The Idea That Changed My Life

I’ve always been a “type A” high achiever who was super conscientious  about doing things correctly, partially out of principle and partially out of attempting to please EVERYBODY.

It took many years and some specific words of wisdom from a mentor of mine in my early 20s who said, “Brad, some people who are not going to like you because you’re you.”

So, I know that you may be thinking to yourself, “well duh, of course not everyone is going to like you”, and maybe I just had a gaping hole in my perception of reality up to that point. But those words floored me when I first heard them. I almost couldn’t think of anything else but that for about the first two weeks after I heard it.

I’m not sure why that was such a revelation to me, but it was.

Maybe it was because I was thrust into the role of “peacemaker” in my family growing up and was just SO oriented toward “people pleasing” as a means of psychological survival, that I had just never allowed the possibility of that reality to even enter my consciousness.

Whatever the case, that one piece of insight has resonated with me over the years and has dramatically challenged my character development and mindset AND the way I’ve subsequently constructed and developed my life and my business, particularly as an online business owner.

So in today’s video, I want to talk about the 7 factors that will help you to develop and nurture more of this kind of bulletproof mindset whether you’re:

1. Getting started in personal finance, trying to get on a budget, out of debt and on to FI, 
2. Interested in becoming a coach and trying to establish and differentiate your coaching practice or 
3. Looking at becoming more “income stream independent” by trying to start and grow a profitable online business out of an idea you have.

Today I want you to walk away both inspired and equipped with some REAL data points that will encourage you to start or continue in the direction of your ultimate dreams and goals.

The Struggle Is Real

No matter what the endeavor, there are real obstacles both externally and just as importantly, internally that I want to help you be prepared for as you step into this kind of mindset. And make sure you stick around until the end for the most rewarding one.

1. Start Before You Think You’re Ready

For most of us getting started is rooted in perfectionism. The truth is, you have to push through FAD (fear, anxiety & doubt) and just start wherever you are. Here are some examples:

1. If you’re new to personal finance, sit down and write your first budget.
2. If you’re looking at becoming a coach, engage a friend or family member and ask them if you can walk through some of your ideas and processes that you’re working on.
3. If you're looking at starting an online business, start writing your first blog post or pull out your smartphone and shoot your first video.

The big myth in all of this stuff is that you’re somehow, at some nebulous point in the future, going to “be ready” to get started. That day is now. Start where you are and commit to getting a little better as you go.

And we’ll continue to come back to this point as we progress through this content.

2. You Will Never “Feel” Qualified

This one is rooted in a well-known phenomenon called “imposter syndrome” and I have to be honest with you, this kind of never really goes away (but it can be tamed). 

Imposter syndrome is where you ask yourself questions like:

1. Who am I to think I can get on a budget? I’ve always failed in the past.
2. Who am I to put myself out there as a coach? Who would actually listen to me when there are a gazillion other coaches out there?
3. Who am I to start an online business in the “blank” space? The internet is already overcrowded with so much content, who would actually listen to me, let alone buy from me?

This imposter syndrome is something that almost all people deal with in one form or another and the only way to overcome it is to “just do it”, to just get started like we talked about in number 1. So just get started and you’ve begun to conquer your imposter syndrome.

3. No One Is Going To Give You Permission

This one has been a HUGE one for me most of my life and again is rooted in imposter syndrome. I always felt this sense of needing to be given permission to do just about anything in life and especially when I decided to jump into the personal finance space as well as online business. The truth is, no one but you can give you permission to pursue your goals whether those be, getting on a budget, becoming a coach, starting an online business. No, you have to give yourself permission to “just get started” like we talked about earlier and have the heart to discover people’s problems and help them solve them.

And by the way, IF  you’re still looking for permission, I wholeheartedly grant it to you! :)

4. Some People Are Not Going To Like You 

Just like my friend taught me at the beginning of this story, some people are just not going to like you. They’re not going to like the way you: look, talk, deal with your money, talk about the world, etc. etc. That’s actually a good thing. Why?! Because it means you stand FOR things and equally important, you stand AGAINST things. And particularly in the personal finance and online business world, polarizing viewpoints will draw more attention to you. It will draw both super fans AND extravagantly trollish haters. The tollish haters don’t matter because your message is not FOR them and you have to keep in mind that they are evidence that you’re “over the target”.

5. Commit To Failing Forward

Now, if you’re multitasking I want for you to come back to me here for just a minute. 

Like anything that’s worth pursuing, it’s going to be hard. Like I teach my financial coaching students who are learning the 90 day intensive process of budgeting, it’s going to take some time AND you’re totally going to feel like you’re falling forward at first. And so it is in life, right? Remember when you took your first steps (probably not)? Remember the time when you first tried to ride a bike without training wheels? Remember when you fell off the workout wagon after a solemn New Year’s Resolution promise? This life and this process are full of micro-failures that require us to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and give it another try.

6. When “How To” Becomes Procrastination

This one is a little more insidious because constantly ingesting content so that you can learn a new skill FEELS like you’re actually doing something. And in a sense you are. BUT, there’s a fine line between learning the rudiments of something and the incessant perfectionism and procrastination that comes with watching one more video or taking one more course. 

Remember, it’s not a bad thing to learn, just make sure it’s education disguised as procrastination and that you’re actually producing more than you’re consuming and ACTUALLY moving in the direction of your goals. 

7. Your First Breakthrough Will Be SO EXCITING!

So, we’ve talked about a lot of hard things so far and I wanted to save the best one for last because it is TRULY so fulfilling once you reach your first breakthrough in any of these endeavors like:

1. Successfully budgeting for your first 90 days and feeling more control of your money for may be the first time in your life.
2. Working through a problem with a friend, family member or student as a “test case” for your coaching practice.
3. Getting your first email or YouTube subscriber after finally putting your content out there for the world to see and getting that first piece of feedback that it’s ACTUALLY helping people.

Conclusion & Call To Action:

So I’m curious, which one of these was most surprising to you? Which one do you think you’ll struggle with the most? Leave a comment below and let’s continue the discussion.

Struggling Or Feeling Alone?

Join Our Private FB Group: Zero Debt Tribe

Now, if this decision process is something you struggle with and you constantly feel isolated about, I’ve got some great news for you and it’s free.

Our private Facebook group, ZeroDebtTribe. It’s a group of like minded people that are all somewhere along this P2P/debt-elimination/on their way to FI continuum. So click the image above and apply to join us. :)

How can ZeroDebtCoach help you? 4 ways...

1. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the notifications bell to make sure you get our new videos every week. 

2. Download one of our free personal finance guides. You’ll learn some of the exact strategies I teach my private coaching students on how to organize and optimize their finances, obliterate debt and move on to financial independence by starting and growing online businesses.

3. If you’re looking for a community of motivated and like-minded people, go ahead and get on the waitlist to join our private financial coaching community. We only open it for new students a couple of times a year, so make sure to get on the waitlist.

4. If you need some help right now because you’ve got a burning issue, you need a problem solved, you want to talk through a complex situation, click on the button below.

All that said, let's keep on building your financial acumen and make this your best year yet!

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll see you in the next video post!

Some Of My Most Popular Posts

100 Frugal Ways To Save Money And Get Out Of Debt

30 Day Debt-Elimination Quick-Start Challenge

Budgeting 101: How To Build A Budget (You Can Actually Stick To)

What To Do When You Can't Pay Your Bills - Dave Ramsey's "4 Walls"

18 Expenses You Should Obliterate From Your Budget

How To Start Budgeting When You're Terrible At It

8 Steps To Erase Debt - And Get Your Life Back

9 Things We Do To Save Money Like "The Millionaire Next Door"

7 Budgeting Mistakes We All Make (And How To Correct Them)

What Is Financial Coaching?

$43k Paid Off!

The 4 Most Popular Reasons People Seek Financial Coaching

When Is It Okay To Say "I Can't Afford It"

How To Get Your $1000 Emergency Fund - Fast!

12 Things We Don't Spend Money On

How To Be Financially Prepared For The Coming Recession

11 Irregular Expenses You Probably Forgot To Budget

4 Not-So-Obvious To Rewrite Your Budget Every Month

12 Things You Should Buy At The Dollar Store And 5 You Shouldn't