If you’re like most course creators, you believe that your success hinges on your ability to effectively market and sell your course…
…and there is a lot of truth in that! Afterall, being able to grow an audience full of people experiencing problems your course can solve and then leading them through an automated sales process that turns them into customers plays a big part in your ability to grow.
But, what happens when your emotions get in the way of DOING the sales and marketing things that need doing?
I’m not suggesting that emotions are bad and that you should keep everything inside – but, speaking from my own experience, there’s times when my emotions get the best of me and make decisions that aren’t the best FOR ME.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in fight, flight, or freeze mode when it comes to tackling your sales and marketing problems, then you know exactly what I mean.
Today I’m sharing the top three ways I’ve been able to quit sabotaging my own success and start managing my emotions around doing the things that need doing.
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.
There is one skill that many course creators actively avoid developing. I’m not talking about sales and marketing, but it certainly impacts your sales and marketing. In fact this skill is SO powerful that NOT having it will make sustainable success nearly impossible.
So, what is this secret skill?
The #1 skill that successful course creators have is managing their emotions – and it’s also the #1 way course creators sabotage their success.
The ability to effectively manage your emotions when things don’t go as expected is absolutely key if you’re looking to scale to six or even seven figures in revenue.
Why? Because in business, things frequently don’t go as expected – ESPECIALLY if you’re trying to grow – and if you’re growing fast the only thing you CAN expect is that things WON’T go as expected.
Scaling a business to your first 6- and then 7-figures is frustrating, scary, embarrassing, and confusing. It’s also exciting, challenging, and incredibly rewarding.
I’m want to share something super vulnerable with you because if you do feel like growth is scary – I don’t want you to feel alone.
Once the Profitable Sales Engine™ that I built for my own business started gaining momentum, things were happening FAST and I was able to grow my business to over $1m in less than nine months.
The money was coming in fast and furious and I had never experienced anything like it before. At first it was exciting, but that excitement quickly turned to worry. At a time when what most people would imagine being the best thing ever – I felt alone, terrified, and completely unequipped to handle the new level of success and visibility I was gaining.
The old fear of “Will I ever make money?” was replaced with, “What if I stop making money?”
The overwhelming feeling that everything could disappear in an instant weighed heavily on my mind – and there wasn’t really anyone I could talk to about it. What was I going to say to my friends and family – poor me, I’m making all this money and I’m scared it’s going to go away??
It was at that point that I realized WHY scaling to millions was so difficult – it wasn’t because of the new tech I had to learn or the sales and marketing strategies I had to implement – scaling to millions was hard because I had no clue how to manage my emotions.
To be honest, I had ways of coping with stress – but, none of them were healthy.
I had to learn how to manage my emotions – in front of my family, my team, and millions of people on the internet watching me year after year.
It was messy, awkward, clumsy, embarrassing – but despite all of that I kept moving forward.
I became grateful for mistakes – because they were evidence I was learning.
I became grateful for things breaking – because it meant I was growing.
I became grateful for confusion and frustration – because I knew it meant a big breakthrough was coming.
So, the big question is HOW DO YOU DO IT? How do you break free from a lifetime of mental conditioning that teaches you that change is scary and uncertainty is dangerous? How do you learn to effectively manage your emotions and get better at doing it over time so that you can finally reach that next level of success?
I’m not a medical professional and this is not medical advice, but today I’m giving you three concrete things that really helped me manage my emotions and you’re welcome to give them a try. But, before I do I want you to know that the goal is not to be “perfect” at managing your emotions – I mean, I’m better than I used to be, but it’s still something I actively work on every day. It’s actually impossible to be “perfect” at anything, so you can just throw that word right in the trash can. The truth is that each level of success will require you to improve your ability to manage your emotions because things don’t get easier – you just get better.
So here’s what I did to stop sabotaging my success and effectively manage my emotions.
1. I asked myself, “What is the outcome I’m looking to create?”
I can’t emphasize enough just how much this question has helped me get out of some really dark situations. Anytime I begin to feel like I’m stuck I ask myself this question. Getting clear on the outcome I want to create helps me do 3 things:
- First of all, it forces me to look at the big picture and quit getting bogged down in details that don’t matter. Details are important, but not if you become overly focused on them and end up overcomplicating everything.
- Secondly, clarifying my desired outcome helps me better describe what I want to achieve to others so they can give me the support I need. Let’s be honest, we all need help from time to time, but it’s difficult for people to help me if I’m not accurately able to describe my desired destination.
- Finally, it triggers the problem solving part of my brain and I can more easily see solutions that weren’t initially visible to me. When I get clear on the outcome I want, it feels like a secret chamber of motivation gets unlocked. I don’t know HOW I’ll get there, but clarifying what “there” looks like can definitely help point me in the right direction.
When I first started asking myself, “what is the outcome I’m looking to create”, it didn’t feel natural at all. In fact, I had to write post-it notes and stick them all over the place to help me remember. I knew if I wanted to make asking myself this question a habit – I needed A LOT of reminders.
2. I reframed my relationship with problems.
There was a time in my life when the more frustrated I became with solving a problem, the harder I pushed myself to solve it. I thought if I didn’t push myself to solve it right then and there, I would never solve it. Let me just say this approach, literally never worked and I have no clue why I hung onto it for so long.
The reason I was pushing myself so hard is because I believed that experiencing a challenge in my business meant that I wasn’t good enough. I mistakenly thought that if I WAS good enough, I wouldn’t have any problems at all.
If I had a low sales week or a social media post that didn’t get much engagement – I would spiral into a shame vortex that made me feel like I couldn’t do anything right and I’d never get where I wanted to go.
Needless to say, that worldview wasn’t exactly helping me grow my business, it was keeping me stuck, scared, and ashamed.
I chose to reframe what it meant to be a CEO who experienced problems in a way that felt encouraging, creative, and left me inspired to take action. Why? Because THAT was the outcome I was looking to create.
I decided that problems were nothing more than an opportunity to learn something new and to get even better at managing my emotions. I don’t see myself as fearless, I see myself as someone who has the courage to move forward even when the path ahead is clouded with uncertainty and feels kinda scary.
Changing my mind about what it MEANS to encounter a problem helps me do 3 things:
- Firstly, it helps me get out of “freeze” mode so I can get moving again. I am not the problem, the problem is not me. My job as CEO is to objectively investigate the cause and propose solutions.
- Secondly, it helps me LEAN INTO SOLVING the problem as opposed to running away from it. Since I know this is an opportunity to get stronger, I can even get a little excited about solving it.
- Finally, the best part is that it positions me as the Victor, not the Victim. Mistakes happen, unexpected challenges arise, but all of that is in service to helping me grow into the CEO I need to be to have the business I want to have.
3. I prioritized activities outside of business.
I don’t know about you, but the best ideas come to me when I’m NOT actively trying to solve the problem – when I’m on a walk, when I’m reading a book, or when I’m journaling about a completely different topic.
Prioritizing fun activities outside of business helps me do 3 things:
- First of all, it helps me feel calm and refreshed so I can see clearly. A little stress can be a good thing when it comes to solving problems, but when you are flooded with emotion – nobody’s solving anything.
- Secondly, it helps me feel more creative and open to new solutions and most importantly I make better decisions. The problem becomes less obscured and the root cause easier to identify.
- Finally, it helps foster a healthy separation between myself and my business. I am NOT my business, I’m a whole human being who happened to build a business. I love running my own business and am beyond grateful for how it provides for myself and my family, but I also love my family and my freedom to enjoy life outside of business as well.
To recap, here are three things you can do to stop sabotaging your success and improve your ability to manage your emotions:
1) Clarify the outcome you’re looking to create. Let go of the “how” and get clear on the “what” – and most importantly after you’re clear on the “what” – don’t be shy about asking for the support you need to make it happen.
2) Reframe your relationship with problems. Problems are nothing more than an opportunity to strengthen your resilience and develop the skills you need to have the business you want.
3) Prioritize activities outside of business. It’s your responsibility to fill your tank and you can only run on fumes for so long. Having a life and sense of purpose outside of business isn’t just nice to have, it’s required.
I appreciate you being here and be sure to tune in next time for another episode of Scale With Success® – The Podcast.
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