Ep #144: Why Your Business Isn’t Where You Want it to Be… Yet

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast with Amanda Karlstad episode number 144.

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 hope you’re doing amazingly well. I’m super excited to talk to you all today. Welcome to all of my new listeners. It is so great to have you here. For all of my loyal listeners, welcome back. It is so great to have you all here.

I hope your summer is going amazing. We are having so much fun this summer. It seems like this summer is flying by and so many amazing things that are happening. We’ve just been having so much fun.

We have some really exciting things coming up in the business. I have my quarterly in person retreat coming up in just a few short weeks with clients in my High Level Mastermind. I am so looking forward to this retreat. Right now I’m just putting some of the finishing touches on just a few things. I am so excited to bring everyone together and to really have some high level conversations and deliver really high level coaching and really valuable trainings and strategies to this group of clients.

I just know that what we’re about to do is going to help them take their businesses to even that next level. It’s always so amazing to me what comes out of these retreats and the takeaways and the levels of awareness and just the breakthroughs that happen. I am so excited to see all of them very soon.

So I will say if you’re ready to scale your business, and you’re ready to take it from six figures or maybe you’re trending towards six figures, and you’re really ready to go to that next level. You’re really serious about growing your business to multiple six figures or seven figures, I want to really encourage you to apply to this program.

This is my High Level Mastermind. It’s a program that I’ve designed to help coaches scale in the most accelerated way. It is a program that will absolutely help you do just that. I really have to say that this mastermind blows me away. It really is unlike so many other programs. There is so much support in this program.

There’s a very high level of support and coaching and mentorship that I have purposely built into this program. That I honestly believe any coach who is ready to scale their business and move from whether that’s a one on one model or maybe into a different type of model and really wants to scale, this program will absolutely help you get there.

We have clients that are just killing it in this program. Clients that are scaling to a million. Clients that just in the last couple of months have reached their highest revenue months to the tune of $140,000 in cash received. Another client that just came off of the $78,000 month. We also had another client just create a $25,000 week.

So the level of results that are happening in this container is truly extraordinary. It’s really because there is such a high level of coaching and support and strategy and just the amazing community that is inside of this program. So if you’re at the level in your business where you’re ready to scale then I want to invite you to apply. We will link up that application in the show notes. You can also go to my website at amandakarlstadcoaching.com.

For those of you that are serious about building your business, and maybe you’re more in the beginning phase, and you’re really ready to grow to your first $100,000 In this next year. I do want to let you know that the next cohort of my business accelerator program is coming up. This is the program that you need to be in if you’re a coach and you’re looking to really take your business to that first six figures in the most accelerated way.

I am so excited for all of the amazing new clients that are coming into this program, and for all of the success that all of these clients are about to create through this process. Truly become examples of what is possible in this industry. So if you are really working to build to that first $100,000, and you’re working with clients on a basis, and you know that you’re ready to go to the next level, then I want to invite you to also apply. We’ll link that up in the show notes. You can also go to my website at amandakarlstadtoaching.com.

All right. Today, I have a really special message for all of you. As I was thinking about today’s episode and creating my notes for today’s episode, I had this overwhelming feeling and sense that what we’re about to talk about is something that I think everyone listening really needs to hear. So I’m really excited to bring you this message today.

That is that your business is a reflection of you. Your business is a mirror. I know I’ve talked about this in the past in some different ways. I have talked about this in some previous episodes, but I felt compelled to bring you this episode today because I really believe that no matter where you are in your journey, whether you are in a more advanced place in your business or maybe you’re a little bit more established or maybe you’re even more starting out.

No matter where you’re at, I want you to know that your business and the level of growth that you’re experiencing right now in your business is a reflection of you. It’s a reflection of you as the business owner. It’s a reflection of you as the leader of your business. It’s a reflection of you as the creator of your results.

I want to dive into this in more depth today and talk to you about this on a deeper level. Because I know that so many of you right now can really benefit from this message. the results that you have and the level of growth that you’re experiencing right now in this moment, I want you to just understand that number one, it’s all a reflection of your own internal growth.

It’s a reflection of who you are being in your business. It’s a reflection of how you’re choosing to show up each and every day in your business. You know, something that I say very often, and I again, have mentioned in so many different types of episodes is that in order to grow a business, you have to first grow the leader of that business. because of the nature of these types of businesses of a coaching business, my friends, that is you.

So no matter what you do in the business, it’s a matter of who you are being. It’s a matter of who you are becoming. I will tell you all that this is not an easy journey. Yet at the same time, it’s something that I believe every one of you is so incredibly blessed with is the choice to build a business is the choice to experience the process. when you choose to see it in this way, in when you see the amazing opportunity of who you get to become in the process of growing a business. when I think about the truly extraordinary gift.

This is the evolution and the level of personal growth that’s required to build a business to a high level. It really is an incredible thing to experience. I have to tell you, this is something that I think a lot about, it’s something that I reflect on And very often, and it’s something that I’ve been reflecting on even more recently. So the first step in really helping you all to come to a place where you are seeing the value in this process where you are really feeling and experiencing that for yourself, is that no matter where you’re at right now, and some of you are taking things to the next level, and may be at a place where you’re taking the business beyond what you ever thought was possible, and others of you might be earlier on in the journey.

But no matter where you’re at, the first step is that you don’t need to resist where it is that you’re at.

What I mean by this is that I think a lot of times when you are in this process, when you are launching a new program or launching the business or taking things to that next level, what tends to happen is that you will experience a very high level of resistance in this process. Whatever that is for you. You’re going to experience deep resistance as you grow into and as you become that next version of you.

Many times that resistance is something that I’ve observed over and over with so many of my clients is that you start to fight against where you’re at. Your brain starts to use all different types of evidence and searches for all different types of evidence and presents it to you as to why you’re not where you want to be.

But if you’re truly operating from the space where you can understand that where you are today, where your business is right now in this moment is only a reflection of you and who you are being and a reflection of the level of growth that you’re experiencing. It can also give you so much more to work with in terms of where you need to grow, in terms of where your growth needs to happen next.

So I want to encourage every one of you listening whether you are feeling that resistance, whether you’re feeling like you should be farther along, or whether you’re feeling as if you’re failing. What I want you to know is that what you’re experiencing is only a reflection of where you need to grow next.

So one of the most important takeaways that I want to offer to you is to not despise where you’re at, to not despise your small beginning, but instead to see and honor the significance of it. Instead of resisting the fact that you haven’t yet taken your business or gotten your business to that elusive place.

Instead I want to encourage you to look at the significance of what your business is reflecting back to you. I want you to consider the areas, the ways in which your business is speaking to you and telling you where it is that you need to grow.

That is a very significant thing. So the first step here is to decide to no longer resist where it is that you’re at. Instead to use where you’re at and use the results that you’re experiencing in the business as a mirror. A mirror that is powerfully reflecting back to you where you need to grow. So that’s the first step.

The next step is to understand and embrace the fact that when you set a new goal, when you set a new target of where you want to take the business, whether that’s a launch that you’re planning for or a new program or maybe it’s a dollar amount. Maybe it’s making $250,000 or $500,000 or a million.

Whatever that is I want you to understand that each and every time you set a new goal for the business, every time you set a new goal for yourself, you’re going to be at the beginning. You’re going to be starting over to a certain degree. Because in order to go to that next level, it’s going to require different things from you. It’s going to require a different approach. Or maybe it’s going to require a different business model or a different way to market your business. It’s also going to require a different version of you.

So in every instance where you’re setting and where you’re moving towards newer and bigger goals, you will always be at the starting gate. You will always be required in that moment to grow in a new way. So if you have a goal to do big things, which is something that I know every one of you listening does, then I want you to also understand that you will always be in a time of small beginnings.

So I want to encourage you to understand and to embrace the fact that consistent, constant, and conscious personal growth is what will be required of you. Because when you desire to do big things in the world, rather than resisting where you are, you need to embrace that part of the journey.

Now the next step is to understand the very core human needs that every human on this planet is always, in some way, trying to achieve. This is something that always fascinates me when I observe this and when I spend time really learning this and watching this really play out. The fact is that as humans, we are always, in some way, looking to fill our core human needs.

This is something that Tony Robbins talks a lot about. Some of you might be familiar with the concept. But essentially as a human being we are always trying to fill and satisfy essential core human needs. So Tony really talks about six in particular. He talks about number one being certainty. Two being significance. Three being variety. Four being love and connection. Five being growth. Six being contribution.

So what happens is because as a human we are trying to always satisfy our core human needs so that what happens is in everything that we do and every decision that we make on a daily basis our thoughts, our feelings, our behaviors. Ultimately the results that we experience are all essentially driven by our core human desire to fill our core human needs.

What I’ve learned is that everyone has different ways of prioritizing these needs. Everyone has a different hierarchy of these needs. But for this conversation I want to talk about certainty I want to talk about the core human need for certainty.

I was recently coaching one of my clients on this, and we were talking about this need for certainty. We were talking about the fact that by the nature of the questions that they were asking. What happened was is it became very clear that what they were really looking for was not actually the answer. But instead what they really wanted was certainty. With certainty that a particular approach, that a particular decision that needed to be made in the business was going to be the “right” decision.

Through this coaching process it was so interesting as the client became more aware of this through our conversation. Because once they could see that what it was that they were really asking for, which was that certainty. That was the core question. It made the decision so much easier.

Here’s why this is important and how this relates to this conversation. Because you are a human and because you are driven by certain desires to fill certain needs, the awareness I want to bring to you is that even when you are moving forward in a way that you know is not serving you, even when you are moving forward in a way that doesn’t serve the growth of your business or doesn’t serve the growth of your clients or helping you get to where it is that you want to be in your business.

Because that path might be filling the need for certainty for you even when it actually doesn’t serve the growth of the business or in helping you take things to the next level. What it is doing is it’s filling your need, that core human need for certainty even when it’s not what you want.

So I want to bring this to all of you because I think this is a really important level of awareness for you. My intention is that you walk away with a higher level of awareness of this for yourself so that you can observe were in your own business and observe where in your own life right now, where you might actually be sacrificing your growth, your business growth, for certainty.

This is a big question that I want you to consider. Where are you forfeiting where you could be because right now in this moment you are more concerned with and more truthfully motivated by, at a core level, fulfilling that need of certainty? This is a really important question, and one that I would encourage all of you to think about. I will tell you when I came to this understanding for myself it truly changed everything. As you grow and as your business experiences more and more success, there will always be more and deeper levels of this.

All right the last step that I want to really share with you is to make a true decision, to create what it is that you want to truly create in your business and in your life. One of the most powerful shifts that I have talked about in so many different ways, and I do a lot of coaching on with my clients, is with the power of decision.

When I talk about decision, I’m talking about making decisions that are true decisions. Decisions that once the decision is made, there is an internal shift that occurs where the decision forces you to become the person who lives into that decision.

I want to give you an example of this. So when you’re building a coaching business and when you are in a place where you are really trying to gain momentum, the first level, in most cases, that you’re trying to get to is to essentially just bring on paying clients into the business. So one of the first things that as a coach you need to solve for is how to bring on paying clients.

Something that I’ve observed that happens so often in the industry, especially when you’re trying to build momentum in the business, is that there are so many things that you have the opportunity to focus on. There is building a website. There is social media. There is branding. What happens so often is that as a newer coach, it’s very easy to focus your attention on all of the things, and to try to do all of the things at once.

What happens is when you’re in a place like this and when you’re trying to do all of the things and do things that may or may not really help you build momentum in the business. When you find yourself in a place where you don’t have the level of clients that you want, it’s very easy to become frustrated. It’s very easy to start to question things.

But the truth of the matter is this. When you decide to start a business, when you make the choice to build a coaching practice, by nature of that choice it also requires that you take full responsibility for building the business. It requires that you take full responsibility for the money that you make, for the value that you deliver. Within that choice is also the choice to take full responsibility for your results, for whether or not the business generates money.

So for coaches who are in a place where they’re not where they want to be, and maybe they don’t have many paying clients or maybe any paying clients, and maybe it’s weeks or months or maybe even years, it’s because of this very simple step. That step is you have to make a true decision to have clients. You have to make a true decision to generate clients.

When you don’t have what it is in terms of results in your business, it is only due to the fact that you haven’t fully made a decision. What happens is that instead so often you start to tolerate not having what it is that you most want to have. So in this example if you, let’s say, don’t have the level of clients that you truly want, what’s really happening is that there is a level of you that’s tolerating not having clients.

So going back to what I offered earlier. When we are looking for certainty and when we are looking to fill that core need, which is a human desire, what happens in that process is that subconsciously you could actually be sacrificing your growth instead of certainty. Because when you truly make a decision, and I’ve experienced this over and over again, but when you truly make a decision, the result will be there. The clients will be there. So whatever it is in the business, it will always be there. My friends the truth is always in the result.

So I want to leave you all with this. Whatever it is right now for you, whatever result or results you don’t have in the business, I want you to first honestly look at what’s causing that result to not be there. I want you to take the emotion out of it. I want you to get clear on the process. Because once you can clearly look at where in the process is this breakdown occurring.

For example, it might be that you have a breakdown that’s happening right now in your marketing. Or maybe you have a breakdown in reaching enough people, or maybe you have a problem and that you’re not attracting the right clients into your business. Or maybe you’re not making enough offers. Wherever that breakdown is occurring, I want you to consider first where that’s happening.

After you’ve identified that, I want you to then consider why you’re choosing to create that breakdown. Because what’s happening is you’re essentially stopping the process at that point. So ask yourself why are you stopping the process at that point? This is going to look very different for all of you, but at the end of the day, and as we’ve been talking about, your business is truly a mirror. It’s a reflection of you. It’s only reflecting back to you your next opportunities for growth, for evolution, for work.

So I want you to remember that the only thing that you ever need to overcome is you. So always bring it back to what you’re being taught, to what your business can teach you. Remember that it is and always will be about the process, about the journey, and you get to choose how far you go. All right my friends, have a beautiful week. I will talk to you all again next week. Take care. Bye-bye.

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.