Ep #198: How to Overcome Growth Resistance

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast with Amanda Karlstad episode number 198.

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.

Today I want to talk to you about a concept that I came up with recently that I am calling growth resistance. It’s a concept that I created as I’ve been observing both in my clients who are experiencing tremendous growth in terms of revenue, in terms of clients. Also for clients who because of the nature of the process that I teach because I focus both on mindset and strategy in my program, it really does challenge them in so many new and different ways.

I also see this in a lot of coaches in general as they move into new levels in their business. Really what tends to happen is in that process of going to new and different levels, the truth is that this is a process of growth. It’s a process of growth because for so many, it’s a new process, right. It’s a new process to take your business from where you are to that next level, whatever that is for you.

Because it is different, because in most cases it’s very uncomfortable especially, I will say, when you don’t have the results yet. What tends to happen is that there’s a level of resistance that starts to develop to the growth that’s happening. I see this happen where there’s what I’m calling growth resistance, which is many times in many cases it’s the subconscious resistance to growth that so many coaches and so many entrepreneurs experience.

What happens is that as their business grows, there’s a real identity shift that happens. That identity shift happens because as the business grows to these new and different levels, what happens is it requires a new way as a business owner a new way of being. It requires a new way of operating and a new way of functioning inside of the business.

For most coaches, this can be a very uncomfortable process. So I see this happen both for coaches that are starting out and launching their businesses for the first time. I also see this happen when coaches are scaling. So even after they’ve reached a certain level of success. They’ve probably already hit or are close to that six figure mark. They’re really starting to take things to the next level.

The truth is that there is a continual up leveling that needs to happen. I’ve recently been observing this in some of my clients who are in this process who are taking their business to those next levels where there almost becomes this unconscious resistance to the growth that is happening.

It’s interesting because the growth that happens in the business, having more clients and launching new programs, making more money, all of those things are truly what everyone wants. Everyone wants the external growth that comes with taking the business to the next level, and that’s totally fine. That’s why we’re here.

One of the challenges that tends to come up and I see so many go through is that there tends to be this subconscious resistance that starts to form. That I have observed that unless you’re aware of it, it can really start to interfere with your growth, with you being able to take things to an even bigger level unless you have a high level of awareness to it. Unless you are actively working through it.

So I wanted to share this with you today because this is a lot of the work that I do with my clients is really taking a look at and addressing and coaching through this growth resistance that truthfully is really inevitable if you are on the journey if you are growing your business. If you’re business is growing. Especially if you’re scaling. These things do come up.

Recently I was observing a coach who was being coached. I was not coaching this person. I was observing this. This person was actually being coached by a colleague of mine. I was observing this coach who I think it was about her second year in business. She had had some good success in her business. She had grown her business to a level where she wanted to break through to that six figures. I think she had generated about $85,000 in her business last year. So she was really ready to take things to the next level.

What was really present for her was that she was struggling number one with how to take things to the next level. She wasn’t clear on what next steps to take in her business. She was also really caught up with the fact that she didn’t cross the $100K mark. The reason that she was really upset about this is because she had set out to do that. She felt like she had fallen short. So because of that, she was having all sorts of thoughts about her ability to now be able to create $100,000 this year since she didn’t hit her goal last year.

So as I was observing this person being coached and observing the narrative that she had around her goals, around her ability to be able to take her business to the next level. To me, this was a perfect example of the growth resistance that comes into play. The growth resistance that comes into play in the form of confusion, in the form of different narratives, right. That aren’t even true, but when you’re in it, when you’re experiencing the growth resistance, when you are going through that process yourself it feels as if it’s true. It feels as if whatever that story is that it’s actually factual.

The good news is that this is really just a form of growth resistance where it really is a situation that requires new levels of skills, where it requires new ways of thinking. Where it requires new ways of being and operating in the business that isn’t about the narrative, that isn’t about the story that so often I think so many coaches tend to believe.

So for me as I was observing her being coached and having a sense of where she was at in business, it was so clear to me what those next steps were for her, right. For her to really be able to take her business beyond that $100K mark and really into multiple six figures. It was so clear. Because she’s already created the level of results that she had created in her bs, I could see so clearly how she could easily double her results this year. I could also see exactly what was gonna hold her back and what was exactly in the way.

The truth is that if you are in this place where you’re experiencing growth resistance like this coach, if you don’t have a level of awareness to it, right, what happens is you will stay in that resistance. While it’s possible to create results when you’re in this place, the truth is to be able to really unlock things in the business. To really take things to that next level of growth and to unlock that next level of growth is about moving through this growth resistance. It’s about working through that growth resistance that you’re experiencing and allowing yourself to step into this next level and beyond.

So as I’ve been thinking about this concept, it’s really one of the concepts that I think are so important, especially when you’ve experienced results in your business. Especially when you’ve reached certain milestones in your business, which for many of you is that first 100K.

The reason why is because when that happens, when you start out, typically when you start out your coaching business and when you’re coaching clients on a one-on-one basis, the truth is that it’s a pretty simple, it’s a pretty straightforward way to do business, right. It’s a pretty straightforward business model, and that’s also one of the reasons I always recommend to clients that if they’re starting out that they coach clients on a one-on-one basis. There’s definitely so many byproducts of that that you gain through that process.

I will also say that there’s definitely growth resistance that I observe that has to be overcome when you’re building up your one-on-one practice, when you’re launching your business, when you’re putting yourself out into the world in a new way. There’s a ton of growth resistance that you have to overcome when you’re at that point in your business.

Once you’ve overcome that first level of growth resistance and you’ve been able to take your business. I’m just going to use the example of six figures because that’s usually that first big benchmark. It’s typically somewhere in that range.

What happens is then there becomes a whole new level of growth resistance that happens that really starts coming into play. So it might be, just like it was for this coach, in the form of confusion. It might be in the form of not finding or having a certain level of clarity in certain areas of the business. It might come in the form of you having a clear plan but also resisting the skill development, right, in being able to execute that plan in your business.

So for most people, the truth is that for most coaches coming into this world, they’ve never grown or scaled a business before, right. There’s so many new skillsets that have to be learned. The online business world is full of all different ways on how to build a business, right? So with that there’s all different types of skillsets that have to be learned, that have to be adopted. It doesn’t feel good.

What happens is that the brain starts to offer all sorts of narratives about what that means, right? About what that might mean if you’re facing that. All of it I just want to tell you is the next level of growth resistance. It’s not actually what the brain is offering to you that you want to believe is fact.

So it really doesn’t matter what stage of business that you’re currently in. What I want to offer to you with this is that no matter what you’ve experienced in the past, no matter where you’ve been able to bring your business, no matter where that is today, just know that experiencing this growth resistance is completely normal. Know that it’s completely part of the process. Also know that in order to go to that next level that the growth resistance that you’re experiencing, it’s just part of the game.

Because as the business grows, you will be faced with new and different challenges that you’ve likely never experienced before. With these new and different challenges, it’s going to require new and different things from you as the business owner. It’s going to require new levels of skillsets, skillsets that the business needs in order to grow and thrive.

So in order to be able to be able to successful grow through these new levels, it really requires what I am calling a recalibration internally. It’s going to require an external recalibration. It’s going to require new and higher levels of thinking in the business. It’s going to require a new and higher level of being in the business. It’s going to require newer and higher levels of execution of strategy in the business.

I have to tell you all, usually none of this feels pleasant.  In fact, most of it is probably going to feel very unpleasant. I want to offer you this. Think of it as building new muscle. When you think about building new muscle on your body whether that’s in your arms, in your abs, your legs, wherever, there’s going to be a process that you will go through. A process that requires lifting weights. A process that requires new levels of weights. A process that requires a new level of consistency, a new level of focus.

So the same is going to be true in your business just like when you’re building new physical muscles. When you’re in that process, there will be an experience of discomfort. It will feel painful at times. You will probably feel a certain level of muscle fatigue at times when you’re going through it, but that’s also where the point where true growth starts happening. When you take your physical muscles to the point where you can feel it. That’s where the new muscle is actually being built.

So I want to encourage you all to not shy away from this but to lean in if you’re resonating with what I’m saying here. Know that you’re building these new muscles in your business, know that it’s going to feel different. It’s going to feel uncomfortable. It’s also where all of your next level growth will happen. All right everyone. 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 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.