Were You Stupid Three Months Ago?

Welcome to Million Dollar Grit, the podcast that dives deep into the world of entrepreneurship, where tenacity meets strategy and dreams meet reality. My name is Julie, and I explore the raw, often overlooked truths of what it takes to succeed in business and in life. It's not just about the glossy success stories. It's about the grit it takes to get there.

Hey, friends. Welcome back to Million Dollar Grit. Today's episode comes from one of my all time favorite questions to ask coaching clients. Now, I drop this in around month two or three of a plan that we're executing together normally because things are getting real, that honeymoon phase is over. Resistance is kicking in. So here's the setup, and you might recognize it. It's okay. It's very normal. So, client, let's say they come to me in January and they say, julie, I have an idea. And I'm like, all right, sounds awesome. Let's map it out. We get to work, we set up the timeline, the to dos, the strategy, all of it. February rolls in, we're implementing. It's a grind, you know, it's harder than we think. It's not quite playing out like the vision, but we're still, we're still moving forward. And then let's say by March, we have got some sort of small win. Maybe it's out the door. Maybe you have a few sales. It's not a windfall. Okay, this is the point. About three months in, client will like, slide into my boxer and be like, so I think I want to pivot or I think I want to change, or I have a new plan. And they throw out what's usually a very shiny and compelling new idea, thinking that the shininess of the idea or the compellingness of the new idea or the goodness of the new idea is worth exploring. So this is where I step in and say, dead serious. Was the version of you that made this plan in January stupid? So that's what I want to talk about today is future you going to think you're stupid and how to identify when you are caught in a pivot loop versus an actual need to change. So this is the moment, the first time I say this to a client, they kind of nervously laugh because I'm dead serious. Was the version of you that made that plan in January with me stupid? And then I just wait because the answer is, of course not. Of course I wasn't stupid when I made that plan three months ago. And that's exactly the answer I want, because that is the point. Now, there are always exceptions to the Rule. Could you have been stupid three months ago when you made that plan? Sure. Let's say you were drunk or high when you made the plan. Or possibly you were lying to yourself about what you wanted, or you were lying to me or a coach about what it is you wanted. Possibly your plan could be stupid if you built it in a vacuum and never got any feedback from someone experienced or. Or if you spent literally zero time thinking it through if one or more of those things are in play. Possibly you were stupid three months ago, but most of the time the answer is no. Of course I wasn't stupid. Especially if you're working with a coach, right? You're investing time and energy and money. You were thoughtful, you were strategic. You made a plan based on the information you had and the coach's strategy on top of it. So it wasn't stupid you three months ago. So why are you coming to me with a new plan in three months? Usually it's because something is hard. The results are not instant, they're not sexy, and they are possibly coming in under expectation. And so it casts the client into doubt about the entire thing. And the real kicker is when I then say, okay, if you weren't stupid three months ago, but we decide to still take this shiny new plan and pivot, what is going to stop future you from thinking you're stupid today? And that's always when it really hits. This is a pattern. If you're constantly judging the past you as an idiot and creating all of these pivots, you are always going to feel shaky in the present because you don't trust yourself. You don't trust yourself fully. You don't trust the version of yourself that made that plan. And that is actually the real problem that I want to tackle. So today we are going to. I'm going to give you some tips on how to identify if this constant pivoting and changing is a pattern of premature pivots or do you need to legitimately shift based on new intel or insight or alignment? Because sometimes you do have to change the plan, right? More often than not, though, it's a discomfort between the gap of the dream and the actual discipline it takes to get there. So here are some tips or some questions you can ask yourself to help you identify where you're at. So tip number one is pattern recognition, learning to log your pivots. We have amazing tools at our disposal now with AI. And AI is a pattern matching machine. So if you have been in business for a while and you keep finding yourself in the Same fork in the road or you change the plan. We are going to start a pivot log. And so this requires you to. You can do it on a piece of paper, but I recommend you do it in chat GPT because it can remember and document the pattern. So keep a log of your original plan. Every time you start to doubt it in what the trigger is, the that casts that doubt. Because there's always a moment, a thought, a feeling, a number that casts that doubt. And then if you do make a switch, a full pivot, you have to write it down. And you'll start to notice that if you're triggered a lot or you're sensitive, or you're managing expectations that are unrealistic, you are going to start to notice a pattern. And the pattern reveals a tolerance for discomfort, a relationship with uncertainty, or your nervous system wants the illusion of momentum instead of doing the boring work that actually builds it. So that is tip number one is start a pattern recognition journal in ChatGPT, logging every single time you are triggered to pivot, even if you don't. But just watch how often you get triggered and what is causing that. The second thing, second tip is to check the math, not just the mood. So when you made that original plan, did you have reasonable expectations? What were your benchmarks? What were your key performance indicators of the plan? How far are you from those really? One thing we have to look at, if you didn't make any benchmarks or KPIs, then you were going off vibes, which is highly unreliable. If you did make benchmarks or KPIs, were they realistic? Now, if you're working with a coach like me, then yes. If you're working with another coach, I can't necessarily vouch, but it's possible that your benchmarks are not realistic. Okay, so you might be right on benchmark, but your vibe is off, right? Or you might be 10% off, but that 10% off, right. I expected 50 sales and you know, I only got 40 sales. Could feel really big in your head. Okay, so if your KPIs are way, way, way under and you know they were reasonable, that that could signal that a pivot is necessary. But don't pivot yet, because I want to go to tip number three first. So the last piece here is before you throw everything out and start over, which we all like to do, because it's way harder to fix something than it is to build from scratch. The question is, have I fully optimized what I've already built? Have I channeled that Energy that wants to pivot and instead reframed it into an optimization plan. So have you changed the offer versus just testing different headlines? Have you changed the entire funnel instead of just adding some follow up emails? Right, so if you are redoing the plan before you ever optimize the original one, that is where you have to stop and think. So if we, if we put this all together and we say, okay, we are logging our pivots, we are watching our triggers and it doesn't seem to be a pattern, doesn't seem to be something that I circle the drain on. I've checked the math. My math was realistic. I am off, but not like by 100%. I'm off about 10%. And have I tried optimizing first? Those are the questions. If you are sure that you have optimized, if you are sure that your KPIs were realistic and if you're sure that you are not stuck in some pattern loop, some pattern pivot loop, then it is probably time to actually pivot. And that is a place of clarity and not panic. Okay. It still begs the question, where were you three months ago? That this plan, you know, has fallen through the cracks at this level. And that's an important question to ask because the new plan you want to make, you want to be able to trust. Most of you, though, are going to go through those three steps and you're going to realize that you're not really ready for a pivot because you are actually stuck in a pivot loop. And so I hope that helps. You were not three, you were not stupid three months ago, and you're not stupid now. But you do need to learn how to trust your past decisions, understand your patterns, and work with the data. And that's what maturity looks like. And the next time you get started with a shiny new plan, ask yourself if you're willing to stick with it for six months, because that's usually a good barometer as to how committed you are to the plan that you have in front of you. See you next time.

And there you have it, folks. Another dose of Million Dollar Grit. I hope today's episode has left you feeling inspired, equipped, and ready to face your own entrepreneurial journey with resolve. Remember, until next time, embrace the struggle, harness your grit and keep pushing forward. You're stronger than any challenge you face. I'm Julie and this has been Million Dollar Grit.