Scarcely anyone recognizes mindset to get a steady flow of clients as a thing. But most small businesses are at the point where a steady stream of clients is still the holy grail. This is therefore the one thing savvy entrepreneurs, service providers, and even NGO execs and caregivers, all want to stabilize as soon as possible.
Experts will tell you the problem is in one of those hundred moving parts you haven’t nailed down as yet. But if it were that simple, we’d all be earning seven figures, because that kind of information is a click away all over the internet?
I’ve always loved the euphemism declaring that “fish don’t know water’s wet.” Not that this is a problem for the fish of course. But I believe this is the real bottleneck where business cash flow is concerned.
Google it and you’ll see what I’m talking about. For example, which savvy marketer doesn’t already know you have to know everything you can about your target audience? There’s a handful of things like this that almost everyone knows. Yet so many still ignore it, then wonder why business isn’t booming.
All about thoughts
So then the obvious question becomes, “why?” Why do so many entrepreneurs or wannabe online gurus keep resisting such sage advice? Let me tell you; when you fix whatever you think the problem really is, if your thinking ain’t right, you’ll still be foundering.
Your thinking! The real problem is much closer to home.
What shows up in place of the mindset to get a steady flow of clients? It similar to: “I’m afraid if I get too specific I won’t attract enough people.” If you think that’s still where you’re at mentally, I’m hereby inviting you to question the idea a little deeper.
Why are you really still resisting expert advice? I suspect the real answer to this question is that this is actually a mindset problem.
This is why I love coaching so much. A good coach keeps showing you your own mind to look at from whatever perspective serves you best. You then get to decide if it’s aligned with where you want to go. If you can find the courage, he then partners with you in coming up with a strategy to line things up better. So maybe seeing a coach is the short answer to the problem. Let’s go a little deeper though.
Role of commitment
Aaron Fletcher is someone I’ve come to respect in a short space of time. He said to a group of us he’s coaching recently, “You only need three things: commitment, a proven system with a clear path, and the right kind of support.”
Fletcher acknowledges that many of us still won’t do what we have to do even with his premium support and system. That’s just the nature of working with other humans. But somehow, I keep thinking about this group. I don’t believe they’re a homogenous group. Some of them truly believe they’re committed, and say so because they want to be. But some of them just aren’t.
What if a commitment is way more complicated than just being a binary thing people turn on or off? If that’s the case, then how about those folks who WANT to commit and just don’t know what it takes to make an unshakeable commitment? Can we make space for them somehow?
Sure, some folks won’t be ready regardless, but I believe you wouldn’t be reading this if you were one of them.
So how about commitment? Well, a 16-year-old teen making a commitment is a different beast than that of a seasoned 45-year-old serial entrepreneur who’s had his or her share of hard knocks. My jam is about helping you to strengthen your mental muscles quickly. I can promise you it won’t be comfortable. Your world will turn topsy-turvy. But you’ll get where you want to go without those years of frustration.
Paradigm shifts!
Mindset challenges are blind spots you see best when someone else reflects them back at you. If you’re a coach yourself, you already know you should have more than one other coach working with you. For everyone else, NOT having one means you won’t get to see the many ways you aren’t fully gifting your superpower to the world.
I’ve personally had three or four major paradigm-shifts since I started working with other coaches. Whenever you suspect you have a blind spot, or you find yourself doing something that defies reason, red-flag it as something in your thought patterns that needs further investigating. Intelligent people only do that sort of thing when there’s fear lurking unseen.
Irrational Fear
The human brain is at the base of every problem. It’s our biggest asset, and handicap at the same time. Without going deep, the part of our brains that kept us alive and evolving for thousands of years is also the part making us susceptible to all sorts of irrational thought-errors.
Luckily, the rational part of the brain can control that primitive part, but it doesn’t do so naturally. Your ability to show up in the right frame-of-mind regardless of obstacles is a direct function of how well you’ve trained your rational brain to keep the primitive, and often unconscious brain in check. This is another topic we will delve into more deeply because a lot of our tools depend on understanding how it works.
Bottom line: How do you optimize your mindset to get a steady flow of clients or customers? Question. Your. Thoughts. Make it a part of your daily routine. Let us help you turn it into an art form.
Use whatever relevant mind tools, models, or frameworks you can find that work for you. We’re always honing and polishing old ones, and developing new ones here at TLS. Even if you don’t have But every good coach or consultant out there does the same. Get the help you need.
Oh, and um.. did I say this already? Maybe, but I can’t say it enough. The sooner you get a coach that’s right for you, the sooner you’ll start working consistently on what really matters most on a daily basis. The other stuff you’re busy distracting yourself with is really child’s play. You’re better than that and you know it!
If you’re not ready for a coach as yet, at least start the process of coaching yourself