Why worrying about money mindset nearly crippled my business.

I felt a bit conflicted about writing this article but my aim when sharing personal thoughts or details of my business experiences is always to help you to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes that I’ve made, so here goes …

The reason for my slight internal conflict is that, whilst I do place huge importance on mindset, I think it’s highly important to clarify exactly what I do and don’t constitute as mindset and what I’ve observed and experienced can be the “dark side” of the mindset industry. So here’s my piece about how to avoid falling victim to it, as I did.

My journey into the unknown…

A decade ago, when I first began my entrepreneurial journey, I was at an all time low. I’d had a traumatic ectopic pregnancy, and the surgery and time off that goes with that, returning to work with diminished confidence and limited motivation. I left my job shortly after, falling pregnant again and spending 18 months focusing on our new arrival.

My career confidence was in tatters, so I decided to begin a new adventure. I wanted to create a job that I loved, make a difference in my community, and where I’d get to choose who I worked with. And so, in 2012, Step It Up Dance was born.

Over the next few years, I joined numerous business groups for female entrepreneurs, I started networking online and I kept hearing about “money mindset”. Seemingly hugely successful women left comments across social platforms stating how their financial bliss all stemmed from having the right money mindset.

They were all saying how I’d never be successful until I’d got my money mindset sorted. Instead of reassuring or motivating me, this sent me into a whirlwind of worry.

Thinking I needed the right money mindset.

I became caught up in the constantly repeated mantra that we can all reach six figures imminently if we just put in the hard work on our money mindset.

I needed to be successful and I needed to get my money mindset straight in order to enjoy abundance. Or so I thought.

Last year I decided to invest in a coach, because investing in a high-end coach and learning from them how to reach 6 figures marries with the ideas proffered by all these online “business” gurus.

This coach was amazing at helping with me with a number of things. She taught me how to overcome my tech blocks and create lead magnets. She showed me how to host online challenges and helped me with the tech involved in creating my first online course. However, once again, it felt like what I was hearing from her repeatedly was that I would never achieve success until I focused on improving my money mindset.

If I had the right mindset, if I had all the right things in place, then there was no reason why I couldn’t make a fortune like all these other women too. So why wasn’t it happening? Was it me? What was I doing wrong?

So what’s the problem?

The problem was not me. Or my money mindset. The problem is three-fold. Firstly, by being “open to money” and “getting in the mindset” to receive, you’re not really addressing the reasons why you don’t feel worthy of it in the first place.

Secondly, this idea perpetuates the idea of unworthiness – if you’re not successful enough even when you’ve worked super hard on your money mindset, you’ll feel even less worthy.

And thirdly, this was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more time I spent worrying about not being in the right mindset, the less time I spent making connections, or focusing on my vision for my businesses.

This all meant that my business didn’t grow as I expected it to. It stalled. It was actually holding me back. The coaching had helped me in some respects but the money mindset debacle really threw a spanner in the works.

What I actually needed to do…

Being fixated with money mindset and feeling as if I would never achieve success unless I focused on improving this one area was a total waste of time. It really held me back!

I realised I wasn’t making any progress and the more I was told that it was my money mindset holding me back, the more frustrated I became and the less progress (and money!) I made.

When I acknowledged that I already knew how to grow a business my way (I’d grown a six figure business before, I could totally do it again!) and when I made the conscious decision to ignore my coach on the money mindset front, that’s when it all kicked off and my second business really started to grow.

In reality, what I needed to do was listen to myself and believe in my vision for the business. I needed to get strategic. To get clear and focused on my mission, and plot out a journey that would help me reach my goals. I needed to get more visible and take more action. To use my marketing skills, show up and be proactive, rather than just “be in the right money mindset”.

And once I nailed those things, and had a strategy in place, then it all started happening naturally. Both of my businesses are growing and flourishing.

So while I do get that it’s important to believe in yourself and your capabilities, for me it’s more about having a proactive attitude about your business as a whole, not just focusing on the money.

I hope you can learn from my journey! Remember to keep your goals in mind, and don’t get caught up in being in the “money mindset”. You’ve got this!

Niki x

P.S. If you feel like you need help with getting laser-focused and putting strategy in place, get in touch.