The Reason Why You Aren’t Taking Action In Your Creative Business Today And How You Can Fix That!
No matter what you want to do, why you want to do it, or the research you put into discovering how to do it - if your mindset isn’t in the right space then you will do none of it. And that’s what we are talking about today.
Welcome!
Welcome to episode 3 of the Hidden Creative podcast and in this episode we will be chatting about all things mindset! Now, before I lose you, if you are a creative and you aren’t taking action, then you’ll want to tune in. Because in this episode I not only share with you why your mindset really is holding you back when you are a creative in business or looking to start a business, but also how you can strengthen your mind to take action on those ideas.
A creative’s mind is a beautifully unique place. You can have multiple ideas on the go at the one time. I know this, because I have a creative mind too and often it will wake me up at night. I get ideas in the shower or when I am speaking to people, driving or when I’m out in the community, but ideas just happen all the time don’t they. I imagine if you are listening to this podcast, then you are the exact same. Send me a DM on Instagram with what you’re doing when your ideas appear.
Now, here’s the thing about a creative MIND and the ideas you have when you're in business or just starting out.
Unfortunately, if you’re honest with yourself, I’m going to say at least 75% of those AMAZING ideas that you have do not become a reality. And that is because your mindset isn’t in the right space in the first place to allow you to bring them to life. So often we don’t acknowledge this but instead we put it down to external factors stopping us from making that start.
Just this morning on my weekly coaching call, the mindset topic came up + in particular how this is the #1 block a creative will face when growing their business. One of my incredibly talented students, had an idea to realign her business with her values + goals through introducing a new product - now this is a game changer. However, this idea was being blocked because of old limiting beliefs that were affecting her mindset.
So let me explain, My student had discovered this idea because her products weren’t feeling aligned anymore with her direction + story, so she had started researching how she could bring this idea to life - right down to the methods she could use, she had it all mapped out. We were all in awe listening to her amazing idea and how she would introduce it - other students were even offering different ideas to expand on it! But then when it came time to take action she was blocked. When I asked her what was stopping her from creating the new product, she said “what if I spend the money and it doesn’t work”.
My student subconsciously stopped herself out of fear of spending money, when in actual fact, her mindset was the block.
Her mindset was coming from a space of feeling scared it wouldn’t work, so she held onto the belief that she couldn’t afford it to not feel the fear of failure.
This is often how mindset blocks appear. You might experience fear of failure, fear of success and as silly as this one sounds, the majority of creatives have this fear because they fear the hard work that may follow that success. You might have a little voice inside your head telling you that you aren’t good enough. That others are doing it better than you. That you don’t have the time or that you’re too busy. Do any of these sound familiar?
But, just because we all experience this, and I can honestly say that every creative I have worked with experiences mindset blocks, it doesn’t mean you can’t get your mindset into the right space to pursue your ideas. You don’t have to stay stuck. You can move past the blocks, you can pursue your ideas, and you can succeed in doing it. Because you are a creative. The biggest change you can make today to help you take action is to get your mindset into shape and it isn’t as woowoo as you think. So, let me share my 4 Mindset tips with you…
My 4 Mindset Tips For Creatives
👉 #1: Be Curious About The Language You’re Using
And I don’t mean the swear words. I mean the words you are using to hold yourself back. Your BLOCKS + EXCUSES. Do you say “always” a lot. And I mean, in the context of - “I always have this problem”. “This always happens to me”. I imagine, if you actually pulled yourself up on this, you would discover that in actual fact that problem didn’t always happen to you - but you choose to focus on the problem and how frequent it is because of where your mindset is at at the time.
Here’s another, next time you say “you're too busy”, “you can’t afford it” or you “don’t have time”, pause and reflect on what you really mean by this. Do you really not have enough time, or are you not giving yourself the time. And if you aren’t giving yourself the time, why is that? Is it because you're actually scared to do the work, put yourself out there, invest in YOU or your idea. Or is it because that idea just isn’t really aligned with what you want.
👉 #2: Be Aware Of Your Excuses
Ok, so depending on who you talk to this can vary, but they say it takes 2 months to form a habit and even longer to break it. What happens if you have had a lifetime of creating different habits? You start to believe that they are your reality.
Those excuses that you tell yourself every single day, they shape the experiences you have because those excuses are your way of keeping you safe. But, staying in this mindset means that you will never find the courage to chase after your ideas + dreams. Because doing that is scary right.
What happens if you were to recognise your excuses for what they are, and instead of giving yourself a way out - hold yourself accountable or even better, find someone to hold you accountable. You wouldn’t need excuses then would you? Your reality would look much brighter and those habits you have made throughout your lifetime, will start to break. You would bring your ideas to life and the world would be much better because of it!
👉 #3: Understand What Triggers You
We all have triggers that affect us and make us react to certain situations differently. For example, I know that when I am in a “busy” mindset, that my mind gets clouded and my fuse is shorter. I respond differently to my kiddies, I don’t feel nearly as creative and become burnt out very quickly, and I can have arguments with hubby for no apparent reason. So, knowing this trigger allows me to make little changes in my everyday in order to operate from the very best version of myself that I can.
I purposefully take breaks, whether that is for lunch or having a cuppa, and I set boundaries around my time + workload. I have limits on the number of clients I see each week to allow myself to stay operating from a focused, dedicated, creative mindset rather than a busy one. I know that by understanding my triggers I understand how I react in certain situations, so I make the changes I need to in order to have a healthy mindset + be the person I want to be.
👉 #4: Discover How To Release Blocks
Ok, so my final point is probably the biggest. Like I said before, WE ALL have mindset blocks and excuses from time to time. This is what being human is all about. But, it’s what you do with those blocks that propels you to take action, or keep you stuck. Do you want them to continue stopping you from bringing those amazing ideas to life? Or, do you want to kick them to the curb and take action AND SUCCEED in doing so?
Discovering what is holding you back is the first step which we have just covered in points 1, 2 and 3. Releasing them is how you move forward. Because if you don’t release them, those blocks and excuses will continue to hold you back.
Now, I love to work with clients closely on this to help them through the process and be an accountability buddy for recognising when a block appears and helping them to move past it. But, a simple exercise that you can do at home is this.
Acknowledge it. Extract the gold. Then move it on.
Step 1: Acknowledge what your block or excuse is by writing it down - Here’s an example- “I can’t launch a podcast because I’m not good enough and I don’t know what I’m doing”
Step 2: Extract the gold - Go through and create a list of actionable steps that could be taken from the excuse. I didn’t know how to create a podcast, so first step - research a course that will help me create a podcast.
Step 3: Physically get rid of the belief. Lastly, tare up your piece of paper that has your excuse written on it. You can burn it, scrunch it, rip it up. Physically moving it on marks the action and is a declaration that you no longer want that excuse to stop you.
So there you have it. My 4 Mindset tips + how they can help you to get your mindset into the right space so that you can bring to life those amazing ideas you have!
The biggest change I made when my creative business began to flourish, was mindset. My success is 100% attributed to the changes I made when I began my self development journey, and they are simple changes that you can make too in order to stop staying stuck and start DOING those amazing things that you dream up.
So to recap on the steps,
#1 is to be curious about the language you are using
#2 is to be aware of your excuses
#3 is to understand what triggers you
#4 is to discover how to release your blocks
The sky isn’t even the limit for you, you are only limited by your mindset. When you discover this, you also discover that anything is possible for you if you put your mind to it! Until next time, I hope you are bringing your ideas to life!
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