Ep#102 - How to have trust that things are working (even when you haven’t seen results yet)

Introduction: Welcome to the Ambitious Introvert podcast, created especially for introverts, empaths and highly sensitive entrepreneurs to help you build, grow and scale a successful, sustainable business.

I'm your host. Emma Louise Parks, business and mindset coach for ambitious introverts. After 17 years working as an air traffic controller, the ultimate fast-paced, high stimulus, extrovert, friendly role, my mission now is to show introverts that they too can create big results and success because of who they are, not in spite of it.

I focus on introvert-friendly business and marketing strategy to help you switch overwhelm for clarity, confidence and clients.

Emma: Hello. Welcome to this short and sweet solo episode of the ambitious Introvert podcast. I'm Emma Louise, and I'm going to share really quick tips with you today about an issue that I have seen over and over again with clients and one that definitely affected me a lot in the early days of my business, and that is having trust.

Having trust that things are working even when you haven't seen the results yet. This can be difficult for our analytical mind because it wants evidence, right? And we live in this culture of instant gratification, so we expect that as soon as we begin something, we're going to see the results immediately.

Now, the crazy thing with this is we do other things in life where we know this isn't the case. We know that if we go on a diet, we are not going to have lost 10 pounds the next day. We know that if we start going to the gym, we are not going to have built loads of muscle in two gym sessions. We know that it takes longer to see the results. But for some reason, in our business, maybe because we're ambitious and a little bit because of social media, we expect results in an instant. And it can be really hard, really frustrating for us when we feel like it's not working right?

So it's really easy to measure ourselves against other people and see where they are in their business. But honestly, we never have a frame of reference. We have no idea what is going on

behind the scenes, how long that person has been doing that particular strategy or anything. But it can make it really hard for us to believe or trust that our strategy, or in fact our mindset routine is actually working in the long term. Okay?

So if you have a coach or mentor that has seen this before, it's really easy for them to stay invested because they're like, of course, it will work. There's just this latent period where we're waiting for the results to catch up with the input that you've done, but it's really hard when you're in it.

So the truth is every strategy works, whether it is running a Facebook group, or whether it's email marketing, or whether it's a podcast or a launch, or Evergreen, or a challenge, or Instagram or TikTok. All of these things, they all work, okay? The proof is out there because people are doing them successfully day in, and day out. Now, the most common reason that things don't work is because people give up too soon or they have the mindset that it isn't working, which is completely what I did early in my business.

I kept saying isn't working. I need to change strategy. It's not working for me. It's not working. I've done this thing. I've talked about my offer once. No one bought it. It's not working, okay?

Which is completely the wrong energy because the entire energy I was bringing into my business was lack and failure.

So it's really important to remember that they all work as long as you work them for long enough and you have that solid mindset and trust behind it that it's working. When that's not the case, we get that dreaded shiny object syndrome for two reasons.

Firstly, we see someone else doing something, and we feel like, oh, they're doing that really successfully, so that must be better. So I'll go and do that, and that will be really quickly successful for me as well. And also, our brain feels the need to be doing something new or different to get results. We tell ourselves wrongly that the input that we give in now isn't working. So if we change the input and make it something else, then we'll immediately get results and get things back.

And I have seen this with a lot of clients. They come to me, and they feel like they've been creating all these new offers and trying all these new things and it's not working. And in fact, they just haven't given it time. Another thing I see is they'll create something like a lead magnet. They'll put a lot of time and effort into it, and they'll create it, and they'll literally release it to the world. Now they'll be like, right, what's next? What's next? And it's like, no, that is the thing now for the next three months or however long the strategy is. But they feel like they've been working on it for so long, forgetting that their clients, potential clients, and audience, haven't seen it, right? And people need the time to see it.

So we often feel like we've been doing something a lot longer than other people have been able to view it. So I'm going to break down really quickly four ways that you can kind of future-proof and prepare yourself on how to trust that it's working. Because I promise you, once you decide it's working, your mindset will change, and everything will change for the better.

So number one, decide from day one that it is working. Go all in, decide that this is it. This is the thing that is going to work for you. And from a place of power and empowerment like, yes, this is working. I completely, 100%, am behind this. Not from fear, not from oh my God, this has to work because nothing else has worked, and I'm pinning all my hopes on this. No, decide that it is working. And you can do that in a number of ways.

You can make some kind of declaration or commitment. You could write something out, you could tell people. If you've got people you're close to say, hey, I'm just telling you this is working, I'm committed to believing that this is working. Also, make sure you add it to your mindset routine. So whether that is journaling or Affirmations or EFT, make the words it's working, or X strategy is working out perfectly for me even if I can't see it right now. Just make that part of your mindset routine. So every day, your brain is being fed that information that it is working.

Number two is to look for evidence. So really great way to do this is find three of the people who are in a similar space or using a similar strategy and take their success as evidence. Now, this can be really triggering for some people because we can start to compare. But there is growth in being able to look at people who are doing something you want to do or have achieved something you want to achieve. And using that as an expansive measure, using that as evidence that it's possible for you too. So if you can reframe looking at people from making

yourself feel bad and reframe it into okay, this is more evidence that this works and is possible for me, then immediately you are in a more empowered state.

The best kind of evidence, however, is the evidence that you've created yourself. So you may not be seeing, I'm going to air quote, results from your strategy because you're probably defining results as signing a client or making a certain amount of revenue or selling a certain amount of products. But measure everything that you have achieved every single day since you committed to the strategy. And do this for at least 30 days, ideally longer, like forever. But measure what you've achieved because that is evidence. It's so easy to look forward to the thing we haven't got and focus on that, which, again, puts us into lack of scarcity. It's much better to measure our actual progress and measure everything that we've done, which is really inspiring and motivating, and it creates this bank of evidence of growth and also trains our brain to look for evidence. Like, let's look for the positive, let's look for the evidence. So I really encourage you to make that just part of your daily routine is just looking for those pieces of evidence that can show you it is working.

Number three, make a plan. Make a plan for the time that your brain tells you it isn't working. There will be those times, it will be the times you didn't sleep well, or it's a full moon, or it's a certain point of your cycle, or you ate junk for dinner, or something's happened. Or there's just a general like, you're overstimulated, or you've gotten too tired. Something will happen, and your brain will go, it's not working, it's not working. So have a plan. Have a plan and almost be like, there you go. I expected that. I knew this was going to happen right when we are prepared for these times, it's much easier to get through them, and they don't make a spiral.

So what will you do when your brain tells you it isn't working? Because we may as well just agree now at some point your brain will tell you this. What will you do? What phrase will you tell your brain? One that's quite powerful is to thank it. Thanks for that. I know you're trying to keep me safe, but I'm good. I know you're trying to stop me from growing too much. I know you're trying to make sure I'm doing the right thing, but I've got this. Thank you.

And then what actions will you take? Will you go back and read your evidence? Will you maybe do something like EFT? Will you do some journaling or visualisation? Make that plan in advance, so you know exactly what to do. And it's like that little SOS plan. So as soon as the brain kicks off, you're like, okay, I know exactly what to do. There's no decision fatigue, and you can just go straight into action and put yourself back into that place where you feel the trust.

And lastly, consider getting support. If you can work with a coach or mentor who has either as a mentor, if they have seen this strategy over and over again, and they have evidence that it works for them, for their clients, that is really powerful. If it's a coach who has worked with people on their mindset or through their business growth journey, and they know how to hold that space for you, and they know what is needed for you to hold that trust until you start to see the results, that is powerful. And that is why people at every level of business, even multi, six, seven multi seven-figure business owners, have mentors and coaches, right? Because in every stage of our business, there's going to be this growth. And we have to have that trust, and we have to have that support network in place so that we stay in it until we see the results.

 So just to recap, decide from day one, it's working. It's always working. I may not see the results yet, but of course, it's working.

Look for the evidence. So whether that is other people that it's working for or whether that's how much you have achieved, look for that evidence and expose yourself to that evidence regularly.

Make your SOS plan for the time that your brain says it's not working. So you know exactly what you will do.

And consider getting support to hold you in that space so you don't bounce around and go for the next shiny object thing. So you do actually stay in it and work it for long enough until it works.

Now, the truth is, it is always working. And as much as that might feel hard to your rational mind, it is always working. So the same way, if you put a pot of cold water in a pan on the stove, it is always on its way to boiling point. But you won't see the evidence until right to the end. You will not see a change in that water until the very few last degrees towards boiling point, right when it starts to quiver and shake and bubble. But until that point, it's always working. It's always heating up, and it's always getting warmer. So the result is inevitable. You just can't see the evidence of it yet. And honestly, by holding that trust and holding that belief that it's working, that is going to be the thing that holds you through until you actually see the results.

Outroduction: Thank you for listening to this episode of the ambitious introvert podcast with me, Emma Louise Parks. If you enjoy this show, please subscribe rate and leave a review on iTunes as a thank you. One lucky reviewer each month will win a 60-minute one-on-one coaching session with me where you'll get the clarity and confidence to attract your ideal clients. And if you know someone who could benefit from listening to the show, then please do share and help me reach as many fellow ambitious introverts as possible.