In this article, we’re going to explore the all too familiar battles with imposter syndrome and limiting beliefs you tell yourself about starting your new business as a psychedelic coach, healer or similar transformational entrepreneur. Let’s expose those sneaky thoughts that can hold you back from fully stepping into your role as a visionary leader in the psychedelic ecosystem.
Whether you’re a seasoned space holder or just starting to test the entrepreneurial waters, join me as we unravel the threads of self-doubt and learn how to harness the magic of our own potential. It’s time for you to learn to lead with confidence, because the journey to becoming an empowered psychedelic leader starts from within.
As a spiritual business coach, I see a common problem among the people that come to my business coaching programs that stops them from the success they desire – their limiting beliefs, blocks, and subconscious programming that keep them stuck in various loops of doubts and fears.
Examples of Limiting Beliefs
Limiting beliefs minimize what we think we’re capable of and what we can make happen in our realities. I help the people who really want to make a difference in people’s lives and have a business that supports them, and it pains me to see these passionate people with so much to offer buy into their own negative stories, costing them the opportunity to offer their unique medicine to the world.
I get it, starting your own business is scary, but repeating unhelpful thoughts only compounds that fear and leaves you feeling trapped and unable to make progress towards the goals you really want to achieve.
Have you used any of these phrases when you think about starting your own purpose-based business?
- “Who am I to do this?”
- “I’m not good enough. I’m not ready yet.”
- “Now is not the right time”
- “I don’t have a certification”
- “I haven’t taken enough courses”
- “I don’t have the time/money to invest in getting help”
Every once in a while I also catch myself thinking of some unnecessary stories, but I’ve gotten very good at recognizing them and shifting my beliefs away from the negative and towards the positive. This is what I want for you.
Rethink Your Entrepreneurial Path
Often, the scariest part of starting you spiritually-centered entrepreneurial journey is taking the very first steps. After you’ve been in business a few years, it gets easier because you get used to the fear. Fear is a natural part of the journey.
I get a lot of people joining my coaching programs who have been running a business for a few years, but they still get stuck on the feast and famine cycle and they don’t know what they’re doing wrong.
They feel stuck, and they’re just not making enough money to truly support themselves. So they seek out my help when they feel that nothing else is working.
I tell them to hit the reset button and start from scratch. This doesn’t mean they have to get rid of everything that they’re doing, but it means I want them to really think about their business in a new way and learn how to grow their business from a stronger foundation knowing what they know now.
A problem with many people who are just starting out is that they try a few things out for some years, but they’re not making much money. Maybe $1,000 here or there, but it’s not consistent enough to rely on.
When we dive a bit deeper about why they’re not finding success, I find the same stories being told – Who am I to do this? I’m not trained enough. I’m not good enough. Why would anyone hire me? Maybe I’ll start when I’m less busy, when I’m earning a certain amount of money, etc.
Identify and Challenge Your Limiting Mindsets
You’re not alone in having these thoughts, but it’s time to push past them. I’m going to walk you through a few questions to help you start shifting your mindset to create different results in your life.
Maybe you’re stuck on figuring out how to grow your psychedelic business, but what exactly is stopping you from taking the first steps? Is it time, money, confidence, fears, doubts?
I highly recommend you write these down and answer these questions thoughtfully. These are questions I ask current and potential clients when I notice that they’re holding themselves back from living their dreams.
Get out your pen and paper and let’s explore the following questions:
Let’s say you’re struggling with imposter syndrome. Ask yourself:
- What is it specifically that I’m lacking to be considered “good enough”?
- Who gets to determine whether or not I’m “good enough”?
- What am I specifically not trained for?
- What am I afraid will happen if I put myself out there before I feel ready?
- What exactly needs to happen for me to actually feel ready?
I highly encourage you to be as specific as you can in answering these questions, especially for the last question. You need to get a good understanding of what it is you think you need in order to feel prepared or ready to start.
Once you have the specifics, think about why this has to happen later rather than today. Maybe you’ll start to see that the first steps can be taken sooner than you think.
Learn to Overcome Uncertainty in Your Business Ventures
Let’s say you know you have something to offer and that you can help people, but you just don’t feel good enough, or you feel that it isn’t the right time. Something is holding you back. Now, think of a time where you felt guided or pulled to do something, even though it felt challenging or scary. Despite the fear, you did it anyway. Reflect on the following:
- How did I feel before I did the scary thing?
- What thoughts were going through my mind about what could go wrong?
- How did it actually turn out?
- Did any of the things I feared would happen come true?
- Did it go better or worse than I expected?
- And most importantly, did I survive?
With the examples I get from my clients, most of the time people report feeling great after putting themselves out there and having the courage to try. It’s the same thing with starting your business.
The benefit of writing things out in detail is to start to build your archive of tangible examples of yourself overcoming challenges, facing uncertainty, and rising to the occasion.
My intention with these exercises is not to upset you or stress you out. These exercises are intended to help you consider the alternate perspectives to your limiting beliefs.
Here’s an exercise you can do that will give you a visual way to process your limiting beliefs.
- Grab a sheet of paper and fold it in half, or draw a line down the middle.
- Write down your limiting beliefs on the left, and write the opposite on the right.
Here’s an example:
- Limiting belief: “I don’t have enough experience”
- Challenge to that belief: “I already have what I need to take the first steps, and I will continue to develop my experience as I go.”
For every story you tell yourself, there’s always a way to challenge it. Lean in to the polarity of these thoughts. Also take into consideration that the reason you’re struggling might be reason enough for you to invest in support.
For example, when people say they don’t have the money for a coaching program. They haven’t learned how to make enough money with their business to actually reinvest it in themselves, and it’s very likely that a good coaching program could help that person grow their business and earn more money.
Another example is when people say they don’t have time to invest into a mastermind program. Why is it that they don’t have time? Maybe they need a coach to help them identify their time drains and learn how to manage their time more efficiently.
Defy Doubt and Unleash Your Potential
Something for everyone on the fence about starting your own business to keep in mind is that it doesn’t have to be a full time job, at least that’s now what I teach in my program.
I’ve designed all my coaching programs to work INTO my client’s lives. I’d say over 50% of them have full time or part time jobs while they’re starting their businesses.
This isn’t something that you have to wait to do. This is something you take steps towards doing WHILE you have a job or while you have income so that there’s a day where you can quit your job and make your business a full time thing.
So ask yourself, what is it that you’re afraid of when it comes to starting your business? If you’re feeling like an impostor and are getting in your own way because you’re comparing yourself to others and their perceived success, consider that that’s the reason you’d benefit from the support of a coach and a community to help you get past those feelings and connect with people who are battling with the same concerns as you.
Here’s another exercise to build on what you’ve already written. Ask yourself:
- How long have I been telling myself these stories?
- Where else in my life do these limiting beliefs show up?
- What could I accomplish if I didn’t have these limiting beliefs?
When you start to see the other areas of your life where these stories show up, you start to see how much of your potential is being blocked. Maybe you haven’t asked for a raise at your job. Maybe you feel stuck at a job you hate because you don’t feel good enough to get a better job. Maybe you’re in a relationship that’s not serving you because you don’t believe you’ll meet others who can serve you, or that you’re deserving of anything better.
These stories play out in so many areas of our lives. It’s not just about your business, it’s about being good enough for all the areas of your life, and feeling worthy enough to accept abundance, love, and support from the universe.
This is why my coaching containers tend to be highly transformational. Because when you start to shift in one area of your belief system, other areas of your life will also start to shift – it’s inevitable because it’s all tied in together. It’s all about our mindset.
Crafting Your Business, Step by Step
Here are a few final questions to ask yourself:
- How much longer am I willing to stay at my current stage?
- What will it cost me to take one step towards my goals today?
- Would I rather feel comfortable but stuck, or take steps towards my goals that push me out of my comfort zone?
I’m not telling you to quit your job. I’m telling you to take small steps and explore the possibilities you dare to dream of. You can continue to feel like a prisoner of time, or you can intentionally carve out time in your week, as little as 1 hour a week, to start building your dream life.
When I started my first business, I was really busy. I was working long hours at a full time job. I lived in New York City and took advantage of the lifestyle there because I was younger and single and wanted to enjoy my social life. I played sports, I ran marathons, and I joined a soccer team.
When I decided to start my business, I also decided to quit my soccer team. No big deal. I can always pick up again later. It was a simple decision because I decided that starting my business was more important than missing out on some games, even though I enjoyed playing.
Two of the most common time drainers are watching your favorite TV shows or scrolling on social media. I’m not telling you to quit these activities altogether, but if you have time to watch Netflix or go on Instagram, then you have time to work on your business. Only you can determine what is more important to you.
Easing into Your Business
I’m all about steady steps, so don’t go and quit your day job and risk forcing yourself into panic mode. It’s important to have something that keeps your anxiety levels down while you explore the business world.
In my True Path Entrepreneur Group Business Mastermind and Group Intensive Coaching Programs, I’ve seen a whole spectrum of timelines. Some of my clients get clients within the first couple months. Others take a little longer, and that’s perfectly fine. Your timeline is your own, and it’s all about what you put into it.
Your business can take off faster than you expect. I’ve been there – when I officially kicked off my coaching business, things rook off relatively fast. I remember being in awe at how real it was becoming. And if you’re willing to invest time, energy and are willing to shift your mindset, then you can make a living running your dream business.
My dream business looks like getting to create my own timelines. For example, I go on a retreat in Costa Rica and another in Peru each year. I don’t work much on Fridays. I sometimes go to Burning Man. I’ll still have work calls and clients to serve, but I get to live life on my own terms.
The ROI of Investing in Yourself
When we make investments, especially large ones, we want to believe that we’ll be getting a good return on investment (ROI). All of my coaching programs are designed so that if a member gets just one, two, or three clients, the entire program pays for itself.
For example, one of my former business coaches cost me $30,000 – that’s a lot of money. But when I decide to invest in a business coach, I already know I’m going to make that money back from being in that program. My group programs are a LOT less money than that.
Let’s say you invest $12,000 into your business growth, and then within a year, you are earning $7,000-10,000 each month. Isn’t that $12,000 one-time investment considered a good investment? What if you invest $100,000 into learning how to grow your business, and then you make $300,000 in your business. Isn’t that a good return on your investment, too?
Investing $10,000 to make $50,000 or more is a no brainer, but even earning $15,000 would still make it a good investment. Luckily, the steps you learn inside of my programs are repeatable. So even if you only got 2 clients after joining my Mastermind program, your success doesn’t stop there just because the program ends.
With the repeatable process, you’ll be able to keep expanding and growing… month after month, year after year. As long as you show up and you keep going with it, there will always be more ways to grow and expand – its exponential growth.
As we wrap up this lesson in transmuting limiting beliefs, I want to remind you that you already hold the keys to creating a service that people want and need in this world. You just need to unlock your full potential. If you feel called to get my support and guidance, along with a community of spiritual entrepreneurs, I invite you to join one of my coaching programs.
I want you to shift your mindset so that you can confidently serve people, create change on the planet, and make a difference in the lives of others. And of course, I want you to have a life built around your personal values, with freedom, sovereignty and Soul alignment. Your dreams are within reach, and I hope that you don’t let the limiting beliefs stop you from achieving them.