Ep #31: Betting on Yourself

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast, Episode number 31.

Welcome to The Life Coach Business Podcast, a show for coaches who are ready to up-level their business and take their impact, leadership, and results to a whole new level. If you’re ready to start taking powerful action and become the leader your business needs in order to grow and thrive, this show is for you. I’m your host, Amanda Karlstad, certified life and business coach, and entrepreneurial leadership expert. Now, let’s get down to business.

Hello and welcome everyone. So glad to have you here today. I hope you are well. It is a beautiful day here. It is sunny and warm. It’s a clear day and absolutely beautiful. And it has been so nice to be outside and be able to take my kids outside.

And I have to say that we have been spending a lot of time outdoors and it’s been really, really nice. So even though yes, we are in quarantine and we’re homeschooling and we’re doing all the things, as I’m sure you are, I have to say at the same time that I’m really enjoying having some of this extra down time.

And just getting back to some of the simpler things like going for bike rides and just spending some time outdoors, and just having this extra time with the kids. It’s been really a nice change of pace. So I hope that wherever you are, that you’re able to do the same and you’re able to make most of this time.

Alright, so today I want to talk to you about something that no matter where you’re at in your journey of building your business, whether you’ve just launched your business or you’ve been in business for a few years, it’s something that I’ve observed in my most successful clients, and it’s something that when I reflect on my own journey and think about how I got to where I am today, it’s something that I can also see within my own journey.

And it’s something that I think is really, really important to your success as an entrepreneur in this industry, in especially today with what’s going on. So it’s something that I’ve been doing some thinking about over the last few days as I’ve been thinking about what is it that makes my clients, the ones that are really, really experiencing the growth and the expansion and their highest revenue months right now, what is it that has really set them apart?

And what I will say is it’s really their capacity to bet on themselves. And so as I said, this is something I’ve really been observing recently with many of my clients. And it’s something that I can see when I look around the industry and when I do look back on my own journey of launching and building my business and even in this present moment, it’s something that I can say with absolute certainty is a reason why I’m here, for example, speaking to you today.

Why I’ve created this podcast, how I am spreading my message and my work, how I’ve been able to grow my business in an extremely short amount of time. And it’s why when I look at where I am taking things in my business and the impact that I’m able to make and really, on a larger scale, the impact and the ripple effect that I want my work to have in the world, it really all comes down in my ability to do this.

And that is my willingness and my capacity to bet on myself. And so when I do look around at my most successful clients, the ones that, as I mentioned, they’re growing and they’re expanding their businesses during this unprecedented time, they’re literally having their best revenue months even in the midst of this pandemic. This is what I see.

I see a very deep conviction to their work. A very deep belief in their mission and in their why for doing their work. And also, to their vision. And what that does is it allows them to have the confidence to then bet on themselves.

It’s almost as if – and I shouldn’t say it’s almost as if. It is as if they already know that what they’re working towards, it’s already done. And it’s interesting because even when I observe conversations and languages, this comes up. The language of it’s already done comes up.

And so this is what I want to talk to you about today. How do you, if you’re not currently in a place where you can bet on yourself, where you maybe have some hesitations on whether or not you’re going to be successful or whether or not you can build your business to the level you want to build it, or whether or not you should go all in on your business, on your dream, on living your purpose, I want to talk about how you can start to cultivate this within yourself.

Because the fact is when I look at the coaches and the most successful people in this industry and coaches that I’ve had the privilege of working with very closely that have seven and eight-figure businesses, and even when I look at leaders in different industries and other successful entrepreneurs, I can observe a very common characteristic.

And that is again, their willingness and their ability to bet on themselves. Now, I want to say that there’s a huge distinction that I think is really important to be clear about with this. So betting on yourself doesn’t mean that you bet on yourself only when times are good.

It doesn’t mean that you only bet on yourself when you see a clear path. It doesn’t mean betting on yourself only when we feel like we might get the guaranteed outcome. What I’m talking about here is your ability and your willingness to bet on yourself, even when it might not feel like there’s, for instance, enough money in the bank.

It means betting on yourself even when the world is in chaos and there’s uncertainty everywhere you look. It means betting on yourself even when it doesn’t make logical sense. So when the chips are down, this is what I’m talking about. Betting on yourself no matter what. It’s the type of betting on yourself when you’re fully committed and there’s no turning back.

And so that’s the betting on yourself I want to really encourage you to think about. And I really want you to look at where you’re at with that. And I want to say that this type of betting on yourself, most people in this world are going to call you crazy for this or would call you crazy for this.

And it’s something that the majority of people in this world don’t and won’t ever understand. And that’s okay. But this is also the type and the level of betting on yourself that I believe is really required to get to the level of where you want to go, and here’s why.

Because when you’re building a business, when you decide to be an entrepreneur, when you sign up for this, you’ve got to have some grit. You’ve got to be committed to the process and committed to the long game. And these are all concepts that I’ve talked about in previous podcasts that you can go and check out.

And I want to be clear that if you want to win in this industry, if you want to be in this game, it’s going to require full commitment, and it’s going to require you to play the long game. And so it’s not enough just to be interested in the process. It’s not enough to just dip your toe in and try to do some things in your business, implement some things and get frustrated when maybe on the first few tries, things didn’t work out exactly as you’d hoped.

The type of betting on yourself that I’m talking about is betting on yourself and pushing through no matter what. So it means betting on yourself at your core, where you have such a deep conviction in what you’re doing. And when you’re in full alignment with the work that you are best positioned to do.

And when you get to that point, the beauty is it truly does only become a matter of time. And I know some of you are listening to this and you understand this, and I know some of you are fully betting on yourselves. And I’m guessing you’re seeing some results of that, some positive results of that in your business and in your life.

But I know there’s a lot of you that might also be struggling with this. And I know this because I observe it. And here’s the good news with this. Once you make the decision to fully commit to bet on yourself and to what you want, it truly does become a matter of time.

Because when you truly believe that you and only you are the one to create your results and thus your reality and your experience in this world, you have the confidence to bet on yourself. And that level of confidence comes when you do the inner work, when you do the deep inner work to cultivate the belief in what you’re creating and in yourself and in what you stand for.

So being able to bet on yourself when you don’t yet have the evidence that you’re going to be able to create what you want requires belief. It requires deep belief that you are in fact 100% in the driver’s seat. It requires having a deep conviction that the results that you do want to create are possible for you.

And so what I want say is that this is where I see most newer entrepreneurs especially get caught up. And here’s why I think this happens. Here’s what I’ve observed. What tends to happen when you’re in this industry, when you’re coming into this industry and you’re newer and you’re in this kind of grind, building phase of your business, you really don’t know what you don’t know.

And what I mean by that is there is really no way to fully grasp, to fully understand until you actually experience what it takes to build a successful business from the ground up. So coming into this, yes, you probably understand it’s going to take a lot of work. You understand that it’s going to require some time. It’s going to require you learning a lot of new things.

But what I see is that it’s not until you’re actually in it that you can start to understand what that experience is like. And for most people, this is a really painful place to be. And so what I observe with most newer coaches, kind of in that first 50K, 100K, when they’re in that phase of their business is that they’re having to learn so many new things.

So when you think about this, there’s all the technologies of getting your online business set up. There’s industry terminology that is brand new. It’s learning how to even market yourself and run a business online. There are so many new things that you have to learn when you’re coming into this industry.

And on top of that, when you’re in that place, when you are still building your business in that first year especially, you also are up against your starter belief systems. Those belief systems about whether or not you are a good enough coach or whether or not you have what it takes to actually do this. All of those types of beliefs.

And what tends to happen is I see the self-doubt and the frustration and so many of those types of emotions that come up for coaches and entrepreneurs in this phase of their journey and it really starts to affect them.

And they really start to question themselves and question what they’re doing and questioning whether or not they should continue, in a lot of cases. And I think it’s when you get to this point that I see, it is critically important as to the decision that you make in terms of what you’re going to choose to believe from that point.

So, for example, it’s very easy when you’re in a place in your business when you don’t have the results you want and you feel like you’ve been doing all the things you should be doing, yet you still don’t have those results, that self-doubt and that frustration and those levels of emotions start to take over.

And the problem is, once those emotions take over, and so then you start operating from this place of self-doubt or from this place of frustration, it’s extremely difficult to create the results you want from those emotions. Yet this is where I see so many coaches and entrepreneurs spinning in the cycle.

And so, this is again where it becomes extremely important to consciously choose how you’re going to respond to the situation. And I want to just remind you all that how you decide to respond is a choice. And so, what I’m advocating you do here is that if you’re in this situation right now, I’m advocating that you double down on your belief, that you double down on your ability to figure things out, that you make the decision to truly bet on yourself.

And I want to say this. It’s not going to feel comfortable; not in the least bit. It’s not going to feel easy. It will feel hard. But I also want you to know that all of that is okay because the level of success that I’m guessing you want in your business is going to require some grit.

The level of success that you want in your business is going to require you to be resilient. And so, for many of you, in order to play at the level that you want to play at, you’re going to have to go through some stuff. And there really is no other way through it except to go through it and choose to bet on yourself.

And so, I think a great example of this is an Olympic athlete. So, think about all of the years, the time and the dedication on a daily basis that any Olympic athlete that has really devoted their entire lives, in a lot of cases, to their sport, to competing at that level. It’s years. And it’s full on dedication to that goal, to that goal of competing at that level.

And so, that level of success, that level of playing field does not happen overnight. That doesn’t come as an easy walk in the park. That only comes from a level of deep determination and belief and work and focus on the goal.

So, it does require full on focus and full on dedication and it does require full on betting on themselves. And so, that’s what I really want to encourage you all with today. I want to encourage you to bet on yourself, to be all in on your business, on your dream, on your purpose. Believe that you can do this.

Because the truth is, it doesn’t matter what’s happening in the world. Yes, we have a global pandemic happening right now and there’s a lot of suffering and we can be empathetic about that. But at the end of the day, you are the one, and the only one, that creates the results you have in your life and in your business.

So, for those of you that really want to have a successful business, you’ve got to fully commit to that. And so, this cannot be a conditional commitment. This cannot be just betting on yourself when times are good or when you’re feeling good.

You need to bet on yourself and your ability to be able to create the level of results you truly want, even when it feels uncomfortable, even when you’re full of self-doubt, even when you’re frustrated, and even when you don’t have the evidence. And it’s only then when you truly do bet on yourself that you’re going to start to see the results you really want.

Alright, my friends, have an amazing week. Go out there and serve. I’ll talk to you all next week. Take care, bye-bye.

Hey, before you go, I have something amazing I want to share with you. To celebrate the launch of the show, I’m going to be giving away three free VIP Strategy Sessions where I’ll be diving deep into your business and helping you put a strategy in place for the next 90 days, so you have a real game plan on how to create results in your business, and finally gain momentum.

I’m going to be giving away one free VIP Strategy Session, the same VIP Strategy Session I offer to all of my highest-level clients, to three lucky listeners who subscribe, rate, and review this show on Apple Podcasts. Visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter. I’ll be announcing the winners on the show in an upcoming episode. Thanks so much.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Life Coach Business Podcast. If you want to learn more about how to build, grow and scale your business and accelerate your results, visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com.