Episode 128: Gratitude Before Growth

One of my favorite things to do is watch my kids do what they love to do. And for my son that's playing ball. He's an incredibly talented athlete and dreams of going pro one day. Last weekend, I watched as he walked back to the dugout head hanging low. After his second strikeout of the day, I can see the concern and confusion on his face. He's one of the most consistent batters among his peers last year, he had over 100 consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout. He's good. And I know I'm his mom. But he's really good. I'm not just saying that. The thing is, the better he gets, the better his competition gets, and his strikeouts were against some of the fastest pitching he's ever seen. A strikeout against this pitcher is better any day of the week than a hit off of a pitcher that he faced last year, because he's playing a completely different level of the game. Meanwhile, no matter how much progress he's making, all he sees is the gap between where he is and where he wants to be. Now, fast forward to a few days later, when we decided to go watch my four year old niece play T ball. She was adorable, first of all. And second of all, there were no winners or losers, and they didn't even keep score. Honestly, that was a good thing because she was literally running circles around third base, tasting the dirt between plays. And instead of running Home from third base, she ran straight to the dugout. So needless to say, not quite the same level. And that's okay. Right. That's where she's supposed to be. She's learning. Watching her play brought back so many memories from when Graham was first learning the game. And as a mom, I'm quick to think about how time has flown, it has just gone by so quickly, and also how much he has changed. He's so much bigger, he is better. Of course, he's a phenomenal athlete, he is. When I say bigger, he is taller than me now. So he's definitely grown a ton. But it's clear to me how far he's come. Athleticism, wise, height, all of that. But he doesn't look at it that way. And most entrepreneurs don't either. But today I'm here to make a case for why you should. First we're gonna look at a scenario. That's what happens when you focus on the distance between where you are now and where you want to be. So first, I want you to think that your situation, your current circumstance is your current business revenue wherever you are today. And if you have thoughts about it, like so many entrepreneurs do along the lines of I should be further ahead. I'm behind. It's too late. I have so far to go. I'm not growing fast enough. This is so hard. I'm never gonna get there. I'm not good enough. I don't have the right offer audience strategy, you name it. If those are the thoughts that you're having about your current business revenue, then of course, you're going to feel things like frustration, pressure, anxiety, scarcity, disappointment, hopelessness, fear, doubt, shame, confusion, desperation, a lack of motivation, dread even. And when you feel those feelings, then the actions you're going to take are things like comparing judging, criticizing, beating yourself up stressing, worrying, procrastinating and avoiding hustling and burning out pivoting, changing direction, in other words, rushing things, giving up settling, and the result of that is going to be in significant growth in your business revenue. In other words, are you more or less likely to achieve your goals with those actions and those feelings less likely? Now, let's compare that to same business revenue that you're starting with different thoughts. You think, look how far I've come. I'm right where I should be. I'm making progress and learning everyday. Everyday. I'm learning what I need to in order to reach my goal. This is normal. This is part of my journey. I'm getting better every day. This might be hard, but it's worth it. I'm on the right track. I have what it takes. It's never too late. My success is inevitable. When you think those thoughts, I guarantee you feel different feelings, things like gratitude, peace, calm, hope, sufficiency, confidence, you feel more clear, determined, persistent, motivated. And you have some fun, right? You feel more playful in your business, more adventurous. And that leads to actions that are not the same actions as before. So you're not comparing, you're not wasting time with any of the mind drama. Instead of you're taking consistent action, you're looking for the lessons so that you are learning continually, you're focusing on improving one thing at a time. And slowly and steadily moving forward, you are trusting that you're going to achieve your goal if you just keep going. And so you keep going no matter what. And of course, the result of that is more significant growth and business revenue. Again, ask the question, are you more or less likely to achieve your goals from the place of those actions, feelings and thoughts? And the answer is more likely. So one of the most important things that I want you to see is that we started with the exact same situation, your current business revenue. And it's fascinating how such a subtle shift in your perspective contains your results. Your thoughts about where you are now, are impacting your future results. So you can either keep judging where you are, and get more of the same results. Or you can shift your thinking. How do you know if you're on the right track? Well, I want you to look at your primary emotions. This is such a great indicator in your business, which do you feel more of frustration, or gratitude, pressure, or peace, anxiety or calm, doubt or sufficiency is the first word and each of those pairs of feelings I just gave you best describes you, then you need to begin to shift your perspective and of course, your results. And here's how you do it. You start by trying to get to that place of gratitude. You go write down why you're grateful for your business as it is right now. I want you to list out as many things as you can think of, and then answer this question, what is all of the evidence that you have, that you're on the right track, I want you to intentionally look at your thoughts, and choose the thoughts pull to the forefront the thoughts that support that you are on the right track so you can get to that place of gratitude. Those two exercises are quick, but they will make a big difference right away. And they're worth repeating. By the way, anytime you find yourself more like the first set of emotions I described more like the first thoughts and actions even result, then go back and try to get to a place of gratitude. Because if you only take away one thing from this episode, I want you to remember gratitude before growth. If more of your time is spent feeling grateful for where you are, that's a sign that growth is on the way, because when you feel grateful, you're more likely to take the actions that will lead to success. By the way, just to circle back in that game that I mentioned earlier where Graham's struck out twice, he shook off those strikeouts. I like to attribute it to a little pep talk for mom, whether he will acknowledge that or not. But I believe he shifted his thoughts. And at the end of the seventh inning, they were in a tie. So they had to go into an extra inning, they'd already played seven innings and had to go into one more. And y'all he hit a bomb into a gap in the outfield scoring multiple runs. Then the team rallied multiple kids showed up and did the same thing. And they scored a total of nine runs in that one inning to advance and ultimately take home the championship for the weekend. We shifted his thoughts, he showed up to the plate from a different perspective. He learned from those last couple of strikeouts and walked up ready to take care of business and that's exactly what he did. So it's never too late. You're never too behind. And you should never give up.