As practitioners and coaches, we tend to focus all our time on helping others to reach their goals and achieve the outcomes they want. After all we got into this work to do just that.
But sometimes we find ourselves stuck, unable to reach the goals that we have for our own practice.
If you feel like you’re running around in circles, trying to take your practice to the next level only to find yourself taking two steps forward then cycling back again, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
I have worked with so many practitioners and coaches who have found themselves in this position. In fact, I found myself stuck in this cycle for a number of years before I worked out why I was stuck. After my own experience and after coaching so many other hypnotherapists, psychologists, natural therapies practitioners and coaches, I have noticed that there are similarities between them and why their practice is stuck.
I’ve provided six of the most common reasons that might be keeping you from taking your business to the next level.
#1 You were only taught to swap hours for dollars
The classic one-to-one client approach is the way just about all of us were taught to work, right? You can only earn money for the specific hours that you work and only during the time you have a client sitting in front of you. This is obviously limiting as there are only a certain number of hours in each day, so there is a finite number of clients you can work with.
The thing that we’re not taught but may be starting to realise, in part thanks to Covid, is that there is another way. You can still help people with your therapeutic and coaching skills but in ways that don’t just involve the one-on-one method.
#2 You don’t like ‘selling’
You’re certainly not alone if the idea of ‘selling’ feels icky to you. You got into the work you do to help people and ‘selling’ comes with certain connotations that make us feel like it is the opposite of helping. It’s a bit like the fear we feel when we increase our fees, we feel guilty, like we shouldn’t be asking for more. But these are hurdles that we can and should overcome if we want to move to the next level.
#3 You think of yourself as a healer, not a small business owner
This thought pattern can get you really stuck in the one-on-one model of practice and often it will take a big mental and emotional shift to help you step into the realisation that you are actually a small business owner. It’s time to think of yourself this way in order to free up your headspace and motivation to achieve your business goals. If this feels difficult for you just remember you are a small business owner who helps people achieve what they want, doing what you love.
#4 You are procrastinating on the how
Focusing on how you’re going to reach the next level of success in your practice (your small business, can cause a state of freeze. We can become stuck thinking about all the things we don’t know.
To get out of this frozen state we need to ask some different questions, specifically Who and What.
- Who has the knowledge or skills that I need to take the next step? Someone that I can learn from and adapt their approach for my business.
- What kind of business do I actually want?
#5 Too busy working in the business to take the next step
This one is pretty self-explanatory. We’re so busy meeting the demand of clients, keeping on top of the hundreds of little things it takes to run a business, as well as all the non-business-related things we have to do on a day-to-day basis, that we just don’t have the time to write the book or create the training series that will take us to the next level. It’s exhausting just thinking about it.
#6 Imposter syndrome
Many of you will be very familiar with this one. That little voice inside that says, ‘Who am I to put myself out there?’, ‘I’m no expert’ or ‘I’ve got nothing worthwhile to say’.
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My oh my, aren’t our heads super busy? All this internal chatter keeps us thinking and playing small. But remember the voice in your head is not who you are, it’s just wiring that’s been programmed to keep you where you are, in a place that is familiar and safe. It’s time to decide is the fear more important than the goal. It’s a simple yes or no question.
So, did you relate to one or more of the reasons mentioned? Did the list bring something else to light, are you now more aware of what is holding you back?
Now that you’re more aware of what it is, what are you willing to do about it?
Well, one option is a great brain training technique that I use to help people to switch off the unhelpful voice, feelings, or emotions that keep us stuck and trapped in a place we no longer wish to be. It gives us the opportunity to shut down the old wiring and program what we actually want, which can help us to move forward.
If you’re interested in trying out my Brain Training Recipe you can find it by signing up to my three-part miniseries – How to Earn More Doing What You Love without Burning Out
And if you’d like to hear more about imposter syndrome you can check out my live Facebook chat on the subject. You can find the video here.
To your potential
Maggie Wilde – The Potentialist
20-time Award-Winning and Best-Selling Publisher and Author
www.mindpotentialpublishing.com