Ep #32: Resiliency

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast, Episode number 32.

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. Glad to have you join me here today. I hope you are staying healthy and well. And I hope your loved ones are healthy and well too. Excited for you to be here.

I am just wrapping up my week and I have to tell you, it has been a pretty intense couple of weeks. I have been working super hard on some new trainings and resources for my group coaching mastermind, which is my foundation program that helps my clients accelerate their growth and revenue and so that has officially launched and has been so much fun.

And I have to say, what an amazing group of coaches and entrepreneurs that are going to be doing some really amazing things. And I’m so excited for what they’re creating already and going through this process that it’s really going to be fun to see where they’re at in the next six months.

So I’ve also been creating some new trainings and resources on different parts of the process, different parts of the business-building process for potential clients and for other current clients. And I’ve got some great new content and trainings on so many different things, Facebook ads being one of them, that is going to help my clients take their ad campaigns and their results to a whole new level.

And it’s helping them grow their businesses through these campaigns that I’ve been doing a lot of coaching, both in the group with my one-on-one clients and also just my own coaching. And when I look at the fact that all of this is happening despite everything that we’re navigating in the world, despite homeschooling two small kids under the age of six, being able to scale my business, I’ve been talking about this over the past few weeks.

But now really is the time. If you are in this industry and you’re wanting to grow your business or you’re already in the process of growing your business, now is the time to really dig in on these things. Now is the time to scale up, as I’ve been talking about, and learning the things you need to learn so that you can not only grow your business right now but take advantage of the opportunity that you have and be in the position to scale once we move through this.

And so I know that there’s a lot of fear and a lot of uncertainty that is out there, but I really want to encourage you that now, more than ever, is the time to be dedicating yourself to this process, to lay the foundation, to be putting the work in so that you’re well positioned both now and also in the future.

And the other day, it really hit me that when I look back, when I look at the past couple of years, it hit me when I was thinking through some things that I have literally created exactly what I wanted within my business. When I decided back in 2018 that I wanted to pivot slightly and move my business into business coaching, I knew I wanted to create a thriving one-on-one practice.

I knew I wanted to launch this podcast. I knew I wanted to create a group coaching mastermind program, and I knew I wanted to create a high-level coaching program that served clients on a very deep and longer term level. And so I created my high-level coaching program.

And it hit me the other day that when I step back, that I have done this. I have done all of this, that I’ve literally created everything I set out to create not that very long ago. And so that has been really sitting with me here over the last couple of days.

I’ve been really sitting with the fact that I have created exactly what I set out to create not too long ago, and to me, it’s just further proof and just speaks to the level of effectiveness of this work. When you are able to develop and have and execute the right mindset, and also pair that with smart strategies, when you really are building the right foundation for your business, you can create anything you want.

And so I share this because the fact is whatever your vision is for your business, whatever it is that you really want to create, I want to tell you that you can create it. But you have to have that vision first. And you have to live into that vision every day, and you have to be taking action towards it every single day.

And so if you’ve been listening to my podcast for any length of time, you know that I talk a lot about all of this. So there’s something else I want to tell you with this. When I look back and I look at my business and the impact and my work on an even larger scale, when I look at the ripple effect that I have the ability to create through my clients and their businesses and their clients, and I think about this impact on the long term and even things that I’m working on right now that are going to serve my clients in the future and impact what I really see is a movement, this entrepreneurial movement on a larger scale, I am really, really excited about the future.

I think right now, we have an opportunity like no other. And we’ve seen this very clearly over the past few weeks that so much of what we’ve been associating as “secure,” whether that’s a job or a company that we work for, or frankly, any of our systems within our society, I think we’re all seeing just how non-secure so much of what we’ve known, what we’ve relied on really is.

And so I share that with you because I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on this over the past few weeks and I’ve been reflecting on the fact that I just feel so much gratitude in this moment to be an entrepreneur, to have the ability to run my business virtually, to have the flexibility that allows me to homeschool my two children in a way that I can still do what I need to do in my business.

And mostly, that I really decided to bet on myself back in 2016. So for some of you, you may not know, but back in 2016 was when I decided to pivot completely in my career and I decided to start my own business. And fast forward to today, right now, I am so, so grateful to have bet on myself, to have taken that leap and to now be in a position where I am in full control, where I have the ability to create what it is that I want within my business.

And so that was part of my inspiration for last week’s podcast on betting on yourself. So if you haven’t checked that out, I really encourage you to do that. And I want to just share that for all of you today, for all of you who are especially maybe earlier on in this journey, who are maybe still in your corporate or your professional job and you’re building your business on the side and you’re trying to decide whether or not you should go all in on your business, what your transition plan looks like, or maybe you’ve already made that decision but you need a little extra encouragement to stay the course, I just want to encourage you that this message just might be the message you needed to hear today.

And I just want you to know that I’m talking to you. You truly do have the ability to create whatever it is you really do want. And the fact is that you just have to decide. And you have to commit to it. And you’ve got to be willing to do the work.

So I just encourage you to do that because I know what it’s like when you know you’re capable of so much more, but you’re just not able to really bridge that gap yet. And I will say that for most of my clients, this work is really what I call their second act.

It’s their second act in the sense that most of them have spent the last decade or two climbing the corporate ladder, or they’ve spent the majority of that time training and becoming educated and working in a profession, whether it be medicine or law or other types of professions where they’ve really devoted themselves and devoted their lives to their career.

And so for most of them, this transition, this business, this step into entrepreneurship is a big leap. It’s a big leap because there’s a lot of things at stake. But at the same time, they can’t deny the fact that this leap is in true alignment with their true purpose.

And it’s truly their way of stepping into their bigger mission, into their true purpose that also allows them to be able to create real wealth and to create a legacy that is bigger than before. And to have a lot of fun and be way more fulfilled doing it.

So I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on this over the past couple of weeks and I’m just really proud of the work that my clients are doing and I’m really proud of them for having the courage to step into this world, for putting themselves out there, for doing the hard work, for betting on themselves like I talked about in last week’s episode.

Alright, so all of that really does go along with what I want to talk to you about today, and what I want to talk to you about is something that I’ve talked about in previous episodes, but I want to dive into even deeper. And that is resilience. And I think especially right now, given our circumstances, given everything that we’re all juggling at the moment, it’s a conversation that’s really timely.

And so I want to talk about what resilience even is. And so when I sat down to think about what I wanted to say in this episode and really gather my thoughts, I decided to look up the definition of resilience. And there’s a lot of different definitions out there, but one in particular that spoke to me and spoke to the conversation that I want to have with you today was taken from the Oxford dictionary, and here’s the definition.

It says, “Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness.” And so to me, that’s the essence of what I want to talk to you about today. The ability to recover and respond to difficulties. And having a level of emotional resilience or toughness to respond to adversity in our lives.

And I think we can all agree that we’re dealing with different levels of that personally, and the reason why resilience is so important is because this, without a doubt, your ability to be resilient when you’re building your business is the difference between those who end up being successful with this and those that aren’t.

I do believe it can really be boiled down to that. Now, yes, there’s a lot of things that go into building a successful business, but at the end of the day, there are a lot of different paths that someone can take to do that. And there’s a lot of different strategies that you can take, there’s a lot of different ways you can go about this.

So having a solid strategy, having a solid game plan is really, really important. But unless you’ve developed a level of emotional resiliency or you’re actively working to develop your own level of emotional resiliency, I want to tell you, any strategy, anything you’re building is only going to be as successful as your mindset.

It’s only going to be as effective as you are in managing your own mind and how you respond to the inevitable challenges that you’re going to face. Now, most of us right now, as you’re listening to this podcast at the time that it’s airing are also dealing with a ton of uncertainty with the coronavirus and the current pandemic.

There’s uncertainty on a global level that’s impacting all of us in our own unique ways. And I think now more than ever, developing and using this time to become even more resilient is absolutely key. And here’s something important to consider as it relates to resiliency. Resiliency is closely linked to your level of commitment.

In fact, I believe that your ability to be resilient is in direct correlation with your level of commitment to something. So let me give you an example of this. Many of my clients are coaches. For pretty much every one of them, they’ve had some level of transformation in their lives from maybe either first being a client working with a coach that helped them navigate a personal or maybe professional situation, or they have been a student of personal development.

And through that experience, they have also experienced a high level of transformation that then really became the catalyst for them to pursue coaching as a career. And so typically, when they’re starting out in this process, once they’ve become certified, as an example, and they’re in this phase where they’re trying to build their business, usually in those first few months especially, I would say their belief tends to be pretty high.

And what I mean is their belief in their ability to build their business, in their ability to coach others, it’s all pretty high. It’s usually pretty high because they’ve been immersed in, like I said, perhaps a certification program, and they are at a point where they don’t know what they don’t know essentially.

And so they enter into that first year, those first few months at least with a pretty high degree of belief about being able to build a successful business. But here’s what I see that generally happens. Once it becomes time to start to put yourself out there or when you have to start really establishing yourself as a true coach, there tends to be a ton of resistance that shows up.

And that resistance a lot of times comes through as fear or self-doubt or worry or frustration or overwhelm or confusion, all of those types of things. And I want to be clear here that all of those emotions, again, are the byproduct of their thinking, of where their mindset is at, and it’s important to understand that.

So those emotions like fear and self-doubt and worry and frustration and overwhelm and confusion don’t just appear out of nowhere. They appear and they become part of their experience because of their thinking, because of their current level of thought.

So putting that aside for a moment, the real link to what we’re talking about here today is this; in order to really be able to navigate through these types of emotions and to continue to move forward despite those types of level of emotions, which are being driven by our thoughts, you have to really be committed to what you’re doing.

And that commitment is what turns into your ability to be resilient in the face of adversity. And that level of resiliency is what will ultimately determine how quickly or whether or not they’re going to be able to successfully move through this phase and get to the other side.

And so I see this as something extremely important for entrepreneurs, especially who are in this building phase, who haven’t yet reached that scale phase in their business. That part of their really important work, part of what will help them accelerate their results is the level of resiliency that they have.

Because the truth is that entrepreneurship is full of uncertainty. It’s full of challenge. And so not only are you up against learning so many new skills and technologies as a new entrepreneur, and you’re essentially learning how to build a business, but you’re also up against yourself.

And so you’re up against the strongest force within you and that is your own self-identity, which is driven by your subconscious mind. So that is why I believe it’s really, really critical, especially in this phase of your business that you’re not only working on your mindset, but it’s also just as important to be working on strengthening your commitment so that you can be resilient, especially during this time.

Because for most people, the option to quit, the option to stay in the corporate job, the option to stay within the comfort zone tends to get stronger and stronger. And this is because the level of commitment that’s required to build a six or multiple six-figure business is extreme.

It requires a level of resiliency that quite honestly, most people are unable to develop without having support. And so the question then becomes how do you build the level of resiliency that’s required if your true desire is to build a successful business?

And what I would say to that is that your level of commitment must come from your reason why. It must come from your compelling reason as to why you want to build your business in the first place. And that reason why has to be stronger than your excuses. It must be stronger than staying in your comfort zone or your perceived comfort zone.

And so I think a really great question to ask yourself is this; let’s just play for a minute and say that I were to ask you how committed you were to building a successful business on a scale of one to 10. So take a second and just think about that, that how if you were to rate yourself on that scale of one to 10, 10 being the most committed, what would that answer be for you?

And I’m sure most of you would answer pretty high, either a 10 or a nine or an eight. One of those numbers. Otherwise, quite frankly, you probably wouldn’t be listening to this podcast. But I want to take this a step farther. Let’s say that I told you, great, if you’re at a 10 as far as your commitment to building a successful business, that’s great.

But let’s just say that over the 12 months, let’s just say that I would give you the opportunity to really build your business. So let’s assume that you had everything you needed in order to build your business to at least your first $100,000.

So let’s say you had full mindset support, let’s say that you were given what I would consider to be one of the most intelligent and smartest strategies to build a coaching business, a strategy that has built a five-million dollar business, a strategy that has built a 25-million dollar business. To me, you can’t argue with those results.

And so let’s just say you had a full year and you had the opportunity to get crystal clear in your business, in your marketing, in your messaging, in your mindset, all of it. And let’s just say that part of the deal is that if you don’t hit, let’s just say for easy math, $100,000 in your business, that you owe me $100,000.

I want you to really consider that for a moment. I want you to ask yourself, would you still do it? Meaning would you still go for it? What would your level of commitment be then? Knowing that if you didn’t hit that $100,000 in your business that you’d owe me $100,000. To me, it’s a pretty interesting question.

And depending on how you answer that tells you where your true level of commitment is at. Because the truth is that it’s nice to think about having a six or seven-figure business, but it’s a whole other thing to actually have the commitment and to exercise the resiliency that allows you to do the actual work, both from an action perspective and also a mindset perspective and actually create that level of business no matter what.

And so it’s something I want you to think about and explore for yourself. Where is your own level of commitment right now? How is your level of commitment impacting your level of resiliency? Especially during what we’re all navigating. And I want to ask yourself if you’re actually playing the long game or are you only hoping and wishing that things are going to work out?

Here’s what I know. The greater your level of commitment to this work, the greater resiliency you will have. And the greater level of resiliency you will exercise on a daily basis. And that level of resiliency will be one of the determining factors to the overall success of your business.

So I want you all to really dig into the why of why you’re doing this. And really look at what’s motivating you to build your business and bring your work into the world. And really ask yourself if you’re committed to that no matter what.

Because what I have found is that when you can answer that question from a place of yes, no matter what, that is when things will really start to change for you. That is when you start to operate from a much more powerful state. And once you’re there, you’re going to start to see things in a whole new perspective.

Alright my friends, I hope this episode served you. Have an amazing week. I’ll talk to you all again very soon. 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.