What comes to mind when you think about getting a coach – whether it be a life coach or a business coach?
You might have no idea what that really means. Or you might be one of those people who are thinking “Do I really need a life coach – how could that help me?” At one point this is exactly the same spot our guest today, Misty Thomas, was in.
In my Next Level Program, which opens back up this fall, we hit on all aspects of coaching that will help you take your business (and life) to the next level. One of those aspects is Life Coaching, and I brought in an amazing person to help with that. Yup, that's Misty Thomas, and she’s a certified Life Coach. But she didn't go through one of those quick online programs that you get through on a weekend and all of a sudden start calling herself a life coach. Nope. Misty was trained for a year by the best in the business.
In this episode, Misty Thomas is going to uncover how you can take control of your mind to get what you really want out of life and your business and why you might want to consider a life coach or mentor to help you do that faster.
Past Experiences Don’t Define Future Results
In this interview, Misty was sharing a ton of valuable information on how a life coach will help you take the thoughts in your head and reframe how you think about it. That’s so hard to do on your own. Especially because it can be super hard to change your view on past experiences. For example, if you tried to start a business in the past and failed, you might think you’ll always fail. Wrong!
Step 1 to gaining control over your mind is to believe what you are thinking. Sounds basic, right?! In some situations, that can actually be the most difficult thing.
Have you ever had to do something that you’ve never done and it was way outside of your comfort zone? It can be super scary, right? Misty Thomas says that you shouldn’t try to force yourself to go from non-believer to believer overnight. Instead, you should take baby steps.
This part is crucial.
Before you believe in that thing, start by just being open to believing that it’s possible to believe. Kind of an abstract concept, but I hope you get it. Then with each baby step you take, you can start adding on small actions that help increase your confidence while moving you closer to the goal. This is the kind of magic that a life coach makes happen.
Misty Thomas On Understanding Your Brain
A lot of what Misty has taught me in this interview (and what I hope you get as well) is that mastering your mind means that you have to understand how it works. Don't worry, I'm not telling you to crack open your kid's anatomy book. I'm talking about high-level fundamentals of psychology. One of those fundamental things about the brain that Misty Thomas shared is that it always will work in the most efficient way possible.
Your brain doesn’t care if you are thinking about everything in life negatively or if you look at everything in the most optimistic way possible. If you are having a ton of negative thoughts, your brain is going to quickly try to find proof that validates your thoughts so it doesn’t have to work on that anymore.
The same thing holds true if you approach things positively. If you are approaching things with the Because I Can thought and attitude, your mind will help you find ways to make it work. It’s all about managing your mind.
How To Train Your Brain
It starts with your thoughts. If you are trying to do something – let’s say build a website – and you start with the thought “I can’t do this” then it’s going to leave you feeling dumb and frustrated. Not a fun place to be and you are starting out behind the 8-ball when you approach a new challenge with this mindset.
When you are trying to accomplish something new, like starting your first online shop, and you approach it with a negative mindset, it’s going to be really hard to get any forward momentum. You’re going to look around and it’ll feel like everyone else is moving a million miles per hour and you’re just standing there. It’s not fun to feel like that, right?
The trick to finally making progress is coming up with a thought that’s going to create a feeling of movement. You have to tell yourself that YOU CAN. That’s why I created the business around the name “Because I Can” – it's empowering.
You know me – I’m the first to admit that I face mental blocks all the time. They may not be the same mental blocks I faced years back, but they are still blocks. When I decided to throw my first live event, I was terrified. My brain was telling me things like, what if people throw rotten tomatoes at me (seriously), or what if I mess up on stage and someone records it and it goes viral (yikes)?!
These thoughts were slowing me down.
I had to change how I thought about being on stage if I wanted to make it a success. When you leave your mind open with the thoughts of “I Can Because…”, the possibilities start to show themselves. But you have to keep an open mind, it’s key!
“We are learning or winning, that’s it. There is no failure.” – Misty Thomas
Misty Thomas Explains The The Four C’s
Misty shared a great concept from Dan Sullivan. She said moving ahead with anything in life starts first with making a commitment. It doesn’t matter what it is; that’s step 1. From there, the remaining 3 C’s fall into place.
When we are really committed to something, then we are willing to have courage. When we have the courage to work through those hard things, our capability grows. And when we are capable of doing something, our confidence grows.
- Commitment
- Courage
- Capability
- Confidence
Society tells us that it all starts with confidence, but this brilliant concept that Misty Thomas shared shows that this is backward. Before you can ever get the confidence, you must first commit to growing through the uncomfortable stages, which will give you the capability, and finally the confidence.
