54: How to Think Like a Business Owner

TTLU Episode 54

[00:00:00] you're listening to the time to level up podcast. I'm your host business life coach Andrea Libra. I help women in business. Commit to their own growth personally and professionally each week, I'll bring you strategies to help you think clearly gain confidence, make your time productive, turn every obstacle into an opportunity, and finally overcome the.

So that you can make money and manage life. Let's create a plan. So you have a profitable business, successful career, and best of all, live with unapologetic ambition. Are you ready to drop the drama and figure out the how in order to reach your goals? You're in the right. It's time to level up. Let's do this.[00:01:00]

Hey, time to level up listeners. Welcome back to the podcast. Can you believe I'm up to episode 54. 54. And I am recording this episode on a Sunday. I rarely record a podcast episode on a Sunday. In fact, I don't know if I've ever recorded a podcast episode on a Sunday, but there are some things that are happening in my week coming up and I will not have tons of time.

So I decided to honor my word to myself to record this podcast to this week and just get it done. I am sitting in my closet in the basement, recording the podcast on a Sunday afternoon. But tonight I am looking forward to watching the season four premiere episode of Yellowstone. And I actually thought about Yellowstone as I was preparing [00:02:00] for recording this episode, because this episode is all about our relationship with our business or our relationship with our work.

And if you are a Yellowstone, a follower, I got to admit, I really wasn't a Yellowstone follower until we visited Bozeman, Montana this summer. And I felt like I needed to jump on the bandwagon. But if you are a follower, think about how the Duttons, their relationship with their business, their ranch business.

It is so much. Their relationship with themselves. So their relationship with themselves is definitely reflected in their relationship with their business. So guess what? They're human are they playing humans and we're human and our relationship with our business is very much tied to our [00:03:00] relationship with ourselves.

Okay. And we're going to explore that a little bit today. I'm going to offer you. Five ways that you may be thinking about your business. If I asked you to describe your relationship with it, and then I'm going to give you five suggestions of ways you could think about it. That may be beneficial. And I want you to know that the reason this is a topic is because in November, in my group coaching program, committed to growth, we are exploring all sorts of relationships.

But it's in shifts with ourselves, with our business, with our friends, with our family, with our immediate family, with our distant family, all of it, we're exploring all of it. And I think this is a very relevant topic. And as I was preparing some of the materials for that today, I was [00:04:00] adding some thoughts to my notes before I recorded this podcast.

And if you want access to all of the work we're doing inside committed to the growth in the month of November, and I know you're probably not listening to this, to the very tail end of November or beginning of December, you can still have access to all of that inside committed to growth. If you come join us in there in December.

We're going to be talking all about planning and we're offering my current clients a special bonus plan to succeed workshop. So if you want in, on that, you need to join us by December 5th, to get access to the plan, to succeed workshop. And I will also give you access to all of our work on relationships that we are doing, or we'll have done in the month of November and the way to come join us.

I should probably mention that is head over to my website, schedule a call with me. I will make sure that this is a good fit for [00:05:00] you, give you all the details and then you can get started right away. It's your Christmas gift to yourself or your holiday gift or whatever gift you are looking forward to.

All right. So here's the scoop on relationships. We think that we need to control the world. Or that other people or things need to behave in a certain way so that we can feel good. Okay. So the same applies to our work. We think that in order to feel good about our work or business, things have to go a certain way or the people involved in our work.

I mean, do, do certain things or we must meet certain goals. In order for us to feel good. Okay. And we have a manual or a handbook. Brooke Castillo introduced me to this concept and I love it. Sometimes I [00:06:00] say handbook, she says a manual. We have a manly manual or a handbook on how all things should go down.

Okay. How long something should take, where we should be in our development. What other people should think about our work or business? But that simply is not true. There is no manual. There is no script. Every workplace or business looks different. We cannot control the people in it. And here's the deal.

Our relationship with our business or work, or with another person is really made up of thoughts about something. It is not about how someone treats you. Or what someone does or doesn't do. It is our thoughts about that. Okay. So if you've been following me at all, you know, that I believe that our thoughts create our feelings [00:07:00] and that those feelings lead to our actions and ultimately our results are what shows up in the world with what shows up in our world is sometimes what we want.

And sometimes what we don't want. Okay. But when we're not getting the result we want, or when things don't seem to be going well, when we want more, when it doesn't feel right. When I hear my clients say those things, I ask them. How are you thinking about your business or your work? What is your relationship with it?

And if it were a real person to person relationship, how would you describe it? Okay. And how they describe their relationship with business or work tells a lot tells us. So here are five suggestions on how you might be thinking about your relationship or how you [00:08:00] frame it in your head, your relationship with business or work.

And as I go through these, think about it because the way you are thinking about it, reflecting. In the result because the result of anything is always evidence of how we are thinking about it. So if we are thinking about our business is kind of an extra curricular activity, we are just doing it for fun.

You know, we're not on a team, so to speak, we're not looking to win. We're just doing it for fun. Then often we have what I call a job E which is a combination between a job and a hobby. It's a job. And when we think about business or work as a jobby, we're not always in it to win it. We just let things happen when we feel like it.

And usually we're not happy with it after a while because we're not getting the results [00:09:00] we want and it turns out it's not even fun after awhile. So are you thinking about your business for work as a job? Okay, that was number one. Number two. Do you think about business or work as if it were your grandma?

Meaning it will always be there for you no matter what, it will always love you, even if you don't love it and you don't have to really put too much effort into that relationship because it's just someone that's always going to be there. So. It's kind of like a little bit, like number three, it's slightly different though.

Number three, is it an old friend you only talk to, or see a few times a year and you know, you can pick up exactly where you left off and you have fun with it when you're in it. But in the times in between when you're not talking, it just sort [00:10:00] of exists. It's just sort of like something on the shelf or pretty picture, honestly.

And usually if that's the kind of relationship we have, we still are not getting the result. We want. Number four. Do you think about your business as if it were your roommate? You co-exist, things are amicable, but you don't love each other. You don't have any sort of passion for it. It doesn't energize you.

It's just. Kinda like a lump on a log. And again, that's going to reflect in your result line, in my fifth way of thinking about, or the way you might be thinking about your business or work is as if it were an obligation, it's like going to church, you do it because you feel [00:11:00] guilty. If you don't do it. And you think somehow you're doing it because you have to like, it's what you should be doing.

Okay. And when something is an obligation, while it continues to live, it doesn't always grow. And oftentimes there is such guilt around it. If we are not going and living in it, that it becomes, it hurts. It actually hurts. And we start to question whether or not it should be even in our lives. So do you think of business or work as an extracurricular as if it were your grandma as if it were an old friend, a roommate or an obligation, what is your relationship with your business or work?

Because really your relationship is just your thoughts about it. It's just your thoughts about. [00:12:00] And these are different ways to kind of compartmentalize or figure it totally think about our thoughts or describe our thoughts. All right. So here we go. I'm going to give you five ways in which I think you should or rye recommend you think about your business.

Okay. And I want to put this all within the framework of this, your business or work is like your baby. It's your child. You want to take care of it. And in order for it to live, you need to attend to it. You have to pay attention and here's what you need to give it. Number one, you have to respect it. Okay.

Now I looked up the definition of all these words that I'm about to share with you, respect in the dictionary, says to [00:13:00] admire someone or something deeply as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements. So do you take time to notice your achievements? Do you take time to assess what you're bringing to the table?

Do you take inventory? Of all that is wrapped up with your business or work. Do you respect it? If you did, you might treat it a little differently. Number two is honor and honor, according to the dictionary, as a verb is to fulfill an obligation or keep an arrangement. So do you honor your word to yourself?

This is the biggest thing I see with honor. And how people think about their businesses. They tell themselves that this week, for example, I'm going to record a podcast. They have it on their calendar and they don't honor it. They don't honor it. They don't honor them, their word to [00:14:00] themselves. So if you were honoring all of this, you would say.

To the calendar you would stick to the goals, you would make all of your choices so that they align with your ultimate goal. Number three, love you need to love business or work as if it were your baby, because love is to like, or enjoy something very much to find joy in it. Even when you think it's impossible.

And we talked a lot or talking about, talk a lot about this and committed to growth this month, about how love plays a role in every kind of relationship. Do you find joy in business and work even when you think it's impossible? What if you did what would change? You don't have to love all parts, but could you find some parts?

Do you think about your business in a way where [00:15:00] you have curiosity be curious about it. Curious is eager to know or learn something. So do you ask questions of your business? Do you test things? Do you look at data? Do you seek answers? Do you wonder if you did this? What would happen? How would the result line change?

So being curious. So important because it keeps us going, it keeps us going. And the fifth thing is that you need to fuel your business or work. You need to feed it, you need to supply or power. It, this is so important. And I want to ask you, what type of fuel are you using in your business? In your brain, what are you fueling your brain with so that you can get the result you want?[00:16:00]

Are you feeling it with new information, with learning with coaching, coaching, I think is an amazing way to fuel your brain, which then in turn fuels your business or work because you are then having what I call a growth mindset. And I talked about that a little bit in podcast, 52. Having a growth mindset.

It's so important. So important. Look up Carol Dweck. If you haven't already, she talks lots about growth mindset, constantly fueling ourselves so that we can fuel our relationships with others and with the work we're doing. I think that is the most important. Are you fueling? Your relationship with your business and yourself.

Okay. So if you think about your business or work as a baby or a child, you would [00:17:00] respect it. You would honor it, you would love it. You would have curiosity for it and you would feel it. Those are my five things. Okay. My friends, that is my episode for today. It's kind of short and sweet, but I think it's really important.

I encourage you, your homework, here's the coaching. I want you to write down all of your thoughts that you have about your business or your work and ask yourself what kinds of feelings are they creating and that they, those feelings leading to actions that give you the result you want. If you're not getting the result you want, then that means you need to change your relationship.

I E you're thinking. About your business or work. And how do you do that? How do you change your thinking? You come at it with respect and honor and love and curiosity, and you give it [00:18:00] all the fuel and food. It needs to live. If you're a business or a baby, you would not be looking to cut costs. No one grows a business by cutting costs.

You grow a business by increasing profit, assessing your cost of goods and looking at what is fueling the business, what is spurring you to help it grow? So come and join us inside committed to growth. If you know the conversation, when you are sitting at a table with people who are also. Committed to growing themselves.

Then you grow yourself to the conversation is just different. So build a circle of friends who like to talk about [00:19:00] investments and business ideas and personal growth, instead of gossiping about other people want to sit at a table with those kinds of people. If you want that, then come join us. Message me and you can get started right away, right away.

And you can work with us if you're coming to us in December on planning and amazing 20, 22, you can be part of our plan to succeed day, and I'll give you access to all the work we did in November on relationships. And if you're listening to this at a different time, you can come join us. All right. My friends have a great rest of your day.

And remember, you can upgrade your relationship with your business at any moment. And in a variety of ways, there's never a better time to level up. Have a great week. Thanks for listening to the time to level [00:20:00] up podcast with me, your host, Andrea Lee. If you know, someone who could benefit from listening to this episode, I encourage you to take a screenshot and share it with them.

Okay. Now what about you? You've listened to the podcast and if you now know that you're ready to upgrade your life, upgrade your business. Upgrade you then stop being only a listener and start being a liver. Living that upgraded life, head over to my website and schedule a call right there on that call.

We'll start changing the way you think about. So that you can have the freedom to achieve the impossible in life and business and have the resources to do it. You deserve an upgrade. Let's do it.