Your current business is a direct reflection of your internal state.
And how you see business, determines what’s possible for your business.
I’m sure if you were asked what’s possible for your business you would want to reply: “well, anything is possible!”
Theoretically that may be true, but ask yourself if you genuinely believe that anything is possible.
Think of your current goals for your business – are they possible?
What if you 10x’d them?
Chances are, you suddenly thought of some caveats to the statement. If you had X, or gave up Y, or found a way to Z, then anything would be possible.
Since you are already operating from a set of constraints, you cannot genuinely believe that anything is possible.
The constraints that just appeared around your future vision are a direct manifestation of “how you see business.”
“How you see business” is your perspective of business. It’s a set of perspectives that make up the lens with which you view it. The membrane that every decision you make is filtered through. The set of stories you use to make sense of what happens.
And the great question to ask here, is where did this perspective come from? Were you born with it? Did you observe others in business? Do you have previous experiences of your own?
The correct answer is all of the above. Ever since you were born, as a result of every experience you had and the stimuli around you, you created a complex mental map of what you think business is, continually refining it as you moved through life.
This map intermediates every interaction you have with your business.
But here is the kicker, how you SEE business, is not how business actually is. It’s simply your PERCEPTION of it.
Our perceptions are the filter through which we see the marketplace, business, possibility and more. Our perceptions are created from our environment, our beliefs, our interpretations. But how you perceive something does not mean that IT IS something.
Even though we think everything we deal with is absolute fact – we are in fact interacting with perceptions, not the reality of business. We make decisions, take actions, and work in accordance of our perceptions, and then we get the results that match our perceptions!
Our brain doesn’t align our beliefs to fit our life, it aligns our life to fit our beliefs. And it’s the same with business.
Your business is literally a self fulfilling prophecy set in motion by your core belief systems!
This is really important to understand, because it means that what you think is possible for your business (and yourself) acts as a glass ceiling on your business.
If you want to grow your business or increase the quality of life to an unprecedented level, you must first upgrade your identity.
Most entrepreneurs are obsessed with action. In this culture where hustle and grind are the ultimate virtues, extreme effort is the primary lever for growth.
This is totally backwards.
Our identity is the epicenter of change and dictates what we believe. Our beliefs leads to the thoughts we think. Our thoughts determine how we feel. And how we feel leads to actions we take, which ultimately is responsible for our results.
For you to make a quantum leap in your business, you must first align your identity and the identity of your business to one that reflects the desired end state.
If you’re looking to scale from 6 to 7 figures, ask yourself what your business would look like if it was a 7 figure business. Would it be built on a series of systems? Would you have separate teams responsible for new business and renewals? Would you have created standard procedures for key areas so new staff quickly ramp up? Would you have multiple marketing campaigns running simultaneously? Would you have outsourced customer support?
Based on this, you might come up with strategies to instantiate each building block. Depending on the strategies, you may have to hire, acquire skills or tools.
You can think of this process in this manner:
Desired Goal > Required Mindset > Optimal Strategy > Key Skills & Staff > Essential Tools
This flow will ensure that you don’t hit the speed limit set by your current identity.
The key is to start being the company you want to grow into, then start doing the things that company would, to have the growth that you desire. If your starting point is the possibility of what could be, rather than what is – you are operating from a place of infinite potential.
Here are some guidelines for your process:
Goal
What you really want? There are two critical questions I encourage you to ask at this level.
- What do you want?
- How do you want to feel when you have it?
Mindset
This is where the real work happens. This is the magic. The secret that allows the most successful to jump light years ahead of the competition. If your mindset and beliefs are not congruent with your intention, you will not succeed long term. And probably won’t make it short term either.
Mindset and creating strong beliefs to support your intention are vital to you achieving anything worthwhile. Think of beliefs as links in a suit of chainmail armor. Armor that protects your intention when things get tough. And things always get tough.
Like it or not, your beliefs powerfully affect your goals. They can either influence you to take action and fulfill the intention. Or, your beliefs can sabotage your intention.
For instance, let’s say you set an intention to earn $50k/mo. There are two possibilities…
- You believe $50k/mo is “excessive” because there are people starving around the world, living on a dollar a day. Result: you sabotage so that you don’t see yourself as an excessive person living it up while others suffer.
- You believe $50k/mo is noble. You see it as a tool to serve your family and help others. You understand that you playing small and being broke will not help anyone out of poverty. In fact, with $50k/mo you could even help some of those less fortunate people. Result: you earn the $50k/mo
- See the difference? Your beliefs will either support or sabotage your intention. It’s why you must do the mindset work to create beliefs that support your intention.
- Fact is, 99% of people on the planet skip right over levels one and two and try to jump straight to level three
Strategy
Have you ever noticed how many of the best selling books, most popular blog articles, and magazine covers are littered with “How To…” advice? Everyone is searching for how to. But how do you know which “how to” to follow? Here are 4 questions I ask to help me identify, or create, the best strategy:
- What is everyone else assuming? What does everyone assume is true about your industry? What do people assume is true about your audience? What does everyone assume is THE best practice for getting results? Once you get those out in the open, ask:
- What if I assumed the opposite? This is a powerful question for uncovering a winning strategy others are overlooking. If everyone assumes I have to have a blog, what if I didn’t? What if I didn’t need a best-selling book? What if I don’t need a $47 membership offer? Going against the crowd can be a VERY effective strategy. Next, ask:
- What is the straightest path from where I am right now to my desired outcome or intention? Most people put far too many roadblocks or speed bumps in their own way. For some people who want to “earn more money” in their career, their solution is to go back to school and get another degree. Is that the straightest path? Doubtful. Which leads to the next question
- How do I X without Y? This question formula has served me very well over the years. I use it all the time. Simply put your intention in as “X” then, “Y” is either what everyone is assuming or what you don’t want to do. For eg. “How do I earn $50k/mo without blogging or building a huge audience?” Again, this question forces you to think of new strategies others may be missing.
Skills
This is easy. If you have the skills to fit the strategy, great. If not, either go learn them, or hire them out. But here’s the main thing I want you to get from this framework…
- A person with a clear intention, phenomenal mindset, a solid strategy and average skills will absolutely dominate a highly skilled person who has an average strategy, weak mindset and unclear outcomes. It’s not even close.
- It’s why there are brilliant, talented people living on the street while high school dropouts run Fortune 500 companies.
- Skills are the next to least important factor in your success. You can learn skills. You can hire skills.
And here’s what’s even less important…
Tools
So much time and energy is spent on trying to find the “right” tool. It’s not about the tools. Sure, the right tools can make work easier. Faster. But without all the other levels supporting the tool, it doesn’t matter. AT ALL.