EP # 160 - 5 False Beliefs Preventing You From Getting Things Done Consistently

In today's episode, I discuss five common false beliefs hindering entrepreneurs' productivity. These beliefs often stem from previous employee mindsets and can prevent consistent task execution. You'll learn strategies to shift thinking, prioritize effectively, and embrace delegation.

If you are ready to double your business through strategic small actions taken consistently without adding more work to your schedule, I can help. Book a sales call with here today and let's talk about how - https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call


Key Time Stamps:

Importance of Mindset (00:01:26)
Maggie emphasizes the significance of mindset in achieving business success and effectiveness.

False Belief #1: Task Obligation (00:02:37)
Discussion on the belief that entrepreneurs must complete tasks they dislike stems from an employee mindset.

Perspective Shift: You Are the CEO (00:04:57)
Maggie encourages listeners to recognize their autonomy in decision-making as business leaders.

Owning Your Choices (00:06:00)
Listeners are urged to commit to their choices, even when faced with discomfort or challenges.

Self-Relationship and Leadership (00:09:43)
Maggie highlights the importance of self-acceptance and confidence in leading oneself and the business.

False Belief #2: Doing It All at Once (00:12:17)
Discussion on the misconception that one must accomplish everything immediately, leading to overwhelm.

Prioritization Strategy (00:13:31)
Maggie introduces the Pareto Principle, emphasizing the importance of focusing on key tasks for maximum results.

False Belief #3: Delegation Doubts (00:14:51)
Exploration of beliefs that hinder effective delegation, including fears of losing control or finding capable help.

False Belief #4: Overwhelm from Too Much to Do (00:17:11)
Maggie challenges the belief of having too much to do, stressing the importance of realistic boundaries.

Proactive Planning (00:19:24)
Listeners are encouraged to be proactive in planning to avoid feeling overwhelmed by unexpected tasks.

CEO Power Hour (00:21:34)
Maggie introduces the concept of a weekly planning hour to help entrepreneurs gain perspective and prevent overwhelm.

False Belief #5: Uncertainty in Starting (00:22:47)
Discussion on the common fear of not knowing where to start, leading to inaction and confusion.

Constructive Questioning Technique (00:22:47)
Maggie suggests asking oneself what if they knew how to start, to shift from confusion to problem-solving.

Identifying Help Needed (00:23:54)
Discussion on recognizing when help is needed and exploring various sources for assistance.

Delegating Tasks (00:24:47)
Emphasis on the importance of delegating tasks and overcoming discomfort in executing familiar tasks.

Focusing on Critical Tasks (00:25:53)
Encouragement to concentrate on 20% of tasks that yield 80% of business results for effective growth.

Transcript

Maggie Perotin 00:00:01  Your business exists because you had the idea to start it. Everything begins in our minds. That's why your business results cannot outgrow your current level of thinking. Do you want to serve more clients, make more money without working more, or burning yourself out? Grow yourself first as a leader of your business because that's who you are as a leader. Even if you're the only person in your business right now When you lead yourself first, the business results will always follow. My name is Maggie Perotin. I'm an international business and leadership coach, an expert in business mindset, strategy and high performance. I created the Diamond Effect podcast to help you elevate your thinking, expand your perspective, and through it, grow your business without overwhelm. So let's get started. Hello. Hello everybody. Welcome to Diamond Effect Podcast episode 160. Today I want to talk about five main false beliefs that I see amongst my clients and entrepreneurs that are preventing them from getting things done consistently. Now, there might be more of those beliefs, but I wanted to talk about the five most common ones.

Maggie Perotin 00:01:26  It looks like this episode, episode 157 and 159 are all about getting things done and being effective just from different angles. And what I want to say that in this podcast I kind of come up with episode ideas based on the coaching that I do every week, the suggestions that my listeners give me, and it's not very organized, but that doesn't matter. It's a podcast. If you want it organized, if you want it, apply to your particular situation and really get into doing things consistently, doing things well, being effective, being the high performing. That's when you need to coach with me. In the meantime, I'm going to teach you a little bit about some false beliefs that we all sort of carry. We just need to be able to identify them and then change them to the ones that are more serving. And those are the ones that usually prevent us from getting things done consistently. Okay, so let's get started. The first one is actually the one that inspired me to do this episode, because I've coached a couple of my clients in the last few weeks on it.

Maggie Perotin 00:02:37  It comes a bit from an employee mindset. So both of those clients of mine used to be employees and corporations, and they sort of took that belief into their business. And the belief is, I have to do this task even if I don't want to. And it was coming to them from that place where they were in jobs that they don't necessarily enjoyed, and their bosses were telling them, okay, this is what you're going to do. And because they signed the contract, they were doing the tasks right, but they felt dreadful about it. They hated doing the task, they didn't like the job and so on. So that's where that mindset came from. And without really questioning it, they carried it into their business and believed that whatever they decided that they need to do in order to grow their business is the same because some kind of boss in this case, I guess, themselves telling them, oh, you have to do it. And because it was coming from that place, you have to even though you don't want to, they started procrastinating and they started not completing the tasks because they felt like somebody was telling them to do and they don't want to do.

Maggie Perotin 00:03:47  But here is three perspective that if you are having that belief, will help you change it to something that serves you and helps you accomplish things you decided to do. So the first perspective is that you are the CEO of your business. You can run it however you want it. You don't need to do anything you don't want to do. You're the boss. Nobody's above you telling you. Or you have to do this, or you have to do that, or you have to do it this way. You get to decide. And as I always say, there's a million ways to get to $1 million, and you do not have to do them all. You can pick how you want to do it, how you want to grow your business. Now when you coach with me in your my client, what we do is we pick those actions strategically and the strategy is based on, of course what's your business for your ideal clients, but also on your strength. So we marry what makes sense because of what you do and who your clients are, but also what makes sense because of your strengths, what you're good at, or what you might enjoy more.

Maggie Perotin 00:04:57  And we sort of match it, so you get to ultimately choose what you want to do. There's nobody forcing anybody. So when you truly think about it, nobody's forcing you to anything. So the actions you decided to take is you want to take them. And if you change your mind, you can pick other actions. So, for example, you don't want a network in person. You decide to work to network online. That's fine. Do that. And if one day online is not your thing anymore and you want to switch to networking in person, no problem, because there is a way for you to network that works. Network strategically, show up in a way that attracts people to you, and that's a skill you can utilize whether your network online or in person does not matter. So whatever you want to do, whatever you choose to do, do it. Nobody's forcing you. Then a perspective that I want to add to that is that when you choose what you're going to do, own your choice, commit to it.

Maggie Perotin 00:06:00  And yes, sometimes there may be some discomfort and learning skills. So let's just say you're like me, you just started your business. You've never really network. You don't know how to network. When I decided to start networking, I was doing it, not telling myself, I don't want to do it. I'm forced to do it, but I don't like it. But I owned that choice. I decided to do it even though I felt uncomfortable at first, even though when I went to a networking event, whether it was online or in person, I was a bit nervous and I was a wallflower for couple of them because I never network. But I decided to then learn the skill. So I owned my decision and did my best to grow as a leader of my business in order to execute that decision to the best of my ability. And it was the same with my social media. Before starting my business, I was barely on social media. I had Instagram account personal that I had two posts in my entire life, and I had a Facebook that I was connected with my friends from primary school and high school, and friends from Poland and my family, especially as an immigrant.

Maggie Perotin 00:07:13  So I used it occasionally to post some pictures of my kids and where we were going for my parents to see, but I barely really used it for any other reason. So when I decided to use social media for my business, it felt uncomfortable. I didn't want to post my pictures at first, which if you look at my social media now, you would be like, really Maggie? That's all we see. Your face you talking on video or your or your pictures. But trust me, in the beginning I was hiding behind pictures of quotes. But then I embraced the fact that I needed to learn, that I needed to expand my social media skills, that I needed to expand my comfort zone or fight my fear of showing up there. And I owned that decision because ultimately, the results I wanted to create were more important to me than the discomfort that I felt in the moment. Learning something new I've never done before. So as you can see, there was a balance of, yeah, you don't need to do anything you don't want to do.

Maggie Perotin 00:08:15  But once you decide logically from your CEO executive brain that you're going to pick a strategy for growing your business because it makes sense and you believe in it, and yet you need to learn certain aspects of its execution. And those aspects in the beginning might be uncomfortable. You got to own that decision and let yourself grow into it and feel the discomfort of learning curve as simple as that. Then the third part to this false belief. Or I have to do it even though I don't want to. Is that the boss part? If you have that belief because you come from an employee environment where maybe there was a boss, you didn't like, that made you do things that either you didn't like or wearing your strengths or were against your values. And now, even though the situation changed, you're still bringing that thought, but now you're the boss. So the question is, do you like yourself? What type of relationship do you have with you? It's a very important question to answer for yourself because unlike in a job where you can decide to change the job because you don't like the boss, which I did in my career a couple of times, it was always very important to me who I work with, and if I couldn't have a good relationship with my boss, I just changed the jobs.

Maggie Perotin 00:09:43  I never got myself stuck in a job I didn't like for whatever reason. But in this situation, if you're the boss, you're you. You can change the person, right? So a lot of work that as entrepreneurs we need to do, which I think is amazing and that's why everybody should have a business, is working on self-acceptance and liking yourself as a person and trusting yourself as the business leader and having confidence in your decision. Because as humans, we all have kind of two types of brain. We have the executive logical brain of the CEO that makes decisions that are the best for the business based on what we want and where we want it to take in our goals. Best for the business now and later. And we have a toddler brain who sometimes doesn't want to execute those decisions because they involve learning and exerting energy and maybe failing a little bit down the line. And that toddler brains sometimes were rebel. But when we have a good relationship with ourselves, or we trust in our own decisions where we know that if we decided strategically to do something and we know why we want to do it, we can then manage our toddler brain and get it to help us execute it.

Maggie Perotin 00:11:08  But if we have this hate relationship with ourselves, we're criticizing ourselves all the time. We're not trusting the decisions we make. We were shaming ourselves for everything we do. Then it's very hard to then listen to the executives, your brain and execute the decision it makes that relationship with yourself. It's really a foundation of self leadership, as a foundation of doing the things you said you would do, when you would do them consistently. It's the foundation and I help my clients together. I help my clients to build a strong foundation of a relationship with them. So then they can lead the business. Because the only way you can lead your business, if you first can lead yourself. The second false belief that might be preventing you from getting things done consistently is the belief that you must do it all, all at once, right now. And I want to say this is not true. Your brain is lying to you. And actually, the opposite is true. Meaning you don't have to do it all and you shouldn't.

Maggie Perotin 00:12:17  And you shouldn't be doing all at once. And you can't. Humanly impossible. So what do you do instead? You prioritize. You prioritize not only in the timeline, what you do first and what comes next and what comes after, but also the tasks that are most important for you to focus now. Not most urgent, but most important. It's been proven over and over. The Pareto Principle 8020 rule 20% of the actions you will take will create 80% of the results. And your job as the CEO's to identify those 20% of action and then prioritize them in a sequence. Right. What needs to be done first and then what needs to get done after, and so on. And that comes from being proactive and planning and not reacting, trying to do it all. Because when you try to do it all, all at once, all you do is get stuck and overwhelmed. That's all that happens. And that, of course, doesn't get anything done. I talk about it also in one of the episodes where I talk about strategic constraint.

Maggie Perotin 00:13:31  That's what strategic constraint is, is about doing the most important things in a proactive manner so you don't have to do it all. And nothing is so urgent that you're overwhelmed by the amount of times that are happening and waiting for you because you weren't proactive, because you were reactive and you created all these fires that are now blowing out in your face. So I invite you to listen to episode number 141 from March 22nd on Strategic Constraint. When I talk more in detail about this concept, another false belief. We're actually like three versions of it centered around effective delegating or having those beliefs prevents you from effectively delegating certain tasks that gotta be done, but they're not in the 20% of the most important ones that you should be doing, and somebody else can do them. And those beliefs are getting help with slowing me down, or I don't have time to invest in hiring the right people, or that I'm the only one who can do it well, and there's nobody else who can, or that there are no good people out there who could potentially take that task on my plate and doing well, not to mention better than yourself.

Maggie Perotin 00:14:51  Again, I want to debunk that all those thoughts are not true. You cannot be the best in everything. And if those tasks are not key core competencies of you as the CEO, I can guarantee there are people out there who can do them better, faster, and in a more creative way. That would bring a lot of value to your business and that you can find them, and that when you find them investing a little bit of time in training them or explaining to them what you need and someone is worth it, how do I know? I was a corporate leader for 15 years, and the only reason why I kept getting promoted, and why my teams performed so well, is because I believed there are amazing people who can do tasks better than me. I believe that if I invest my time in leading them and mentoring them, they will do amazing things and I proved myself right. I'm telling you, learn from my experience. What it takes is to have the right mindset and then develop people leadership skills.

Maggie Perotin 00:16:00  And those are skills that anybody can learn, just like marketing and sales, just like riding a bike or learning a new language, I promise you, I believe great leaders are made, not born. And it comes from growing a skill set and how you grow a skill set. A you decide that you want to and be you find a teacher who can teach you that, but you find the best way to learn it. Whether it's through a coach like myself, through school, through courses, you get to decide how the next falls. Believe that I see many entrepreneurs have and get stuck and not execute consistently on whatever they decided on to grow their business. Is I have too much to do? So if you're the one thinking that I have too much to do, I can't potentially do it all. I want to ask you who decides how much do you have to do? And the answer is you. Do you or the CEO of your business? You decide. So be realistic in those decisions, right? Be realistic in how much you take on what you say yes to what you say no to.

Maggie Perotin 00:17:11  Develop healthy boundaries and also know yourself. Know how much time tasks take you. So then when you plan your weeks, you're really realistic about it. Now, of course, what will help you is having a strategy because that helps you to prioritize. And then when you have the list of tasks in order of priority, then it's about planning. And it's about planning realistically to your daily operations of the business, not to perfect life. Knowing yourself, knowing your schedule and just working it. Becoming master of your own schedule. Like I think about me, I hardly ever even think that I have too much to do. Not because I couldn't do more if I wanted to. In your business, you could be working 24 seven, coming up with the ideas of what you can do and how you can do it, and doing it right. As I said, there's a million ways to grow your business, but you can do it all. I pick strategically what I want to get involved in, how I want to market my business.

Maggie Perotin 00:18:20  You know, I understand my schedule and how many one on one clients I can take on at one time and at what point I can't anymore. And what am I going to do when that happens? All of that, I know. So the only time when occasionally, rarely I end up with having, let's say, too much to do is if something unexpected happens. So let's say I was planning to have a full week of work. I planned that, and then two days of that. I'm sick and I can't function, or I have a child that's sick and I can function, but a that happens very rarely in B, it's not a big deal in that moment because then I just reprioritize or just replan and because it doesn't happen every week, week after week, it's not a big deal to handle when unexpected life happens. But unexpected life happens. Five probably less, but maximum 5% of the time. If you have unexpected happening 95% of the time, then there is something wrong. If how you are handling your weeks, how you're managing your business.

Maggie Perotin 00:19:24  Because when you're proactive and you prioritize, the unexpected shouldn't be more than 5%. But of course, if you don't have boundaries, if you don't prioritize, if you're not strategic, you get to the point where it seems like you have too much to do, and that's overwhelming. And that's debilitating to the point where you're stuck and you don't even want to move. Because no matter where you move, there is more that comes your way. And again, I could understand it if you were an employee in a corporation, when there's other people making decisions for you and you get stuck with competing priorities and know how, because I've been there. That's what led to my burnout. Right. But as the CEO of your business, you are the decision maker, so you can prevent that from happening. That's why I started my business to prevent that type of burnout to happen in me again, because I didn't have full agency over decisions that were being made when I was in corporate. Now that I have my own business, I have 100% agency over all the decisions that are being made.

Maggie Perotin 00:20:31  And you do too. Now I want to give you a little tip. So let's say if you are in a situation, you're like, Maybe I'm still stuck and overwhelmed. I think I have to do it all or that I have too much to do. I don't know where to move. Please help. I want to ask you to stop and pause and to re-evaluate. What is it that you have to do and what is it that really is important and it's got to be done and makes a difference? And what can you delegate and where you can ask for help and things like that? I call it CEO Power Hour. If you have one hour a week when you use for planning, for pausing, for zooming out and looking at your business from a bird's eye view, you will not only get yourself out of this situation, but you will start preventing it from happening. I teach that to my clients. One of the first things that they learn is the power of zooming out through attending our weekly coaching session and being the CEO during those coaching sessions.

Maggie Perotin 00:21:34  And then they see the value, and I help them create one hour a week so they can do it on their own on top of our coaching session. So CEO Power Hour is very powerful as long as you implement it. Okay. The last false belief that I see prevents entrepreneurs from getting things done consistently is I don't know where to start, what do I even do? And that's even happens after they make a decision on whatever actions they will take to get to the goals and results that they decided on, right? Their brain is just resistant to taking action and exerting that energy when there is a potential in failure, when there's a learning curve because they haven't done those things before. Again, whether it's going live or showing your face on social media, or whether it's networking or whether it's being bold out there and reaching out to corporate potential clients. So when our primitive brain is scared and it doesn't want to exert energy, it finds reasons not to do things. So it tells us I don't know what to do.

Maggie Perotin 00:22:47  I don't know how to start. It just creates confusion in order not to do things that we decided on that we would do. In a nutshell, it makes things complicated that they need to be in order to prevent us from doing things and exerting energy. And that's very disempowering because ultimately nobody feels good when they're stuck, when they're not doing what they really deep down want to do. So one powerful trick to that, and the question to ask yourself when you're faced with your brain offering, I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start is to ask yourself, but what if I knew? What if I knew what to do, what it would be then? Or what if I knew how to start? How would I go about it? What that does is it that gives your brain a problem to solve. And our brain loves solving problems. It loves puzzles, so it's directing the brain to something more constructive rather than keeping it in this disempowering state. I don't know, I don't know permanent confusion.

Maggie Perotin 00:23:54  Because then when you ask yourself, okay, if I knew, how would I go about it? Or if I knew, how would I start? The answer might be, hey, I need help. There are some new things I've never done before and I need to learn how to do that. But then at least you know you need help. Then the next question to ask yourself, okay, what kind of help do I need? Is it a coach? Is I need to YouTube something or read a book? Or do I need to to go to school or buy a course? And there might be different answers for different scenarios. There are times where if I want to learn something, I just Google, or I buy a book or a YouTube, or I hire a coach to teach me that. It depends on the complexity, on the depth level of whatever I need to learn and how deep I want to go, how much mastery I want to get, and what I'm learning. But then sometimes the answer might be I need help.

Maggie Perotin 00:24:47  But that help means delegating, hiring somebody to do the task for me, not me trying to do it myself. Or the answer might be I really know how to do it. It's just uncomfortable. So I need to be willing to lean into the discomfort and just do it. That's all I have for you today. If you have any questions in regards to this topic or your Maggie, I might have some false beliefs, but the five you talked about or not those, or if you're finally ready to double your business by getting things done. But not all of it. Not all of it all at once, but really focusing on 20% of the critical things that will create 80% of the results of your business. In doing it strategically and effectively, in an organized manner, and getting somebody helping you overcome whatever challenges you are struggling with, rather than trying to parse it out through tons of episodes that I recorded about it. Just talk to me. Schedule a sales conversation with me through the link in the show notes.

Maggie Perotin 00:25:53  You will have a lot of fun and at the same time, I will tell you exactly how you can double your business without adding more work. So talk to you soon and otherwise. See you next Friday. Thank you for listening today. If this podcast resonated with you, please come back. Also, you can leave a review on whatever platform you're listening, and if you have a suggestion, question or a topic you would like me to talk about, let's get in touch via email. Email me at Maggie at Stairway to Leadership. Com. See you in the next episode.