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Hello and welcome. Thank you so much for joining me. On today’s podcast episode we are addressing the question people ask all the time, can you really be successful as a yoga teacher? Is it something that’s even available to you? Will you always have to have a day job or a side hustle to support yourself? Can you really do this, or any healing work, as a standalone career enough to support yourself and even a family? The answer is yes. Here’s the key: you have to implement like a Mofo. When you think you have implemented enough in your business, you have to implement some more.
Here’s what I mean by this. You can sign up for and take all the courses in the world. You can attend mastermind groups. You can have mentors, but until you actually show up and implement what you are learning, they’re worthless. They will not make any difference for you.
And I’ll never forget when I was a new yoga teacher, I had a friend who had graduated from her yoga teacher training around the same time I did and we had attended a very special workshop together and when the workshop finished, I noticed she had immediately booked another workshop to attend for the next weekend, and the next, and the next, and she was spending plenty of money going around from senior teacher to senior teacher and learning, learning, learning. Now I’m all about learning. I am a lifelong learner. You will usually find me with my nose in a book and that’s how I operate. So I totally understand the desire to learn and grow.
However, she was putting so much time and energy into the learning, she was never implementing that which she learned. And this is something that shows up a lot in yoga teaching life, but it also shows up in your business. People often binge on online courses or going from one mentor right to the next. They don’t pause long enough to take action on what they’re learning. And if you don’t do that, you’re never going to create the changes that you actually want.
To the point where some people, I think, are just scared of taking action, so they binge on all the courses or the mentors to tell themselves that they’re moving forward when in reality it’s a holding pattern.
They’re staying in analysis paralysis because taking action seems to too scary for them.
The honest truth though, is that success comes when you show up and take action. So for example, if accounting is an area where you know you’re weak, read the books on accounting, maybe hire a bookkeeper to hand it off. Maybe attend a workshop with a great accountant. I know some wonderful ones if you need one, by the way, and then implement it. Create the change in your business that you need to create to get a different result.
This is one of the reasons why goal setting is incredibly crucial as a business owner or professional, and yet many people don’t set goals. And many people say things like, “oh, I just run a mom and pop shop. I don’t need to have goals” or “I’m going to just go with the flow,” but the real reasons why they don’t set goals are much deeper than that.
And in my experience of mentoring yoga teachers and healing professionals, here are the top three reasons that I see when people are too nervous to set a goal. This is why.
One- they didn’t hit a goal in the past and that failure felt so intense they avoid setting goals now, because they don’t want to feel that failure again.
Number two- in the past they’ve set the goal too high and it seems so big and so far away. They then get paralyzed and don’t take any action at all to move themselves in the direction of that goal. At this point, they get a little bit stuck in the mud around reason number one again, they failed because that goal was so big and they didn’t take any actions, so it’s just easier to avoid it altogether instead of setting goals and starting all over again.
The last reason I notice people don’t set goals is they feel unworthy and they feel like, “who am I to achieve this big thing in my life? I can’t do that. I don’t have what it takes.” So instead they procrastinate by bingeing on certificates. You know all about that if you’ve been listening to my podcast for awhile, or doing the “when-then” game. When I get this next certification, then I will implement this new system. When I can do this pose, when I have this many Instagram followers, when I make this amount of money, then I will make this upgrade, do this thing, take this action, etc. All you are doing in that cycle is perpetuating that subconscious feeling of unworthiness.
You’re telling the universe you’re not worthy of receiving what you want now. You’re not worthy of taking the action you need to take now to move yourself forward, because you’re not good enough in this moment, and you won’t be good enough until you get that thing.
Yeah, it’s big. And this is a huge hangup for many people. So how can you get out of this stuck feeling?
One, set a goal.
Maybe even a goal that you know is reachable. Maybe a little bit of a stretch. Don’t overdo it. Don’t overthink it. Set a small, achievable goal.
Next, write down one bold action you can take today to move yourself in the direction of that goal and then go implement and do it.
Don’t just think about it. Don’t just journal about it. Go and do it. Do this again tomorrow. Do this every single day until your goal has come to life.
You might have to get organized. You might have to ask for support. You might have to make a plan, so go ahead. Do it. Invest in whatever you need to help you take these action steps, because here’s the honest truth- tossing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks is not an action plan.
And don’t hear the words action plan and get worried that it’s going to be complicated and this big overly organized thing and shut down. It’s not, just take one action a day. Maybe write down one action a day in your calendar for your next 30 day period that you’re going to take to move yourself forward. It can be that simple and if that’s all you do, I guarantee you we’ll see change quickly. If you’re waiting for some magic bullet to show up in your business to automatically change everything, you’re going to be waiting for a long time, probably forever.
There is no “thing.” There is no magic trick. Simply showing up every day implementing, taking action are what will move you forward.
Thank you for joining me today and remember, helping others and being successful are not mutually exclusive. You can have both. Have a great day, namaste.
If today’s conversation touches a nerve with you, it means we’re onto something, and this is worth exploring deeper. I’m here to help you with this. So, I have some action steps for you to get the most out of your journey.
One, come follow me on Instagram. I’m all about building relationships there, and I love using social media to have real conversations and learn more about you. So, please interact with me.
Next action step, share this podcast. If it resonates with you, I would be so thankful if you’d pass it on.
Lastly, leave a review. Reviews are a currency in the podcast world, and I’d greatly appreciate yours. Thank you so much for joining me today, and remember, helping others and being successful are not mutually exclusive, you can have both.