What if the thing standing between you and the business you actually want isn’t something you need to add – but something you need to let go of?
I kept adding more strategies, longer hours, bigger to-do lists – and wondering why nothing was changing.
And then one day I realized that the biggest leaps in my business didn’t come from doing more. They came from letting go.
Today I’m sharing three things I had to quit – not tactics, platforms, or strategies – but deeply ingrained beliefs that were getting in my own way.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything right and still not moving forward, this episode is for you.
Let’s get into it.
My name is Caitlin Bacher, CEO of Scale With Success®, and I’m on a mission to help course creators all over the world grow their business in a way that is profitable and scalable. I’m sharing revealing insights about what it really takes to scale an online course business to millions of dollars per year. Join me here to discover the tough decisions I’ve had to make, the biggest failures I’ve had to bounce back from, and the learnings that emerged every step of the way. I’m so grateful that I have the chance to tell you everything right here on Scale With Success®: The Podcast. Let’s get started.
Today we’re talking about something a little different. Not a funnel strategy or marketing tactic – because today we’re getting into the internal stuff.
I’m sharing some personal beliefs that held me back for years – and I’m betting they’re the same ones holding you back as well.
Letting go of these three beliefs changed everything. Let’s start with the first one.
1. I Quit Expecting to Fail.
In the early days of my business, I lived in fear that everything I was building was going to come crashing down. And sometimes, it felt like it was crashing down.
I’ll never forget one afternoon in my first year of business when I mistakenly triggered an automated email that went out to ALL my customers saying they were about to be rebilled.
Now, NOBODY was actually going to be rebilled and it wasn’t even possible for me to rebill them, but somehow I did something that caused the email to go out.
I was doing all my own customer support at the time, and the emails started flooding in. People were upset, confused, scared.
I sat on my bedroom floor in tears, frantically responding to messages, trying to reassure everyone it was a glitch and then – just to really drive the moment home – my power went out.
There I was. No Wi-Fi. No customer access. No way to fix what I’d broken.
And I remember thinking, This is it. This is the moment my business dies.
Up until that point, every mistake I made was just more “evidence” that I wasn’t cut out for this. That I didn’t belong in the world of online business. That failure was inevitable.
But what I didn’t realize then was:
It wasn’t the mistakes that were sabotaging me – it was the expectation that I would fail.
That belief was clouding everything. I didn’t see the kind customers who were encouraging me to hang in there. I didn’t see the sales that were still coming in that day.
I was only looking for confirmation that I was doomed.
Something had to give – and that something was ME.
So I made a choice – one that changed everything: I decided to let go of the belief that I was destined to fail.
And instead, I tried on a new belief: My success is inevitable.
It didn’t mean I stopped making mistakes. It meant I could finally learn from them instead of letting them define me. It meant I could see problems as temporary instead of fatal.
And that tiny, little shift helped me bounce back faster, stay grounded, and grow way more sustainably.
2. I Quit Trying to Control Everything
At one point in my journey, I was convinced that success was only possible if everything went perfectly.
Perfect systems. Perfect timing. Perfect team. Perfect performance.
So what did I do? I tried to control everything.
I micromanaged tasks. I obsessed over details. I held the weight of the entire business on my shoulders and told myself: This is what it takes.
I remember hiring my first VA – who was a lovely, capable woman – but, instead of trusting her to succeed, I jumped in to fix everything the second she had a question.
Rather than coaching her through where to find that information, I did it all myself.
And because I never let her learn, she kept needing my help.
And because she kept needing my help, I started resenting her.
Not because she wasn’t capable – but, because I wasn’t letting go.
I was so afraid that something might go wrong that I made myself the bottleneck.
And just three months in…she quit.
That was my wake-up call.
Instead of spiraling into self-blame, I got curious. What belief was driving me to hover, fix, and control everything?
It was this: I thought I had to control everything in order to succeed.
But, the truth?
I never had control in the first place.
Because tech breaks. Algorithms change. People leave. Mistakes happen.
No amount of planning or worrying gives you actual control.
What it does give you is burnout, resentment, and a team that doesn’t trust you.
Letting go of control wasn’t a one-time thing. It was (and is) a daily practice. It required me to go back to that core belief: My success is inevitable – even if things don’t go according to plan.
Once I really accepted that, I was able to lead better, delegate more, and build a business that could grow without me hovering over every decision.
If you’re someone who’s afraid to let go, I want to offer this: Letting go isn’t giving up – it’s giving your business the space it needs to grow.
3. I Quit Needing Everyone to Like Me
This one was sneaky because even after I believed my success was inevitable…and even after I stopped trying to control everything…
I still desperately wanted to be liked.
And the moment I felt like someone didn’t like me –
Whether it was a client, team member, or even a complete stranger in the comment section of my Instagram post – I would completely spiral.
I bent over backwards to avoid conflict entirely.
I watered down feedback.
I over-explained everything and sounded super defensive.
But, here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud:
The bigger your audience, your team, or your client base gets – the more opportunities there are for someone to not like you – even if it’s for a second, a day, and sometimes forever.
You can’t control how people perceive you. And the bigger your business gets, the more you’ll be reminded of that.
Letting go of the need to be liked doesn’t mean you stop caring. It means you stop letting it run the show.
Because here’s what I know for sure: every time I bent over backwards trying to manage someone’s opinion of me, I took my eye off the people who were already showing up, already engaged, already ready to buy.
That’s the real cost of needing everyone to like you. It’s not just exhausting – it pulls your focus away from the people who actually matter.
The people who love your work don’t need you to be liked by everyone. They need you to be fully present for them.
So if you’re building a course business and feeling stuck, here’s what I want you to walk away with today:
- Drop the expectation that you’re going to fail. Start telling yourself your success is inevitable – and mean it.
- Stop trying to control everything. Trust your systems and the people you’ve brought in to help you. They can’t grow if you won’t let them.
- Stop needing everyone to like you. It’s a distraction you can’t afford.
None of this happened for me overnight. But looking back, these three shifts did more for my business than any strategy I’ve ever tried.
Appreciate you being here today and make sure to tune in next time for another episode of Scale With Success® The Podcast.
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