Jo discusses the reasons why some coaches struggle to take action in their business and how to overcome those obstacles. She emphasises the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone and into the growth zone, as well as finding a supportive community to remind oneself of the possibilities. Jo shares her personal experience of being scared to tell anyone about her business and how she had to work on her inner self to overcome that fear. She also highlights the role of thoughts and emotions in driving actions and results.

Why you aren't taking action [00:00:26]

Jo discusses the reasons why people struggle to take action in their coaching business and how to overcome it.

The role of beliefs, past experiences, and conditioning [00:07:22]

Jo explains how beliefs, past experiences, and conditioning can influence our thoughts and emotions, and how to challenge and evaluate them.

The impact of information and media [00:09:36]

Jo talks about how the information and media we consume can greatly influence our thoughts and emotions, and how to be aware of it.

Factors that influence our thoughts and emotions [00:10:37]

Jo discusses the factors that influence our thoughts and emotions, including information and media consumption, self-talk, and seeking support from a coach or therapist.

Structured framework to overcome negative self-talk [00:11:49]

Jo provides a structured framework to help listeners overcome negative self-talk, including becoming aware of beliefs, past experiences, conditioning, society influences, and information and media consumption.

Useful Links

Joanna Lott's website and the 12 ways to get clients now

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

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If you found this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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Hello and welcome to Women in the Coaching Arena podcast.

I'm so glad you are here.

I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor and ICF accredited coach, and I'm on a

mission to help brilliant coaches build brilliant coaching businesses.

In this podcast, I'll be sharing honest, not hype, practical and

emotional tools to support you to make the difference that you are here for.

Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone): Welcome to episode 11 of Women

in the Coaching Arena podcast.

I'm so glad you are here today.

Our topic is why you aren't taking action and how to handle your

feelings and emotions so you get to fulfill your potential in your

coaching business and in your life.

So this episode has been inspired by many calls and emails I've had this week

from people who have been waiting for years to get moving in their business.

They want to save money and instead they waste time.

And then it's really easy to get frozen into inaction and lose so much confidence.

So you may have all these ideas and dreams that you want to pursue, but

sometimes no matter how much you try, you just can't find the motivation

to take action and make a decision.

So you might ask yourself, why do I seem to go round in circles?

And what I know is that there are countless ways to build your business, and

each of them requires you to step into the arena and try, and that is the hard part,

and that's why I love Brene Brown's quote so much about if you are not in the arena,

I am not interested in your feedback.

And it's so brilliant because I think you will never find anyone who is

working harder than you criticize you.

So you will only find those who are frozen into inaction and outside the arena who

will ever say anything negative about you.

So if you are in the arena, you have a shot.

And it is all possible.

So it feels impossible many times, especially when you're on your own,

which is why it's so important to find your tribe of people who remind you

it's possible when you have forgotten.

So when I started my business, I was petrified of everything.

It took me at least four months to gather the courage to post on

social media about what I was doing.

To tell my friends and family was the most horrific thing I felt I ever did.

And the more you can manage to force yourself through that comfort

zone, into that growth zone, then you will start to be able to really

effectively build your business.

And what needs to really happen, therefore is that inner work

and taking action combined.

So I have spent a lot of money and a lot of time doing that inner work with

coaches because you can know everything there is to do to build your business, but

there's a deeper emotional and embodied reason why you may not be taking action.

So it's not always something that we can think our way out of.

It's a pattern stored in the body that is trying to keep us safe.

So with small, courageous steps and consistently facing our fears, we

can become more courageous as well as really identifying and naming

those patterns when they come up.

So if you are waiting for clarity, know that you'll never know and you'll never

get it unless you have tried and failed.

So it's not gonna come without you taking action.

Get in the arena, dare greatly, and try.

Speaking about daring greatly.

I am hosting my first in-person event this week on Friday 26th of May.

So I am super, super excited to help the coaches attending to really step

into that arena and dare greater than they would ever do alone.

So yeah, super excited.

So if you're not able to attend this time, hopefully I will run

another one maybe next year.

So, of course there are circumstances beyond our control.

We can't control other people and whether they buy our thing, we can't control

the past because it's already done.

However, as a coach, you know that there is so much more within

your control than you may be ever realized before you were a coach.

So whether you allow yourself to procrastinate when building your

website, or whether you hear yourself making those excuses that you don't

have time or blaming others for your lack of progress, all these things.

Are within your control, and it's easy for us to forget that.

And everything in that present experience is within our control,

including our conscious thoughts.

So that's where I really wanted to go next with this episode.

And of course, there are many unconscious thoughts that we have all

day long that we aren't even aware of.

And this matters because our thoughts create our feelings and

our feelings create our actions.

So when I am asked the question like, why am I not taking action?

Why am I so scared?

I just can't do this.

It's often because of the way you feel and your beliefs that that stems from.

So if you are taking action that you don't want to take, it's

also because of the way you feel.

So if you are stuck, not really playing as big as you wish to.

Then again, it's back to those feelings and the feelings you are avoiding

that might come from playing bigger.

So it's all about those feelings driving your actions, and of course your actions

will always create the results that you want or don't want in your life.

So if your coaching business isn't where you want it to be.

It's likely due to those thoughts leading to the feelings that result

in procrastination and lack of action.

And it happens to all of us, but it's why I spend so much time

and money working with various practitioners on a really deep level.

So I've been working with someone called Juliet recently who does emotional freedom

technique and tons of other modalities.

I think she calls it parts work.

And it's really helped me to see that lots of the things happening now in my life

and literally related to my business are due to patterns that started in childhood.

I also work with Nick, an amazing MCC I C F coach, who focuses

on where is this coming from.

So yeah, it's really important to go back to the root cause

of many of these behaviors that may be not serving you anymore.

So the next logical question is what determines what we think?

Our thoughts and feelings are influenced by so many factors, including our

beliefs, past experiences, conditioning, and all of the information we consume.

So here are a few key factors that play a role.

So you can start to identify and really consciously create those thoughts.

So firstly, our beliefs, which as a coach we all know lots about limiting beliefs.

So they shape our perception of the world and ourselves.

I like to think of it as a stained glass window, and you can be sitting

in a church or something and depending on exactly where you are sitting, the

room will look completely different.

And the sunshine shining through those windows will give you a different

view of what's happening in that room than the person sitting next to you

or the person sitting in front of you.

So that always helps me think about those beliefs and how they

can distort our view of the world.

If you don't believe that this is possible for you, for example.

So challenging and evaluating these beliefs is going to really help you to

create new possibilities and empower you to take the necessary steps forward.

It always helps me to write them down because I don't think we can think

our way out of a limiting belief.

So it always helps to kind of get it down and then start to more rationally see our

way through and obviously feel our way through is the ultimate solution here.

So past experiences is the next thing you can reflect on.

Especially if those were challenging or traumatic, they will greatly

impact your thoughts and emotions.

I really notice this with my clients and how their past experiences are holding

them back depending on the individual.

So, everybody I work with I get to know so well, and I really start to

spot their patterns, which may be from beliefs, from experiences, from

all of these things we're covering.

So yeah, think about your past experiences and if, for example, not wanting to

speak up at school is still affecting you to this day because it genuinely does.

The next thing that you can reflect on and how this may be impacting on your

thoughts is conditioning and society.

So your family, history and being a woman carries lots of history with it.

That will impact on how we behave versus how men behave.

So there is a lot that comes with our conditioning and society.

The awareness is key.

So the next one I really like it's information and media because

the more information we consume, whether through the news, social

media, or other places, influence our thoughts and emotions greatly.

So I, for example, rarely watch the news and rarely really

scroll Instagram or social media.

You know I just don't really do that much.

I do sometimes create stuff, but I don't really consume very much at all.

And actually, you know what?

That actually serves me really well because I think the few times I do, you

just end up feeling depressed or worried.

So yeah I'm quite happy living in my little bubble.

So think about what information and media you are consuming.

The next one is self-talk.

So that negative self-talk that we all have undermines our

confidence and discourages action.

So back to Brene Brown, who I continuously keep talking about, self-compassion

and vulnerability is really key.

In summary of today's episode, to help you overcome inaction and start taking

steps towards your goals become aware of the influencing factors that we've

talked about and how they can help you to shift your thoughts and emotions.

So things like journaling, self-reflection, mindset work.

Body work.

Seeking support from a coach or therapist surrounding yourself with positive

and a supportive community are so key.

Change starts from within and consciously choosing those empowering thoughts

and beliefs can really help you to actually thrive in your business.

It's not just about the strategy.

I would say 50% strategy, 50% inner work is required.

So in this episode, we explored those factors.

Firstly our beliefs.

Secondly, our past experiences.

Thirdly, conditioning and society influences.

Fourthly, information and media and what you're consuming there.

And lastly, self-talk and that inner dialogue that we all have with ourselves.

So I really hope that this episode gives you some things to think about

in a kind of structured framework way to really help you to get a handle on

that negative voice that tells you, you can't do this because, oh, yes, you can.

And like I say at the end of every episode, trust yourself.

Believe in yourself and be the wise gardener who keeps on watering the seed.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

Please come and say hi to me on LinkedIn or Instagram and let me

know how you are getting on in your coaching business and how you are

gonna go for your dreams this year.

My name on LinkedIn is Joanna Lott and on Instagram is at Joanna Lott Coaching, and

I'll also put links in the show notes.

Let me know if you found this episode useful.

Share it with a friend and leave me a review, and I will

personally thank you for that.

Thank you so much for listening.