October is Halloween month, which means stores are stocking up with all the candies, costumes and fear-based fun that comes as the year transitions to fall. It’s all good fun and most of us enjoy this season and all its antics.
But in reality, despite the fact that we make light of fear during this season, fear is nothing to joke about. In real life, fear grips us. It paralyzes us from making progress in any area of our lives.
And this is especially true in sales and business.
So how can a business owner conquer their fears – which manifests as limiting beliefs?
An old Cherokee legend tells the story of a young boy and his grandfather. The grandfather tells of the struggle within. He says, “Within me are two wolves. One of the wolves is fear, greed, rage, bitterness, arrogance, inferiority, and lies. The other is joy, patience, happiness, confidence, generosity, truth, faith, and kindness.”
The boy pauses for a moment and asks, “Which one will win?” The grandfather’s answer?
“The one you feed.”
It seems so simple, right? Our thoughts become who we are – we all seem to know this intuitively. And yet we still allow doubt, inferiority, and other fear-based thoughts – or what I call limiting beliefs – to occupy our mind. In other words, we feed the fear-based wolf far more often than the faith-filled one!
Now, let’s be honest. If there has ever been a time that uncertainty was warranted as a business owner, 2020 would be it. It has genuinely been a rough year. Many businesses were hit hard by the shutdowns that were caused by Covid-19 and for many business owners, the future is still rather uncertain.
Enter the limiting beliefs. Do any of these sound familiar?
- My business won’t come back after COVID.
- I shouldn’t try to double my sales now because my business might get shut down again.
- My business has already seen it’s finest day.
- I have no way to pivot to accommodate the changes happening in business.
- I have lost too many clients.
- The economy has caused my target clients to be unable to afford my services.
Which wolf is that? Probably not the one you want to be giving attention to, right?
These are common limiting beliefs that I’m helping clients with right now. It’s been a unique year! But can you replace those beliefs with these:
- My business will make a stronger comeback than ever.
- I can double my sales at any time – people still need what I have to offer!
- My business has yet to see it’s finest day!
- I can adapt to change – and so can my business.
- I have formed great relationships with my clients and they still want to work with me.
- What I have to offer is valuable, regardless of the status of the economy.
Now you have a choice. Which beliefs are you going to intentionally choose as you finish this year? Which “wolf” will you feed?
There’s no reason you can’t LevelUp – even though it’s still 2020!
