Today we’re going to discover something that has the power to majorly change the trajectory of your business! We’re going to uncover the three main roadblocks that sideline many entrepreneurs (and people in general) and cause them to get stuck in inaction. You will learn specific ways to take massive action, get more done, and get those big results you desire.

“Taking action...” seems easy enough, right?  “Just do something!” As you and I both know, it’s not as easy as it sounds!

If right now what you’re doing in your business is not leading you to the results you desire, then this episode is for you!

To shed some light on WHY we’re not taking action and to help us understand how to turn that around and become massive action takers, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brooke Castillo. Brooke is a Life Coach—I actually call her a Life Coach Extraordinaire— who has worked with thousands of people (including yours truly) who have been stuck, are not reaching the goals they’ve envisioned for themselves, or ultimately just need a coach to shine some light on a path that can lead them to the promised land of getting a lot done and achieving big results.

Quick note before we move on: I mention that I’ve worked with Brooke personally; I get more into it on the podcast, but in case you were wondering, I’m part of her Self-Coaching Scholars program. You know I’m on a mission to up-level my life, including my health and my weight, but I’m also on a mission to up-level my mind, and Brooke really gets into this in her program. I know that focusing on how I think about things will change both my personal and business life, and I believe it could do the same for you. Because I stand behind what Brooke does, I have become an affiliate for the program, so if you are interested in joining her program, too, click here, and let Brooke know I sent you!

MANAGING YOUR MIND

Brooke began with the idea that so much of starting and building a business is about managing your mind.  She said, “There's no way around it, because you can understand how to do everything, you can study all the material, but until you understand that what you think about is going to create the emotion that either drives the action or the inaction, you're never gonna take the action.”

Did you get that? This is important: What you think about creates the emotion that drives the action or inaction.  If stress, fear and panic are fueling the action, you’re not going to be able to produce results at the level you want to produce.

Brooke shared three entrepreneurial roadblocks—things that are keeping you from taking massive action.   

Reason #1: YOU’RE STUCK IN THE BUSY HUSTLE

I can remember times, back when I was first starting out, when I was hustling my butt off. I was all over the place, connecting with different people, working with all kinds of clients, seemingly very successful—but the problem was, I wasn’t taking action on the things that could actually take me to a place where I could grow and scale my business. I was hustling. I was tired. But, to some degree, I was really just chasing my tail.

This is what Brooke refers to as “The Busy Hustle”—a tiring hustle that’s produced by negative emotion: stress, fear, panic…[Insert your own word here!].  

You want to avoid getting into a state of busy hustle, where you may be working hard yet aren’t producing anything. Instead your goal should be to get to a place of a productive hustle, where results are consistently produced.

Brooke suggested if you want to produce something, don’t just sit down to “work on something.” Sit down to produce something!

It’s important to change our language around this. Let’s stop saying, “I’m working on so and so,” and instead say, “I’m producing xyz,” or “I’m recording a podcast.” See the difference?!  

Reason #2: YOU’RE GIVING YOURSELF TOO MUCH TIME TO GET SOMETHING DONE

Brooke believes that many people, especially those who are newer to business, give themselves too much time to produce a result. In the beginning you have more time than customers or clients, so you just expand the time you are “working” in your business. Yet while you may  have the time, what you actually produce doesn’t line up with the many hours you’re working.

Brooke suggests we take a look at the projects we need to get done, and assign a time frame in which we will get it done. For example: instead of my saying, “I’ll get the podcast recorded and uploaded to Dropbox by Wednesday”, Brooke would say, “I will have the podcast recorded and uploaded to Dropbox in one hour. I’ll sit down and get it done in that hour.”  

Of course you need to be realistic about time frames….some things are going to naturally take longer than others.    

And what sort of results will be produced if we go this route? Brooke says, “When you decide how long something will take and you stick to that, that’s when your production gets huge momentum.”  

Now for my fellow perfectionists out there: this can be tough, because you’re going to have to embrace the fact that you might produce some B-minus work. I know that’s hard to stomach! Brooke had to give me a little life-coaching during the episode, because I am not someone who got Bs in school!

Brooke’s argument for producing B-minus work is this: “B-minus work can change people’s lives. Work that you don’t produce at all, does nothing in the world.”  

Brooke told a great story about producing B-minus work on a book she wrote, about how she got some negative feedback which caused her some real shame and embarrassment; but a letter she received from someone whose life was changed because of that B-minus book made her realize that had she declined to put out that work in favor of striving for an A-plus, that woman’s life would never have been affected. That was when Brooke decided that she was ok with B-minus work—because she knew it would still produce results.

You’ll have to decide for yourself as to what level work you are ok with; but for Brooke, making this decision made a HUGE difference in her business, and because of that decision, she has reached epic levels of success.

Reason #3: YOU’RE AVOIDING FAILURE AND DISCOMFORT

Of course, no one loves failure and discomfort; but the truth is, if we’re going to learn and grow, there are going to be moments of failure and times where we will need to step outside of our comfort zone.

Brooke explained that our brains are literally wired to avoid any kind of failure, and the only way to produce a successful business is to fail repeatedly. So what do we do?!

We have to show our brains that we are not going to die because of discomfort and failure. We need to learn the process to move into discomfort, and then get comfortable with that discomfort.

“Discomfort is the currency to your dreams.” - Brooke Castillo

But discomfort is only part of the road to success for business owners. I love that Brooke shared that she schedules “Comfort-Time” in her week! This time is non-negotiable, and she schedules it in her calendar before anything else. Her comfort-time is comprised of walking her dogs, enjoying coffee and reading in the morning, and spending time with family.  

What would be the activities or non-activities that you’d have in your comfort-time? Schedule it in!  And remember: this time is non-negotiable. Agreed? Work hard, play hard! : )

If you’re reading this and have not listened to the episode yet, I highly recommend you do. Brooke gives some great examples, insights, and encouragement that you’ll only hear by tuning in. Plus, Brooke is so fun! I guarantee you’ll not only learn a ton, but will enjoy a few laughs while listening to this episode, too!

Thanks for spending time with me today!

All my best,

Amy

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in these show notes and on the podcast episode:

• Brooke Castillo Podcast
• Learn more about the Self-Coaching Scholars (As I mentioned earlier, I’m a member of Brooke’s program and a huge believer in the work Brooke is doing! Check it out—and if you decide to join, tell her Amy sent you!)

I’m the first person to admit when I’ve made a mistake.

But I can promise you this, when it happens: I learn something new every time.

Inside my private Facebook group for all of my students, my students often ask me to troubleshoot their challenges with launching their courses. Our FB Live chats and their questions inspired me to create this specific podcast episode for all of you. Based on my experiences with thousands of students, I’ve uncovered five core reasons why most online courses fail. My goal is to help make sure you don’t make these mistakes, and if you do, I want you to be able to learn from them and turn them into opportunities.

In this episode I also talk about the importance of a validation blitz, and knowing all about your potential student’s hopes and fears, and what may be holding them back. I go into step-by-step detail about how to conduct a validation blitz in my Courses That Convert Program. You can learn more about that program and how to get started with an online course with my free Masterclass—“How to Confidently Create Your First Profitable Course in 60 Days.” It’s a fun and comprehensive training that will help you get well on your way to creating your first training!

Also: if you've experienced any of these mistakes or if you've made a big mistake that I haven't mentioned here, I want you to come over to Instagram and DM me.

Check out these highlights:

• Why your ideal customer avatar needs to be top of mind at all times. [3:48]
• I changed my mind on pre-selling, and you need to also. [8:25]
• The four things to do to make sure you get to the finish line with your course. [12:43]
• What to consider instead of signature courses. [14:42]
• How I had to enlist a colleague to keep me in check and keep out the fluff. [17:34]
• The best online courses are taught by the best teachers. What you need to do to become an engaging teacher. [20:40]

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode #206: “The Post-It Content Creation Mini Training”

As entrepreneurs, creating multiple streams of revenue should be our goal. After being laid off from a software development company in the year 2000, today’s guest, Jennifer Allwood,  discovered firsthand how using her creativity and passion could create not one, but six different revenue streams in her business.

One of the things I love most about being an entrepreneur is how we are able to use our passions and creativity to build a business that has many layers to it—and Jennifer has done just that!

So whether you are just starting out building your online business or are already doing amazing things but looking to up-level, you’re going to find lots of inspiration and actionable tips in this interview!

Never Say Never

Jennifer’s first foray into an online business revenue stream was through creating and selling a handful of short videos teaching people how to do fun DIY painting techniques on cabinets and furniture. After just a year, she had earned six figures...from simple painting videos!  

Jennifer was at first confounded to discover she could sell stuff that could be easily found online for free via YouTube videos; yet she also came to understand that people will pay for shortcuts, and they prefer to pay for something from someone they know, like and trust, rather than go searching for something on their own.

That was the beginning of her online business journey. In the years since, she has launched a couple membership sites, teaches others how to run their online businesses, is writing a book, and is enjoying engaging with her nearly half-million online social media followers.

Jennifer admits that even just five years ago she would never have dreamed she would be where she is today! Let this be a lesson to all of us!   

It’s Not About Working Harder: It’s Working Smarter That Makes The Difference

Jennifer works mostly with creatives: painters, artists, makers, DIYers, and repurposers. She says these type of entrepreneurs have a hard time getting past the idea that they don’t always have to trade time for dollars; yet Jennifer teaches them they can share their gifts in a new way by adding revenue streams to their business. The opportunities she identified (which can work for anyone with an online business) are:

• Info products – ebooks, ecourses, webinars, etc.
• Affiliate income
• Sponsored content
• Membership site
• Ad revenue
• Brand ambassadorship
• Consulting
• Speaking

Where to Start?

If you are just beginning your online journey, Jennifer suggests you begin with something on the simpler side. Test the waters first, to see what you enjoy doing and what works. She highlighted some great examples from the list above that I hope will inspire you with some new ideas!

What I loved about talking to Jennifer was seeing how strategic she was—even from the beginning, when she didn’t even realize she was being strategic!

If you tuned in and listened to today’s episode, I hope you were as inspired by Jennifer’s story as I was. She was following her passion. She was hustling. She was doing what she needed to do to make things work, and look how it came together for her! I hope the same for you!

This episode is brought to you by:

Gravy—my very own 24/7 engagement team who contacts my customers within hours of their failed payment, captures updated billing information and saves the customers I worked so hard to acquire. If you have a subscription model business or offer payment plans, you’ve got to check out Gravy!

Most of you already know I’m all about list building.

In fact, one of my favorite mottos is “always be list building.” But not everyone knows that an indispensable element of any successful list-building effort is an effective lead magnet—a freebie—that’ll stand front and center and draw crowds to opt-in.

But then the question becomes:

How do I know which type of lead magnet to create?

That’s why you can’t miss today’s episode! I’m sharing the ultimate guide to choosing the right lead magnet for your audience, covering the seven types of lead magnets I think are working best right now.

And what I’m sharing is not only from my experience. I’ve prepared a bunch of examples of lead magnets from some of my good friends and peers—all of them list building pros—and I’m also covering the pros and cons of each, to help you decide which lead magnets are right for you and your audience.

To make it even easier for you, I’ve prepared a freebie with every one of the examples of lead magnets I’m going to discuss in the episode, so you can hear about them, but also see what I’m talking about as clearly as possible.

This episode is brought to you by:

My free Masterclass, The Ultimate List-Building Catch-Up Plan. If you are struggling to get started with list building or if you're not attracting new subscribers to your email list every single day, this is the free masterclass for you!

Check out these highlights:

• Why it’s only worth it to look at your conversion rate numbers and not anyone else’s. [3:48]
• The one lead magnet that’s sure to help your audience get to the finish line easily. [6:08]
• The type of freebie that’ll get your audience saying, “I can’t believe this is free—I would’ve paid for this.” [10:55]
• Is there a place for video or audio freebies? [13:33]
• How about challenges? (You know you want to know how to make these lead magnets work—they’re fun!) [16:49]
• The quick, easy (for audiences to process) and increasingly popular quiz. [20:17]
• What kind of free courses you can do and how to get them to work as lead magnets. [24:41]