Do you often worry about things that are about to happen in your business?
Often things that happen in your mind can take you out because you’ve built up a story up about what’s about to happen rather than what actually happens.
Let’s explore the notion of ‘mind vs reality’ and how you can overcome this in order to succeed in your business?
Mind versus reality
I remember when I broke my foot surfing. It was quite serious, and I had a couple of wires in my foot which were really making it hard to sleep at night. I was scheduled to have them taken out and, in my mind, I built up this story that it was going to be so painful having them out. They weren’t going to give me an anaesthetic. Apparently, it doesn’t hurt, but in my mind, how could it not hurt?
So I’m sitting in the hospital and freaking out that it’s going to hurt like crazy. The doctor had these big pliers and I’m thinking, its that’s going to hurt. And, when it was time he twists and pulls, and it didn’t hurt.
It got me thinking about business.
Quite often, we can build a story up in our mind that something is going to happen. The thing is, most of the time it actually doesn’t happen. Like pulling those wires out is really going to hurt, and it actually didn’t hurt at all.
The price of fear
An example that comes to mind here is when you know you should put your prices up. Many business owners fear the way their customers are going to react. In your mind, they’re going to react. They’re not going to like it. Or they are going to leave you. So you don’t put your price up even though you know you should because you know it will you’re your profit.
Or like the situation where you need to have a conversation with that customer or with that staff member. In your head, you build up this big story about how the conversation is going to go. The problem is you often focus on the negative. But when you go and have the conversation, it turns out ok. Or when you put your prices up, all your customers don’t leave.
What stories are you telling yourself?
Think about the stories that happen in your head. Instead of letting the story become your reality, stop the story and take action. Go and have the conversations or go and do the thing. Let reality be the reality. Sometimes we’re holding things back in our business because the story in our head is so great that we actually never allow the true reality to happen. Our story in our head becomes the reality.
So, stop the stories in your head because quite often they’re not even true. They’re usually not even the reality that could be created. A better reality can almost always be created. Make sure you’re creating that reality rather than the story in your head.
Good luck with your business. We wish you every success in what you’re doing.
