Ep #37: The Mastermind Program: A Gift to your Future Self

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast with Amanda Karlstad, Episode number 37.

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, everyone. I hope you’re well and I hope you’re having an amazing week. I have had an amazing week. And I know I mentioned in last week’s episode that I have been working on something really exciting.

And I am excited to talk to you all about it today. But before I do I want to give a huge shout out to both Monica and Christina who recently both left some amazing reviews of the show.

So, Monica says, “I really enjoyed listening to Amanda’s podcast and found her to be both approachable and professional, great length, perfect for the car ride, thank you.” Thank you so much, Monica, I appreciate your review. And I appreciate that you appreciate the length of the episodes. Do know that I try to keep all of my episodes to probably about a car ride length, as I know my listeners very often were in transit or were in the middle of things. And I want to be able to give you thoughtful and actionable advice in a timeframe that works, so I’m so happy to hear that.

And the second review is from Christina. And, Christina says, “This podcast is a must listen. Amanda shares valuable insights and strategy in her episodes. I love how clear and grounded this podcast is. You’ve got to listen if you’re growing or starting a coaching business.” Thank you so much, Christina, I appreciate your kind words. I am so glad that you’re finding the podcast valuable as it’s really important for me to provide as much value as possible. And help share the insights and the strategies that I’ve used and that are proven to help you grow your business.

So, thank you again to you both, I appreciate your reviews so much. And I look forward to delivering even more value your way. Speaking of, I want to also thank all of you because The Life Coach Business Podcast was ranked number five in Entrepreneurship this past week in Apple Podcasts. And it was also ranked in the top 100 for business.

And I am so, so grateful to all of you to have you in my community and to have you be tuning in every week and to have the ability to deliver this content to you and to help you build your business. And I want you all to know that I’m so grateful for all of you and for your loyal listening. And I look forward to continuing to deliver high value content to all of you and to help you grow and scale your business in the coming months and years, it is so, so exciting.

Alright, so let’s get into it. I know many of you are in the process right now of either launching, or growing, or scaling your business. And I know that you’re all at different points along your journey. And I know some of you might be working towards your first few clients. And I also know that others of you are a bit further along. And you’re working towards scaling your business to multi figures. And I want to take a moment and talk about some things that I’ve been working on in the background.

So as I mentioned, I have been working on some new opportunities that I’ve created to help my clients do just that, to scale to their first six figures, to scale beyond their first six figures. And really build their business to multiple six, and even, seven figures. And for those of you that don’t know, that is the focus of my work. That is my work is helping my clients build, grow and scale their businesses. And within that I really work with two types of clients.

So I work with clients who aren’t yet at that first six figure mark in their business, yet they want to build to that level. And it’s usually because that’s the starting point, that’s usually their first big goal and they want to work towards. And I also work with clients that are already on track or have made six figures in their business and they’re looking to scale. And so usually at that point those clients, their goal is to scale into the multiple six figure range and work towards typically seven figures.

And so in both cases there are some very specific things, some very specific strategies and conversations, and very specific work, very specific foundational elements that must be in place in order to grow a business to each of those levels. And it’s really important to understand what those are. And it’s important to do the work that’s required in each of those phases. And so to ensure that those foundational elements that are required to grow to six figures is really, really important, it’s really important to have that foundation in place.

And what I find is once we have those elements in place usually that’s when the business is growing at a much faster pace, whether the client is either on track or maybe they have just hit their first six figures. It becomes just as important at that time as it was to get your business to your first figures. It becomes just as important to be focusing on the things that will take your business to multiple six figures and beyond.

And so when I’m working with new clients specifically it’s really important that we ensure we’re building what I call a cohesive growth strategy, that we’re creating and building essentially the right foundation in their business. And as I mentioned, there are several components to this. And I talked about this in one of the first episodes of the podcast. It was episode number 3, Why You Need a Cohesive Growth Strategy in Your Business. So if you haven’t listened, I highly recommend you go back and listen.

And the reason that this is so important is because building a business is very similar to building a house. So when you think about building a house, when you think about the process of building a house, you have to start with a solid foundation. You have to start with a solid framework that you’re building if you want to create and build the finished product. So just like you would need to set a solid foundation in a house the same is true for your business.

So this is why, whether you’ve been able to grow your business to a level where you’ve started to make some money, you’ve started enrolling clients, maybe you’re starting to feel some momentum. It’s still important that you’re laying the proper foundation just as you would as if you’re building a house. You want to make sure that you have solid footing and make sure that the foundation is solid before you build the rest of the house.

And the fact is, is that you can’t build a house properly and build a house that will withstand the elements and last for years to come unless you have the proper foundation. And so I’m having this conversation with you today because the same is true for your business. The fact of the matter is, is that you will not be able to scale beyond a certain level if you don’t have these foundational things in place.

And what I see happening a lot in the industry is that there’s a lot of DIYing happening. And what I mean by that is that there are a lot of programs that are offering typically only small pieces of these foundational things. So they’re offering only pieces of what it takes to build, grow and scale a business.

And I want to bring your attention to this today because I’m seeing a lot of new business owners that are feeling stuck and they’re not moving forward in their business and they’re not making any money. And at the end of the day they’re not serving the clients they could be serving, if they have the level of awareness to what is actually needed, if they have the level of awareness to what it really takes to build a business to that level. And the reason I know this is because I too at one point was also in this position.

There was a point in time where I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And so when I think about early on in my business I was in a position early on where I wanted to grow my business at a fast pace. I wanted to create momentum. I wanted to at least replace my corporate salary. And looking back, what I was doing at the time was essentially wasting a lot of time. And I was wasting a lot of time trying to essentially piece things together in my business.

So what that looked like was, was I was taking a course here or there, sometimes I wasn’t even finishing the course. I was downloading a ton of freebies. I had even invested in a couple of kind of mid-range to high level programs hoping that they would be the answer. And what I quickly found out was that they were only typically one piece of the puzzle. And so it really was a situation where I was not being guided through a proper strategy, through the proper things that I needed to be doing.

And so it really wasn’t until I recognized this and I decided to invest in my business. And invest in my business at a high level in a program that taught me what I needed to know, that taught me the strategies that helped me really step into the mindset that I needed. And that’s when I started to create real momentum in my business.

And what’s really interesting is I see this now in so many of my clients. So for so many of them they’ve been working hard and they’ve been trying to build their business for at least a few months but many of them don’t yet have the level of results they want. Or they realize and have an awareness to the fact that the only way to build their business to the level they want is to implement a real strategy and to get expert mentoring and coaching and help to really guide them through the process. And so that’s usually where our conversation starts, once they reach that point.

So I’m sharing all of this with you today as I feel like many of you are also in this scenario. Whether you want better results and you know you want to grow a successful business, but for whatever reason you’re just not there yet.

And what I’m really excited to announce to you all today and really excited to share with you is that I am in the process and you’re the first ones to know that I am launching an exclusive opportunity for you to do just that. To finally get the breakthrough you need to help you accelerate your results. To help you finally get on track for your first six figures or more, and it’s called The Mastermind.

And what it is, is it’s a group coaching mastermind that I’ve developed that is fully designed to give you everything you need to build your business to your first six figures or more in annual revenue, everything. And nothing is left out, and so that means your marketing, your Facebook Ads, your social media strategy, your offering and making sure that it’s irresistible in the market, your pricing, your business model. And most importantly, it’s the mindset you need in order to build your business to that level. So it’s all of it.

And it’s the exact process that I used myself to grow and scale my business to multiple six figures in less than 12 months. And it’s the exact process you need if you’re looking to grow your business to that level. And what I want to say is that within this process, within this program, I am offering an extreme amount of customization.

And what I mean by that is that for every client that enrolls in this program there is going to be a high, high level of customization that I will be advising you on in your business. I’ll be coaching you on your specific business and what’s needed in your specific business to serve your specific clients and the things you need to implement in your business and build it to the level that you really want. And so having 100% clarity on everything you need and having the accountability, knowing exactly when and where and how to implement.

Honestly, I am in love with this program. I’m in love with it because I know and I see the power in it. And I’m seeing so much success for my clients and I’m just so proud of the work that they’re all doing.

So I want to invite you, if this sounds like exactly what you need, if you know this is what you need in order to take things to the next level in your business. I want to invite you to apply at amandakarlstadcoaching.com/the-mastermind. Again, that’s amandakarlstadcoaching.com/the-mastermind and we’ll also link this up in the show notes, we’ll link up the application in the show notes. And I want you to know that this is an application only mastermind.

And I want you to know that I’m hand selecting the group of clients that will be in this mastermind. And it’s going to be full of clients and group members that are ready to build, that are ready to do the work, that are ready to implement and make six figures or more. And it’s going to be in a very supportive environment. So if you want to make big things happen in your business and you want to end the second half of 2020 strong, I highly encourage you and invite you to apply today at amandakarlstadcoaching.com/the-mastermind.

Alright, so again, this is application only and I will be capping this group in order to ensure that I can give every Mastermind member ample time and attention so that we can customize their approach and customize their business in a way that is in full alignment with them. And it’s important that each group member has the intention of growing their business and wants to accelerate their results.

And because of the high level of coaching and advisement, and energy that I’ll be giving to each client, I want to be sure that I’m creating an environment where I can do just that. And that everyone participating has similar goals and is at similar stages in their business. So I highly encourage you, if this sounds like something you’re seriously interested in, I invite you to apply today, spots are limited.

Alright, so I want to continue on the same vein and talk to you all today about what I call living from your future self. So this is a concept I first learned from one of my mentors, Brooke Castillo, and it’s something that I have dug much more deeply into within my own personal work. And it’s something that I continue to do a lot of deep work around in my own self-coaching, and also with a few key mentors that I have in my life.

And as I was doing some of my own personal work on this over the last few weeks I realized that I hadn’t yet done an episode specifically on this. So I was inspired to create one and to have this conversation with you today. And for those of you who are my clients and know me, you know that I am naturally a very future focused person. You know that I’m naturally inclined to really think about and to really plan and build towards the future, that’s one of the things that I love most about my work.

And as I’ve been doing some of my own work on this lately, I wanted to share with you and talk about why this concept of living from your future self and your future self in your business is so important in this moment.

And so to really start this off I want you to think about this for a minute, I want you to think about your teenage self, let’s say you at the age of 16. I want you to think about yourself at the age of 16. Think about who you were, think about what you were doing and what was going on in your life at the time.

And then I want to think about you right now in this moment writing a letter to your past self, writing a letter to that 16 year old version of you. I want you to just imagine that for a moment. And I want you to think about what you would say to your past 16 year old self. And when you think about that I want you to think about what it would be like to receive a letter from you today, except you were only 16 years old at the time. So when you think about this, this is a really good starting point for you to get into the energy of what I’m teaching you here today.

So I want you to imagine yourself writing that letter today and then I want you to imagine your 16 year old self reading that letter. And my assumption is that all of you would have a lot of insight, a lot of wisdom that you could offer your 16 year old self. And you’d probably give a lot of advice about not worrying about certain things that probably seemed big at the time or not doing things that you know was the smartest choice or doing some things differently.

So I want to talk for a minute about what living from your future self really is. So your future self is the version of you, it is you 10 years from now, it’s you five years from now or one year from now, or even five minutes from now. So at any point in the future it’s you but just not in the present moment. So this is your future self. And one of the ways that you can get into the energy of your future self that I think is really important to do is to imagine writing yourself a letter from today but you’re writing it to yourself 10 years from now, so essentially you’d be 10 years older.

And so for me, that means I’d be 50 years old, because I’m 40 today. So if I were writing a letter today I’d be writing it to my 50 year old self. And I would highly recommend that you all do this. And start by thinking about writing a letter to your past self, get into the energy of that. And then get into the energy of writing a letter to your future self, except it’s 10 years from now.

Now, some of you might be thinking, okay, this sounds kind of silly. And if you’re thinking that I want you to just stay with me. I want you to really be open to this concept, because what I have uncovered lately and what I’ve been thinking a lot about recently, and I’ve talked a little bit about this in some recent episodes. Is that I’m so thankful that my past self made the choices that I’ve made and that I did the work that I did, that have allowed me to create the business and the life that I have today, it’s really a gift.

And so I want to be able to give my future self the same, I want to be able to give my future self both from a personal lens and also a business lens the gift of doing the work today.

I want to give my future self the gift of the decisions that I’m making today that will create the business I will have 10 years from now and the life that I will have 10 years from now, and it’s the same for my family. So thinking about the gifts that I want to be able to give to my kids, so considering their future selves in this too, because this is where the future is made. It’s made here in the present, it’s made in this moment through the decisions that we make, through the work that we choose to do, through whatever it is that we’re deciding to do from both a personal and a business perspective.

And I think this is a really important perspective to have, especially as you’re building a business, and here’s why. Had my past self not decided to go all in on my business when I did, I know for a fact that I would not have the business that I have today. I would not have the ability to coach the clients that I get to coach, to create the schedule that I have, to be making the impact with my clients and the ripple effect of that. And I wouldn’t be making the level of revenue in my business and not have the ability to grow my business to the level that I really want in the future.

And hands down I definitely would not be here having this conversation with you. So when I stop and really think about this I am filled with gratitude that I made some hard decisions about my direction, about my business. And I made those a few years ago where I decided to turn down certain opportunities with no guarantee that I would be successful at this business. Where I invested at a high level in my business and in myself even when it was way more than I was comfortable with at the time, when it felt like a total stretch, when it didn’t make logical sense.

But I’m so grateful that at the same time when I was feeling stretched in so many ways, that I made the decision that I was going to be successful. That I made the decision that I would figure it out, that I would make it all happen, I am so, so grateful for all of it. And for my choice of diving deep into this work and choosing to do the hard work and learning everything I’ve learned about online business, and how to grow and scale a business, all of it.

And so one of the most important things I believe when you’re living from your future self is the fact that it’s also coming from the present, it’s also focused on being present. And the reason for that is because when you think about it, by default it requires that you are completely present, that you are completely in the moment.

And in a way for me when I’m fully living from this place, it’s almost like a filter that I am able to make every decision, where I’m taking action through that filter. Where I’m showing up from that lens, it gives me that filter to run things through and it makes things so much more effective. It makes making certain decisions so much easier. And saying yes to certain things, and saying no to things with so much more clarity and certainty, and not allowing myself to get off track with distractions and noise. And being able to stick to things that I know are aligned to me.

And it makes me prioritize myself and my own self-coaching and it makes that a non-negotiable. So staying true to myself and being in integrity and in authenticity with myself and what I’m creating. That is what living from my future self does, and that’s what I want for you too.

And so I will say this, if you’re growing a business and your goal is to significantly increase the results that you have in your business I think this is some of the most important work you can be doing. I think spending time imagining your future self and imagining your future business and being very detailed about what that looks like. And getting the help and getting the guidance to help you do just that, that’s a gift to your future self. And the best part is, is that you can go to work on that right now in the present moment, you can create that right now.

And I really believe this is one of the most powerful concepts we can live by. So I hope you take the time to think about this from your future self, for your future business today. And then go to work right now and start creating it.

Alright my friends, have a beautiful week, I’ll talk to you all again 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 at amandakarlstadcoaching.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.