As business owners we want success (otherwise, why would we ever start), but there are things we are doing that are actually holding us back. 
We don’t set out to self-sabotage but it happens more often than you’d think. In this blog, I want to show you 5 common things I’ve seen in my coaching practice, so you can start to watch out for them in your business. If you’d like to know more then you can sign up for my free 10 mistakes report here . 

1. Procrastination

How many times have you gone online to post something and then spent an hour on social media or promised yourself to get something done that’s important and then done everything else on your to-do list, but that one important thing? 
There are lots of reasons we procrastinate – stress, tasks feelings too big, the love of shiny objects that distract us, fear of failure. Procrastinating can really hold you back and stop you from reaching your goals. 
Try tracking your time, turning off notifications while you focus on the task at hand, and breaking down your to-do list, so you don’t put off what you need to do. 

1. Fear

Fear of getting it wrong or fear because you’re lacking confidence are both big things that could be holding you back. Ask yourself ‘what’s the worst that can happen’? It’s ok to get things wrong, it’s ok to need to practice and learn and it’s ok to reach out for help/support from other experts if you need it. 

1. Mindset

Now, this is a big one and one I love to talk about because your mindset is everything in your business. You can’t build a successful business, tick off the goals you set or make the income you want to make unless your mindset is in the right place. Monitoring your thoughts is a good place to start. 

1. Imposter syndrome

Telling yourself you’re not expert enough, not qualified enough, that people will see through you or question you are all signs of imposter syndrome and it’s so detrimental to your business. You are an expert and you deserve to be here, so check your mindset, look for the evidence that you can do this, and wave goodbye to imposter syndrome for good. 

1. Not investing in yourself or your business

You can’t expect to be the expert at everything and you will need to add to your skills as your business develops. Trying to do it all on your own or putting off your development until a date in the future, when you have a more stable income, won’t help your business. Learning new skills will boost your confidence and help your business, so don’t put off investing in yourself. 

Have you ever been in that place? Where everything feels like it’s going wrong or you’re worried
about everything? Where you question if you can really do this or if you’re ever going to feel good
enough? The more you think and talk to yourself, the more you start to spiral, and the more you
start to spiral, the more evidence you seem to find to support your negative thinking.
That negative spiral can really impact on your business, your confidence, and your mental health.
How many times do you think you’ve ended up in that place?

What if we could reverse the spiral? What if there were 6 steps to help you turn things around?
I’ve spent years supporting and working with business owners on their mindset and goal setting and
I’ve seen these 6 things in action. I know how powerful they are and how much they can help you
shift things in your business.
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Let me tell you what they are and how they can help you.

1. Self-positive talk                                                                                                                                                             It’s time to start believing in yourself. Make time to look at your past achievements, so that you have
   evidence that you’ve done it before, and you can do it again. Surround yourself with positive, driven
   people who have similar goals to you. Read books that empower you, listen to podcasts, watch
   videos, anything that reminds you to have a growth mindset, and that leaves you feeling positive and
   upbeat.
2. Promise                                                                                                                                                                        Promise yourself to change your mindset to a more positive one. Start by taking small steps to get
   out of your comfort zone. Be kind and compassionate to yourself as you make those changes.
   Promise yourself to put an end to any self-sabotaging behaviour and reducing any negative self-talk.
3. Invest                                                                                                                                                                          Decide that you are worthy and invest in yourself. Get help, guidance, support, find a coach or
   mentor to help you overcome a negative mindset. Take steps to build your confidence to help you
   achieve your personal and business goals.
4. Recognise                                                                                                                                                                Recognise when your thoughts are negative or your behaviour is coming from a negative mindset.
   Challenge those thoughts and practice turning them into positive ones. Use that positive self-talk to
   remind yourself that you are capable of more than you’ve been giving yourself credit for and you
   have the evidence that you can do it when you put your mind to it.
5. Acceptance                                                                                                                                                                  Learn to accept that we can’t control everything that happens and sometimes we are met with
   challenging situations and obstacles. Try to use the other steps we’ve gone through here to learn to
   deal with them as objectively as possible. Try to make light of them, see the positive, and don’t take
   them personally. Remember, no matter how big something seems right now, in a few weeks it
   probably won’t seem as important.
6. Language
   Pay attention to your language. Is it positive or negative? If you find you’re using negative language
   try to rephrase it. It takes just as much energy to speak positively as it doesn’t negatively, but
   negative language has much more of a negative impact on your mental health.

​These 6 steps can help you transform your mindset and shift your confidence levels, so you can go
after your goals and make them happen.

I’d love to hear how you get on with introducing them into your life and your business.

We’ve all been there; you dream of starting your own business, you open your doors and you wait for clients. You want to be able to give up the 9 to 5 or replace your corporate income, create a better work-life balance and be the boss of your own business, but then you start and you realise just how much work is involved.
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You work long hours, you have an ever growing to do list, you are constantly doing, but you’re not getting anywhere. What do you do?

I see lots of clients who feel like this. They are so caught up in the day to day running of their business, that they can’t set any goals or create a plan to make those goals happen. There business stays stuck and they can’t make the income they want because they aren’t seeing the bigger picture.
So, what do they do? These are some suggestions that I work through with my coaching clients when they come to me for help.

1. Have a big picture goalIt’s a good idea to create a big picture goal. How much money do you need to make to replace your corporate income? What does your successful business look like and how will you know when you achieve it? What kind of work-life balance do you want to create?
2. Create smaller, manageable goalsWhen your goal is too big, it can feel overwhelming and so we do nothing. Having smaller goals that lead to the big one means that you can take them one at a time and know that, with each one you tick off your to-do list, the closer to your big goal you are.
3. Check-in with your mindsetSetting the goals is the easy part, having the mindset to make them happen is another story. Having the wrong mindset can sabotage all your hard work and make achieving those goals feel impossible.
4. Get accountableYou can have the right goals and the right mindset but if you don’t take action, then you won’t achieve the things you’ve set out to do. Having someone hold you accountable is a useful way to keep you moving in the right direction. One thing I love about being a coach is being my clients’ accountability partner. I check in with them regularly which means they are much more likely to take the action they had planned to make.
If you’re stuck and struggling to build the business you want, increase your income, find more clients or you feel like you’re so caught up in the day-to-day detail that you can’t achieve your goals then these steps will help.
I’d love to hear how they impact your business and achieving your goals.