Leah Gervais:

Welcome welcome to today’s episode. So today I wanted to talk to you guys about how to keep momentum in business. So I am currently launching Scale Your Side Hustle®, and I was really called to talk about this today because it is one of the things I am having the most conversations around right now from both ends. I’m talking to a lot of people who really want to start a side hustle, but they’re nervous or they aren’t sure what it will look like, or they’re not sure how to spend the money or find the money to pay for Scale Your Side Hustle®.

There’s lots of things that kind of are blocking them from skyrocketing and taking off. Conversely, I’m also having conversations with a lot of alum of Scale Your Side Hustle®, who talk about how this was the biggest game changer for them, because they look back before Scale Your Side Hustle® and they see how much they started and stopped and started and stopped and started and stopped.

Now I relate to this immensely because if you know my story, you know that for two years, two years guys, before my business actually took off, I did the start and stop thing regularly pretty much every month. And what that looked like for me, it was actually pretty consistent. Every month I would kind of plan my goals about what I wanted to do that month and what I wanted my side hustle to look like. And it would look something like this.

I wanna grow this, my Instagram to this amount of followers. I wanna make this amount of money and that was it. And I didn’t know how to make that money. So I didn’t know what to sell. Didn’t have a service. I didn’t have a product. I didn’t know what I was good at. I didn’t know what people would pay me for. I was waiting for an idea.

And I honestly remember being at my nine to five job during those two years, watching in the, you know, with one earphone in interviews of people like Sarah Blakely and Alexa von Tobel, who are, uh, startup owners, startup founders, and they had ideas, they invented something. Alexa invented a software. Sarah Blakely invented Spanx. And I felt like that’s what I needed to do in order to start a business. And I would literally pray to God to send me a business idea.

That’s how I thought this worked now. Not saying that God can’t divinely give you things. But I believe my path was being led to realize that until I started creating a platform and until I started actually admitting to myself what I wanted, there was no way I could have actually understood what my business or side hustle should look like because it was all theoretical.

At that point, it was all hypothetical at that point. And I think that’s so important for us to remember is that we think that we need clarity in order to move forward. When in reality, clarity comes from you moving forward, it comes from you taking action. It comes from you being in momentum and understanding what does or doesn’t work, what you do or don’t like, what people do or don’t respond to, what you do or don’t feel good about. Those things don’t come from you analyzing them.

This is why I always say that lawyers don’t make the best entrepreneurs because they’re so used to being so academic and analyzing everything before they actually start things. And with entrepreneurship, you truly don’t have the luxury of having that time. You have to take action if you really want answers to these types of questions. So I know firsthand and I, it saddens me because I often see people tell me how bad they wanna do scale your side hustle, or they wanna start a side hustle, or they wanna do X, Y, and Z in their business.

But they have these things stopping them. And you know, eventually they do move forward with it and they realize how much time and energy they wasted by not moving forward. Initially when they knew that they wanted to do this. So that’s what I wanted to talk to you about today. Three tips for staying in momentum, even when obstacles come up, which they will, we’re human. This is how life works. There will be things that you don’t know the answers to.

You won’t always know what you wanna sell. You won’t always know who to sell it to. You won’t always know where you’re going to get the money to invest in your business. You won’t always, if something’s ready, you always will have unanswered questions. The thing that matters is what you do with those and how long you allow it to stop you. So let’s talk today about three things you can do.

I recommend doing all three of these, but these are three things you can do to get yourself out of a start, stop pattern. When it comes to your business, when it comes to your goals, when it comes to your income level, whatever it is that you’re working toward, if you feel like you’ve been in that, I’m going forward and then I’m pausing, I’m going forward. And then I’m pausing. 

Or I take one step back and two steps, one step forward, and two steps backwards. This is for you. The first tip that is so important is that if you notice that you’re in a start and stop pattern is to focus on mindset. Work. I cannot reiterate this enough. Now don’t pause this episode. If you feel like Leah, I already know this, ask yourself, did you do mindset work today? Do you actually do it?

It is such common sense at this point. And maybe, maybe, maybe it’s new for you, but for a lot of people, especially if you are an entrepreneur, you understand the power of, of mindset work. You understand the power of personal development. You understand that your mind is your own greatest asset. And if you’re not tending to it, it’s very hard for you to tend to other parts of your business, other clients, et cetera. So we logically know this yet.

We often skip over it as if it’s an optional thing or as if it is something that we only need to do when things are broken in reality, if you’ve properly and I don’t wanna say is like a right way to do mindset work. But if it’s something that you’re really tending to and prioritizing, and you’re able to move past and reframe obstacles in your way, they no longer become obstacles.

Now, if this is feeling like a little bit abstract and a little bit like gibberish, and you’re not even sure what it would look like in your life, this is a sign. This is a good sign. That it is time to hire a coach, a business coach. If you’re an entrepreneur or a life coach, if you just need more of the kind of direction type work in your life, this is what coaches are for. They’re there to help you see what your thoughts are, whether or not they’re serving you. And to help you move through them in a healthy but effective way so that you’re not bypassing them, but you’re also not letting them stop you.

So an example here could be, if you are, um, starting your side hustle and the, you know, you wanna do this, you know that you wanna have a platform that’s your own, you know, that you wanna have something that you’ve built out of nothing that literally comes from your thoughts. I read this email yesterday

And I thought it was so powerful. It was about this girl who bought a house. And, um, it just made me think like where I looked around at my apartment and like where I live in New York city across from central park happened because of my thoughts. because of something I thought of out of thin air. And because I took action on those thoughts, because I continue to explore them. It’s really incredible.

So anyway, let’s say that you do feel clear about knowing that you want to have your own business. Maybe you are in that side hustle position. You know that you wanna have something that’s your own. You wanna create, you wanna give, you want to, you know, express yourself, but you’re not exactly showing what it would look like. Now this could mean a variety of things. Maybe you’re not sure what the business plan is.

Maybe you know that there’s something you like talking about, or there’s something you like sharing. But when it comes to making a business out of it, that’s a little less clear. You can’t really think of a product that would go with it. You can’t really think of a service that would feel good. You’re not sure if you’re ready to offer that. You don’t even know how the marketing works. The business plan piece feels vague.

Or maybe, you know, you wanna do this, but you just don’t have a clear idea for what it is. So maybe you’re in the place where you’re like, Hey, if I had an idea, I know how to sell. I know I would mark it. I know I’d work my off. I know I’d show up, but I just don’t know what the idea is. Or maybe, you know, you wanna move forward, but you don’t know exactly how and you wanna hire help to do that, but you don’t have any money to do it.

So in any of these situations, they’re all coming down to the same thing. You know, you want to move forward. You know, you want to have a side hustle, but you have an obstacle in your way either. You dunno what the business plan you’ll look like. You dunno what the idea actually is. Or you don’t have the money to do what you need to do.

Now, mindset at work here comes into play, where it helps you see that wherever there is a will, there is a way wherever there is an obstacle, there is an opportunity that is your opportunity to, to have faith in yourself and say, I’m going to figure out this business plan as I go, I’ll probably make mistakes, but I won’t figure it out by sitting on the sidelines. I’m going to start anyway. And I’m gonna just see what happens if I start putting myself out there, or maybe in the middle example, you say, okay, I know I don’t have an idea.

And I know I need that clarity, but I also know I’m not going to get it by waiting. I know that I’m only going to get it. If I start creating things, see what happens. Start being coached by people, start connecting with other entrepreneurs and see where that takes me. Or maybe you’re in the camper. You say, okay, I know I don’t have the money to do this right now, but I know that there is an abundance of money all around me. And I’m gonna find a way.

Maybe you’re gonna start a side hustle. In addition to this side hustle, like maybe you’ll walk dogs or something like that for a little. People have done that. I’ve had people join my program by selling Poshmark. I personally put money on a credit card to start my business. I put a lot like tens of thousands of dollars on credit cards over the years.

So you might not like any of those ideas and that’s fine, but that is the power of mindset work. And I hope that you see my point is that you start to see obstacles or opportunities where other people say obstacles. And if you can do that, if you can train your mind to do that regularly, you will beat out all of your competition bar none, because this piece on getting hung up on obstacles is what hangs people up.

And if you can decide that you don’t know the answers to everything, but that there is an answer to anything you will not get stuck in analysis paralysis for hours. Sometimes days, sometimes months, sometimes, years, where you’re still waiting for your life to get good, where you’re still waiting for this thing to be birthed into reality, where you’re still waiting for your bank account to not be empty.

No one wants that for you. You don’t want that. I don’t want that for you. I don’t think that anyone in the world is benefiting from you, staying where you are. So mindset work is a daily commitment and a daily practice and habit. And if you don’t know how to do it, join my programs because I’ll show you. It’s the easiest way out of all of these and the most surefire and the most important way to keep momentum in business.

And to ensure that you’re not doing a stop start method. You know, when you think of like the energy of a car, the amount of energy it takes to start the car up and turn the car back off is a lot more than the car just cruising along. You might be using gas, but in terms of energy and the battery, it’s not. So that’s the same concept here.

You’re actually using more energy by starting and stopping. Then if you just continued moving forward, even when it’s imperfect, even when you don’t have all the answers, even when you’re not sure where you’re actually going all the time, even when you’re not sure if it’s exactly what you thought it would be, even when you’re not sure what the destination is, even when you’re not sure of your surroundings, that’s okay.

No one goes forward with something knowing how to do it all. If they did, they already would’ve done it. I’m watching my four month old baby right now explore so many things around him and he keeps messing up. He’s probably gonna start crawling soon and he’ll probably try to crawl and try to crawl and try to crawl and try to crawl several times before he actually crawls. But he is not gonna quit crawling, just be or quit trying just because he doesn’t do it right away or doesn’t know how to.

Right now he’s trying to roll over. I’m sure he doesn’t actually know how to roll over but he’s trying to roll over and will continue trying, even though he knows, he doesn’t know how to roll over, excuse me. So this mindset work, this ability to cruise through things and continue going, will save so much energy. That you’ll be stunned at how much faster and further along you could be. Then the person who’s continuing to start and stop because they’re so afraid of what is the unknown in front of them. Okay?

The second practical way to keep momentum in business as a side hustler, business owner, entrepreneur, wherever you are in your journey. If you’re selling something is to get visible and consistently have some sort of visibility effort going and in place. Now this doesn’t have to be as masculine as it sounds. It doesn’t have to mean that you have a funnel or crazy ad system going, or that you’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on marketing or anything like that.

It just needs to mean that from a masculine structure perspective, you know, you’re doing something to get your name out there basically every day or consistently, even if it’s not actually every day, this can be whatever you want it to be. This can be a podcast. This can be a LinkedIn strategy. This can be an Instagram strategy. This can mean you go live regularly. This can be on TikTok. This can be on YouTube. This can be in ads. This can be with blogging. This can be with so many things. The limits are endless.

And we have used a variety in my business. Some I still use, some I don’t. I like to explore different things, many of which I, um, change frequently and many of which, all of which I can teach. But knowing that you’re due, that will honestly help you sit. Well, obviously it’ll help you keep momentum in business because whenever you wanna do something new, you have an audience that’s been growing the whole time.

You know, you don’t get into, that’s a big stopper of momentum in business. You think of something new you wanna do, or you think of something you wanna create, or you think of something you wanna sell. And you kind of have to start from square one because you don’t have the visibility or the audience for it. But if that’s something you consistently kind of have happening, then you don’t have that issue. Now it doesn’t have to mean that you have a huge following.

It doesn’t have to mean that you’re verified on Instagram or that you have a hundred thousand people on your email list. It just means that you show up. And it just means that you do it consistently. So you’re building trust. Andre are able to have an audience for when you wanna sell something or do something new. This is a huge thing that sets people back because they feel like they’re starting from square one when they wanna do something different. So it discourages them from doing it. And then they kind of just pause and get paralyzed.

Okay? The third piece that will keep momentum in business is selling consistently. So we talk about getting visible consistently. Now the other end of the teeter totter is making sure that you’re selling consistently. Something I often see entrepreneurs do is create consistently, but that doesn’t mean that you are always selling. So this could look like this could be you. If you are someone who regularly posts on Instagram, who loves to make reels, who posts on stories, who feels like they’re doing all the things to show up, but they’re not having money come in their bank account.

Give an honest look at the last nine things that you created and ask yourself, am I selling from this? And if so, am I selling well from this? Or look at your last few conversations with potential clients. Were they things that just fell through the cracks or were they actual sales conversations where you helped people see the value that you can provide the results you can provide and help them decide whether or not they wanna move forward and work with you?

That is what a sales conversation is. And if you’re only focused on just creating, you know, these both visibility and sales are scary for entrepreneurs, which is why they don’t do them. They both involve judgment. They both involve rejection and they both involve vulnerable vulnerability. It is much easier to spend your time behind the scenes, blogging behind the scenes, doing a video series behind the scenes in Facebook groups that make you feel productive, right?

That was part of my trap during those first two years, as I was like, I’m posting all the time. I’m blogging all the time. I’m on Instagram all the time. Why is nothing happening? And it’s because I wasn’t really selling anything. And if I was, I didn’t really know how I wasn’t actually selling well. So have a sales strategy in place as well. And again, this doesn’t need to be something that’s over complicated.

It doesn’t need to be a formal funnel. It doesn’t need to mean that you have a sales script. Oh my God, I would throw up if I had a sales script, don’t ever use a sales script, but it does need to mean that you have awareness around how often and frequently. And clearly you are telling people about what you do, what you can do for them and how helpful you can be for them. And that you’re receiving money in exchange for that.

And if you’re not, please contact our team. If, if you wanna do scale, your side hustle or signature sales, which is a little bit more advanced, we can help you develop this. You should not have to go another day without understanding how you can sell today. Okay? So to recap ways, you can keep momentum in business and move faster and get out of the stop start.

I’m up then I’m down. Entrepreneurial rollercoaster. Make sure that you do mindset work consistently every day. Absolutely. Non-negotiable every day two and three. You’d like to do daily. Doesn’t have to be every day. If you have a good strategy behind it, but it does need to still be consistent. You need to be visible regularly and you need to make sales regularly. If you are doing those three things, then you all, you are very, you’re in a very solid structure.

And if, even if something goes awry, let’s say you do a launch and it fails. You’re really not in that vulnerable of a situation because you have a rock solid mindset, which is the most important thing. And you’ve continued to get visible the whole time. So you have other things you can sell to people and you other people that want to learn from you or want to buy from you or want to have you solve their problem.

Um, maybe conversely, you don’t have, you have a visibility issue, maybe a funnel isn’t going well, or you launch something new and, or, um, you know, no one is responding to what you’re doing. You don’t really have the audience for something. That’s okay. If you have a good sales strategy and you’re able to still make sales in the back end.

So it’s kind of like this, I hate the word safety because I think safety’s only internal, but it’s sort of just this solid structure that should make you feel really supported and really calm and really clear so that you can continue moving forward consistently. And you don’t get stuck in a start, start, stop, you know, system that’s super inefficient and really will do a number on your self confidence. Because if you’re starting and stopping, you’re not going to see the results you want.

You’re going to take it personally. You’re going to think it’s your fault. You’re gonna feel bad about yourself. It’s gonna take a hit to your confidence and then you will sell less and you’ll be less visible because both of them require you to be confident. And then you’re in this self-fulfilling prophecy of you not feeling good enough.

So you’re not sure showing up enough and you’re not selling enough. So you’re not feeling good enough. And then you’re not, you know, and then you’re just kind of spiraling down, let this be. You’re kind of like, I’m twisting my hand. As I say, this you’re spinoff upward. That kind of allows you to just build off of each other and continue to go up and up and up and up. All right, you guys, I hope you found this helpful. Most importantly, recognize when you’re in a start, stop, start pattern, recognize what’s stopping you and take the action or, and, or get the help to move out of it.

It is only harming you. I promise that doesn’t mean you can’t learn lessons when things don’t go well or that you can’t look at going on and acknowledge them and make space to process it. But you giving more heaviness or weight to it than it deserves is only harming you. Keep going, keep moving forward. All right, everyone, I’ll talk to you soon. I hope you found this helpful here’s to your biggest vision.

Your Biggest Vision’s Daily Checklist for Visionaries;

Free Download!

Click here to download the checklist