I wanna talk today about MISTAKES.
We all make them, right?
Well, except Wes.
He swears he never makes them.
Is your husband like that too? LOL
Ok so MOST of us make mistakes…
Especially when it comes to biz.
But the biggest mistakes -- I think -- happen in your BRAIN.
As in… mindset mistakes.
These kinds of mistakes REALLY hurt you the most.
Because yes, it sucks when something you tried in your biz didn’t pan out.
- Investing too much time and energy into a sale that didn’t go anywhere…
- Spending too much money on something.
Those are all mistakes.
But they’re not what we’re talking about today.
Instead… we’re gonna dive into three mindset mistakes entrepreneurs make.
These mistakes happen the MOST in the early days of your biz…
But they do like to sneak their way into your mind even decades later.
So let’s get into what they are… so you can know what to do instead.
Here’s the first one…
It’s thinking that everything has to be PERFECT for it to have VALUE and IMPACT.
I swear this comes from childhood.
Especially if you grew up in a family of high achievers.
I mean, yes, learning is important.
But if you’re a perfectionist at heart, the biggest thing you probably learned as a kid is that you gotta be REALLY REALLY GOOD at everything you do.
As adults, we often carry this mindset with us.
It often shows up in biz like… writing content, such as newsletters or blog articles.
Putting out a product.
Redoing the same thing over and over again.
Or never putting it out because it’s never quite good enough.
But here’s the thing…
By holding on to something until it’s absolutely perfect in your eyes…
You’re actually not doing yourself -- or anyone else -- any favors.
For YEARS, I wanted my social media to be perfect.
I spent soooooo much time thinking every video had to be top notch.
The grid had to be visually perfect.
Captions had to be ON POINT.
I’d lose my mind over typos that slipped through.
I’d spend HOURS on this. Until it was perfect in my eyes.
And THEN… once I put my perfect content out…
I’d beat myself up when I didn’t get as many Likes or Comments as I told myself I needed to have…
I’d tell myself… “SEE -- if you had just spent a little MORE time on it… it would have been BETTER… and that would have made ALLLLL the difference.”
Sound familiar?
What I completely ignored was the number of people I DID help with my posts.
As they were.
Typos and all.
Now my mindset has completely shifted.
“Done is better than perfect” is my go-to mantra when I feel perfectionism creep in.
And this is a mantra I highly recommend you adopt too.
Like, let’s say you’re working on a blog article.
How long do you spend on it?
If you don’t know… then it’s probably too long. LOL
I’d say that if you spend more than a couple of hours on it, that’s perfectionism…
And it’s holding you back from success.
Look at it this way... we all have the same number of hours in a day.
It’s better to get things out into the world… learn from them… and iterate over time....
...than to focus on all the teeny, tiny details that I can guarantee you… no one but you is likely to notice or care about.
Instead, refine your approach by learning what does and doesn’t work...
...instead of laboring for HOOOOUUURRSSSSS over one thing that people zip through in just a few minutes.
So next time you find yourself holding on to something to make just a FEWWWW more tweaks…
That’s your indication it’s time to let it go.
Done is better than perfect, my friends. I promise you.
Here’s the second mindset mistake small biz owners and entrepreneurs struggle with alllll the freaking time.
Scarcity mindset.
Particularly when it comes to getting HELP in your biz.
If you’re trying to wear all the hats… and you’re stressed AF…
OR you KNOW it’s taking you way more time than it should… this is a hint you need to enlist help.
For so long, I told myself I needed to do it all. Be superwoman.
Because I was just starting my biz.
So I was being SUPER cautious about money.
And at the time, I didn’t think ANYONE could do it as well as me.
So I worked myself to the bone, giving myself terrible anxiety.
If you find yourself in scarcity thinking… telling yourself you’re not ready to outsource…
But you literally have no work-life balance… it’s time to switch up your mindset.
The secret to scaling is to create a way to do more with less effort.
So how do you do that?
Well, when you’re in the scarcity mindset, you tell yourself… “I just need to work more hours.
I’ll work over the weekend.
I’ll quote-unquote “catch up” -- and then things will be ok.”
And are they ever? I mean REALLY?
Sidenote: Have you seen the meme that says “I just have to get through this week” I whisper to myself for the 5th week in a row?
I’ll post it in this week’s newsletter if you haven’t seen it before.
This meme is relatable AF for entrepreneurs and busy professionals out there.
In fact, I know TONS of corporate career peeps who have posted this meme repeatedly.
It’s not just entrepreneurs that struggle with this.
But -- we do have one advantage that our 9-5 buds don’t always have.
We CAN get more help…
So we don’t have to feel overwhelmed 24/7.
And when you tell yourself that you JUUUUUUSSSTTTT need to catch up… you actually CAN do it!
Here’s a list of some super easy switches you can make to start outsourcing right now:
- ONE -- Hire a bookkeeper or get a bookkeeping system like Quickbooks to track all your money-related transactions.
It will make your life SOOOO much easier.
Yep, even if it costs you money each month. Your time is VALUABLE.
- TWO -- You can hire a part time virtual assistant.
What are things that suck your time or that you hate doing?
A VA can help.
They can often handle things like:
- Project management
- Making appointments for you
- Managing your social media accounts
- Creating content
- Personal tasks
- Organizing things
- Creating processes
- Researching anything you need
- Light graphic design
- Or managing your email.
The opportunities are ENDLESS and they’re relatively inexpensive. Just do a bit of research to find a company or person you vibe with.
- Number THREE is actually one of my fav things everrrrrr… Instead of spending half a day cleaning your house every other week, hire a housecleaner.
This may sound like a luxury but truly it’s not.
Once I did this, I was soooo much happier with it.
The house gets cleaned regularly and I got to spend more time with Madeline as a result.
- Another key outsource role is… bringing on a freelance copywriter.
If you want to do more with your marketing but you labor over it all the time, bringing someone on who is a strong marketing writer is a godsend.
You spend your time reading, reviewing, and coaching and less time struggling to find the words.
And actually, this kinda goes for ALL your marketing.
If you don’t feel strong in things like… updating your website… setting up email campaigns… doing research…
You can totally hire out those projects as well.
The point is… you DON’T have to do it all yourself.
If something in your biz stresses you out… outsource it.
You gotta value your time.
I mean, if you could pay someone to do something in two hours that takes you ten to finish… that’s worth it, right?
And ya know what? It’s probably better than what you’d do anyway, LOL.
OH -- and don't worry about writing down all these ideas…
You’ll find them in this week’s blog article and newsletter as well. So make sure you sign up at www.hayleyhobson.com.
You can pick up a freebie there at the same time.
Ok let’s get back to our last mindset mistake that’s likely holding you back as an entrepreneur…
And that’s: waiting until you’re ready.
This one happens ALLLL the freaking time.
I mean, let’s get real.
Most of us wait and wait and wait… because of fear.
Fear of making a mistake… of losing money… of being a failure.
We ALL have this little voice inside our heads.
Like, how long did it take from the time you had the IDEA about starting a biz… to actually DOING it?
For most people, it’s usually too long.
And once they start, they kick themselves for waiting so long to do it.
Because I promise you… there is no RIGHT time.
Yes, you should be smart about your biz and do your research.
But if you think there’s this magic moment to do something… I’m sorry to say that in most cases… there’s not.
There’s no better time than RIGHT FREAKING NOW.
I see this happen a lot in areas where people aren’t comfortable.
For example, a big headache for a lot of people is their website.
They spend weeks… MONTHS even… researching allll the options.
It’s information overload.
So they just… don’t do it.
Or they halfway do it because they’re scared…
Which obviously they won’t admit to, LOL.
“I’m sooooo busy” is usually the reason they say as to why they don’t finish something they’re afraid of.
Sound familiar?
So my advice here is… do it scared.
Yep.
Do it anyway.
You’re gonna make mistakes.
And that is OK!
It’s all part of the process of becoming a super badass biz owner and developing this crazy amazing career.
Ask yourself why you’re scared…
Enlist some help…
And do whatever it is that’s holding you back.
Yep, before you’re ready.
That’s when the magic happens.
Now, I have something I’d like to invite you to.
My friend Amy Porterfield is offering a new free, online training on September 21st.
If you don’t know Amy, she’s amazeballs.
She’s built an 8-figure biz showing people how to create, market, and sell online courses.
And it literally doesn’t matter the topic.
So if you’ve ever thought about “Hey, I should put this online…”
Or you want a way to reach more people through the power of the internet… and MAKE MONEY from your knowledge and experience…
You should totally sign up for her free class.
She’s covering 5 Little-Known Mistakes *Most* Course Creators Make (+ What to Do Instead).
I got a sneak peek at the content… and let me just say…
If you resonated with any of today’s mindset mistakes…
You should sign up for her training.
Because you’ll get value from it… even if you DON’T end up creating a super successful online course.
It’s really practical info ALL creative professionals, entrepreneurs, and business people should hear.
Again, it takes place on September 21st and you can join from anywhere in the world… on any device.
I’ll post the link in the show notes and this week’s newsletter and blog so you can get there quickly.
Ok, my friends…. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode…
And know what to do when you start noticing yourself falling into any of the mindset mistakes we covered today.