Over the years, I’ve studied the psychology of success in my work with entrepreneurs. I uncovered what I now call Brain Traps. They’re destructive patterns that keep entrepreneurs like us forever locked in struggle… I’ll lay them out for you here. Read them over to see if any (or all) of these apply to you…
Brain Trap 1:
I don’t have a strategy. I mostly just wing it. When things don’t work or clients dry up, I just want something to make the pain stop, but then I end up doing things that aren’t authentic and make me feel awful. “I just wish I had some kind of a plan.†– Janet E.
Brain Trap 2:
I can’t seem to do anything consistently. I always hear people talk about systems. But I don’t know how to do it. I am forever berating myself that I need to get consistent, but then I spend the whole day just putting out fires.â€I am a ‘whew, pulled that off just in time’ kind of person.’†– Jackie D.
Brain Trap 3:
I suck at selling. Everything I see online about selling makes me know I can’t do it. And the idea of selling myself is a non-starter. “Every time I try to close people to become my client, I feel like I should shower after. I hate myself.†– Danielle Z.
Brain Trap 4:
I should be able to figure this out myself. I’m smart. I’m a DIY kind of person. I should be able to market and sell and get clients easy. But all I do is work work work. “I question if one particular action is the right action, which then leads me to take no action at all.†– Annie L.
Brain Trap 5:
I have too many great ideas. Every time I have a new idea, I put it out there and it works. Until it doesn’t. Then I try another idea. I’m getting tired and stressed. “I’m like, ‘I wrote a book. I’ve done 2 eBooks. I launched a program. I put on 3 workshops. When do I make money?’†– Sarah S.
Brain Trap 6:
I don’t take my business seriously. So no one else does either. I think I avoid things because I don’t know what to do exactly. I end up getting distracted. “One of my kids, dogs or husband having a “crisis†and needing my help, expecting me to drop my schedule so that I can accommodate their’s. Or, –something breaks, malfunctions, etc, and I’m waiting for a repairman.†– Jill S.
Brain Trap 7:
My business is different. My industry doesn’t do marketing and selling. My clients don’t want to be marketed to. I’ll be mocked if I sell or even appear successful. “I’m a healer. We aren’t supposed to make money.†– Paula W.No, I’m not going to tell you to get rid of your Brain Traps. I’ve gotten stuck in each and every one of them. I learned that they exist for a reason…
Your Brain Traps show you what’s in the way of you BOOSTING into new levels of success and ease in your business.
But they seem so real, right? If you tell yourself (like I used to do) that you hate to sell, then the obvious solution seems to be: Avoid selling. (And tell everyone around you that you’re a “go with the flow†kind of business owner – which is why you don’t have many clients.)
But what happens when you choose to break out of your traps? I did exactly that. It doesn’t happen overnight. And it doesn’t happen because you sit with a therapist asking “WHY.†Or because you try to flood yourself with more and more information.
You break out of your brain traps by taking action. Which means you don’t need to change who you are. You don’t need to become a super-hero version of yourself. Or even a born salesman. That’s not it at all! You simply need to know what to do. Your passion (and your love of personal freedom) got you started. Now you just need to know what steps to take and how to take them.
TRUTH: Your action steps break you out of your traps
In fact, I bet I’m a lot like you. I, too, love my freedom. I lasted only 1 year at my first real job. I discovered that I despised (in no particular order)
1] fluorescent lights
2] having a boss,
3] the sound of the alarm clock, and
4] pantyhose.
I didn’t know how I was going to build my own business and do my own thing. I just knew I had to find away… And with a bit of luck, hiring coaches, and lots of hard work, I went from clueless, super stressed, corporate operations manager… …to running my own real estate investment company, and writing a book about how I accumulated a $20million portfolio in about 5.5 years…
…Now, I wake up excited every morning knowing that I get to transform my clients lives by saving them a ton of time and money… as a business success coach. I share my 20+ years of wisdom, support and hold them accountable to completely set up their business, with a solid foundation, in 8weeks. I show them how to command premium prices so that every client that walks in their door is eager to pay them $3000+, and I show them how to automate as much as possible to leverage their time.
Who do you know that I could serve?
Here’s me… a single mom, spending a weekday afternoon with my son on a hike. There’s nothing more special about me than you.
If I can do it, so can you!
Which brain trap(s) are you? Comment below
