Episode 574: 5 Things to Let Go Of in Your Business (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT571 – 5 Things to Let Go Of in Your Business

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Sponsor (Caro Jensen)  00:37

Thanks Megan for the opportunity to share my video services with your listeners. My name is Caro and I have a food blog called Caroha.com. Video is time-consuming. It’s another skill that you might not want to master right now. And that’s where I can help you. I confidentially shoot for bloggers who need videos for existing or new recipes. I mentioned look and feel it will help establish a new video style as well. I can create simple hands and pens, videos or more complex edits that include multiple angles and those really captivating slow motions. I deliver a variety of edits for all platforms horizontal vertical square edits, I just want to make sure that my clients can leverage my work as much as possible. All videos are color graded, have engaging transitions, branded titles updated, etc. You can check off my portfolio on carojensen.com, CAROJENSEN.com. If you need help with video on 2024, please get in touch.

Megan Porta  01:26

Hi food bloggers. How are you today? Welcome to another mindset and self care episode here on Eat BlogTalk in today’s episode, we are going to talk about five things to let go of in your business. Food blogging aside, we as humans internally hold on to so much unnecessary garbage, and this can impact us very negatively if we’re not careful. When you throw entrepreneurship into the mix, we can get even more bogged down, because with this territory comes a lot of opportunity to just hold really tightly onto some things. And I think this can be cumulative as well. I have uncovered some things recently that I realized I’ve been holding on to for years. I was able to feel like, actually, physically feel the build up of these things. Maybe you feel like there’s just something that’s holding you back from achieving those things you want so badly to achieve, but you just can’t put your finger on what it is. You just aren’t sure what that is that’s holding you back, even though you know it’s there. 

Megan Porta  02:37

A couple years ago, I invested in this amazing mastermind group. It was one of the best business decisions and investments I’ve ever made in my business. I could rattle off a number of reasons it was so great. One of the things this group gave me was the ability to see firsthand other successful entrepreneurs who were thriving, happy and just abundant humans. Being in a group like that really allowed me to pull out some common threads, characteristics and habits I was seeing inside the group. I remember having the realization that the people in this group weren’t holding onto things that I had been holding on to at the time. At the time, I’d been afraid to be really bold in my business. I was holding back in a lot of ways, and I was constantly worried about what other people thought of me. So those were a couple of things I really started intentionally working on, and within a few months, I was able to let them go just like that. It was such a pivotal moment in my business, and it has opened up so much space for me to put energy toward things that actually matter and will move the needle forward in my business, as well as bring more clarity and peace into my life. My business grew exponentially after being in that group. The crazy thing is, I didn’t even know there were things that had been holding me back that I needed to release. I think this is probably the case for a lot of us. We wonder why things feel so hard, and it’s because we are unknowingly holding so tightly to something that we don’t even know about that isn’t serving us. I am hopeful that as you listen to this episode, you will be able to pull out at least one, hopefully more things that you are holding on to, and that you can give yourself permission to release in order to put your energy toward things that will serve you and serve your business. Let me tell you, it feels really good to release things that you’ve been holding on to for a while. For me, these are things I’d been holding on to for most of my life. If you ever want to uncover extra things that you might be holding on to that you’re not aware of, put a microscope on other successful people and see what they’re doing and not doing. I’m a huge proponent for joining quality mastermind groups, where you will gain access to people who think and act intentionally, and you learn so much from these groups. This allows you to see firsthand the things that they have let go of and the benefits that this has brought to them and their businesses. 

Megan Porta  05:22

Okay with all of that said, let’s talk through five things to let go of in your business. Number one, caring what others think. The questions, What will people think and what will people say, held me back in so many areas for years, almost for my entire life. What I realized from being in that powerhouse mastermind group that I was talking about was that everyone gets judged and ridiculed. No entrepreneur is immune. All entrepreneurs put themselves out there and therefore are judged and ridiculed at some point. So with this in mind, I have two options. I either put half hearted effort into my business and get judged, or I put wholehearted effort into my business get judged, let the crap go and find greater success and happiness. It’s a no brainer. I figure, as long as I am being true to myself and my values and my beliefs, it doesn’t matter what other people think. I love what I do. I operate with total integrity and kindness in my business. I show up to serve and help people, and this is all I need. If someone judges me or ridicules me for that, the issue is not with me, it’s with them. If you struggle with this one, it might help to write out what your values are. How do you show up in your business? Is integrity important to you? Write your values out on a piece of paper or in a Word doc, so you can remind yourself that you are worthy of running your business the way that you do and that you are helping others. There are people in my life and in my business who consistently judge me. I literally do not care anymore, if anything, I feel compassion toward them, and I extend so much grace to them, because I know that they truly just do not understand. And that is fine. Not everyone is going to understand my business. I cannot expect everyone to get it. So I’m just encouraging you to release your grip on caring what others think and say about you and your business, because that is none of your business. It might seem super overwhelming or even impossible to let go of this. I get it, but it really can be released with a single decision to just not care anymore. Maybe you just say, This is none of my business every time someone judges or ridicules you in any way, because it’s not it has everything to do with them and nothing to do with you. Let them figure out their own crap. That is not your job. 

Megan Porta  07:59

Number two, fear of failure. We just published an episode about this recently. If you haven’t listened to it, go back and check out episode number 562, 5 Steps for Dealing with Failure when Starting Something New. This is such a biggie for entrepreneurs. We watch people succeed and we watch people fail. Both things can make us afraid to even attempt what we know we should do. I’ll reiterate what I said in episode 562 which is, you will never learn from your successes. You will only learn from your failures. I love the concept of going into a project or a new venture with zero expectation of achieving great success, but instead approaching it with curiosity and a willingness to learn and grow from any failures, you encounter, a simple shift in perspective can change everything with the way we perceive failure, think back on your journey as an entrepreneur so far and just dissect it a little bit what you perceived as something that was a big failure at the time may have been the impetus for a breakthrough or an idea that catapulted your business to a new level or led to other great ideas. Just giving a little bit of attention to our own history can defuse failure altogether and help us realize that failure is actually an essential part of the journey. If others judge you for your failures, then again, that’s on them, and most likely it means that they have a fear of failing themselves, and therefore stay in their cozy little comfort zones where they don’t challenge themselves or find the successes they desire. Fear is so tricky because I don’t know that any of us ever totally shed fear. Speaking for myself, it’s something that pops up regularly in my business and in my life. I’ve just gotten really good at seeing it and treating it almost like an old friend, like, Oh hey, there you are, and then just saying something like, you’re not serving me, I’m. I am going to release you and do this thing anyway. 

Megan Porta  10:03

And then most of the time still afraid, I do the thing anyway, which leads to number three, lack of confidence. Have you ever had a conversation with someone who confessed that they lack confidence and you were blown away, because you never would have guessed this about them. This is something else I observed about that mastermind group I was in. Those people were bold and courageous. They did things at the time that I could not imagine doing, and they did these bold, courageous things despite having a lack of confidence in what they were doing. At times, they did the thing boldly, whatever that thing was that would bring them closer to their dreams. I was talking to my business coach about this topic once, and I’ll never forget the words he said to me. He said, when you are feeling like you’re not confident enough to do something, use courage instead. Wow, that’s good. When I am just about to be a guest on someone else’s podcast, or maybe I just clicked that join Zoom meeting on a big call I’m hosting, or whatever it is, those twinges of feeling not confident enough creep in. That is when I replace the lack of confidence that I’m feeling with courage. Honestly, sometimes I have to dig really deep for this. I just give that lack of confidence permission to fade away. I talked to quite a few entrepreneurs, and this is one of the biggest things that holds people back. It is a killer, because I see so much potential and awesomeness in people that they don’t always see in themselves. The more you are willing to do hard things boldly, the easier it’s going to be to let any confidence issue you’re feeling go. 

Megan Porta  10:09

Number four, perfectionism, speaking of big things that hold people back, this is another biggie. I think having a child who is a perfectionist, like big time perfectionist, has really helped me to release any perfectionism I hold for myself. It’s given me a really good perspective. I see what an incredible human he is, and how much creativity and talent he has to offer the world. And from my perspective, he shines even more when he allows his flaws to show. I tell him this all the time, and he does not want to hear it, but there’s no such thing as being perfect. It doesn’t even really make sense as a word, because what standard are we even holding ourselves to? Parents, teachers, the Bible, religion? It’s impossible to define perfection. So why even try just be you? When people try to reach perfection, whatever that even means, they hold themselves back from putting things out into the world that need to be put in the world. This is so sad. I believe that your desires and passions were given to you specifically for a reason, so when an attempt at being perfect holds you back from creating or doing those things you are not living to your fullest potential, perfectionism can pop up in a few different areas. Maybe you are tweaking your writing on your blog endlessly, or perhaps you’re editing photos or even taking photos for hours just to get them looking perfect. Maybe you don’t feel like your speaking is refined enough to apply to be on podcasts or to do in person speaking gigs, or maybe you never publish anything on social media because your life or your business does not feel perfect enough, whatever it looks like for you, I encourage you to just show up. Do it ugly. I promise that whatever ugly is in your mind is either just fine or even great from someone else’s perspective, and when you show up unrefined, you’ve taken the first step and can only improve from there. By the way, people love unrefined these days, the people who are truly your people want to see the real you, not the fake perfect you. 

Megan Porta  13:58

Remind yourself that there is no such thing as perfection. There’s no board of human perfectionism judging every action you take. I give you permission to let go of that elusive perfection. Start showing up imperfect, because we’re all imperfect, and I promise people will love you for it. 

Megan Porta  14:17

Number Five excuses, Can we all just make a pact that will let go of all of the excuses we make in our businesses? I feel like the entire world would be a way better place if we all did this. If we dropped excuses, we’d start getting the things done that we’re called to do. We would open up gobs of space in our brains for opportunities. We would feel less encumbered, which would make us more capable of serving the people we’re here to serve. I could go on and on. I definitely used to use excuses as a crutch. I still do sometimes, but I’ve gotten really good at calling myself out and releasing the excuses most of time. When talking about entrepreneurship, people can lean on so many different excuses that end up holding them back. Here are a few examples. Maybe we excuse why we’re not starting a project, or maybe we’ve started the project and we’re not finishing the project. The excuses could be, I haven’t been feeling well. My kids have been sick a lot. I don’t have time. I’m waiting for the perfect time. It’s summer, it’s winter. I haven’t made a plan. I want to address the time thing, because that is an excuse for a lot of people. I hear it all the time, and it’s total garbage. I was the worst with this for the longest time. I use the I don’t have time, excuse for just about everything. Then I heard someone say something on a podcast once that I’ll never forget. They said, You have time for anything you want to have time for. So instead of saying I don’t have time for x, you may as well say x is not a priority for me. Ouch. That hit home so hard because the things I was saying I didn’t have time for were things like doing things with my family or starting projects I felt really passionately about and that I knew would serve people in a meaningful way. That reframe changed everything for me. It helped me to create boundaries so I could start prioritizing the right things. It helped me to recognize and release the excuses I was making for so many things. Calling myself out forces me to drop the crap and to take action. If you find yourself making excuses for things in your business, why you’re not doing things you should be doing or whatever it is, simply call yourself out. Say something like this is an excuse, and I release it, replace it with action and watch things grow right before your eyes. 

Megan Porta  16:49

Let’s summarize the five things to let go of in your business. Number one, caring what others think. Two, fear of failure. Three, lack of confidence. Four, perfectionism and five excuses. Again, there are things that all of us hold on to that we might not even know we’re holding on to. When we recognize some of these things and just let them go, a whole world of possibilities and good things open up before our eyes. I hope this episode helps you. Thank you so much for listening, and I will see you next week, food bloggers. 

Outro  17:24

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on eat blog talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk in 2024. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.