Money Mindset Exercise: Expand Your Idea of What’s Possible

[00:00:00] Everyone has feelings about money. Good, bad; it doesn't matter. They are complex, but as a business owner, it is your job to get in touch with your feelings around money and come to terms with them and maybe heal a few too. Because as a business owner, you are the one who guides the ship of your business, so your money stories, your feelings around money will directly affect your clients, your customers, your team, your family, and obviously yourself. In today's episode, I'm going to share with you and incredibly simple money mindset exercise that will have you bringing some awareness to your feelings around money and expanding your idea of what is even possible for your business.

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[00:00:56] Welcome back to 10 minutes to being boss a bite-size show, offering up tips, tools, and tactics for helping you do business. I'm Emily Thompson, and today we are diving into money mindset. This is going to be a juicy one. I'm sharing with you an easy exercise that you can do no matter what you're doing right now. You can just do it all in your head if you'd like, or if you want to grab a pen and paper, that might be helpful too.

[00:01:20] But before we dive in, I do want to share a bit more about our sponsor, Podia. Bosses like you often have an itch to share what it is that you know, and if you're entrepreneurial, you'd likely also want to sell it. Podia is an all in one digital storefront that allows you to create courses, memberships, and digital products and sell them all in one place, making it easy for you to create the content that you most want to make. You can sign up for Podia and get a 14-day free trial, with no credit card required, and get 15% off for life by going to Podia.com/bosses.

[00:02:00] We're going to start this episode with a little bit of story time, if I may. Back in 2013, I just wanted to make a living wage, a modest 50K in my business, and I knew it was possible, but I wasn't really sure how I was going to do it. At the time I was a web designer and I was working with creatives, helping them build online storefronts for their business.

[00:02:25] I love my work very much, but I was struggling with really hitting the basic goal of 50K a year. So I did what a smart business owner does and I hired a business coach to help me see what it was that I was missing and that business coach challenged me to think bigger .

[00:02:44] when challenged to think bigger in my business, I made some incredible moves. I was able to rethink how it was that I work with my clients to repackage my offerings in a way that threw every single industry standard out the window, which is where they belong. And I was able to not only reach my goal, but exceed it in that year.

[00:03:08] The next year I tripled my revenue. And the year after that, I had the idea of starting the Being Boss podcast, which at the time was an avenue for me to market my business and grow it even bigger, but as we may know, Being Boss turned into a business of its own.

[00:03:28] Within a year or so of Being Boss, I knew I wanted to transition out of web design, which was making multiple six figures a year at that point, and a fully into being boss where I could make more impact with more creatives with the work that I was doing. So, what did I do? I hired a coach who challenged me to think bigger again,

[00:03:48] Within a year, I broke my first half million dollar a year and made a full transition from working with clients, to being here at Being Boss, and it was one of the most amazing transitions I have made in my career. I dare say that without the challenge to think bigger, I would likely still be designing websites, one at a time, for my clients as I was.

[00:04:14] How many years ago was that seven years, eight years? Was that eight years ago? Geez, Louise. How the time flies. So I would totally be where I was eight-ish years ago. I imagine I would have broke six figures, but I would not have built what I have built if I had not been challenged to think bigger and to really envision how it was I could make a bigger impact, not only in my revenue, but in the world. And that is what I want to do with you here today, is challenge you to think bigger and have you address some money mindset things along the way. So, no matter what it is that you're doing, I want you to take a pause and feel free to actually legit pause me along the way as you are doing this exercise.

[00:05:02] You can think about this in your head, or if you have a pen and paper with you, that's going to work really great for you as well. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to write down on your piece of paper or think in your head, how much revenue you want to generate in your business this year, it's likely that you already have a number, if you've done any planning or make any goal-setting so far this year. Think of that number and write it down.

[00:05:28] Once you have that number. I want you to do a couple of simple lists. One is list a couple of feelings that you have about that number. Does it feel totally within reach? Does it feel out of reach?

[00:05:39] Does it make you feel kind of weird? Do you feel like you're playing small? What feelings come up for you whenever you look at that number goal that you've made for the year?

[00:05:50] Now jot down very simply the things that you need to do to get you to that goal. You should have an idea of some things that maybe you need to creat, of some connections you need to make. Maybe some people you need to hire, whatever it may be for you to reach that goal.

[00:06:04] Take a moment and either think or write down the things that you need to do to get to this goal you've already created for yourself. Once you have created this picture of how you feel about the goal and the things that is that you need to do to reach it, I want you to look at that number goal, one more time... Not one more time. We'll get to that in a second. You're going to look at that number goal, and you're going to add a zero to the end. Add a zero to the end, and immediately jot down any feelings that come up for you if you were to 10x your revenue.

[00:06:37] Be incredibly honest with yourself and completely candid with the feelings that come up. Does it feel crazy? Does it feel like it is completely outside of the realm of possibility? Does it make you feel sick in your gut?

[00:06:50] Do you feel yourself bunching up in your shoulders? Does it make you incredibly excited?

[00:06:56] Whatever the feeling is that comes up for you as you are looking at this 10x money goal, write it down. Be completely aware of the money mindset things that come up for you as you imagine yourself 10x-ing your revenue goal this year.

[00:07:13] Now that you've shed some light on some of those money mindsets, I want you to spend a few minutes getting really clear, or not even clear, getting very imaginative with the things that would have to happen in your business for you to 10x your revenue.

[00:07:30] This can be incredibly hard for some people, but I want you to take some time and really think outside of the box. Maybe it's going to require you taking on a different kind of client, incredibly growing your team, transitioning your offering into something completely different, or maybe slightly adjacent.

[00:07:51] Maybe it's going to be operating another kind of revenue stream or completely scaling all of your systems. Maybe it's taking a deal with a larger client or going after licensing opportunities. There are a million different things, and that's the point here. I want you to think about all of the opportunities, a lot of the things that you would have to accomplish to 10x your revenue. Try not to let this become a really overwhelming. This is just an exercise to have you thinking a little bit bigger. Don't get anxious, though if you do, write it down, just imagine what would have to happen in your business for you to 10x your revenue.

[00:08:35] Once you've spent a couple of moments doing that. Take a couple of deep breaths. Your brain just did some work and did some hardcore imagining as to what is possible in your business. So give yourself a couple of deep breaths because there's one more step to this exercise.

[00:08:53] And that is for you to look at that revenue goal and add another zero. This time I don't necessarily want you to think that this is what you're going to make this year, but imagine that this is what your revenue does in just two or three years. You just 100x your revenue from this year to two or three years from now.

[00:09:17] Now, same as the last one: I want you to take a few moments and very candidly jot down or become very aware of anything that comes up for you when you think about that number. When you look at that number, where do you feel it in your body? What ideas come to you immediately? What feelings come to you when you think about a 100x-ing... Is that how you say that? Times a hundred-ing? I have no idea... your revenue for this year. It's likely that you're going to feel a lot of things. And it's funny, oftentimes envisioning this brings up more positive feelings than just 10x it. I think it's because it feels a little more, a little more unattainable, that you can actually play with it and have fun ideas around or release the anxiety around it because it feels a little cartoonish. But there is some magic and becoming aware of how your money mindset shifts in that scenario as well.

[00:10:18] So take a couple of moments and jot down how it is that you feel around 100x-ing your revenue within the next two to three years. And then as you may know, the next step of this is for you to brainstorm, to ideate a couple of possible ways that this could actually happen in your business. What would have to happen? Can you even imagine the kind of business you would be building if a 100x your revenue were attainable.

[00:10:53] Think outside the box. Think that far outside of the box. And you will grasp at ideas that you never would have had otherwise, and that folks is the magic of this exercise. Whenever you can take a pause to just come to terms with, to bring some awareness to your money mindset, you are able to work through any issues that you may have, or really spotlight the places where your money mindset is really spot on. And that is ideal.

[00:11:27] Begin doing the work around your money mindset, because there is nothing to say that 10 or a 100x your revenue is not possible, except for you. You can say if it's not possible. And if you're currently saying that it's not possible, it won't be possible. Flip that. Address the money mindset issues that you have that make you believe that anything isn't possible in your business. And use this exercise to think about your business differently. Think differently about how it is that you gather ideas and inspiration, how it is that you weigh opportunities, how it is that you value your time and creativity, and think about how you can expand those things and open yourself to more opportunities that could have you 10 or 100x in your revenue.

[00:12:20] And not to say that building, you know, if you just realize that maybe I just had you making yourself a $50 million a year business, maybe that's not really what you want to do, but the magic here is that you just imagined what could happen in your business to make that happen. And when you do that, you open the doors.

[00:12:43] And with that, if you are still here, I would love for you to head down into the comments and let me know something interesting that came up for you as you went through this exercise. This can be a big one and sharing money mindset situations isn't always everyone's favorite, but I encourage you to do it. It is the boss way.

[00:13:05] We talk about money and whenever you can talk about money, you bring more awareness to your money mindsets, and awareness will lead you to solutions. So I hope to see you down in the comments.

[00:13:17] And with that, I'm going to leave you. To sit like a deer in headlights. As you look at that number, I've done this exercise with bosses and number of times, and there's always this look, this look that I get whenever I tell them to add a zero. And then the eyes get even bigger or whenever I tell them to add zero number two.

[00:13:39] Um, but I know from experience that this challenge to expand how it is that you think about your business will make such good things happen, some things that would not have happened if you had not been challenged to do it.

[00:13:53] I look forward to seeing you again soon until next time. Do the work. Be boss.

[00:14:00] That sunshine just got so bright outside. Sorry, not sorry if my light is literally changing every 15 seconds. One, maybe I'm the only one who's noticing it. Two, if you're noticing it, we're very similar. Two, three, cause I can't count this morning, we're going to have to get over it because I can't control the sun.

[00:14:23] I get great lighting in here, the best lighting, but I like to record in the mornings and the roof over there is just white. And so every time things change the slightest, my light changes, I never really realized it was that bad until I started recording. And I'll change that word because it's not bad.

[00:14:42] It's glorious, it's glorious, and I love it, but it is creating a different mood at this moment. Wonder if it's going to chill out?