How to Get the Hell Out of Your Way

This was a live I did on my Instagram page: @themarketingnomad

This is a topic in my book: Zero to Four Figures: Lessons Learned by a Broke CEO

In this episode, I talk about
✨  What does 'Getting in Your Way' mean?
✨  Why do we get in our own way especially in the entrepreneurial journey
✨ How to recognize that you are in your own way
✨ A few steps to help you get out of your own way

Don't forget to subscribe to my podcast and leave a review if you liked this episode! ✨

Author Newsletter: https://www.themarketingnomad.co/books/zerotofourfigures

A bit about me:
My name: Prithvi Madhukar
Pseudonym: The Marketing Nomad
I'm a marketer, business owner, entrepreneur, author of Zero to Four Figures: Lessons Learned by a Broke CEO, podcaster, youtuber, Etsy Shop Owner, Skillshare Teacher, and influencer with a zest for life, passion for marketing and an aim to travel the world while building my business empire ❤️

Say Hi! to me:

Instagram -  https://www.instagram.com/themarketingnomad
Linkedin -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/prithvimadhukar/
Skillshare -  https://www.skillshare.com/r/user/themarketingnomad?gr_tch_ref=on&gr_trp=on
Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-marketing-nomad-show/id1531854014
YouTube -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/themarketingnomad
My Etsy Shop:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMarketingNomadCo

Consulting Services I offer:

Social Media Marketing | Website Marketing | Content Marketing | Email Marketing: https://www.themarketingnomad.co/packages

☕ Buy me a coffee if you’d like! ☕

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/marketingnomad

DISCLAIMER: You are absolutely not required, ever! However, if you liked this episode and you want to say thank you, then this is just me keeping that option open :) I am grateful for anything but please never feel like you have to! :)

Transcript

Prithvi Madhukar: 0:01

Hi guys, I just forgot to drink water before I started this live. But if you are watching this after this has been recorded, definitely do leave your comments in the comment section today we're going to be talking about how to get the hell out of your own way. Now, this is actually something that I have talked about in my book. For those of you who have not seen my Instagram post yet, my book, The title is zero to four figures. And the subtitle is lessons learned by a book CEO. So there are 61 stories and lessons in my book. This actually is one lesson. So my book is basically a compilation of stories and lessons that have come into the last three years of my entrepreneurial journey, and get the hell out of your own way is actually the first topic in my book. Now in this live, I'm not going to go into depth about what is in my book, all of the conversation that we are having is going to be a little bit beyond my book, there's going to be more examples. And of course, when my book comes out, you will be able to relate what we've spoken here with the book, there's an actual framework to help you get out of your own way in the book, which I won't be discussing in this live. But we will touch upon what exactly it means to get out of your way. Why is it that we are always in our way when it comes to this entrepreneurial journey. And I will give you some tips, I will also share stories on my end of some of the examples that I was actually in my own way. And this is not a one time done and dusted kind of thing at every stage of your entrepreneurial journey you are going to be getting in your way. So this entire life is about understanding what does it mean that you are in your way? How do you identify that? And how are you going to overcome that as well. So I am also going to be converting this entire life into a podcast episode. If you are listening to this episode after it has been created. Definitely do you know follow me on Instagram? If you have any questions, you can always DM me. For those of you who are joining this live, do leave your comments. Say hi to me. If you have any questions, feel free to jump in. I will be happy to answer any and all of your questions that you do have. If you are watching this as an IG TV later on, again, the comment section is open for you. And yeah, that's pretty much it. Let's get into what does it mean when I say get the hell out of your own way. Now this is actually topic one in my book, it's under mindset. And one of the things when I first started out and this is just a very casual conversation between you and me, guys, it's not like a very serious life. So feel free to share your experiences as well. So when I first started out, I realised that one of the things that were stopping me from fully accessing my potential was myself. And it's weird to say that because whenever you are trying to do something, the last person that you think who's going to be stopping you would be yourself, you know, you think that hey, I want this so much. It's not common that I am stopping myself. However, we have to understand how our mind works, especially on this entrepreneurial journey, most likely, what you are going to be doing is not not really common, okay? It's something new that you're going to be taking on whether it is starting your own business from scratch, whether it is starting on a social media platform, whether it's hopping on your stories for the first time, whatever it is, it is not very common, it is not a natural process for you to do. So when that happens. What exactly happens in your subconscious mind is you get scared. You don't even realise that this fear happens. And that's exactly what I mean when I say you are going to be in your way every single step of the way. I'm not even kidding, guys. The amount of times I've been in my way is absolutely insane. But that's the reality of this journey. It's just that you are not understanding or but well your mind actually kind of comes in as a defence mechanism. It tries to protect you from taking a potential risk, but the entire entrepreneurial journey is about taking risks. So that's kind of why you're going to find yourself in your own way, and let me give you an example, from my own journey so that you can better relate. This is not the example that I've given in my book. But of course, there's so many of them. So I can do, I can literally just name as many as you'd like. So for me, personally, I am what you would call and intense worker, okay. And what that means is I can sit for 10 to 14 hours straight, working on any task. But here's the catch, okay, I can't work on multiple tasks at the same time. So that's kind of my strength and my weakness, okay. And what happened when I first started out in the beginning was I was looking at all of these entrepreneurs out there, and I was trying to emulate them, because especially in the beginning parts of your journey, you're very excited, you're very, very excited, and you just want to look at everybody else, and you want to do whatever everybody's doing. And you don't realise that they are actually working to their strengths. And you try to incorporate their routines, their habits, their hacks into your life, even though it may not resonate with what your strengths are. And that's something that I did as well, you know, a lot of the digital entrepreneurs that I followed out there were multitaskers, oh, my God, they could do multiple tasks, at the same time focus on various things at the same time, I could not do that. So when I was planning my schedule, in the beginning stages of my entrepreneurial journey, I was planning it according to their strengths and not my strengths. And, of course, I burned out pretty pretty soon because it was just my mind does not function that way. And so that was me in my own way, you know, I was getting in my own way, because I was stopping myself from unlocking my potential. And this was one example. So I had to take the time to understand myself to say, Okay, well, I am actually an intense worker, but I can't multitask. So now, if you look at my entire schedule, it is oriented to who I am as a person. My strengths are, what my weaknesses are, and I work around it. So that was one example that I do have for you plenty of examples where I have actually stopped myself from moving forward, because my mind just put a defence mechanism. Let me give you an example. When I was going to launch, this was my first product, okay, I have had seven product launches, out of which six of them did not make any sales or little to none sales. And the first product launch that I had this was I think about six months into my entrepreneurial journey. I took two months to plan the whole thing. I'm not even kidding that eight weeks, and it didn't even need that much time. The thing was, I was just procrastinating because I was scared. I didn't know what either the hell I was doing. And basically, that entire procrastination phase was me getting in my own way. And it takes a lot of conscious effort to understand yourself to say, Okay, well, I'm scared at this moment, I'm unsure of what's going to happen. So that's why I'm behaving this way. That's why I'm in my own way. And a lot of times, you will not recognise it, this is not something that is natural to you, because this happens on a very subconscious level. So for me, taking the time to understand myself was one of the biggest things that I had to do on this entrepreneurial journey, understand what my strengths were, understand what my weaknesses were, and, you know, either try to overcome those weaknesses. And sometimes, you know, it's not, per se, a weakness. It's just the way that you function. So learning how to work around the way that you function is also super, super important. That's one method of you getting out of your own way. Okay, another, you know, kind of thing that I would want to say is when you are in this entrepreneurial journey, it's also important for you to understand what are your limitations, okay. And I know that there are people out there who are going to be like, Oh, I don't have any limitations, you know, entrepreneurial journey is all about overcoming your limitations and going moving forward despite your limit and not know that. Let me tell you limitations exist, okay. And rightfully so too. You will have your own limitations. You will have, you know, resources that you have access to your resources that you do not have access to. Those are all key important things that you need to understand. You need to have figure out what exactly is stopping you? And how you can overcome it. If you can't overcome it, how are you going to work around it? Okay, so these are super, super key important things. Now, so far, if you guys have any questions, definitely do put it in the comment section, absolutely free, feel free to jump in. And then we have Jay who said, Write, do not copy and make your own identity? Absolutely. This was one of the first lessons that I personally had to learn. Because, like I said, I'm very excited. I thought that, you know, all of those productivity hacks that were out there were for me, and I could implement them, but they went against my very nature. And that actually harmed me in the long run. So this is one thing that I always tell everyone, whatever advice and tips that you get online, and you will get plenty, plenty of tips and advice. But you have to, I guess have that that sense to see what applies to you and what does not apply to you. And I think that takes time, that takes time to sort of mentally figure out, Okay, which one applies, this does not apply to my strengths. That's actually a weakness of mine, I can't, I can't really implement that. So this is basically getting out of your own way, understanding your behavioural patterns that are getting in your own way, understanding how your mind thinks, understand how you function as a person, what are the steps that you are taking to hinder your growth? What are the steps that you can take to stop your subconscious mind from hindering your growth and allowing you to take the next step? Okay, so that is pretty much what we've covered until now. Hold on, let me take a look at my notes. Just see if we have missed anything. Of course, if you guys have any questions you can ask. So we talked a little bit about Strengths, Weaknesses, limitations, resources, all of that or give you an example. And let me actually talk a little bit about limiting beliefs. Because I think one of the most common things that you will see on this journey are your limiting beliefs that are getting in your own way. So it's not just your weaknesses or your behavioural patterns, it's also limiting beliefs that will be getting in your own way. And when I say limiting beliefs, they're usually thought patterns that have formed over time, that stop you from doing what you want, though, that's the actual definition of limiting beliefs. I didn't make this up. This is all over the internet. Okay. So how do you identify if you are in your own way, or if you have a limiting belief that is stopping you from achieving your potential. So one of the easiest ways that that works for me is if I feel stuck, and I feel that I'm not doing what I want to do, like something is stopping me. And it's not external factors, it's me, that's usually a huge sign. There's a limiting belief there, for example, the launch, I really, really want it to launch, right. But I took eight weeks. And you know, by the eighth week, it was pretty clear that I could have launched five weeks before, but I was just really dragging it out. So if you find yourself in such a situation that you are trying to do something that you want, but something's also stopping you, you're not able to accomplish that. And it's not external factors, it's most likely an internal factor, it's most likely a limiting belief as well. Okay. And it also could be one of your behavioural pattern that you are working against. So understanding that if if it feels like you are stuck, but nothing is stopping you, that's usually a huge sign that you are in your own way. And one, and I can give you, you know, three actionable steps actually to overcome them. I talk a lot more about this in my book, there's an actual framework. This is my signature and my propriety proprietary Well, English, proprietary framework that is in my book, it's actually this is actually a pretty big topic. In my book, I go into depth about limiting beliefs and my framework on overcoming limiting beliefs. But for now, for this life, I have three actionable steps that you can take to get the hell out of your own way. And the first step is to take the time to understand yourself. You've got to be extremely patient when it comes to this. And it's not. It's not just one time that you know, even to this day, there are patterns that I'm still understanding because there are going to be new situations, right? They're going to be very, very distinct and new situations that are coming in your own way, and that's when you, when you face all of these situations, maybe you understand a different part of yourself, maybe you figure out that, hey, that's something new, I didn't know, I behaved like that, or I didn't know I had that thought process. So this is a never ending cycle. One thing that has really helped me with understanding myself is journaling. And I know a lot of people, they say, Oh, well, I am not a writer, okay, for that I have a solution. I have friends who actually voice record what is on their mind. So that works for you. If you are a speaker, that would be a great way for you to start understanding your thoughts. Basically, what you're doing with journaling. And it's not just writing, what you're doing with journaling is you are whatever's in your mind, you're putting it out there for you to analyse later. So whether you write whether you video, record yourself, I know some people who do that, I have friends who voice record on the notes, I think it's the Voice Memo app on their phone, they do that as well, whatever it is, okay, whatever is your process. Understand that that's a key point in understanding who you are as a person too. So if you are somebody who likes writing, who kind of articulates your thoughts better on paper, go ahead. If you are someone who you know, you just want to sit down, you just want to talk to the wall. Record yourself. And if you're someone who likes to video record, go ahead and do that. Find a method that works for you take the time to understand yourself. Now, when you are journaling. What's important is one, writing everything that is in your mind, okay, whatever it is that you are feeling in that moment. So it's not just important to write about what happened, you also have to take the time to understand what you were feeling in that moment. Okay, the more you actually talk it out, it's like, for example, for the launch, I when I journaled, you could see my journal entries, like, I'm scared, I'm hesitant. I don't know if people are gonna buy my product. This is new to me, this is going to be a big thing. It's not rejection, a one on one rejection, it's going to be public rejection. Am I ready to handle that? Those were all the thoughts that were going inside my mind during that first launch. And it was only after writing all of those thoughts that I went back, read it. And then I understood that, hey, I'm actually in my own way over here, right. So like I said, there are different ways to understand yourself. Journaling is one way that has helped me. And I also keep a Business Journal. So those are two separate things that I do have. One is a personal journal, where I write my thoughts and feelings. And I also write the situation and stuff like that. But my Business Journal, also, you know, I write every single decision that I'm making for my business, why I made that decision. How did I come to that decision, you know, if there was some mathematical formula that I had to come or a thought process, I actually write it down. Those are different ways that you can go about it, the important thing is you need to write your feelings in there, that is the most important thing. Okay, some people can't write their feelings, some people are better to express it verbally, choose the method that works for you take the time to understand yourself. And I guess that brings me to the step number two, and that is, especially when you're journaling, it's easy to just write or just say it all out and forget about it. But that's not the point of journaling. The point of journaling is that you actually have to go back, look at what you've written, look at what you've said, and then start analysing it from a third person point of view. That's the key thing. And I think that this is a step that a lot of people miss out. A lot of people say, oh, yeah, I'm journaling, but I don't really see it helping me. That's because you're not going back to it, you're not actually understanding your thought process. Because when you're writing your journal, okay, what you're essentially doing is you're in that state of mind, you're just basically putting everything that's out in your thoughts and all of those things. So you're not in that mental state to understand and analyse what you're feeling. So that's why when you're feeling a little bit better, over you know, take some time off, of course, and then come back to it and start reading what you've actually written. And for me, personally, I write small notes at the end. So if I've written in pen, and I usually write in pen, then I go in with a pencil and then I write my thoughts as a third person on the side. So if you look at my journal, you will always see some notes at the side. And that's usually my thoughts as a third person reading through my journal and of course, At this point, it is very, very important to understand that you have to be so, so kind to yourself. That is absolutely key. You cannot judge yourself for whatever it is that you're feeling. You cannot berate yourself, you cannot get angry with yourself. You cannot look down upon yourself for feeling anything that you're feeling that is also very, very important. And I think that for me, when I first started out, this was a lesson that I had to learn how to be kind to myself, how to understand that this is normal for me to be feeling this, because when I took those eight weeks to launch, I was very upset with myself, I was like, How can you do this? You know, I mean, you're a business owner. Now you shouldn't be behaving like a child. And as berating myself, and I wasn't talking to myself in a very healthy way. And yet, it even that was me getting in my own way. So when you understand the conversations that you're having with yourself, especially when you're journaling, you have to understand that you've got to be nice, you've got to be kind, you've got to be neutral, you've got to be extremely empathetic to what you are feeling, you also have to understand that it is normal for you to feel this way. Okay, it is normal, absolutely normal for you to get in your own way, at every single step that you take in this entrepreneurial journey. It's a defence mechanism that has come in your mind, right since your birth, it's not something that you can flip a switch and then get out of, but what you can do is work around it understand that Okay, right now, my mind is getting in front of me, it's in my own way. All right, I understand where you're coming from, I understand that you're scared, I'm about to take a big risk, I understand that this is something that is not the norm of what the mind is accustomed to. But I'm still going to do this. At the same time, I'm going to find a way to work around what I'm feeling. And that's very important, guys, that's very, very important. So that was step number one for you. The second actionable step or advice that I do have for you is, you know, if it doesn't flow, if things are not flowing for you, in your entrepreneurial journey, try to and identify what is stopping you in that moment. That is absolutely key. Okay. And when you are journaling, when you go back, think of it from a different perspective. Think of it from a neutral perspective, understand, okay, this is Person A don't think that you're reading your own thoughts, okay? Don't do that. Think about, you're just picking up maybe a friend's book, or your best friend's journal, and then don't do that in reality, but just think that it is your best friend's journal. And then you're reading it from a third person's perspective. Okay, try to go in with a thought process of I'm here to identify what is wrong. Okay. I'm here to identify what is stopping this person, whoever's written this journal, from taking the next step. And when you go in with that thought process, what you're essentially doing is you are going to attune your mind to pick up those things that are stopping you. Okay, so don't just go into the first step was more about understanding what you're feeling. The second step was to identify what exactly is stopping you go in with the mindset, figure out read every sentence and say, Okay, what is the underlying feeling behind this? What is the underlying thought process? What how is this thought process stopping this person from moving forward? Is this thought process, even stopping them if it's not let it go. But then move on. If you find a thought process or a thought pattern that is continuously repeating over a couple of journal entries, that's usually a huge sign that that thought process or that thought pattern is getting in your own way. All right. So that is step number two, or well, it's not step number two, it's just a second actionable step that I do have for you. And then the third, and probably the most important, is Do not be afraid to choose differently from the people that are out there, what thought processes or what, you know, the way that other people do on this entrepreneurial journey, it does not have to be the way that you do it. Also, okay, you've got to find systems and processes that work for you specifically, that works according to your strengths, your weaknesses, your limitations, the resources that you have access to resources that you do not have access to as well. That is very, very important. And nine out of 10 times let me tell you, you will be doing things differently, because you are just that unique as a person. So don't be afraid to choose a different thought process or a different system or even a different method of working towards to your goal, okay, always on work to your behavioural patterns, and that those behavioural patterns have come over such a long time, right? So one is probably going to be difficult for you to undo that years and years of conditioning into who you are as a person now, and I don't even think it's necessary for you to change who you are, of course, there are going to be some negative aspects that you're working to improve and only if you want to, but for the most part, whoever you are, as a person, it's okay, you will still succeed, you just have to find the processes and the systems that work for you work for your strengths, work for the resources that you have all of those things that I mentioned above, okay. And if that means that you have to choose differently, you've got to start getting comfortable with that, you've got to start being comfortable that, okay, that person, even though he's super, super successful, has taken that path. But that path is not for me, it doesn't work for me. And that's okay, you've got to keep telling yourself this, because one of the biggest mistakes, okay, I made a lot of mistakes, let me tell you that. One of the biggest mistakes that I did make, especially when I, when I first started out was I just try to emulate every single person that I saw there. And it's a very natural thing that occurs, okay, because you're starting out, it's new, you don't know how to go about it. And you think that if you emulate somebody who's done it, most likely you will achieve success too, though, that's not the best way or the healthiest way to think about it. Okay, so it took me a long time, it took me I think, close to a year to understand that what I was doing was actually harming myself and my business rather than improving my business. So the third advice, or the third step would be to not be hesitant to choose differently than other people, because what's priority is you choosing yourself, okay, you choosing the systems and processes that work for you. And as unique and as individualistic as you are, it is natural that your processes and your systems that you've set for yourself and your business as well will be as unique and as individualistic as you are. And that's okay, that's absolutely okay. All right. So that actually brings me to the end of this live, if you have any questions, put it in the comments. I do want to end this live with one of my favourite line from this topic in my book. So hold on, let me get my book, I am going to read it out to you guys. This sentence or while it's two sentences, actually, it's actually there in my book, and I really liked the sentence. My book is zero to four figures, lessons learned by April CEO, so I'm going to read it out. Okay. So this is in this topic, get the hell out of your own way. It's the first topic in my book. Let's read it. Okay. This is me first time reading my book out live. And also just reading my book out loud. I usually just read it to myself. Okay. Yeah, I'm stalling because I'm a little nervous. All right. Understanding yourself really helps, doesn't it? Yeah. Oh, yeah. One more thing that I do want to say is over time, it's going to become very subconscious for you to understand yourself, like just now I just did it. Live I that was me understanding myself and laughing at it in a not in a mocking way. But just, that's, that's a pattern that I see over there. And I recognise you, but I'm still moving forward. So over time, yes, this process becomes a lot more subconscious, you become more aware of yourself. But it took me three years to get here. And there are certain times in certain situations where I actually have to go back to the writing board, write down, read it, whatever written, understand, but for the most part for the smaller things, it becomes very subconscious. Alright. And I'm stalling. Let me read two lines from my book about this topic. So this is the conclusion to the topic. Actually, a successful entrepreneur is not someone without any weaknesses or any faults, nor are they someone who doesn't make any mistakes. A successful entrepreneur is someone who knows themselves so well, that they know how to get out of their own way to propel their business forward. And that is a line from my book, zero to four figures, and it is coming out very, very soon. I'm very excited about it, to be honest. It is 18 months of work in the making, and there was a point where I was in my own way when it came to my book as well. I don't want to make this conversation way too long, but the tell you quickly how I was in my own way when it came to my book, because that's actually a very interesting story. So I started writing January of 2021. And I stopped writing in April of 2021. And the reason was because I was just not happy with the direction of my book, it was just not something I just wasn't comfortable with it. And I wasn't able to understand why I wasn't comfortable with it. And so I took a break, I was not happy with the direction of the book, I took a break. And in the six months, I did not write for six months, in the six months of journaling and understanding myself, it took that time, it took that long actually, I understood that I was actually trying to emulate successful business books, okay. And in that process, I was forgetting my own voice, I was forgetting what my strengths were. And I have a very different style of writing, for those of you who read any of my Instagram posts, very, very different style of writing. And I guess in a lot of ways, I probably was not confident about that style of writing because it does not match other business books out there. And so it took that time for me to understand that I was in my own way. I was overthinking this, I was emulating people. But I was not staying true to myself, I was not being authentic to my writing style, and my thought processes. So that's when I reset everything. Six months it took. And then I actually officially started writing in October of 2021. And then I finished grading I think it was March or April. I don't remember that very well. But the six months that I took to reset, I needed that time to get the hell out of my own way. Because I was in my own way, if I had continued what I have written from January to April, I don't know how the book would have turned out. But I know that I would not have been happy about it as well. But the book that I started writing from October is staying true to myself getting out of my own way and actually writing it to my style. I'm very proud of it. You know, regardless of how the sales go, regardless of what happens, I am very proud of my book because I know that I got the hell out of my own way to write it. Okay, so yeah, that actually brings me to the end of this live. If you have any questions after this has been posted as an IG TV, definitely put your things in the comment section. If you are listening to this as a podcast episode, do reach out to me on at the marketing nomad. And if you have any questions, you can always say that if you'd like something about this podcast episode, do let me know in my DMs as well. You can catch me on every other platform as well. I am the Marketing Nomad everywhere on YouTube on podcasts, of course, if you're listening to this on podcast, on Instagram, and then where else I am a Skillshare teacher too. So I've got two classes on there if you're interested. I am also an Etsy shop owner got digital products for business owners and solopreneurs on there as well. And I am also the author of zero to four fingers. It feels really nice to say that out loud. And my book is coming pretty soon guys probably September, early September 2022. Okay, so if you'd like updates about my book, there is an author newsletter that you can subscribe for and the minute my book is out, you will get a notification. Yes, thank you so much for listening all the way up until here. I hope you enjoyed this live. I will catch you guys in my next life. Buh bye.