I've been working with more and more women to gain confidence and clarity around taking their business to the next level, and for women, unfortunately, there are a few extra steps we have to take because there's some stuff that it's just not necessarily what we were taught when we grew up, so there's more and more stuff that we're finding out about what we really need to do.
People ask me all the time, you know, "How do I stay true to my message? How do I take my business to this next level without losing who I am, without diluting my purpose and my intention, and so I can stay who I am and I can do what I'm meant to do? What's that one thing I have to do?" A lot of times there are a lot of stories that are going on that are keeping you from stepping up and being really that next level who you need to be so you can take that business to five, six, seven figures and still feel really good about it and be who you are. You have to be very intentional about this, so the same thing I always say: you have to work your strategies — and the most important thing, your mindset.
Last week I was leading a mastermind retreat. We were doing some really cool stuff, and of course, some big stuff came up because when you start digging, it's not always comfortable.
What we noticed right before there, a few people who didn't even come because they were afraid they would have to put their stuff out there, talk about what's not working, talk about what's not happening for them, and there were some challenges around that. The thing about getting to the next level is you have to start by facing the truth about you. That's not always great… You have to actually look at getting vulnerable, being open, getting input, and sometimes you don't want input, but when you don't get the input and you don't implement, guess what? Nothing happens, so you have to stay open and this about being coachable. Often times, people ask for help. They show up for groups. They show up for programs. They enroll in stuff, but then they actually don't participate.
I've heard people say, "Hey, I want to be the dumbest person in the room because I really, really want to learn," but when you put it to them and when they actually need to show up and do things differently and hear feedback, it's really, really hard and that's just human nature. It's hard for everybody. It doesn't feel good, but you just have to show up for it and go, "Okay, this is not feeling good because I need to make this change." It's all about being vulnerable so you can improve and the first step to do that is you have to be coachable, so you have to choose the right mentor, of course, who you really want to hear the truth from and you have to be around a group people you trust enough that you can open up.
I find that really interesting because sometimes people say, "You know, I don't know these people. How can I show up like that and how can I open up? How can I put all my insecurities out there?" But guess what? It doesn't really matter who is in the room because as long as you're committed to being coachable and they all show up to be supportive, you have a great group of people. A really big piece around this is to look at your resistance because when you're resisting the change, well, for one thing, it might not be right and that's what everybody wants to bring up first, but a lot of times it's really more around it's uncomfortable--there's stuff you don't want to do, it's going to be a lot of work.
You have to keep coming back to why are you doing this business. Why are you in this? Why is it so important that you make this change? So you have to get back to your truth. Also, when you make big changes, you can't do this alone and you're not supposed to do this alone. You're supposed to have a great network who helps you, so that's what you have to create, that's what you have to cultivate. Who in your life is a really good support system for you? Sometimes you have to start by up-leveling your relationships and looking at who in your life is actually a total bubble-popper. Every time you have something exciting going on, are they just all downing it? So you have to look at your relationships and make sure that they're all in sync, or most of them at least are in sync with who you are today and what you're doing.
If there's somebody who is actually more getting in your way than supporting, it may be time to release that person at least for a while because they're not in alignment with who you are and what you're doing today, so this is all about facing the truth about you and being open and honest, and showing up coachable. In terms of the most important traits, really, to be successful in this, is being coachable, is being committed, and being resourceful. Without those three, you cannot up-level your business. You cannot up-level your life. You just have to show up like this all the time. All right. Say, we got you handled. You're ready. You're coachable. You show up. You're ready to be uncomfortable and have a great time doing it.
The next thing is you have to dare to make a really big plan, so another thing that I'm noticing is you have to be audacious about it. You guys may have heard about the BHAG, the Big Hairy Audacious Goal, and here's the deal: if you're not audacious about your goal, if you're just setting goals that seem reachable, it's too small because this is what happens. You will never reach 100% of your goal. Chances are, stuff happens, it's slower than you think, it's not going 100% the way you want it to, so you're ending up with maybe 80% success rate, maybe 60% success rate. If you translate that into money—100k--that means you're making 60 or 80 instead of the 100, and that's what you were pushing for, right? That's what your radar went for. All your actions were geared towards this 100K a year.
Let's say you get audacious. You get kind of crazy and you just decide to go for $100,000 a month. Holy cow. $100,000 a month. That sounds completely insane, right? But your entire action system is going to change. You're going to act differently. You're going to plan differently. You're going to have a different support system. You're going to lay out your day differently. There are so many things that are going completely different than if you were going for a much, much smaller goal, so I want to challenge you to come up with a crazy goal, something that seems unreachable and then start tweaking what you have to do to show up, so this is all about being committed. You have to be committed to reach a big goal, so look at what you're doing right now, business and life.
Where do you really feel like you're committed and where do you already know you're not? That's what keeps getting in your way. Do you have excuses that are constantly coming up? Do you really feel like growing is actually not what you want to right now? What's going on? Is your family holding you back? What's going on in your life, in your business right now that's not supporting you to make those crazy commitments? I want you to go back today and write down some really crazy goals that feel like you're completely out there. It has to be scary. If it's not scary, it means it doesn't mean that much, so think about what you have to do to really scare yourself good today.
Keep going back to what this thing is that you really want to reach. In business, maybe it's about the money, maybe it's about the difference you want to make for your family, but keep expanding it. You know, past your family, what else is out there? What are you doing for your community? What are you doing for your peers? What are you doing for the entire world? This is a really important thing to keep in mind so you can cheer yourself on when things are not going right, so be committed to your goals and really look at, "What does it take for me to get that commitment really solid?"
Again, this is something that seems to be harder for women. Own it. Be completely outrageous about it. Allow your “wanter” to want a whole lot of stuff and be completely unapologetic. There's nothing you have to apologize for, so really dive into this and go for what would make you feel incredibly spacious, what would make you feel incredibly successful. What is it that you have to want for that? Expand on that. It's totally fine. We're not about scarcity here. That is being committed to your plan.
Once you have the numbers, once you have what's that for, then look at the impact you want to create. For a lot of people, the impact is a very important piece because it's what keeps you connected. For women especially, it's really hard to want something for themselves because there's so much programming around doing good, supporting, giving, all that kind of stuff. Look at how your big, fat goal is going to help others. Again, we go back to the difference you're making for your family, the difference you're making for your community, for your group, for your peers, for the world in general. What's your role in that? Own that because you have a role. We're all here for a reason. What's yours?
Now it's time to be resourceful and this is facing the truth about your business, so you have to know your numbers and there's a very simple way to start with that. Start with gross and net. You know, how much are you actually making? What's the gap between where you are right now and where you want to be? Then think about once all that stuff goes away, what it costs for being in business. What's your net? For a lot of entrepreneurs, that's a truth they really don't want to face because the numbers might look kind of good when you first start, your gross is actually pretty sweet, but then when you start taking out everything you're paying and all the systems you're using, all the help you're getting, all this other stuff that comes off the top, then it's actually time to face the truth and to realize that your net is not where you want it to be. So you have to know what's the gross, what's the expenses, what's your net, and be really clear about that with yourself.
You know your end goal, right? So you're going for that $100,000 a month. Then you also have to know what does it take in your business right now to reach that goal. Let's say it's the gross goal, right? Then you really have to look at, okay, how many leads do you need to create to get the consults that you need, to get the clients that you need? You have to have leads. Then you make the connection. You have a conversation. Then they turn into a client. For every 40 leads, you're going to get four conversations and it takes four conversations to get one client, so it's kind of like a 10% conversion rate from the leads to the conversations. Then about a 25% conversion rate from the conversation to the client, and those are really pretty low numbers, so think about that.
If you have to create 40 leads to get one client and you need 20 clients to make that $100,000 goal, then you have to look at your marketing in a very different way than if you're not aware of these numbers, so make sure that you really understand your numbers. How will you get to your goals? And understand it's not just about the numbers, but it's also about you. Who do you have to be that you can make those numbers? The bigger you set that goal, the more you have to really show up differently, and that's again a function of being really, really coachable and committed because sometimes there's a lot of stuff to do that is hard and then you have to stick with it, and you have to understand your reason and you have to keep showing up, so get real about where you are now, where you want to go, and what it takes for you to get there.
As long as you stay in action and you have a clear plan for your action, results are inevitable. Sometimes it takes you a lot longer than you want it and that's hard, and then you have to keep looking at your grit and knowing what keeps your eye on the ball. As long as you have a clear plan and you are in action, results are inevitable, and that's it. Just face the truth. Get really, really coachable, be completely committed to what you're doing, and then get resourceful about how you reach those numbers, the plan, and be really clear about this.
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