a sunny disposition trying to accentuate the positives, trying to reframe how you're looking at something is not a magic pill. A couple of signs of trouble that I have talked about in other episodes and in blog posts that I've written a couple of signs of trouble that you should be looking out for if you're a solopreneur, or small business owner. One is having bailout fantasies. And that could be well, I just really wish somebody would come along and offer me an executive position may do the Godfather and just make me an offer I can't refuse. I would just love to be bailed out and shut the door. I'd love it. If I could be acquired. I'd love it if my business partner would buy me out. If you're in a situation like that, where you're just constantly thinking about how good it would be to hit the escape hatch. That's a sign of trouble. Likewise, if you're sitting around having fantasies of finding this magic pill, if I can just find this one magic sales funnel that will work forever and ever Amen. If I can just find this one magic coach this one magic system, this one magic ideology, then I'll be on Easy Street. Everything will be better for years and years and years. That's not a realistic thought. There are sales strategies and funnels and concepts that might work well for a season. They might help your business go from point A to point B but Not necessarily from A to Z. There may be things that you do that work really well for a year or two, or maybe even for a month or two before they expire, and they go past the sell by date and you're like, Okay, well, now I have to come up with another strategy. That's part of business. I don't know of any scenario where you're ever going to be able to escape a B testing, where you're not going to have to do some experimenting, or you're not going to have to innovate and get creative and try something new and have an open mind. And if that kind of thing feels terrible to you, if you're listening to this thinking I don't want to a b test. I just want to get up plug in and like Groundhog Day do the same thing over and over and over again and and rarely if ever have to make changes. I'm not sure that being a business owner or a solopreneur is the thing for you. I mean even if you don't own a business, per se if you are someone that likes to do contract assignments, you're a serial contractor or you are a consultant you like to do project based work? Well, those projects are going to run out. I mean, at some point you are going to get finished with a project and need to move on to another. Or you could be working with a company that suddenly has its funding pulled and they can't afford you anymore. Like, again to cleanly quote the bumper sticker coop is going to happen. So there's really no way that you can say, I'm just going to repetitively do the same thing over and over and over and over again, and nothing will ever change and I won't have to innovate and grow and develop. So that's if you have that idea in mind. You're really setting yourself up for a lot of frustration and heartache when the inevitable changes have to happen. So doing mindset work doesn't mean you get to stagnate. It doesn't mean you never experience painful changes. It never means that you don't have to pick It doesn't mean that your sales funnel that works really well right now is going to work really well forever, doesn't mean that there won't be times when your ideal client base changes, doesn't mean that if you're working on a really lucrative project that you love, and that's paying you healthified money is going to last forever and ever. You're not immune to change, and you're also not immune to contrast, you know, in order to be inspired to create, and to strive for new things and to set new goals. Periodically, we have to get poked with a sharp stick in order to say, Oh, I did not care for that experience. You know, I don't think that that type of client is a person that I ever want to invite back into my coaching practice again, it was just not a good experience. Or I don't think I ever want to work on that type of project. Again, because I underbid the amount that I should have I put in so much extra work and I just didn't enjoy it. You know, we have to from time to time have experience It says like that, so that we can further refine what it is that we do want. I mean, if you think about it in dating terms, you know, I think probably at some point, everybody has dated someone that made them go, oh, wow, never again. Well, you don't always know that at the front end, somebody might present themselves as a really great person, and you're excited to get to know them. Or maybe you fall into the trap of opposites attract and it's fun, and it's wild. And oh, isn't this isn't this interesting? I just love it. But then after a while, it gets stale. You don't want everything to be an argument. You really want to just be with someone who understands you who has similar values and ethics, who has similar interests, not where you're constantly having to explain yourself or justify yourself to the other person, but where you really feel like you have a support system and someone who gets you But again, in order to arrive at those conclusions, we typically have to have contrasting experiences. It's like the old cliche. Where does good judgment come from? Well from making mistakes, okay, well, how do you make mistakes from using bad judgment? Therefore, good judgment ultimately comes from times when you've used bad judgment, and you've learned from it. One of the best crystallized definitions that I have heard around mindset work was actually told to me by a coach that I worked with on and off for several years. And one of the comments that she made was, mindset work itself does not change the external circumstances. So like, let's say that you're in debt. Well, working on your mindset is not going to cause the credit card company to call you up one day and say, You know what, we know that you've run up $20,000 on this Visa card, but you know, now that you've gotten your mind Dry and you're feeling super positive and you're in the flow, then we're just gonna forgive that debt. You don't have to pay us back. If only right. I mean, if things like that were that easy, I think everybody would suddenly have a positive mental attitude. So the mindset work itself does not change the external circumstances. It changes you. It helps you get into a different perspective so that you can begin to make better choices. You can find solutions to the problems, you're more willing to experiment, you're not going to stay stuck in your ways. You're not going to dig in your heels, you're not going to be impatient and go, well dammit. If this Facebook ad didn't work within five minutes, I'm just going to cancel the whole thing. Doing the mindset work, helps you to make better decisions so that if you've been doing something that's left you feeling stuck, depressed, sad, frustrated, you can get In a better frame of mind to get out of that pit, Joy tends to attract more joy. Think about the phrase misery loves company. It's really true, isn't it? You know, have you ever been around somebody that was just nasty, always in a bad mood, and they wanted to take it out on you. Like, if you walked into the room with somebody who was feeling just foul, they want to spread that, you know, you might be like, Oh, hey, I'm having a great day. Life is good, you know, no complaints. And well, let me tell you about all the terrible stuff that's happened to me. They don't want to hear about your good day. They want to see if they can make you have a lousy mood to or at the very least, if you'll sit there and sympathize with them and tell them how your life is so bad. I'm so sorry for you. Bless your heart, poor baby. The more that you cultivate the positive mindset, the better it makes your decision making. It's like swapping out a lens. So if you've been looking at the world through a lens of the pandemic is terrible. No one is hiring. I can't possibly find another job right now. Or this is terrible. The economy is in a freefall. And can should I even advertise right now? Is anybody buying anything? Well, yeah, I mean, obviously they are. People are still shopping, people are still spending money. There is despite what the news is telling you. There is still some degree of consumer confidence out there. Are there companies still hiring? Yes, there are. There are companies still hiring for temp assignments. There are companies still hiring for permanent jobs. So it's not it's not that the mindset is going to suddenly drop your dream job in your lap out of nowhere. When you're sitting there crying and eating a whole tub of ice cream. It's that it puts you into a better frame of mind. So if you're like you know what I think I will check out indeed today. I think instead of sitting here and having this ice cream and watching the news, and telling my myself that life is just a cesspool. I'll try something, I'll do something different. I'll put myself out there, I'll post a resume, I'll apply for a job. I'll call some people I haven't spoken with in a while and see if I can network, see if they know anybody that's hiring. It's about giving you that own, so that you can put in the work that you need to do. Unfortunately, there's no magic pill that any coach or consultant will give you that can, you know, replace you having to put forth some degree of effort. Now, it's not about working hard. 24 seven, it's not about having to make everything happen on your own steam, but it is about the open mindedness and at least the willing to try, I think there's a song by Pink you got to get up and try. You have to do that. And it's much easier to have that get up and go when you're looking through a lens of positivity than it is when you think the world is a cesspool and the zombie apocalypse is knocking at the door. If you enjoy today's episode please share it. If you haven't already, take a quick second to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review for us on iTunes. Bye for now. Transcribed by https://otter.ai