I’m just back from 3 days in Coventry with my mentors, Lucy Johnson & Mark Vurnum, and now feel even more fired up and ready to take on the world! My new mantra is… “I’m Going to be the Next Richard Branson”!!
Feeling like this is exactly why I have a business mentor – their encouragement helps me to become a better version of my true self – and wouldn’t we all like to be a better person and do better things?
Having a business mentor is similar to having a personal trainer – it’s someone to be accountable to so you can’t make excuses – or at least you can’t make excuses and get away with it! A good coach or mentor won’t punish you for not doing your homework but they will help to get to the bottom of why you didn’t do it. For example, if I say I can’t open a new PT studio in London because it’s too expensive then my coach will question me and try to get to the bottom of this ‘limiting belief’ that London is too expensive to set up a business.
“A Belief is Only A Thought You Insist on Thinking” my mentor told me at the weekend. Beliefs are usually handed down from parents or based on past experiences, but they can be changed we just have to look at where they came from, challenge them and replace them with something more useful.
Rather than dwell on my beliefs about business – let’s have a look at some beliefs that clients have when they first come to us.
“I’m too old for running”
“Personal Training is too expensive”
“I don’t have time to exercise”
Firstly, being ‘too old to run’ is usually a belief based on the perception that the older you are, the less you can move and the more unfit you are. We know, however, that this is just an excuse because there are examples of runners in their 90’s – so if they can do it, age is not the issue. Perhaps someone who is older and has bad knees wouldn’t get on with running, but the reason is bad knees and not age – age is just the excuse – and bad knees can happen at any age (trust me – I know!).
Secondly, saying personal training is ‘too expensive’ is often based on someone else’s opinion or past experience where they haven’t had success in return for their investment. We know, however, that this isn’t true because we’ve had plenty of people invest in Personal Training programmes in the past – if it was too expensive then we wouldn’t have any clients! It is an excuse because it comes back to priorities of how you spend your disposable income – and if a potential client would rather spend their’s on clothes, alcohol, eating out or holidays over their health, fitness & wellbeing then that’s ok but the price is not the issue – it’s the perception of the price.
Finally, ‘not having time to exercise’ is usually a belief based on a past experience of always rushing around looking after the children or working long hours and not having time to yourself. We know, however, that it isn’t true because there are plenty of people in the world with children, full time jobs and busy social lives who do find time to exercise. Lack of time is just the excuse – being unorganised is most likely the reason – and this can be undone quite simply with a plan of action and preparation.
Can you now see how our beliefs easily turn in to excuses and how our excuses are holding us back from being a better version of ourselves? So, let’s stop the excuses, challenge & change those beliefs and start taking bigger action! Exciting isn’t it!!