The one where we thought the car was about to explode
I remember the first time I learned what a parking brake was. We had just moved across the country and our grandparents were visiting us. My mom and I hopped in the car and took off down the road after my pop pop had driven it.
Shortly after we started driving, my mom started saying “uh oh…something’s wrong. UH OH. OH NO! WHAT IS GOING ON??” Suddenly I saw smoke coming out from under the hood as we drove and my mom pulled over. We were like a block from our house and yet, I was already envisioning a dramatic car explosion! Should I make a run for it before I inevitably went FLYING through the air like I saw in the tv shows?
*my mental image of what was about to happen to our poor car. Very dramatic, Stephanie
I think I volunteered to give my mom jumper cables as I was preparing to make a run for it (not helpful…) Meanwhile, she was calling our home on her nokia cell to get some help with the billowing car. I remember my pop pop telling her that when he had parked the car, he had engaged the parking brake. All she had to do (after the car was cooled down) was disengage the parking brake and she’d be able to drive safely again.
Soon we were on our merry way, driving smoothly again. The solution was simple. And yet, we couldn’t see it at first.
I think back to this moment often. I feel like it so accurately represents our personal growth journeys. As I’ve coached over a few years, I’ve seen the parking-brake mentality over and over again.
What is the parking brake mentality?
*another fateful car episode, this time at the age of 23-I really just couldn’t nail the use of those jumper cables…keep reading.
It’s this idea that we want a result in our businesses-a success indicator perhaps. We want a fully booked calendar, to be in-demand, we want multiple 5-figure months, or we just really want to work exclusively with clients who value us and that we love being connected to.
And we know deep down, we’ve got some limiting beliefs or SOME kind of mindset issues making that feel impossible. But...would changing your mindset really change your results?
You’re not sure, so you choose something that feels a little more tangible. You hire assistants or ads managers or marketing directors or publicists. And now you’ve just created a more expensive problem.
So you try again. Now you invest in courses and programs that teach you how to run ads yourselves or write better marketing copy, or host the perfect, lucrative launch.
Now you’ve got it!
Except...you still don’t get those results you want.
*does this sound like you? If so, take my free Money Blocks Quiz
And yet you forge ahead, seeing the smoke coming from under the proverbial hood, wondering what’s wrong, feeling like progress is SO hard to make. But also pressing that gas pedal even harder.
Once we realize that no matter how hard we press on the gas, driving forward is an uphill battle, we stop and freak out about all the things going wrong. We see the smoke and imagine we’re about to self-destruct.
When we aren’t getting the results we want in our businesses, it can feel rewarding to choose some kind of solution we want to help us change that.
*this ended poorly. no cars exploded…but there was a fire and lots of screaming.
Running your business without clearing your mindset blocks is like driving with the parking brake on
But like 13 year old me handing my mom jumper cables for a parking brake, it doesn’t matter what the solution is and how good it feels to be doing SOMETHING to solve our issue if it’s still the wrong solution.
Running your business without clearing your mindset blocks and limiting beliefs is a lot like driving with a parking brake on.
Is it possible? Yes. Is it sustainable? No. Will it give you the results you want? No.
Accomplishing the results we want doesn’t have to constantly feel so hard. It doesn’t have to feel like pushing a boulder uphill or...driving with the parking brake on.
Instead, you can create a life where you set goals, take action, and regularly accomplish them. As you do this over and over, you begin doing it faster and collapsing the time it takes you to get your results.
This is what’s possible when we begin with our mindset. You CAN have the results you desire. You DO have a business capable of creating the income you desire. You do have a personality that magnetically draws in those dream clients who just GET you. There IS a reality in which you get to be wildly successful and deeply loved.
Let’s start that transformation by taking my free Money Blocks Quiz and find out what problems to clear up first.
I’m ready for your transformation when you are!
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