68 | The power of decisive action (and how to take it)

Speaker: 00:00:00

Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hello, welcome to this 68 episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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It's a beautiful day here today.

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And it got me thinking about the power

of decisive action, which really is

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the true skill of entrepreneurship.

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And what led me on to thinking about

this is I have my in-person event

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this Friday, which is very exciting.

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So I have 32 amazing

coaches coming for the day.

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And I asked in an email to

them last night, which was

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kind of prepping for the day.

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What would you like to achieve?

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And there was a whole host of

different answers varying from want

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to feel connected to others and

inspiration, happy with anything.

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And there was also lots of tasks, so,

you know, wants to know how to run

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a discovery call, wants to know how

to do a signature coaching program.

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Wants to know how to nail my niche.

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And I think that is really

interesting because yes, that

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is what we all want to know.

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But it's also interesting because

there is so much information out there.

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I have podcast episodes on nearly

everything we need to know.

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So what we need to know

is not always the problem.

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That's the thing that we can easily miss.

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That it's not knowing

what we need to know.

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There are books.

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There is YouTube.

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There is this podcast.

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There are so many things that

help us with what we need to do.

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It's the implementation and also

the courage to actually take action.

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Not knowing if it's the

right decision or not.

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Because for example, niching is just a

decision you can decide that's my niche.

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Yeah.

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So it's not something that you need

to go around in circles over for

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months, even though I know we do.

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And there is no shame in that I

have sure gone round in circles

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on niching many times as well.

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But from this view that I'm having today,

It's about decision-making and that's

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why I wanted to really cover that today.

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That power of making decisive

action, because that is what is

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going to fast track your progress.

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And that is why the people in my

program make much more speedy progress

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than most people, because instead

of staying on their own with that

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problem, they can share it and then

they can move past it way quicker.

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With feedback, with support, with

accountability than they would without

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quickly sharing, making that decision.

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Doing something differently the next day.

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So excited to cover that today

and help you to start taking

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decisive action in your business.

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And on this topic, I also want to share

that it's not just a cognitive thing and I

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think trauma is a real issue in business.

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And it's not your fault.

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There needs to be a lot of deep

personal work that goes on alongside

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building your business because

it's scary to make decisions.

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We've never been brought up to have

a strong opinion, make a decision.

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It's like, play it safe is how most

of us were brought up in school.

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Do what you're told.

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Don't be too loud.

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So it takes a lot of courage.

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And it also takes a lot of

digging deep and embodiment work.

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I worked with someone amazing

called Juliet who helped me to

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see that it's not just mindset.

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It's not just me thinking, oh, I can

just change my mind and be more positive.

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It's trauma stored in the body

preventing you from moving forward until

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you deal with that previous trauma.

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And when I say trauma, I'm talking

about not running in the egg

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and spoon, race or small things.

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It doesn't need to be a huge, big

drama that you've had, but small

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things and how we viewed them at

the time will massively impact us.

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So allow yourself the self-compassion

whether you think people have got it worse

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than me and all of that type of stuff,

because yes, for sure that they have,

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and I really struggled with this also.

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But your body perceives a

threat and stores that threat.

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So it doesn't matter if it's logical and

people are worse off or not worse off.

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It's your perception in that moment?

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Let's get started.

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So Fastly, the paralysis of analysis.

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How many times have you found

yourself stuck in the planning phase?

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Researching, weighing up options,

seeking that perfect moment to act.

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I for sure I've done this a lot.

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And while some preparation is important,

there is a point where you just need

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to do the thing, not knowing if it's

going to work or not in that moment.

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There's rarely a perfect time.

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It's just about trusting that you, as

your CEO of your own business needs to

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make a decision with the knowledge and

the resources you have in that moment.

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And if it fails fine, you fail

fast and you make another decision.

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And I think that is a absolute skill.

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There are some people that I've

worked with super successful people.

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Who are unbelievable at

making quick decisions.

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And again, it's so obvious.

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Why they succeed?

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When they just move forward that

day and I can say something to them.

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One day and it's out there that

afternoon and you're like, oh my gosh.

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If only I could act as

quickly as my amazing clients.

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Whether it succeeds or fails,

they're going to know pretty soon.

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Versus spending three months thinking

about it and then not knowing if it passes

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or fails until three or four months time.

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They're going to know within the

next week, and then they can move

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forward with another decision.

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So it's such a joy and definitely

a trait I notice in my clients.

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Embracing imperfect

action is the next one.

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Progress over perfection every time.

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Start now get perfect.

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Later has been my motto

since day one of my business.

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The only way you get perfect

is to actually start.

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Be really rubbish when you start.

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And continue to practice that skill

again and again, and again, like

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everything we've had to practice in life.

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But as we grow older, we get so in

our comfort zone and we don't want

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to appear not knowledgeable not

confident or any of those things.

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And again, back to the personal

growth work, you have to do

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these things before you're ready.

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Otherwise you are never

going to get ready.

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It's also worth knowing that every

single successful entrepreneur that you

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admire has made a mass of bad decisions.

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That is how they have made really

good decisions because maybe.

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In one bad decision because

they've made it speedily.

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They've made four good

decisions with a time.

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They would have spanked

going round in circles.

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So thirdly, the skill of decisive action.

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Making quick decisions with limited

information, isn't just a necessity.

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It really is a skill that you can develop.

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The more decisions that you make

you become better at quickly

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assessing situations, trusting your

instincts, listening to your gut.

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Dealing with uncertainty, learning

from the outcome, both good and bad.

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Next up is owning your own decisions.

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I had a call this morning with a speaking

coach who I contacted at the last

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minute realizing hosting a large event

requires quite a lot of understanding

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how to facilitate that process.

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He helped me to be able to

say to those in the room on

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Friday, like whose goal is this?

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It's my goal.

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So take full responsibility for your goal.

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And as we continue throughout the day on

Friday, for example, keep checking in.

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Am I getting closer to my goal?

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If not, what do I need to do

within my control right now

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to be able to reach my goal?

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So letting people be the CEO of their own

business, like I am hosting the event.

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But I do not need to

own 32 different goals.

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One person is like wanting to work

on the discovery, calls another.

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Person's wanting to work on this.

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We have a limited amount of time

resources I have the day planned.

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If that is their goal, they're going

to have to figure out what they need to

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do throughout the day in conversations

and also what they may need to do

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after the event to reach that goal.

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So, how can you think about

taking full responsibility for

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the outcomes of your decisions?

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Both positive and negative.

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Learn from every decision, especially

the ones that didn't pan out.

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I just had a message from someone

who had their first bits of kind of

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grief from social media yesterday.

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And she wanted to retreat, obviously,

as you do, when someone questions

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you on social media, but it's

like, how can we learn from that?

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Assess the situation.

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And accept that is my opinion.

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And people are going to have different

views and staying in this middle

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ground all the time is never going

to help you to grow your business.

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It needs to be you.

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It needs to be your thoughts.

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Your emotions, your

stories that you share.

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If someone has a different

view, then that's fine.

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They can scroll on by.

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but you can't make yourself Vanilla

in order to appease one person.

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And then through making these decisions,

you will build that confidence in your

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ability to handle whatever comes your way.

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This is definitely something I

have developed on this journey

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of entrepreneurship, which I

a hundred percent would never

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have been able to do before.

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So it just shows when I make a decision,

I think, well, there's no choice.

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I have to do this now.

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I have to.

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figure this out.

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And you will do the same.

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So trust in your own

resilience and confidence.

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Next I wanted to talk about the

compounding effects of action.

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Every decision you make.

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Every action you take compounds over time.

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It's those small, consistent

actions that build momentum.

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People want to think that

there's one magic pill they

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can take, but it really isn't.

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It's like these small things of

like putting out that post today

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that you really can't be bothered

to put out is adding another

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building block to your business.

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It will create opportunities,

open doors for you, and sometimes

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lead to big breakthroughs that

you would never have imagined.

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Have a think about perhaps that discovery

call that you haven't followed up yet

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could become your biggest success story.

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So what can you do today to build

that compounding effect of action?

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And lastly let's think about

overcoming fear and doubts, because

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I know you are probably thinking

this is really easy to say, but

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what if I make the wrong decision.

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And let me be clear.

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You will definitely make wrong decisions.

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It's not a possibility.

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It is a certainty.

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But here is why it's important

because successful entrepreneurs are

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not those who never make mistakes.

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They're the ones who make

the mistakes the quickest.

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So they move forward and make

the right decision next time.

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Fear of failure is completely normal.

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It paralyzes you and it

paralyzes me often too.

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So again, just know that there

is nothing wrong with you.

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Everyone feels this way.

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It's just about what tiny, tiny

step can you take today to ensure

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that you do not stay stuck?

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And keep remembering that every wrong

decision is an opportunity to learn.

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Adjust.

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Accept, and realize that next

time you have that experience

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now, and you will be able to use

that to make a better decision.

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So here is my challenge to you

today in the next 24 hours.

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Please do make that decision.

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that you have been putting off.

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Launch the program.

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Reach out to the potential

client or previous contact that

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you knew in your workplace.

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Invest in that tool or training you've

been considering whatever it is.

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Take action, and know that you will never

have a guarantee in entrepreneurship.

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So if you are waiting to know that

this is a hundred percent going to work

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for you, then you might as well go get

a job because there is no guarantee.

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And the most exciting part of

entrepreneurship is creating.

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Is building is innovating.

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And not knowing if it's going to work or

not work, but being brave enough to try.

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So having that faith and

trusting yourself enough to know.

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That you are resilient and should

you choose the wrong niche or

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you put the wrong offer out.

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You will learn from that you will grow

and you will do something differently

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next time that you wouldn't do if it

wasn't for taking that decision at that.

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time.

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So in summary, we covered analysis

paralysis, embracing imperfect action.

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the skill of decisive action.

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Owning your decisions,

The compound effect.

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of action and overcoming fear and

doubts and know that you can do this.

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Keep going every successful journey

begins with that first step.

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I love that photo.

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If you haven't seen it before

with these two massive.

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ladders and one has these huge steps

and the other has these tiny, tiny

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steps and who succeeds is the one

that takes that tiny step today.

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So promise me, you will make that

decision in the next 24 hours.

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And I cannot wait to hear from you.

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Drop me a line on LinkedIn as Joanna

Lott or Instagram as @joannalottcoaching.

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And I cannot wait to see

what decision you make today.

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So catch up soon.

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And like I always say, trust yourself,

believe in yourself and be the wise

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Gardner who keeps on watering the seeds.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.