Episode 655: 5 Replacements to Make for Entrepreneurial Success (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT655 – 5 Replacements to Make for Entrepreneurial Success

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.

Megan Porta  00:33

Food bloggers. Hey, how is the week going? I hope you guys are doing great this week. Welcome to this mindset and self care focused episode of Eat Blog Talk. Thanks for listening. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk through five replacements to make in your life and in your business for entrepreneurial and life success. Sometimes it feels like I get stuck in a rut or a track or a groove of some sort, or trapped on an endlessly spinning hamster wheel or an out of control wash cycle on a washing machine. Once something gets a grip on me, it feels so hard to break free from it. I don’t know if you can relate to this. Maybe you can. The journey of an entrepreneur can be so exciting and so liberating, and the sky really is the limit as far as what we can create and earn. There are so many things about being an entrepreneur that I absolutely love, which is why I do it. There are also some downsides that can threaten to pull us under from time to time, and these are the more challenging parts of the journey. Add to that that we do this mostly on our own, and things can feel really lonely and a little bit nutty from time to time, if you are feeling stuck or overwhelmed or fearful or maybe lacking in money or traffic or fill in the blank, the shifts we are going to talk about in this episode will help you to reset your approach to your business and hopefully also your life and everything in between. So let’s dive in to these transformative replacements, five replacements to make for success.

Sponsor (Nadia Tariq)  00:34

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Megan Porta  03:19

Number one, replace fear with courage. If I look back over my entire journey as an entrepreneur, so far, I can pinpoint fear as the block that has probably held me back the most. Have you ever examined another entrepreneur’s journey and observed that they seem to be fearless and bold and courageous, and then you realize that those are the same people who are absolutely crushing it in their business and in their life. That is not an accident. The entrepreneurs who courageously forge ahead into and through their fears get rewarded for doing so. Fear can so often hold us back from making big moves in our businesses, whether it’s launching a new product or a new service, investing in our business in some way or expanding our business, raising our prices, collaborating with peers, connecting with people, or niching down. Fear thrives in uncertainty, but courage thrives in action. It is so important that we continue to take those small, courageous steps every single day, even when they feel uncomfortable and scary. I think one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my business has been the thing that has provided the most fruitful results, and not just for me, but for others as well, and that is starting Eat Blog Talk. Can you imagine if I’d never started eatblogtalk? Oh my gosh, I feel like half of my soul would be missing. This community has helped so many food bloggers find the success and freedom they have been looking for, and it’s helped me, honestly, to fulfill my purpose. In this world, that is a calling that was not meant to be ignored. But was I terrified of the idea in the beginning? Oh my goodness, yes, I was so afraid of it. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. So to this point, here is an actionable step for you, instead of trying to ignore or run from a fear you’re having right now. Start by just naming it. Say to yourself, I am feeling fear around x, and that’s okay. It’s a sign that I’m growing this will help you to step into that courage, rather than staying stuck in the fear. 

Megan Porta  05:37

Number two, replace comparison with community, you do not have to be a food blogger for very long to realize that there are a lot of other people trying to make their way in this space doing the exact same thing that you are doing. I know this can feel intimidating, especially at first, and before you’ve really gotten a chance to know your fellow co workers do just a few Google searches and Pinterest searches, and you will quickly get a handle on who your competition is and who those people are who are really doing a good job of figuring out this thing called food blogging. It’s super easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to those other bloggers, especially as we’re just finding our way and discovering where we belong in this space, this mindset can drain energy, and it can definitely derail progress as well. So instead of comparing, lean into building up and nurturing others inside this community, most other food bloggers are supportive, and they want you to find the success that you deserve. For me years ago, it required immersing myself in the people in order to learn and really understand this concept. Yes, there are always going to be people who are all about competition and who might not care so much about others, including you, but for the most part, this is an extremely generous, collaborative, sharing, kind, mentoring, nurturing space. I have people outside our niche tell me all the time how alarmingly generous food bloggers are with each other. If you have not yet immersed yourself in other food bloggers lives and businesses make it a priority in 2025. Rhe power of collaboration over competition is massive, and once you discover this power, it will transform your business and take it to new heights. Here’s an actionable step for you. I actually have two suggestions. Number one, find a conference or a retreat that you can attend this year, and or two, reach out to someone who you would consider a competition but who also seems intriguing or inspiring. Doing either of these things will put you in the mindset of collaboration over competition, and if you do both of them, you’ll really be feeling the love and that word competition will not even be in your vocabulary. 

Megan Porta  07:59

Number three, replace scarcity with abundance. 2024 is the prime example of food bloggers falling victim to a scarcity mindset. So much happened in our space last year, as you know, some of it expected and some of it unexpected. I noticed as the year went on, it became really easy for people to focus on what was not working versus what was working, and this is generally speaking. Obviously, this is not the case for absolutely everyone, but this is just kind of a general observation that I noticed last year, like I was saying earlier, with being stuck in a rut or trapped on a hamster wheel spinning out of control. Once scarcity takes over your brain, it is so hard to hop off that wheel of craziness. A scarcity mindset can make you feel like there’s not enough to go around, whether that be time, opportunities, resources, people, traffic money, good ideas, etc. Adopting an abundance mindset opens up possibilities. It fosters a way healthier perspective for you, and it can help you to get off that crazy hamster wheel. I am definitely not an immune human. When it comes to this. There are stretches where I find myself thinking thoughts of scarcity as well. I think all of us do at times, thankfully, I now have this awareness to see what’s happening and to stop and change things. Most of the time, sometimes I don’t see it, but most of the time, thankfully, I can see what’s happening and just put a stop to it. All it takes is that simple bit of awareness and taking one small step in the direction of abundance to turn things around, turn thoughts like nothing is going right. Traffic is down. Where’s my money into I’m so grateful for the $35 I got from Amazon affiliates this week. And my blog traffic is up 1% month over month. Even those small acknowledgements that seem really insignificant can be powerful enough to completely shut down the scarcity train. Here’s an actionable step for you reframe your next thought of scarcity so I haven’t made enough money this month gets replaced with an abundance focused statement, such as, I’m so thankful for the revenue I have, and I know there’s more coming my way. This might feel forced at first. I get it, but create a new groove with it, where it becomes a habit, and before you know it, gobs of overabundance will be flooding into your life. 

Megan Porta  10:40

Number four, replace perfection with progress. Food bloggers love perfection again. Generally speaking, not everyone is like this. Things need to be just right before hitting publish or pressing send or uploading a reel or uploading a video, that perfection delay is what keeps us from making real progress with really anything shifting your mindset from perfection to progress will lead you to finding that momentum which helps move projects and therefore your business forward. The good news is that food bloggers are provided with ample opportunity to share things with the world in a variety of ways and a variety of places and platforms, so things like blog posts, social media, YouTube videos, emails, we have to get all of these things published. And we’ve all heard that phrase, published is better than perfect, right? I so strongly believe in the statement, if it’s not published, there’s zero chance it can go viral. If it’s not published, there’s zero chance it can change someone’s life. If it’s not published, there’s zero chance it will inspire somebody. The great news these days is that people like unrefined and they like for you to be real. Real is the replacement for polished. This takes a huge load off. It relieves so much pressure. So take advantage of this time when people don’t want you to be refined and hit publish, publish those things that the world needs to see. Take action now and replace perfect with progress. Progress is taking one step toward your goal, even if it’s imperfect. Progress is sharing your thoughts even when they’re not fully formed. Progress is writing an imperfect post that still provides a ton of value to your audience. Progress is learning from mistakes and using them as stepping stones. Progress is creating something and putting it out there, knowing that you will improve next time. Progress is celebrating small wins along the way, rather than waiting for everything to be perfect before celebrating. Here is an actionable step. Identify that good enough point. Ask yourself, Am I at the point where this is good enough to share it with my audience? If you can check that box, it is time to set it free. Do this to one blog post or email or project this week or today? Why not? 

Megan Porta  13:01

Number five, replace overwhelm with clarity, with all the gobs of tasks and projects and platforms and everything you have to manage is a kick ass entrepreneur, this, unfortunately, can be a breeding ground for overwhelm. I have been overwhelmed so many times in the past 14 plus years, I could not even count them so much overwhelm has infused my entrepreneurial life. In fact, I said earlier that fear was the block that has held me back the most. I don’t think that’s right. I think overwhelm takes the cake. This has been the one thing that I’ve constantly been working on and trying to refine for 14 years now, and it’s a huge part of the reason these mindset episodes exist in the first place. Honestly, overwhelm can so easily cloud your ability to make decisions. It can keep you from taking action. Overwhelm can lead to burnout, anxiety and depression. Overwhelm causes people to throw away their businesses they’ve worked so hard for. Instead of letting overwhelm take over your life, focus on getting clarity around your priorities. The replacement for overwhelm is clarity. But how do we find clarity? I believe that so many things contribute to finding clarity, but here are a few set goals for your year and quarter, and look at them every day. Break tasks into small chunks, set clear goals for the day and week before they begin. Use content and Task Managers to organize your thoughts, projects and responsibilities. Meditate regularly and build down time and quiet time into your days and weeks. Finding clarity will help you move forward with confidence, which will help to reduce stress and increase your productivity, an actionable step at the start of every day, write down the top three tasks you need to accomplish. These tasks should be the most important or urgent ones that will move your business forward that day. 

Megan Porta  15:00

That is all I’ve got for you. Today, in this episode, we covered five mindset replacements that can make a huge impact on your success as an entrepreneur and as a human. Those replacements are replacing fear with courage, replacing comparison with community, replacing scarcity with abundance, replacing perfection with progress and replacing overwhelm with clarity. Remember that these shifts take time. They take practice, but implementing even just one of them can set you on a path toward greater success, more joy, more fulfillment in your business and therefore in your life. Thank you guys for tuning in. I will catch you next week. 

Outro 

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. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.