Editor’s letter

I’m celebrating F-I-V-E years in business this month. Holy shit how did that happen? Where did the time go? And, here’s to the next five years being even more fun than the first.

But.

But as we all know, it isn’t always sunshine and roses.

Being a business owner is the ultimate rollercoaster. Yes, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

To commemorate the big occasion, this month I’ll be sharing my five biggest lessons from five years in business – I’m officially dubbing this series ‘5 in 5’.

Missed one? Lesson one. Lesson two. Lesson three. 

Number four: mindset work really is 80%+ of owning a business

Yes, I’m going to be one of those annoying people that preaches the importance of mindset work as a business owner.

But instead of ending the conversation there, like I so often see, I also want to give you a real life example of what mindset work actually looks like behind the scenes here at Witt and Company.

A few weeks ago, I had a really, really bad day. A mix of personal and professional things came up and culminated into one shitstorm. It ended with a whole bunch of tears on the way to picking up Audrey from daycare.

The next morning, I did my usual gratitude, affirmation and journaling practice (hint: here’s a mindset practice you can do – write down five things you’re grateful for and five affirmations you want to carry with you for the day). Only, it didn’t make me feel better. I had an emotional hangover from the day before and was still not feeling great. I tried to jump into work but seemed to be running into the wall.

Serendipitously, I had my twice-per-month call with a business friend and decided to go out for a walk with the dog while we chatted on the phone (another way to work on your mindset, take a step back and get outside). She was gracious enough to hold space while I dumped all the shit and vented (and another one, find a trusted friend or family member to talk to so you can get it out of your head and into the open).

She called me on my limiting beliefs, challenged the thoughts that I was telling myself and helped me work through and reframe the story that was coming up. (Reframing is another great tool – instead of playing the victim, how can you reframe the story to one that’s empowering?)

So instead of a shitty day bleeding into the next day and the next, I recognized the mindset shift that needed to happen, was open to receiving feedback and worked on changing the negative thought pattern.

Now of course, it wasn’t an instantaneous shift to all roses and sunshine.

But, I did feel so much better after the walk. And I was able to shift into a little flow to get work done that I needed to. And, I went into an afternoon client call with a totally different energy that resulted in a better conversation for everyone involved.

And, this is The Work.

Realizing that you’re stuck in a negative spiral (or not realizing it but just feeling like you’re stuck or in a funk or not getting into flow) and working through the mind trash to get out of said funk.

With that, happy branding (and mind-setting) 🙂

Yes, 80% is mindset, but the other 20%? Onto the tips for the week.