706. The Rollercoaster of Business & How to Ride It

If you just keep going and following that feeling, you will exceed your wildest dreams. Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of Light Pink, best selling author, three time fitness world champion, and I'm a crazy, multi passionate entrepreneur. My journey has taken me everywhere, from being a broke waitress, barista, retails associate and personal trainer with massive anxiety and no belief in myself, and to later becoming a multimillionaire in love with my life. In 2007, my husband and I lost everything. We found ourselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. At rock bottom. We had no ideas and I had no education to fall back on. This is when I found personal development and learned everything I could about business. Not by choice, but because I realized no one was coming to save me. The conversations on this podcast are going to let you know that you' alone and that we all feel like we don't know what we're doing. We're going to give you the tools to help you face your fears, take action, start your business, and grow those massive dreams that are keeping you up at night. It's time to create a life that you can't hide from and put so much on the line that your higher self is forced to come out. You're going to stop waiting for someone to approve of you and you're going to anoint yourself. Because I'm obsessed about building businesses that give women a platform, I want to feature you. So if you text the word podcast to 310-496-8363, you can get your questions answered on our Q and A segment along with a shout out. And if you rate, review and subscribe to this podcast, we're choosing someone every month to get coached and featured on our show. It just might be you. So let's get started. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. It's time for another quickie because there's always time to fit in inspiration and I'm so excited to talk to you guys today. Oh my goodness. So this week I got thrown a lot of I don't want to say punches because I don't want a negative connotation to the BS or the crap that just comes up and just sideswipes you without you knowing it. So how can we lovingly name these to the obstacles that come that make us better. And as you can hear in my voice, I am all about reframing because it's gonna happen. It's inevitable that your business, the thing that you're going for, your career, your life, your relationships, your friendships are Gonna throw you curveballs. And sometimes they all come in one week. And I had a week where kind of all of these unexpected things came up and having to make some tough decisions and having to have some hard conversations all came in one week. So it kind of feels like gut punches over and over. And I want to share kind of the analogies that have come into my head around embracing those moments, because that is entrepreneurship. And I think that's the thing that people get really confused on, is that, you know, if it's right, you know, if it's the right thing and you're on the right path, why would it be feeling this way or why would these things be coming up? And I want to demystify all that. To say that is your job as an entrepreneur, is to put out fires. That is what this is gonna look like. So how can we make this better? How can we make this more fun? How can we be so grateful for the things that really stretch us? And I was on a walk with Chris last night, and I was talking about how truly this is like, going to great America. For those of you who don't have Great America, maybe it was Six Flags or maybe it's Disney, but I kind of don't even want to use Disney because they don't have as many crazy roller coasters because we need a theme park with crazy roller coasters for me to use this analogy. So picture Great America, our Six Flags. It's very much like going there. And I'm not so much talking about the roller coaster, because we've heard that analogy over and over and over with entrepreneurship being like a roller coaster. And it is. But entrepreneurship is also waiting. It's also the lines. It's also being patient. It's like going during peak season and realizing that most of your time spent is spent waiting in lines to get on a ride that maybe you don't even know much about. You've just heard it's great. And then you actually get on and you start freaking out because you realize just how you can see as you get closer and closer and closer in line, you start getting nervous because you see just how big that drop is, and you didn't quite realize it, and it sounded really fun when you and your friends were talking about it to plan for this trip. But then you get up close and you start to see it. Here's the things that you have to start to be aware of. Make sure that you're getting on that ride with the friend who, when that drop is coming anyway, tells you to just throw your hands up, keep your eyes open and stay super present for it. Because no matter what, you're going on the drop, right? And there's the inevitable. Well, I'm really freaked out. I feel like I could die, but I might as well have my eyes open for it. Might as well throw my hands in the air. And it's a very real feeling, right? Like, oh, this is awful. I can't believe I signed up for this. What was I thinking? But it sure sounded fun when you first did. And so then you ride the roller coaster for a while, you freak out, there's some fun parts, there's some horrendous parts. Maybe it makes you a little sick, maybe you feel sick for the rest of the day and. And then you get back in another line and you wait and you have to be patient. And sometimes the lines are 45 minutes, sometimes they're two hours, sometimes they're three hours. And are you going to be the person willing to wait in line long enough for that new ride that everybody is waiting to experience, only to get up to the front to realize this shit's scary, right? So you've waited forever and you have to be patient. And I equate that to when I am waiting for an answer and I just have to stand there and be patient or I'm waiting to. I can't even make a move to put out a fire or hear from somebody who could potentially ease my mind or make me feel better until the next day or until next week or until next month, right? And it's a waiting game to get on a wild ride and then you wait some more to ride another wild ride. And I think that we have to realize we actually sign up for this in our life. Like we go to amusement parks for this contrast, right? We want something different from our everyday day to day life. We want to wait in line for this possible thrill. We want to talk about it. How are you going to make the line more fun and how are you going to make sure you enjoy the ride when you actually get to see what the journey looks like? And there's so much of this going on in my life where I feel like I'm waiting and then I get on a wild ride and I'm like, oh, holy hell. Like, hold on tight. Who am I riding with? And this has been really huge. I have people in my life right now who are really helping me when I start to see the inevitable, you know, big drop or the inevitable loops or the inevitable bumps that are gonna like Rock my world or throw me off or now seem scary after they seem like a great idea. Who am I riding with? Am I with those people or in those groups or, you know, in those coaching programs or. Or, you know, am I surrounding myself with people who are truly in the arena with me, who are like, hey, this is how we're going to face this, right? You have a plan for how you're going to face all of these things that are coming. Because if you go to the amusement park with that one friend, you know who it is, who's whining the whole time, who maybe won't even want to go on the rides, or who gets on the rides and freaks out, closes their eyes, screams like a terror. You don't even want to sit with them because they're freaking out. Maybe they're crying, okay, I've been that person before. It's not going to be as fun, right? Rather than if you go with that person who's just like, let's get in the front row, let's throw our hands up, oh, my God, let's talk about it. How crazy was that? How fun was that? Who really just makes the best of everything that is happening, even if they're scared, too? So it's a lot of. What's the perspective you're looking at your business through? What's the perspective you're looking at these times where you have to be really patient or you don't hear the answers? Are you giving up? Are you quitting? Are you not able to handle that long stretch of the in between that most of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is of the planning and wondering if your launch is going to go well. Of wondering if this person is going to invest. Of wondering if you will raise the money. Of wondering if you should launch this program. Of wondering if you, you know, wondering about all the what ifs. How are you going to just be in that line while you wait and have some fun and be fully present? Because if the whole time you're just annoyed that you're in line, this is. Amusement parks are not for you, right? You have to make the line fun. You have to figure out how to be present and enjoy everything of the in between and know what your alternative is, right? Know what the alternative to not waiting in line would be, and that would be not going to an amusement park with your friends. Maybe you've got fomo. Maybe you, you know, whatever the purpose is and really understanding. Like, we are so blessed to get to do what we want to do. We are so blessed to take risks. We are so blessed to feel all of the contrast of these feel feelings because without them we're bored. Without them we're anxious. Without them we don't create our future. Without them we don't own our future. Right? Somebody else will. So it's all about making sure that you enjoy the in between.

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So, you guys, I'm super grateful for you. We have been having great conversations on the text list. We're answering questions over on my text list all of the time. I literally am so obsessed with how the conversation is finally starting over there and I'm hearing all of your business questions. So on some of my quickies, I'm going to be answering your business questions on there as well, or some of your questions in general. We throw out a topic and you guys send all your questions in. We also answered a bunch of your questions on Q and A. So the Q and A that Evans and I do together, we answer your questions there. So if you guys are interested in getting a question answered on the podcast with a shout out, you can text the word podcast to 310-496-8363. And this also signs you up on my light pink list so you can know all the behind the scenes and everything that's going on there as well. So you'll get put on that list and you can also put your questions out. So we send you a text once a week that says, hey, we want to know your questions on X, Y and Z. And then I'm looking right here, I'm looking at all the questions, you guys.

I'm going to read some of the names.

Anna Ramirez, Savannah Salmons, Carrie Littner, Angela. Angela Badillo, Heidi Foley, Sam Harper, Emily Kirkwood, Jody Katzen, let's see, Mary Cole, Lauren Parch, Emily Williams, you guys have all sent. I mean, there are, there's so many questions here that I would love to get to, but we're always going to be picking a couple. Let's see. You know what, I'm going to just scroll and pick one here. So. Okay. Addie Frank asks, did you know you'd be here today when you started, or did you exceed your wildest dreams? This is such a great question, Addie. I always knew that I wanted to do big things. And the only way that I knew that was because when I would Watch women doing big things. Like, I used to watch, you know, ESPN when they showed Fitness America on there. I used to watch, like, beauty pageants back in the day. I used to watch, you know, like, right down to, like, Wonder Woman, different actresses, different, like, powerful speakers on tv. And I. I would feel like I was levitating. Like, that energy would light me up so much that I knew I wanted to do something that made other people feel that way. And so that's all I got. That was, like, as far as I got is I was just like, I have to do that, because it just. The way that I feel is the most alive I feel in my life. It's the most happy I feel is when I'm watching or people are pouring into me in that way, and I'm watching these women do big things. So that had always been something that I started daydreaming on, was talking to women and making them feel the way that I felt. I didn't know how that would look. I didn't know what that was gonna be. And for a long time, I thought it was me doing, like, fitness and fitness routines. And it was because I remember watching them even when I got to see them in person, when I started doing fitness competitions and I would sit in my seat when they would do their fitness rounds, the fitness routine rounds, where they jump all around and flip and do all the things. And I could hardly breathe. I could hardly sit still. And so for me, that's always been my North Star is when I can tap into that feeling. Like, when I started thinking about starting light pink, it's that feeling of excitement. I can hardly breathe. Like, I can hardly sit still. I just want to say all of these ideas and what it could be and talk with other women about it and get that energy that just spirals up and makes you feel like you're floating. So with that said, it's kind of like I didn't know it, but I knew I needed to follow that. And what ended up happening is it feels like it's so slow. It feels like my life journey has been so long, because what. It doesn't happen right away. Like, things take so long. It took, like, three, four years for me to either even do anything in fitness that I was recognized for, and I was consistent as hell. So I think the reminder is, you know, if you just keep going and following that feeling, you will exceed your wildest dreams. So I'm so grateful for this question. And in conclusion, I think we all know we're meant for something greater I think we all know we're meant for more. I think we all feel that feeling. But it's the people who continue to decide to believe it or not. It's the people who don't allow other people to smother that spark or that possibility who are going to make it right. So I'm so grateful for all of you. Thank you guys so much for listening. Again, make sure you text that number because I'd love to chat with you. I'd love to see your name on my text list and continue the conversation. So you guys, until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.