I had so much fun being featured on Channel 7’s House of Wellness chatting about the amazing business opportunities that we, as mums, can create for ourselves online.
Given that Business Jump creates business opportunities for mums every day, I was honored when they asked me to feature on a Mum Entrepreneur special they were putting together for Mothers Day.
It all looks so awesome and glossy from the outside right?
However, when my VA mentioned the opportunity to me at first, I said no straight away.
What if I said something dumb?
What if I had something in my teeth and didn’t realise it and the whole of Australia saw it?
What if……
So, many what if’s
But, I have done enough mindset and self-development work to know that fear was in full action, trying to make my decisions for me.
That’s the way fear works, yo.
It circles and clouds our clarity, sweeps in and makes our decisions pretending like it has our best interests at heart. When really, it is presenting us with a warped perception.
I’m fascinated with it. Because I still know how many people are living in fear every single day. Too scared to really go after their dreams.
But you know what?
The fear never goes away, there is never a time when we stand up and say awesome sauce, I am not afraid anymore.
We just get better at not letting it stand in our way.
So, as soon as I realised my fear had made the decision for me.
I flipped it.
Instead of thinking what could go wrong, I asked myself, what could go right?
I visualised the outcome I wanted. I navigated the illogical thoughts away. I choose peace in my mind instead of war.
I sought positive instead of negative.
Here is how I work through fear, and coach my clients to also work through the fear…
Perception:
When asked to go on TV automatically we think of millions of people watching us, lights, camera action, studio…. It sounds freaky AF right?
However, I didn’t let my mind wander into that. I didn’t even seek to find out how many people watch the show. It is the same with all my interviews, I don’t ask so the number doesn’t freak me out.
Instead, I focused on the reality of it which was, a conversation between me and the host.
Just me and another mum chatting about business sharing what I know to be true.
I do that every day, right?
It’s not hard.
And, when I focus on that perspective it dilutes the fear.
Grounding:
A few days before the interview I went quiet. I jumped on my horse and we rode far into the bush with no one around us for miles.
I focused on setting my intentions and visualising the outcome I wanted. I told myself what an amazing privilege it was to be recongised for my work of helping and empowering mums to start an online business.
Self-care:
Self-care:I ensured I kept up my exercise routine and went running each morning.
This is where I outran out any lingering fear or negative thoughts about the whole thing turning into a disaster and me embarrassing the shit out of myself.
Surrendering:
My fear said that I had to study, research, listen to podcasts and find interesting shiz to talk about but I ignored the urge and knew I had already done the work, every day just being in my business is the preparation.
It was time to surrender, know in my heart that I was already enough and trust in my mantra of ‘who am I here to serve, allow it to come through me’
All the intentions I set, all the visualizing I did came into reality this morning and instead of living in the fear, I allowed the beauty of life to overtake and continue leading me into my purpose.
And you know what?
The interview was so much fun. A piece of cake. I could have stayed there for hours chatting.
It was only a 4-minute segment shared with two other mums in business but we chatted for about 30-minutes, so here is some of the stuff Zoe Bingley-Pullin asked me as we chatted about everything and everything mum in business related.
Do you need to spend months doing a business plan?
It depends on whether it is a strength of yours or a weakness.
Planning isn’t for me.
I don’t have a social media calendar, I don’t have a business plan, I don’t have a planner with set tasks each day.
Why?
(My segment starts at 26 minutes in)
Because planning is not one of my strengths.
I work better on the fly, in the moment, when I am in the flow.
I can’t even plan what we have for dinner, I buy it on the go.
I keep everything super simple so I am working on the same things every day, growing them, being consistent, evolving and extending on the results of yesterday.
I work on gut feeling and intuition a lot, I’m hyper-aware of what works and what doesn’t and then I scale it or drop it.
I live by the 80/20 rule.
If I am feeling inspired to write a blog and the words start coming to me, I stop what I am doing and write so I can capture everything I want to say while I am feeling inspired.
Even when I go on TV and am interviewed on podcasts and the media, I rarely prepare or plan.
My preparation is the work I do every day. I know and trust the information and know it will come to me as needed.
If you are like this too, don’t feel forced into ‘planning’ just because the internet says you have to.
But, also on the flip side, if you’re a planner, stick with that.
Know what works for you.
Do you need to be passionate about your business idea?
Nope.
Starting with a general interest is totally fine.
When I started Business Jump I had no idea it was a passion, I was just unwittingly following the signs and the clues.
About six months in I realised, holy shit, this is now a full-blown passion.
I had no clue, my purpose was waiting for me around the corner.
If I didn’t give it a try because I thought I had to be passionate the whole thing would have passed me by.
We find our passions from ‘doing’ and ‘taking action’
Knowledge and insight comes from trying things and having an open mind.
Start with general interests, they will lead you to where you need to go.
You need to have specific products and/or services to sell straight away?
No. This is a big mistake a lot of businesses make.
As long as you know your business idea, and the direction you think you want to go, you can create the rest as you go.
Grow your social media channels
Grow your audience
Grow your blog
Grow your traffic
And, then use it as intel to create your products and services.
Which blogs were the most popular?
Which FB posts got the most engagement?
What are the common problems your audience are experiencing that you can offer a solution to?
Look at your stats, who is your niche?
What are their pain points, objections, fears?
Ask them, and then create based on what they have told you they wanted.
That way, you aren’t creating products no one wants, you are creating a product your audience has specifically told you they want.
Is working from home easier than working in a job?
It is not easier, it is just a different type of challenge.
However, the rewards when you get it right, FAR outweigh having a job.
