It's easy to be excited and motivated at the start, isn't it? It's fun to play and daydream about what you might do, but the minute you decide to start, your brain is going to kick back.

We are now on episode number five in this bonus series and I'm going to introduce you now to three things. Three elements, three foundational philosophies, if you like that. I know when you put these in place into your business, you will have a business breakthrough.

The really good news about this is it's not so much about lots of things to do, it's much more about ways of thinking or ways of being. So don't freak out that I'm going to add more to your to do list. There will be an application exercise in each, but it's like something that you're going to just do inside the life that you already have. So just take a listen and it'll become very apparent as we go through.

Your Business Headlock 

So in today's episode, I want to talk to you about what exactly that kickback looks like, why it's holding you in a business headlock and what you can do so you can create your business breakthrough.

I call it PLANNING FOR FAILURE

Before we go in to this very powerful foundational piece, I want to remind you we are going from AHA to application or AHA to action in the shortest time possible.

Now, the basis of this episode is that my belief is that most people know what to do. What they don't know, what they don't understand is why they don't do it consistently and why what they tend to do is to look for more things to do and buy more things to do and they end up with more things that they're not doing. Does any of that sound like you? I know I have definitely been there. And the problem is that once we get into that space where we're trying more things, not doing those things consistently either end up with a laptop full of downloads and offers and freebies and courses that are just gathering dust, we now activate more blame, more shame and more judgement.

From an energetic standpoint, it kind of robs us of our power energy in our solar plexus and just activates more shame. So we've got more stuff to do, we've got more feeling bad because you're not doing it. You've got more overwhelmed because of all the things that you're not doing that are taking up massive space in your brain and energy systems. More searching for the answer and nothing changes. So let me tell you what the answer is.

You need to find your potholes.

When you take the time to look back before you start moving forward, you're going to be able to fully identify and problem solve for all the reasons you haven't committed to your business fully before. Now, of course, in the last episode where we talked about the three pains that we're all trying to avoid, you can bring that into here.

I'm giving you a different perspective as well. A different perspective which means you're going to consciously make better choices and consciously choose to use your mind to direct your programmed brain. Okay?

When you do the looking back and you find your potholes, you're going to find all the reasons why you buy courses and don't finish them, or maybe you don't even start them. All the reasons why you grab every freebie and every download and the seven steps to all the reasons why you can't avoid that next shiny object. And the FOMO, all the reasons why you literally put everything and everyone else a higher priority than your business success. All the reasons why you keep being in the same place. And this philosophy that I have of finding your potholes is exactly the same reason that you use Google Maps or Waze before you head out on a trip. You want to know where there's been an accident or where there's roadworks or diversions so you can have the quickest and easiest route to your destination.

Let me ask you this.

What would happen for your business in the next three months if you honoured it in the same way as a journey? If you took some time to find your potholes and either plan your journey around them or filled them in and went over them?

And are you willing to plan for failure so that you don't quit on yourself again? Please tell me. The answer is yes. Right? And it really is very simple. So, number one, I want you to think of potholes. They're weakened parts of the road that can cause potential damage to car tires, right? We've all done that. And they get strengthened.

They get strengthened by getting weaker. The more times they're hit your potholes are the thoughts and behaviours that keep you hitting that stop part when you get to your desired sorry. That stop you getting your desired result. And the more times you hit them, the more you strengthen them. So when you keep hitting your plot holes, I want you to imagine it as you're strengthening your limiting programme in your brain. So you need to go on this backward journey. You have to identify the goals you've been working towards for six months or more with zero progress and identify the thought and behaviour traps that you keep falling into. Right? So as an example, I was talking with a client this week and when we talked about she has like this sort of three month commitment window and she just kind of like falls off and she stops doing stuff.

So we talked about that. I said, what happens then? Tell me more about what you start to think. And she says, well, it's not as exciting anymore. It's a little bit more boring. I'm not seeing an instant result or I'm not getting that instant reward and I feel demotivated. And then I feel to myself, I can't be bothered. And so she said, so then I'll skip a day and I'll tell myself I'll do double tomorrow, only when tomorrow comes and I've got to do double the thing, it feels so overwhelming that I don't do that either. And then it rolls in, day three, day four, day five, and then that feels so overwhelming

that in the end, it's just easier to quit.

So the result that she has from running that model is that she's got this three month commitment window. So, simply put, when we look at her potholes, we're noticing your pattern, your model of quitting on your promise. That's the problem found now for the solution. And the solution kind of comes in two parts. It's having to practise the new thoughts and behaviours. Now, we've already addressed this in number two, but now I'm giving you context. Like, how can you actually find the problem and then use the exercise in episode number two to give you that solution? You have to practise these new thoughts and behaviours. Go back to those first four episodes in the series to remind yourself why this is the foundation of your success.

If you think this is boring, you could choose to think, well, boredom is actually part of mastery and I'm really excited to master this. If you find yourself choosing distraction, you must choose focus. And that might look like time blocking, working in a different location, just choosing one project.

You can't get a different result if you keep doing the same thing, no matter how many justified excuses your brain keeps offering you.

Because you remember, your brain is biassed for safety. Growing a business does not feel safe for most of us at any point, right? So I class this one as filling the potholes. We notice the potholes, we fill them with something more resourceful, more action orientated, more new, and then we go over the potholes. We don't have to keep going around them anymore and making the road strong again.

And then finally I talk about starting before the right, this is another important part. So when you think about starting before the start, if all you're thinking about is laying on your sunbed in the Maldives, then you're not planning for the possible roadworks on the way to the airport, or how to pack everything you want in your suitcase without going over the weight limit because you're just focused on the end.

Let me give you another super example of this that I used to see a lot when I was a personal trainer. So it's Sunday night and you're telling yourself, right, this is it. I'm 100% going to start my fitness and fat loss journey. Tomorrow Monday. This is it. Last time.

Definitely going to do it. And you wake up Monday morning to find that you've only got Cocoa Pops in the cupboard for breakfast, your sports bra and trainers are positively prehistoric and that you've forgotten that your kids have a party to go to tonight. So your gym session is out in the window.

Now you're telling yourself, great, I've already fallen. First hurdle and I've fallen. You know what? And I can't start Tuesday because no one starts anything on a Tuesday. I'm going to wait till next week. And so the cycle begins again.

You have to set yourself up for success by starting before the start.

What needs to be in place that you have the best chance of succeeding?

So let's finish off with an example inside your business. Let's say you decide to create and sell a course that's on your to do list for this week. And one of some of the things you might want to have in place or plan for before you start, are things like knowing where you're going to host the course, a clear definition of who you're serving with the course, exactly how this course is going to help them. The social media platforms that you're going to market on, the branding that you're going to use, the non negotiable launch date, the execution plan. By working back from that launch date, the follow up email sequence, start before the start, means that you're thinking about the bigger picture. You're making that roadmap.

And this directive thinking is incredibly powerful for your brain as well as for your courage, because you know exactly what you're doing. You've already seen the potholes. You see where you failed before. You've problem solved for that and you're starting before the start. You're literally setting yourself up for success.

Business Breakthrough Exercise #5

How you start is how you continue.

So when you take the time to work out what has to be different, you can and you will create different results. So here's what you've got to do.

1. Find your potholes for the goals you've been working on for six months or more with no progress, and problem solve for those before you continue. What do you tell yourself that makes you feel bad, that stops you taking the action that you need to do? And what are you going to do differently? How are you going to think differently
2. Start before the start. What else can you do to set yourself up? Where do you make plans and give yourself a window to get something done and then realise there's 20 other things that have to happen before you can even do that? But because you didn't do the bigger thing, you're telling yourself you failed again, right? What has to happen to set yourself up for success?

This is probably the only pillar out of the three that has got you to do a relative amount of work. But you've already started by looking at the thoughts that you need and want to hold to create different action. Think bigger picture. Because your business isn't just your business. Your business is an expression of you. Your best business demands the best you.

And when you think bigger picture and how your business can be elevated by other sort of supportive habits and rituals and thoughts, you will succeed, my friends. You will succeed. So that's all the application is. Find your potholes, start before the start, and then get yourself ready for foundational pillar number two. You are going to love it. I'll see you there's.