Ep #58: Overthinking: Why It’s Hurting Your Business

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast, episode number 58.

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. Super excited that you’re here with me today. I hope you’re staying warm. That’s what I’m trying to do. I am looking out the window right now and I am looking at a few inches of snow.

So we are officially heading into winter here in Minnesota, for those of you that have listened to the show before you know I’m here in Minnesota. And I’m looking at the temperature and it’s 38 degrees. So we are moving in that direction.

I hope all of you had a great week. I have had a really great week. I have been welcoming in some amazing new clients into my 100K accelerator program. It’s called The Mastermind. And I’m so excited for the work that these clients are about to do, for the brands that we’re going to build for them, for the businesses that we are going to be launching through this process, for the success that is so very close ahead for all of them.

And I just have to tell you, I feel this way about all my clients, but they really are amazing. And I just – every time I bring in a new group, I am always amazed at them and I am so excited about all of the amazing things that they’re going to create over these next few months.

And I love nothing more than helping my clients really win and really succeed and really build the business of their dreams. And so I’m sure I’ll be bringing them on the podcast as we move forward down the road and share their successes with you because I know that we are going to be celebrating a lot.

And I’m also, this week I just was sitting back and reflecting on my clients in my high level million-dollar mastermind, so those are the clients that have gone through the initial 100K accelerator program and they are doing amazing things as well.

And it’s just so much fun to sit back and think about where we started at the beginning of this year. They have come so far. And to see the impact that they’re making, and to see just where their business is at right now, literally we’re talking 11 months later, to see where their revenues are, it’s just really, really amazing.

And so it’s so much fun to help them scale their businesses, it’s so much fun to help them start thinking about things like hiring a team and all of those backend operational things, and it’s just so much fun to do this work.

So with that, I really invite you, if you’re wanting to grow your business in 2021, if you are ready to build your business to at least your first six figures, if you’re tired of getting the same results, if you are ready for different results in your business, if you are ready to build and grow a real business, and maybe you’re ready to scale, maybe you’ve already grown your business to your first six figures or maybe even you’re in the multi-figure range, and you know it’s time to scale and you need help doing that, I highly encourage you to reach out.

Go to my website and book in a call with me because I’m opening up enrollment to both my 100K accelerator program, The Mastermind, and also very excitingly, my high-level million-dollar mastermind. Because I decided in 2021 that I am going to help as many coaches as possible, as I can, build six, multi-six, and even seven-figure practices.

And it’s so fun because already when I look at the clients that I’m working with, I know many, many, many of them will be in that category. And so I have to tell you, I really do believe in this work, I really do believe in these programs. I do believe that they can be the game-changer to your business.

There is something extremely powerful in having a level of expertise, in having full on mentorship, having the coaching, the accountability, and also the strategies that you can implement that can really, really help you make a difference in your business.

So if you’re ready to make 2021 a breakthrough year in your business, I highly recommend you reach out, set up a call, go to amandakarlstadcoaching.com. We’ll also link that up in the show notes and I really invite you to do that now. Because I want you to really think about the fact that the work you are doing right now, everything you’re doing right now is going to impact your results in 2021.

Alright, before we dive into today’s topic, I am super excited to also give a huge shout-out to Tahoe1219, which was so funny. When I initially looked at the username when it came through in my email, I didn’t know who this was. But once I read the review, I immediately realized who it was, and it’s actually one of my current clients.

And this was so great because she actually surprised me a few days ago with her review of the podcast. And here’s what she said. She said, “Life, business-changing. I have been meaning to write this review for a while. After listening to Amanda’s podcast for several months, I took the leap to join her mastermind program in August 2020. One of the best decisions I have made.

As a financial consultant for many years, I was stuck in reaching a higher level in my business. Not only has Amanda helped me in looking at my own beliefs that have been holding me back, she has given me step-by-step business strategies that have already made a huge impact. I can’t wait to see what the next few months in working together unfolds. If you have a consulting or coaching business and want to go to the next level, or want to start one, don’t hesitate to hire amazing Amanda. It will save you time and money. Thank you, thank you.”

So Robin, I know this was you. Thank you so, so much for your review. I have to tell you how much that meant to me and I so, so appreciate it. I appreciate that you took the time to write that. It was really a gift for me to receive. And so I just want to tell you that it really meant a lot. So thank you again. Know that I truly appreciate you and I am so proud and I’m so excited for all of the success that you are experiencing and all of the success that’s ahead for you.

And I want to fill you guys in just a little bit. I have to tell you that Robin, I will definitely have her on the podcast because her story is really amazing. So as she mentioned, we started working together in just this past August, so literally just about three months ago.

So she joined my mastermind program just three months ago and when we started working together at that time, Robin had some ideas on how she wanted her business to look. She was working full-time in her current role. She is in the financial industry.

And I have to tell you, you guys, Robin has already transitioned fully out of her full-time job and into her business in three months, y’all. And I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing, I’m sure she won’t, but she has not only replaced her old salary but she’s making even more. And it’s just so amazing to watch and to witness, and I am so, so proud of her.

And I agree, I can’t wait to see what is next for her. What is so much fun about this is that we are literally just getting started and she is going to do amazing, amazing things in this world. So stay tuned.

Let’s get into today’s topic, shall we? So I want to talk to you guys today about a topic that has been on my mind for quite a while. And part of me wants to have a little fun with this topic today because when I think about it, it actually is something that I think we tend to do a lot. I know that I have done this a lot in my own journey.

And I see this a lot with clients and just in general when I look around the industry. And I think it’s an important topic because I can speak from my own experience that once I really changed this within myself, it really did change the game for me, meaning it really helped me create very different results in my business.

And so what I want to talk to you all today about is overthinking. And specifically, overthinking as it relates to your business, as it relates to you building your business. And the reason I think that it’s a really important conversation is because first and foremost, I know all of you listening, I know you’ve experienced this.

And I also know that many of you are probably experiencing this right now. And as I mentioned, it’s absolutely something that I’ve experienced and so I can definitely speak from experience on this. And when I do look around and just observe what happens in the industry and just observe people in the industry, I will say that I see this happen very, very often.

And the danger with this and the reason that I think it’s important to talk about is because I really do see it as one of those things that can really rob someone of their dream. It can really rob someone of their dream of building a successful business.

And so I want to talk to you about this today because I do think in a lot of ways, when you think about the ways that we are conditioned in our society, when you step back and you take a look at how we in general are raised, you can see how much value we tend to give things, like intelligence and education and getting good grades, right? All the things.

And I’m not saying that those are bad things. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t value those things, but just from a pure conditioning perspective, when you stop and think, no pun intended there, you can see that for most people, for most of our lives, we’ve been conditioned to think and to consume a lot of information.

And I’ve noticed this lately within the industry that with everything that goes into building a business, when I work with coaches and entrepreneurs that are struggling to grow their business, or they’re not making the type of progress that they want to be making, what I see to be a very, very common trend is this; I see many who are purely overthinking things.

And it’s usually because they are either in part or fully overthinking things as it relates to their business or things as it relates to themselves, and it’s a cycle that I think we can really get caught up in. So let’s talk for a minute about what I mean by overthinking.

So what I mean by overthinking is this; overthinking to me is being in a state of overanalyzing. It’s allowing yourself to be in a state of confusion. It’s allowing yourself and choosing to be in a state of not making decisions.

And if we really break it down and when I look at this, especially with people that I see in the industry and clients that I’ve worked with, a lot of it is really stemming in most cases from some sort of lack of confidence, from a lack of belief.

And what happens is that it tends to present itself in many different ways. And it’s interesting because it can be really insidious. Because when you look at it from the surface level, it’s very easy to feel justified and to an outside observer, one might also agree that the thoughts are completely justified.

It might seem like, hey, I’m just analyzing things, or I’m doing the responsible thing, I’m looking at my options, which again, I’m not saying it’s not important to be responsible. But what it really comes down to, the real problem is that it stems from a level of belief and usually, it’s an unconscious belief that is rooted, as I said, in some sort of fear or some sort of self-doubt, or disbelief.

And the problem is when we are trying to take action from or feeling a certain level of anxiety with things, what happens is we actually end up perpetuating the thing that we’re trying to resist. So that might be failure or it might be something else, but when we’re in a state of overthinking, we don’t have clarity.

And when we don’t have clarity, we don’t make clear decisions. And we definitely don’t make clear choices and decisions in our business. And because we are programed in so many ways to overthink in our culture, it can be a very hard cycle that we break free from.

And when we are in that cycle, we’re in essence not moving forward, which is why I said earlier that overthinking really has the potential to rob you of your dreams. Now, I know this might seem counterintuitive, especially once again, given our conditioning, especially given how most of us have been brought up, we are literally going against how for most of us, we’ve been wired our entire lives.

But it’s also one of the ways that I’ve observed, and I’ve also experienced where you have the most capability to make the most progress. Especially when it comes to building your business. Because when you stop overthinking, it frees you up so much mentally. And it allows you to gain new levels of clarity and ultimately get into action.

And so by nature of not being in a state of overthinking, you’re in essence making a decision. And in this context, in the context of building a business, that also means that you’re likely taking much more powerful action in your business. So rather than sitting in front of your computer debating on what to do, you’re not choosing to be confused. Instead, you’re choosing to manage your brain, instead of being at the effect of your brain.

And when we are in a state of overthinking, we are entertaining just the plethora, many times, of options, the plethora of thoughts that are presenting themselves to us every single day. And we have over 50,000 of them. So how do we do this? How do we stop overthinking?

And I want to offer this to you. The truth really is it comes down to choice. It comes down to a choice in what you choose to entertain in your brain. It comes down to a choice in terms of what you choose to focus your time and energy on. It comes down to a choice in how you choose to respond to the things that are coming up for you.

It’s a choice in terms of what you choose to believe about your business. And a choice in terms of what you choose to believe about yourself. Because when we’re not doing this, what’s happening is that our brains are in the driver seat and they’ve got their foot on the gas pedal. They’re in overdrive.

And we start to become at the effect of our thoughts, and the result of that is – and it’s really true when you think about it. It’s almost as if our brains, because they are in a state of hyperdrive, it’s like this constant tug of war, this tug of war of thoughts that pulls us in one direction and then another, and then back again, and this cycle just perpetuates.

So it’s something that I want you all to be aware of. It’s something that can greatly impact your business and really slow down your business growth. So today I want to offer you the opposite. I want to offer you the choice to become aware of when your brain is going into some confusion, or when you notice yourself going into overwhelm, or when you notice that you are in a state of self-doubt.

And I want you to just take notice of what’s happening. Just notice what your brain is offering up. Is it confusion? Is it I don’t know? Is it thinking that you need to make the right decision? Just start to notice. But then remember that you have a choice and know that your choice is creating your experience, whether you’re moving forward or not.

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