Ep3. 3 Mindset Shifts You Need to Get Your Side Hustle Off the Ground

Have you ever felt like you have all the strategies, but something is still holding you back from really getting your side hustle off the ground? You’re not alone.

One of the most important factors for success in your side business isn’t just about tactics—it’s your mindset. Mindset is not about thinking positively all the time. Instead, it’s about how you cope with a situation and respond to it, when you face obstacles or things don’t go as you planned.

In this episode, I’ll walk you through the three key mindset shifts that made all the difference in my journey. Whether it's believing in yourself, transitioning from employee thinking to entrepreneur thinking, or embracing imperfect action, these mindset changes will help you navigate the challenges of building a business alongside your corporate career, especially when you have just started out.

If you’ve been feeling stuck or hesitant, this episode is for you. Let’s explore how you can shift your mindset to finally get your side hustle moving in the right direction.


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00:00:00 Introduction to the Hustle with Heels Podcast
00:01:07 The Importance of Mindset for Entrepreneurs
00:01:49 Mindset Shift #1: Belief is Key
00:05:23 The Power of Belief: A Story of Two Women
00:06:51 Challenging Limiting Beliefs
00:07:25 Mindset Shift #2: From Employee to Entrepreneur
00:08:49 Treating Your Side Hustle as a Business
00:10:02 Making Decisions Like a CEO
00:10:23 Mindset Shift #3: Imperfect Action Over Perfection
00:12:19 Recap of the Three Mindset Shifts
00:13:00 Embracing Setbacks as Learning Opportunities
00:14:05 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Welcome to the Hustle with Heels podcast. I'm your host, Cindy Excell, a corporate girl, side hustler, wife, and a mom of two. In 2020, I started my first side hustle as an online fitness coach while working in my corporate job as a private wealth manager. Over the years, I have been living proof that a corporate career and a side hustle can absolutely coexist in harmony. Today, I'm helping corporate women and early-stage entrepreneurs create wealth beyond their 9-to-5 jobs and build an online business on their terms. On this podcast, I'll share my knowledge, strategies and stories that will help you start and grow your start hustle. Whether you are ready to diversify your income streams or are looking to build a start business that aligns with your goals, I'm here to support you every step of the way. Now, let's get started. Welcome to the new episode. If you are tuning in today, it means you are ready to take your side hustle to the next level. Today, we are diving into something crucial for any entrepreneur, which is mindset. You can have all the strategies and the marketing tactics, but if your mindset isn't in the right place, you will find it very difficult to get your side hustle off the ground. So in this episode, I'm sharing the top three mindset shifts you need to succeed. So these are the shifts that will help you not just start, but grow your start hustle in a sustainable way, even while balancing your full-time corporate job, even with a family commitment. So grab your coffee, tea, or wine, sit back, let's get into it. Mindset shift number one, it all starts with your belief. I can't tell you how many times when I spoke to people, they say, I want to start a startup hustle, or I want to start an online business, but, and then come with all these excuses. I don't have enough time, I don't have the right skill set, or who will buy from me, or this big one, what if I fail? Here is the truth, every single successful business owner starts with belief. If you don't believe you can do it, it's already over before you've even begun. I know that sounds harsh but I'm saying this with love and I'm here to tell you this from my experience. Let me ask you this, what's the story you are telling yourself over and over again about why you can't start or why you can't be successful with your online business? You might think I'm just being realistic but quite often we are actually limiting ourselves before we even give ourselves a chance. Now I want to tell you this short story that illustrates the power of belief. This is the story of two old women. It goes like this. There are two women turned 70 years old, but the two attach completely different meaning to the event of turning 70. So one woman knows that, you know, feel like the end is near, and being 70 means that her body is breaking down, and she decides it's a time to wrap up her affair and just, you know, wait. And the other woman decided that mountain climbing might be a good sport to take up. So for the next 25 years, she totally immersed herself in this adventure. And at the age of 91, in 1987, this woman, you might have heard of her, Huda Crooks, also known as Grandma Whitney, became the oldest woman to ascend Mount Fuji in Japan. And I think she passed away from my memory at the age of 101, I think. So it is never the environment. It is never the events of life that shape who we are today and determine who we will be tomorrow. It's the meaning we attach to those events and how we interpret those events that determine what sort of life we end up with. We cannot always control what happens to us, but we do control the meaning we assign to it and our action to it. So when you start your startup hustle and your online business, you will not know whether you will succeed, and you can't control if clients will buy from you. But what you can't control is the actions that you take that will put you on the path of success. And many of us have these deep-rooted limiting beliefs that can hold us back without us even realizing it. When we were born, we had no beliefs. We developed them over time. The beliefs we have right now come from the people and the events we have come across or experienced in our past. Most likely, we unthinkingly adopted some beliefs from our parents or people we are close to. For example, a teacher from your childhood might have told you that you were not smart enough and you adopted that as a belief, but which means it's probably not true at all. And you may also have read a book or came across an article that changed a belief you once held as true. The thing about beliefs is that they don't have to be true. In fact, a lot of them can be utterly irrational and many times they are just stories we tell ourselves. So you might be thinking, who am I to run a business? Or who am I to start a thought hustle? Or what if I fail? But here is the truth, those doubts are just stories and even lies you're telling yourself. If you don't truly believe you can succeed, you will subconsciously sabotage yourself before you even get started. I remember when I started my thought hustle at the beginning, I also had doubts. I wondered if I could actually make the work alongside my corporate job and as well as being a full-time working mom. But I had to make a conscious decision to believe in myself before I saw any success. And that belief became the foundation for everything for me. If you have any limiting beliefs that are holding you back, there are quite a few techniques that you actually can use to change that belief. And I'm going to share with you a simplest one today, which is by questioning the evidence. So start looking for reasons why the belief is false and why the opposite belief is true. So really get into that exercise and play the devil's advocate. Now, if you are not driving, if you are sitting down or if you are at somewhere that is safe, grab a piece of paper or maybe on your phone, write down one limiting belief you've been telling yourself about why you can't start your side hustle or why you can't be successful with your online business. And now flip it, turn it into a positive belief. For example, if you have been telling yourself, I don't have enough time. Very right, that is, I can find the time I need by prioritizing what matters. Then you list three ways how you can find 30 minutes a day to work on your sad hustle. You will be surprised what will come out of this exercise. Next, let's talk about shifting your mindset from an employee to entrepreneur. So in corporate, we are used to structure and systems. We have managers, we have bosses, we have clear job descriptions, and it's even someone telling us what to do next. But in entrepreneurship, you are the boss. You are not waiting for directions from anyone else. You are the one making the decisions and steering the ship. This is a tough shift because we are so conditioned to think like employees. And most of us have only been employees since we stepped into the workforce. You might find yourself waiting for everything to be perfectly in place before you act. Or you might hesitate to take risks because you don't have that safety net anymore from a corporate system. So when I first started my startup business, I quickly learned that no one is going to give me permission in entrepreneurship. I have to give myself permission and step into that role as a business owner and as the CEO of my own company, even when it feels uncomfortable. Here's the thing, a lot of people treat their side hustle like a hobby. And when you treat it like a hobby, others will see it as your hobby too. And it will pay like a hobby. So if you want your side hustle to eventually become a serious income stream, you have to start treating it as a real business from day one. Because that's what it is, even if it's still in the beginning stage. What does that mean to you? It means setting boundaries with your time and energy, and showing up consistently, creating an intentional schedule that you can work on and in your business, and following through. One of the biggest thing that has helped me was creating a single and realistic schedule. Especially this year, I really learned to just focus on one to two things in my business every week. So I look at my week, I look at my diary, I block away the time I need to spend with my family, my husband, my kids. And I found on average, maybe around an hour a day in the evening, where I could work on my business after kids go to bed. And on the days when I can't, I will find a time block of around three to four hours on the weekend that I can dedicate to my business without any distraction and commit to this schedule as non-negotiable. Remember, the moment you start taking your side hustle seriously, others will too. Clients, opportunities, growth, it all follows through when your energy and commitment are in the right place. So ask yourself, what decisions can you make this week that show you are stepping into the role of the CEO of your own business? Maybe it's setting clear boundaries around the time spent on your side hustle, or maybe it's finally launching that offer you've been holding back on. So whatever that is, start making those moves today. Mindset shift number three. Here is the one that is going to change the way you approach your side hustle, which is imperfect action is better than no action. One of the biggest thing that holds people back is the idea that everything needs to be perfect before they can launch or before they can put themselves out there. But here's the truth, waiting for perfection is just procrastination. So when I first started I was guilty of this too, actually for quite a while. I spent so much time tweaking things that it actually didn't matter, like perfecting my website or agonizing over my content. But what moved the needle in my business was taking action to get actual client, even when it wasn't perfect. I remember the first time when I launched a masterclass, I was so nervous because my slides weren't perfect, and I wasn't sure if people would even show up. And I had no idea how, you know, to connect the Zoom to Facebook group at that time, but I decided to just go for it. And what happened was that it wasn't perfect, but it actually worked. I did get signups and I got some really good feedback and the momentum and I got like two clients from that first masterclass. So taking imperfect action builds momentum and gives you clarity. You learn by doing, not by waiting. So if you're holding back because you're still worried about something that isn't good enough, it's time to let go of that and just start. So, here's a question for you again. What's one imperfect action can you take this week to move your startup hustle forward? Maybe it's posting that first LinkedIn article or LinkedIn post, or maybe reach out to a potential client. Whatever that is, take that step because done is always better than perfect. All right, now let's recap the top three mindset shifts that will help you get your side hustle off the ground. Number one, it all starts with your belief. If you don't believe you can succeed, you will struggle to move forward. Number two, shift your mindset from employee to entrepreneur and start making decisions like a CEO of your business, not an employee. Number three, imperfect action is better than no action. Stop waiting for everything to be perfect and just take the next step. Now, building a side hustle while working corporate is not easy. It's actually tough. That's why it's not for everyone. There will be challenges, setbacks, and the days where you question everything. But through this process, you will also grow as an individual and as a business owner. I always tell myself and my clients that setbacks aren't failure, they are feedback and they are information. When something doesn't go as planned, whether it's a launch that didn't go well or an offer that didn't sell, it's not a reason to quit. It is actually a sign to adjust and to pivot. So take every setback as a learning opportunity. Ask yourself, what have I learned from this experience? And how can I improve next time? Be resilient. Every no brings you closer to a yes. The key is to stay in the game. Keep learning and never giving up. Because the entrepreneurs who succeed are the ones who stay in the game long enough to figure it out. Some weeks you might feel like you are running on empty, especially if you are balancing a corporate life and family commitment. But keep showing up for your business. Every small step you take gets you closer to your goal. I hope these shifts will give you some fresh perspective on how to approach your side hustle. Mindset is truly everything. And once you get this right, you will find it so much easier to take action, which is essential to making any progress in your business. And if you love this episode, I'd really appreciate if you could leave a review and share it with someone who's maybe thinking about starting their own startup hustle. And don't forget to follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram, where I share more tips and strategies to help you grow your startup hustle while working in corporate. Thank you so much for tuning in today and I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for listening to the Hustle with Hills podcast. I hope this episode has inspired you to take action towards your sad hustle dream. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a second to rate and review it. Each review helps me help more corporate women and early-stage entrepreneurs just like you. Don't forget to take a screenshot, share it in your Instagram stories or on LinkedIn and tag me at Cindy Excell I will see you next week.