Ep #45: Empowered Decisions

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast, episode number 45.

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. I’m so glad to have you join me today. I hope you’ve had an amazing week. And for any of you that are new listeners, I want to welcome you. I’m so glad that you’re here. I’m really excited to talk to you all today.

But before we dive in, I have to say something I’ve been thinking about over this past week that just seems crazy to me is that I’m already recording episode number 45 for you all today. Episode number 45. So, almost a full year of episodes already. It is so, so exciting.

And I’ve been thinking a lot about that over the past week, that it’s almost been a year already since I officially launched this podcast, and it has been so much fun. And what’s even better, and I think what really got me starting to think about this is that now I’ve got so many of my own clients who are either right now starting the process or they’re already in the launch process themselves for their own podcasts, and it’s just so exciting to work with them and support them through that process and to see their shows starting to come to life for the, and all of the amazingness that lies ahead for them.

And it’s just something that’s really, really been exciting for me to watch that develop with so many of my clients. And for any of you that work with me, you know that I’m obviously a big fan of podcasts. I think anybody listening to this show probably is. I would I highly, highly recommend it.

And it’s interesting because in so many cases, when I start working with clients, it’s something that we talk about as more of a long-term goal. And looking at some of my clients right now that are in their own launch process, it’s so much fun to be able to see them be at this point where, when we started the process and working together, it seemed much farther off.

And so, it’s just really, really fun to see that come to life and to see them really step into that next level in their own business. And it’s got me thinking about my own podcast and the fact that I’m already coming up on a year of podcasts that I’ve been delivering each week. And I love being able to do this. I love being able to talk with you all this week. I hope that you find a lot of value from this podcast. That’s really my goal, every episode, to give you as much value as I possibly can.

Alright, so today, I want to talk to you all about something that I see a lot. And I see it happen very often with both new entrepreneurs and with entrepreneurs, with coaches, that have been in the game for a while. And in most cases, I will say, I’ve observed that these are coaches that are typically pretty self-aware already.

So, what that looks like is they’ve usually done a lot of work on themselves. And in many cases, they may have worked with other coaches. They’ve been in different programs. And they’ve spent a lot of time, they’ve poured a lot into their own development. They’ve invested in coach training, many of them, things like that. And so, it’s something that despite all of those efforts, it’s something that is a bit insidious because I see it over and over and over again. And it’s pretty consistent across the board.

And the problem with it is it’s something that really stunts their business growth. And so, what I want to talk to you all today about is the emotions that you may be allowing your decisions to be made from. And that’s really what I want to focus this conversation on today. Because I think that this is one of the most important things to consider as you’re building a business, as you’re looking to take things to the next level in your business, whether that’s building your business to your first six, multiple six, or even seven figures. And it’s something that I have experienced myself.

And so, I want to share a bit of my own experience with this as well because I think it’s valuable to our topic today. And so, one really, really important distinction that I want to make with this right off the bat is that, for the purposes of this conversation, I’m talking about the decisions that we’re making. And to go even deeper with that, the emotions from which we make these decisions.

So, I want to explain this a little bit more in detail. I know that many of you listening are familiar with the thought model of circumstances, thoughts, feelings, actions, results, CTFAR sometimes you’ll hear it being called. And for those of you that maybe aren’t familiar, I want to break this down for you because it is important.

And so, the premise of using this thought model is that we all have circumstances in our life. I think we can all agree with that. That the circumstances we have in our lives, these are the facts of our lives.

So, when we think about it in terms of this model, it means that whatever that particular circumstance is, it means that it could be proven in the court of law. It means that it just is, that it’s a truth, that it’s an absolute. And the fact is, we all have circumstances like this in our lives.

And what happens is, from these circumstances, from these facts that we all have in our lives, what happens is, we formulate thoughts. And those thoughts, to really simplify this whole thing completely, are literally just sentences in our minds that we create that are based on those circumstances.

So, as an example, let’s say that your circumstance is that you made $10,000 so far in your business. And so, that, for purposes of this conversation, would be a fact. That could be proven in the court of law.

So, I want you to think about this for a minute. Think about what that number is for you. And I want you to consider that, I want you to see that as your circumstance.

So, for some of you, that might be a higher number. And for others of you, it might be a lower number. And what I want to offer is it really doesn’t matter what that number is. What I want you to see is that whatever that number is for you, that are having a thought or you have a series of thoughts about that number.

Now, some of you might be in a place where making $10,000 in your business, you may have the thought that this is amazing. And because of that, you’re likely feeling some sort of excitement about that. And others of you might be thinking the opposite.

You might have a thought or you might have a series of thoughts that sound more like, “You know what, I’ve only made $10,000 in my business. This is never going to work out. I just don’t know if I’m cut out for this.” And that’s just an example.

So, what I want you to see here is that the same circumstance, this same $10,000 that we’ve made in our business in this example can have two very different thought process, two very different perspectives when it comes to what that amount means to us.

So, if we take this a step further and we think about the thought of, “This is amazing.” We can see that there is an emotion that then becomes triggered by that thought. So, I want you all to think about this for a moment and lean into this, if you can. I really want you to try and feel the emotion of this.

So, think about the thought, “This is amazing.” And feel into that. For some of you, you’re likely feeling some sense of excitement. You probably feel more energized. You might feel hopeful. So, just tune into whatever this feels like for you. And then, on the flipside, I want you to think the thought, “You know what, I’ve only made $10,000 in my business. This is never going to work out. I just don’t think I’m cut out for this.”

Now, I will say that there are technically a couple of different thoughts here, but I’m giving you this example because I want you to feel the emotion of this. So, think this thought and lean into what that feels like.

So, for some of you, you might feel discouraged. You might feel defeated. And you probably feel deflated on some level. And if we take this a step further and using the thought model as our framework, let’s look at the actions that are then driven from those feelings, from those emotions.

So, for instance, if you think about the emotion of excitement or energy and you think about what actions you’re most likely going to take from that emotion, you’re likely going to take actions that are going to support you in moving forward in your business. For the most part, you’re going to take productive actions that have a greater likelihood of producing the results you want in your business.

And those actions that we take, especially on a repeated basis, that’s what determines the results that we create. And what I want you to see is that the opposite is also true. So, if we’re thinking that we’ve only made $10,000 in our business and we’re in doubt as to whether or not we can really do this, really build a successful business, that’s going to influence the actions that we take. That’s ultimately going to dictate the results that we have.

So, I want you to see the clear difference here and really feel into the difference of how these two thoughts, of how these two perceptions really feel. And what I want to offer to you all today, for all of you – and there really are no exceptions here, myself included – is that every one of us is experiencing this on a daily basis.

We are experiencing this whether we’re consciously thinking about our business, and what we’re doing, whether that’s our daily self-coaching, whether we’re excavating and looking up the thoughts that we’re having, and it’s happening even if we’re not consciously thinking about it.

And so, this is the distinction that I want to make, that I think is really, really important. And that is that the thought model, whether we believe it or not, is always working. So, this is why, when I talk to new clients especially, when they’ve done a fair amount of work on themselves, they’ve worked on their beliefs, who understand this concept and probably use this concept in their own coaching still tend to struggle with making decisions from an empowered place.

And that is the real difference I’m talking about here. Because what I see happen so often is that while, yes, we may be very self-aware, we may have done, quote unquote the work. Our coaching ability and our skills may be very, very good. But on some level, and in some cases it’s on a subconscious level, we’re still making these decisions about our business that come from a place of fear, that are actually coming from a place of doubt.

And this is the real message that I want to give to you all today, that it doesn’t matter if you think you’re doing all the things. If you think you get this on an intellectual level, because most of us do. Where the real difference is made is that when we start to make these decisions that are based in desire, that are based in the emotions that are empowering us, that are being made from a more powerful state, this is when the game will change.

And the truth is that the real change that we all want to happen, which I know for many of you is a certain level of growth in your business, it’s a certain amount of revenue or clients, I want to tell you that until you start making decisions in your business from this place that is rooted in that which you want, which is desire, the change you want will not happen.

And I know this might be a hard pill to swallow. But I think it’s really important for me to point this out today and to deliver this message. Because if you’ve been listening to me, or if you’ve just started listening to me, one thing I want you to know is that I’m all about authenticity and integrity.

And so, it’s very important to me that in my work and in my message, in everything that I do, that I share with you what I know to be true and what I know not to be true. And I want you all to know that I’m always seeking the truth. This is always work that I’m doing for myself and in my own business.

So, I’m doing this for myself, for my own awareness, but also for my clients. And so, this I have found to be an extremely important distinction. And I think it’s one that we can very quickly dismiss. And it’s becoming aware of where we’re making our decisions from and also becoming aware of what that result has been.

So, I want to really challenge you all that this is taking things further. This is going further than just looking at our thoughts and seeing how they’ve been playing out in our business and in our lives. This instead is about really looking at where we’ve been making our decisions from as it relates to our business, or anything in our life.

And the truth is, for most people that I see in this industry, the majority of the decisions that they’re making are actually being made from a place of fear. They’re actually being made from a place that is opposite to that which they want.

And here’s why this is so important to understand. Our decisions literally shape the quality of our lives. Our decisions directly impact our future. Our decisions directly impact the results that we have in our businesses.

So, knowing that, if we’re making these decisions out of fear, even though we might be coaching ourselves or being coached to be more positive in areas of our business, it isn’t until we start to make decisions from desire that the real change will occur.

And here’s what else I want you to know and consider, from a purely universal law perspective, wherever you’re making your decisions from, meaning whatever emotion is driving the decision you choose to make, has no choice but to manifest in your life.

So, this means that whether you make your decision from fear or whether you make this decision out of desire, whatever you choose will 100% with absolute certainty manifest within your life. It has to. It’s literally how this works.

So, this is why this is so, so important to understand and why I’m bringing you this topic today. Because I see a lot of coaches and a lot of entrepreneurs that have developed a high level of awareness to their thoughts, to their thoughts and their belief patterns, but when it comes to making important decisions for their business more often than not, most of the decisions that are actually being made are based in some sort of fear. And they’re making decisions that ultimately aren’t in alignment with that which they truly want.

And they’re decisions that tend to feel better in the moment because, in most cases, they feel safer or we perceive them to be safer. And I think a great example of this is investing in coaching. Because I see a lot of coaches that have a desire to build a really successful business and to generate a high level of revenue, but the problem is, they’re still making these safe decisions. They’re still making decisions from a place of, when we really break it down, doubt; doubt as to whether or not things will work out.

So, the reality is that while they might need to know that they need to up-level their skills, they need to up-level their marketing, they know that they need to be doing some different things in their business. But when it comes to actually making the decision to do what it takes, to be able to take things to the next level, I see very often that this is the decision that has the potential to change everything. Yet, in almost every case, I see fear kicking in.

And depending on what that decision becomes, what that decision is made, that will make all the difference for them. And so, this is why this is so, so important to understand. Because whether you’re making decisions from desire or making decisions from some level of fear, it will always manifest and become bigger in your life.

And I want to tell you all that this is something that, when I reflect back on the past couple of years of growing my own business and especially when I think about what really started to make the change in my own business, what was I doing that really created the shifts in my own business. One thing that I can absolutely say is that I made decisions that were aligned with where I wanted to go.

I made decisions that were aligned with what I wanted to create. I made decisions that aligned with the level of success that I wanted. And I will tell you all that I made these decisions even when it felt out of reach financially. I made these decisions even when I had some doubt whether or not the investment would pay off. I made these decisions even when I wasn’t sure that I had what it took.

And I can tell you that what I chose to do was to make my decisions from that which I desired, rather than allowing the doubt and the fear to take over and ultimately influence whether or not I chose to move forward.

And I want you all to know that this is something that I am still very mindful of to this day and it’s something that I’m constantly looking at for myself when I’m making decisions in my business, whether that’s hiring or things I’m adding into my programs, when I’m considering my business model, the programs that I am in, the coaches that I am investing in, all of the things that I’m implementing in my own business.

And so, it’s something I really encourage you all to take a look at for yourselves. I encourage you to look at the decisions you’ve made up until this point, and look at what has been the result. Because the great thing is that all we need to do is look at our results. Our results clearly tell us where we’ve been making our decisions from. Our results are purely indicators as to the emotions that have been influencing our decisions.

And so, I invite you to think about this as you’re making your next decision, or series of decisions, as it impacts your business. Are you going to make these decisions out of fear, or are you going to make these decisions out of desire? I hope this episode created a breakthrough for you and gives you a new vantage point as you’re moving forward. I really encourage you all to go make some decisions this week based in desire and not fear.

Alright, my friends, have an amazing week. I’ll talk to you all again very soon. Take care. Bye-bye.

Hey, if you’re ready for a real breakthrough in your business and want to grow and scale your business to at least six figures or more in annual revenue, I invite you to apply for my exclusive program The Mastermind atamandakarlstadcoaching.com/the-mastermind. I look forward to seeing you there.

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.