Motivation and Mindset in Business

Okay, I say got it.

Let's do it. It's this week, Sarah, is motivation and mindset. So before we get into that, we just came off of a really fun event and it was with Misty Mejia. It was really good. And I did one in at QuickBooks Connect It was a blast, and it was very— it's always good to hang out with Misty, I have to say that.

Yeah, oh, absolutely. But it was really— I was sad I had to go because I already had an appointment, but I jumped in for the first 30 minutes and reconnected with some friends. But the flow of it, the idea process of it, the general kind of feeling of it felt so Misty and so fun and so rewarding. And so I can't wait to like go back and watch the recording.

She's doing a cohort group for women. We should probably look into that for women speakers. We should make it.

Yeah, that would be awesome. But yeah, I'm happy to be back. I saw your last one. You did such a great job.

So thank you for covering for both of us. I still had to get the 15 minutes in for both of us so that 30 minutes happened. Without you, I just blabbered on for 30 minutes and Had a few little glitches in the beginning, but the more I do this, I know I am going to get better and better and better at it, which is awesome. But yeah, so you ready to rock this motivation and mindset? Because we talked, I talked about goals last week and we will talk today about how we made our goals. So hopefully everybody went back and pictured their dream life and then went down and wrote up their goals. And now We're working on how do we stay motivated? Because I'll be honest, I go through spurts of motivation, as you are well aware.

Yeah, yeah.

Some days I come at you like, like a hornet's nest, right? Sometimes I'm like, what we're gonna do? And you're like, okay.

Yeah, it's like I was talking, I had a great moment with Seth last week, just reconnecting, and I said, Linda gets in the car and then I just end up getting in the car and just zooming around like I'm just told where I go sometimes, but that's okay. I mean, we all have our goals and it's okay to— if you don't have one right now, it's okay to sit and think about it.

Yep.

Right, it's okay to manifest it as you are progressing through something. You might have a lightbulb moment. I don't know. I mean, just, it comes, but it's, it's nice to have I, after watching you last week, I sat down and thought about, okay, simplistically, what are my goals? Like, just bottom line, just— and I just kind of came up with 2 on the cuff for myself. And I probably already changed those, to be honest with you, but for my own personal needs and my own direction. So, and it's the same way for you. Same way.

Oh, it totally is. I mean, there are times when I try to think short-term goals and I try to think, okay, I want to do the courses, right? And I want to get that done. And that's on my short-term list. But it's good to— sometimes you get so involved and busy in business that you stop thinking about the long-term goals. And you need to have that endgame. You need to have that, um, you need to be able to put yourself in a place where you're ready to go and you are, you're in a place where you're looking at the long game. Because hey, for me, I don't know how many more years I'm going to have working. I'm hoping for like 20, but I don't know. So, and I don't know what capacity. So I have to start to wrap my brain around you know, maybe slowing it down at some point. I really don't want to, but if that does come to fruition, I have to start to think about those kind of things because after a while, you know, add 20 years to my age and I'm going to need to slow down at some point. So you have to think about that, but also maybe think of shifting.

Yeah.

Something I think I might have touched on last week is multiple revenue streams, and it's something that I think every person— so since we're talking about goals, this is kind of a broad scope of what anybody can do. They don't have to be in the legal field, but broad scope So if you think of it that way, you can think about just—

Any profession, any profession, Linda, really. I mean, diversifying, it's hard to think, and you might be at the front end or you might be in the middle and trying to think, how do I do this? It's any profession that there's a way to diversify yourself. So maybe you're like, for the simplistic side of it, like in the sense of you, you you, you did all of this support, uh, for years on the thing.

Yeah.

And now we really do, like you said, it's got to be our goal that we build out something to support the community. But at the same time, it, it helps us get paid for our value and our worth, because you should be paid for that. It's another avenue similar to anyone else. Maybe you are an expert in a specific thing and you don't realize it, and it's becoming feedback, people are telling you, that's amazing. You have that. Yeah. Craft it. That's a skill that maybe you can endeavor in and change. Right.

And we've had that happen.

Right.

We've had people say to us, like, you guys know so much in our group. They say, you know so much. And then people are like, okay, so, you know, so many people, how about, you know, maybe you can— we want to put something together that is out there that people maybe who can't make our meetings and be a part of the group, maybe they want to just on the outside and learn some of the basics and start to learn the beginning. And And then maybe eventually they join our group. So let me share my screen. Now, we did make this a Facebook Live, and I know I saw Nicole's name waiting to come in, but I don't think she actually wants to be on the camera.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm not gonna put her on because we don't have the webinar version. I do have a packed program that I'm still trying to learn that I'm going to eventually get to somewhere, some way. But anyway, let's— let me share my screen. And then let's just jump right into— hopefully, I don't know if you can I see it.

Looks pretty.

OK. Yay. Yay. OK, so let's just use this as a tool to fast-track your goals. So let's dive right in and upgrading your mindset. So what does it take to create change to achieve your goals? And when you think about that, right? So maybe you have been sitting in it like me. I have been sitting here with Kajabi paid for, for 2 months now. Not really. I have played in it. There are things in there and I'm like a little scattered. What can I do to start to make this goal come to it from a goal to a dream? I want to get it. I want to get this started. Getting started is sometimes hard. So I think, I think what does it take to change, create change and to achieve your goals? I think you have to change your mindset. So mindset with me is I sit down in the morning, get up at 5. I sit down in the morning and I start to clean up a few things. And the next thing you know, becomes this snowball rolling and I'm over here and, oh, I need to do that. And I'll do that first because I'm going to do this later. And I think for me, I need to change the way I think. So mindset is the way you think. And probably the reason I'm not completing that project is, or achieving my goal of getting that done is because, or getting anything done is because I don't think about it the right way. What do you think?

Well, I think I personally, because I know it's, I know it's a, you're driving this goal for us and it's a mission. I think for just, just kind of out loud speaking is maybe we, our mindset should be we have a scheduled date and time that we do it on.

Yeah.

That will help manifest it into a regular process for us and get us going. So It's kind of like we talked about it for so long about doing our own thing, our own group. And then you're like, Sarah, this is it. This is, this is the day. This is what we're going to do. And I was like, okay, here I go.

January. What a better time to start, right? But it was you.

That was a mindset change that you just did for us. And I appreciate that about you because it helps, because I know that we have our own roles in our own company together and we kind of balance each other out. But It will help us. So maybe it's a buddy mindset change. Like maybe what we do, because we're partners and we're in this, we have this goal. But maybe if you're struggling with something and you need someone to reach out to, Mariette does this so well. You know, get yourself a buddy, figure it out, or get in a—

I'm actually meeting her right after this.

Oh, okay. So there you go.

Yeah, Mariette's my, my buddy from a council. But yeah, so if you I think totally changing mindset for me to get this done. Because you're right, I did change my mindset when I put the lab together. And I thank you for like, what do you— what did you just say? What are we doing? Okay, because you went with the flow, right? You— I came in like a ball of fire. And you're like— Yes, you were. And then, then you— but then you hop on the meetings. And I sit back sometimes. I'm like, because you have such a lot, you have so much knowledge. But a lot of times I sit back and I'm like, you know what, she's doing a great job teaching here. And everybody respects your business acumen and your, your Intellect on a lot of this stuff. And I think that, you know, you dive in and every time something comes up on Clio, I'm like, it's Sarah. You have to talk to Sarah. Don't talk to me.

I love you for saying it. I'm like, wait, you're flipping this around. We gotta go the other way.

Thank you.

But I, I, you have to be open to it too. I guess that's the part that I think you, you've got a good point in driving is you have to be open to changing your mindset. So if it's a new ritual in the morning, If it means that you get up half an hour early to give yourself that moment, you've got to try it. You just have to try certain things. And if you fail, that means that that part didn't work for you, but the next thing might work for you. You can't figure it out until you try it, I feel like.

Absolutely. So anybody who's watching today, if they're watching on the replay or they're watching now, if— I think it comes to that, if If we can help you be a better thinker—

oh, did I freeze?

I think it was Zoom. It just crapped out on me. I don't know why, but when's the worst time for Zoom to go bad? When's the worst time for Zoom to go bad?

Oh my gosh.

You're in the middle of the live, right? That's— well, I'll try to put them together. Um, you know, that's what happens.

It's okay. I was like, oh, I'm staring at myself, and Nicole was—

It was Zoom because I looked at it, it said you had no connection, but when I went on, it didn't. So we're both live again, by the way.

Okay, you're back. I said goodbye to everybody for the week, but okay.

You got a chance to do that.

It's okay.

So you can see back here, right?

Yeah. And Carmen, I think when I saw last, Carmen was also posting. It was great. It's nice to see her here.

Okay. Um, back on track. Mindset, changing the way you think, changing, changing your thoughts on how to get something done. So the biggest thing, do you make excuses and exceptions? Yes, that would be me. I make excuses and exceptions. And let's put it this way. Okay. I think this is a great way to put it. Okay. Have you ever, have you ever, and I've done this, have you ever, I'm trying to see. Okay. Have you ever hit the snooze button? And have you ever hit the snooze button like 10 times?

Well, in the past, yes, when I had the alarm clock. But going forward, yes, there are some mornings where it just doesn't— it just—

Feel like getting up. Yeah.

It's just not there.

Yeah. Hitting the snooze button is delaying the inevitable. If you keep hitting the snooze button, like I wanna get up at 6 and I just start hitting that snooze button and I can make it all the way to 6:30, I'm not getting good sleep. That's not giving me good sleep. So that's a bad way to think about this. This is me with doing my project, right? I am postponing it and postponing it and kicking the can down the road, and it's not a good way to be. So I think when you take the time— this is what we're going to do, this is our homework— when it takes time to shift the mindset, we're going to take that power away from those default habits that we've created in our life. It's a default habit that I get up, I get up, and when I get up, in my head I'm like, I'm going to work on my project from 5 to 7, no one's going to bother me, right? On East Coast time, especially. It's all you West Coasters, you're sleeping. And then I, I just scroll off in a million directions. So I think when you take the time to shift and focus on your mindset first, so I'm gonna do that first. I'm gonna shift our focus. We're gonna take away the power from the default pattern or habit that will help us get good, sustainable, successful change.

Yeah.

What do you think?

Yeah.

Is that a work?

Agree. And I think when you have a committed time or a committed space, whether it be for yourself and you honor it, or whether it be with someone else, it helps you honor it. Sometimes having that extra person there to honor it, or you just block— like the whole time blocking thing, sometimes that if it works for you, or there's so many other applications out there, we got to find the one that works for you. And I think for us, for this, we just have to schedule that time. Do it on the East Coast time of 5 for me, please.

No, no, no. Yeah, I have to do my own piece. I would never make you— I make you get up early as it is, awful, an awful lot. But I think if we— if you start to focus, so if your goals are your business goals and your business goals are— and you're saying, all right, I'm gonna shift my whole mindset because my ultimate goal is here, especially if you're new or just in the middle of business and you're trying to get it rocking and rolling. If you change your business goals to be thinking of shifting mindset, that's kind of scary. If you think about it, if you try to do that, it's kind of scary. But I think the only way that's— the only way that you can kind of get that action going is to shift the mindset. If you're trying to get something completed, I think it's the only way you can get past it and solve the problem. So upgrade your mindset and focus on your goals. So the next one is— this is the elephant in the room, right? The big P, procrastination. We all have it. Yes, we all have it. Yeah. But know that you already— like, why am I holding back? Think about that. If you're sitting here listening to this, maybe on the replay, if you're here now, what's holding you back? Why are you not doing it? Because I've used excuses. I've had a ton of them. Oh, I have to do the webinar for this. I got to do a PowerPoint for that. I got to go do another PowerPoint for this. Oh, I got to be doing this. And I have a million excuses. So I think that it's that little coach in your head that will talk you out of it.

Mm-hmm. Well, and it's also, to your point, it's a habit. You habitually have this. There are some times where there's so much negative connotation around procrastination, but there are some times where personally I'll divulge, I don't know how I'm going to respond to something or I haven't really fully sussed it out. So my form of procrastination is cleaning. It's weird, really weird. Therapeutic because it helps me identify and start questioning the behavior, which allows me to move past the block of whatever the issue is. And then I get solid with what I'm going to do or write or feel like in a response to something, whatever it is, and I move forward. But I wanted to ask you, Linda, something I, I kind of came upon myself through the years of doing this now, do you feel that when you make goals or changes in one side of your life— because I know we're focusing on the business— if, like, say you, you have a solid foundation that you're setting up for your personal side, it spills into your business side? So as you have these goals or, you know, these buckets that you're doing inside of your personal world, it spills over, or vice versa? Do you feel that that happens to you? And it helps?

You tell me, because I totally have changed my whole personal world, right? I've changed my personal world 100%, diving in, focusing. I said, you can see, you can see where my, where my change is coming from, my yoga stuff, right? So I am using my yoga to get me past the hurdles that are holding me back. And yoga and meditation are huge. And Carmen, who might have been here was we're doing a whole segment at Scaling New Heights on that. We're going to teach you because one of the things about meditation, it's so easy to procrastinate and go, oh gosh, I only got like, I don't have time. I'll just do 5 minutes. So you're stealing away that time. That's your focus time. And the focus time is the foundation of your day.

Yeah.

So I think that totally 100%, if you're happy in your personal life and you've worked around getting yourself in a solid place, It'll help those, those ideas and those changes happen. Yeah. Um, I think like here, all right, so you already have what you need to get your— you have it. So you need the confidence. Know that anybody watching here, you have everything you need to obtain your goals. It's inside you. You just gotta pull it out.

Yeah.

And, um, you also have the tools to make those changes in your life, right? You do have those tools. They're there. And if you don't have them, the internet's there. Go find them. They're there to help you learn. You've got plenty of places on YouTube where you can learn how to do things. I've had to in the past. I've had to rely on other people for things in Excel that I'm trying to go outside my comfort zone and trying to. And the other day I went up into Google. I'm like, I'm just gonna do this in Google, but you couldn't. Had to go back to Excel. I found my video and I got there. But and I think too now you've got this big big goal in your brain. Like I have a big goal in my brain of like all these multiple courses. And Sarah, are you gonna do this one on clean? I want to do one on lean. Lean long. But you have to think micro. Yeah. What am I going to do tomorrow? What am I going to do tomorrow to take that actionable step to obtain my goal? Yeah. Don't think micro— don't think macro, think micro. Yeah. Make it obtainable.

That's a good point. That's such a good point. I know we talked about time block.

Time blocking works. And right. And we need to do time blocking. We talked about that last night. Like, we're like, I didn't even realize it was after 7. We're like, We didn't do this, we did that. But we already had— we had talked about it because there's been 2 things we've been procrastinating on. We keep trying to get together to complete and we keep going, oh, and something happens, right? Something always steals that time away. But I think when you're trying to stop procrastinating, it's a— that's also a mindset shift. I think that's totally a mindset shift.

Yeah.

You have to stop thinking about procrastinating in the hour, maybe look at the next— look at the big picture and then start to break your day into blocks. And you can actually Take your calendar and break down everything. I'm going to do yoga. I'm going to meditate. I'm going to focus in my journal. And for me, journaling is— I don't actually write in my journal like I did back in my yoga teacher training days when I was not— I had a little simple job and didn't have what I do now. I actually write in my journal like, what am I going to try to get accomplished? I try to make it reasonable because it's easy to not make it reasonable. Yesterday I told Nicole, hey, I'm going to be back in an hour. 2 and a half hours later because I had to do a video and it takes longer than you think. You start to time yourself, right?

So the big thing I wanted to share with this is, um, I always look to help and Mel Robbins was one that has helped me through the past, you know, the past few years. And I enjoy watching her and I love learning from her. And I do agree with the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And, and I do agree with pick one thing too. I I think sometimes we get so busy and we have so much fun together at times, and that sometimes it's really hard. We just have to focus on the one thing so we can move to the next thing together.

And so— I enjoy, even though we're working on the weekends, I enjoy that one day that we work on the weekends because it's like I finally get to just talk to you about whatever.

Whatever we want.

Right? We end up talking about all these different things, but it's like, oh, that was a good weekend. Good weekend. Even though we get something done, we're usually doing like pricing jobs or whatever on the weekends where it's quiet. But, but then we end up talking about, oh, your coffee pot and all these different things. So I mean, but In the mindset shift, it's kind of, if you're thinking about micro, not macro, think about like if you had to empty your dishwasher and you're just procrastinating about doing that, what if you just went over and just took those forks, knives, and spoon thing out and just emptied that? Now you've started the project, right?

Yeah.

You started it.

Yeah, start. Or you did like, what's the thing I watched years ago when, you know, young mom trying to do all these things, pick a room to clean. Like if you're just going to clean the bathroom, pick the bathroom and give yourself 10 minutes and do it. Like, you know, because we're all busy. So, it's true. It's just, but it's, you just have to get past the thing, like you said, Linda, and just go. And you got to get in the car and drive. How else are you going to get anywhere?

If you live in the mindset of I'll do it later, it'll sometimes make you quit before you even get it started. Right.

So, start before you're ready.

Yeah. Start before you're ready. If I'm going to start tomorrow at 5 o'clock working on my, my courses, I'm gonna start at 4:45. I'm gonna start before I'm ready. I'm going to get that project started before I thought I would. I'm gonna just motivate myself to do that. And that's kind of how you get motivation is kind of the opposite of procrastination, right? I guess if you could say it that way. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

And time blocking definitely is helpful. You can block out everything. You can put your workouts, live by the calendar and live by the, by the moment. So you're little breaking into those smaller pieces. In order to get that big picture. You know, it's the same thing. I write my blog, I have it on my calendar. I schedule my social media, it's on my calendar. It's part of getting organized. And I think you have to convince yourself that, that you have the time. Because it's easy to convince yourself that you don't.

Oh, yeah, you can find yourself surfing on like, say, Facebook or something of the like. And before you know it, 45 minutes just swooped you away and that was valuable time to a goal that you are trying to get done and, or obtain, I should say, or little bits that you need to finish. So, absolutely.

And you know what? You can do it. Anybody watching this today, you have the power, you have the tools, you have the ability to get your goals and you can do this. You can shift your mindset to changing from being that person that is thinking that you are going to not get it done to the person that gets it done.

Yeah, right, exactly, exactly.

And then the last slide, because we had to make us a slide. We have the SNL team. If anybody is looking, has a client, they're like, I don't want to touch attorneys, um, or an attorney out there that's like, I need help, uh, so this is us. Uh, I just wanted to give a little slide and a little shout out to Nicole who tried to come in because we didn't exactly— we need the webinar one, I guess, to be able to do the Facebook Lives like this.

But yeah.

How do you say one in French? Uno, dos?

I probably should know. We just did Spanish. You can do Arabic, Spanish, French.

Yeah, thank you. And, um, we will absolutely be back next Wednesday. If you like this, please Write in the post and just say that you enjoyed, and we will do more of these. We can go on and on and on on how to get to your goals. And if you are interested in joining the Accountants Law Lab Facebook group, find us. It's there. And I can put a link in the comments as well. And then we have the private group, and tomorrow's open forum, which I adore.

Oh, private.

So much fun. We got some great comments too already in the group. They've already put some challenges in there, some more 1099s. Are we ever going to stop talking about 1099s?

I know, you know, it's such a big world for us in our— it's a task, I say, in our world. And so thank you for the reminder. I need to go check that out because, yeah, yeah, I don't do as much on Facebook to preserve my time.

I do. And then you do, you do other things.

A lot of things. Yeah, right.

Yeah, you do a lot of things.

It's a great team. So, but no, thank you. I mean, this is great. And please share with us or If you feel like sharing your goal, if you feel like telling us a tip, I mean, it would be great to see what other people are doing, I think, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. Alrighty.

Well, we'll be back next week, everybody, and I hope you enjoyed. And yes, if you see us on replay, please, please let us know, and we will see you all next week, same time. Bye, everybody.