If you’re like the rest of us, you’ve doubted yourself at some point. You may have even thought about quitting. You may have panicked when it came to engagement season and you aren’t seeing your calendar filling up. Just keep in mind that there are some best mindset practices to help you keep on track when the proverbial shit hits the fan.

That pretty much sums up the entrepreneurial lifecycle, right??

Am I right? Can I get a hallelujah! 

We’ve all been there. It’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

So, WHAT ARE THESE BEST MINDSET PRACTICES?

The one thing to keep in mind (ha, get it??) is that it’s the separating factor between those who succeed and those who fail. Your mind. You.

You can let yourself get in the way of your own success, or you can be the one to propel it.

Everything else around you is a distraction and a potential excuse for you to use (when you have the wrong mindset).

Do you KNOW you’re good enough?

Do you KNOW your worth?

Do you KNOW your talent?

If you even slightly hesitate with any of those questions/answers, you’re not alone. It’s super common for creative entrepreneurs to struggle with the best mindset practices. After all, creative entrepreneurs commonly feel that they have to COMPETE with others to get work, to UNDERCUT on prices (on the race to the bottom), and those who have an ounce of success get MASSIVE egos. I know I’m not alone in that feeling.

Are you going to let those doubts stop you in your tracks? Are you going to get so scared that you lower your prices? Are you going to hurt your own brand by doing these things… or are you going to keep your chin up, push forward, and really take your business by the proverbial balls?

One thing that I have seen countless times over through the years is that small business owners are really fantastic at getting in their OWN way. They self-sabotage.

Are you one of them?

What I want you to do is take a minute and really think about all the things going wrong in your business.

I’m serious. Take a minute. Jot down a list and write out every little thing you think is wrong.

… (I’m waiting)

Okay, now that you have that list… think about each one and think to yourself why they aren’t already solved, updated, fixed, upgraded, (or whatever else it takes for you to find a solution).

Why haven’t you fixed them? Is it because you:

1) Don’t have the money.
2) Don’t have the time.
3) Don’t have the knowledge.
4) Don’t have the support.
5) Don’t have any of the above or a mixture.

Well, here comes the tough love: You’re making excuses if any of those are true. And you know how I know that? Because I’ve been there, and I know those are excuses. I used to tell myself those same excuses.

Those excuses are only hurting you. They aren’t protecting you.

Fixed vs Growth Mindset

You most likely either have a fixed mindset OR a growth mindset.

Sure, there can be some overlap here, but if you have a fixed mindset – the fear of failure petrifies you. And it can scare you so much that you don’t even ever really try in your business. You just sort of half-ass your way through everything with what you think is your best ability, when you’re not really pushing yourself, you aren’t stretching yourself… you’re not growing yourself.

With a growth mindset, you crave that challenge. You have the regular setbacks as everyone else, but you don’t create those excuses. You take those hurdles as something even enjoyable because you know you’re on the path to something better and bigger, and you are completely stoked about it. You own your life, and you know you have the ability to become anything you want with the right amount of purposeful effort.

Remember in the last post about how not everyone is your customer? Well, here – your best mindset practices can really hone in on that confidence you need to attract that ideal client.

Purposeful Effort is Everything

1) If you don’t have the money, learn how to save. Don’t spend as much as you do. Go out less often. Don’t buy a drink at the bar with your friends. SAVE YOUR MONEY. Then re-invest that saved money into your business where your business needs the help. If you’re not sure where it needs help, I can help you figure out where it needs help. Stop blowing your money on shit you don’t NEED.

2) If you think you don’t have time, this is the biggest excuse in the world. Everybody has the same number of hours in the day and in the week. Figure it out. Don’t hang out with your friends so often. Wake up earlier. Stay up later. Learn how to time-block. Be more in control. Learn how to say no. Focus on yourself first. Do whatever it takes (within reason) and SCHEDULE your time on your calendar. I’ll say that again – learn time blocking. If you don’t know how, I can help you.

3) Don’t have the knowledge? So, what? None of us did when we started. Learn. Google things. Ask colleagues. Go on free FB groups (but BEWARE OF WHAT I CALL “INTERNET ADVICE!”), and my personal favorite — hire coaches. I’ve hired coaches in the past, and I attribute a lot of my success to my coaches. If you are looking for a coach, (or maybe you haven’t considered it until now), visit my website home page HERE and look over the course content to see if it’s a right fit for you. Personally, I truly wish that I hired coaches YEARS ago. I would have shaved a lot of time off my learning curve and financial growth.

4) Don’t have the support? That’s awful, and I’m so sorry. This IS a “real job.” I know what you are going through. Thankfully, I now have an incredibly supportive wife and family… but it wasn’t always that way when I was younger. I get how it is. Thankfully, you can have that support system you need through others in the wedding community. And I’m here for you, too. I truly believe in “community over competition” and this is why I am giving away so much free advice here and even more detailed advice in my six-week “how to build a six-figure wedding business” course. I’m still an active wedding photographer, and I want to help others get bookings. There’s plenty to go around.

5) If you are struggling with multiple of these things, that’s perfectly okay. Just don’t let that hold you back from growing your business. The only person responsible for the lack of growth is you. (Again, tough love.) Make sure you check out my ten-week course outline at www.kylegoldie.com. Maybe it’s just what you need.

 

1. Focus on building your growth mindset. Read the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck to help you get going on building your best mindset practices. It’s an amazing book to get going.
2. Understand that your failures in your past & present are only lessons and not final destinations. Use them as stepping stones to where you want to go.
3. Create an environment with a positive growth mindset, and you will start avoiding all the unnecessary drama, negativity, and time-wasters that have been holding you back all this time.

Be Okay With Stepping Away

Maybe you are feeling burned out. Maybe you aren’t feeling creatively inspired. Maybe you are just wanting to do nothing. That’s totally okay!!  Just take a break. It’s okay to stop working, even if you have a lot on your plate. Just because you think you have to work 24/7 on a project doesn’t mean you actually HAVE to. Maybe there are just some things in your business that could be restructured. Maybe there is something that you can tweak that makes your time spent much more efficient and productive.

Stepping away can help you realize that. It can give you that “outside the fishbowl” perspective on even your own work/ideas.

But only if you give that purposeful action towards figuring it all out and being so present that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses.

So, if you are still reading… you are AWESOME! You know what you need to do, and you know what’s holding you back. You know what sort of mindset blocks can get in your own way, and you are now more present of them. That’s huge!!

If you haven’t joined yet… you need to join the awesome FREE FB group “Wedding Business 101.” It’s a community and resource for other wedding professionals looking to grow their business and grow their best mindset practices. Join us.

I’ll see you inside the group.