What You Don’t Like May Be Causing You Problems

I live in what feels like the MLM capital of the world. Almost every mom I know sells something. Doterra, Young Living, Norwex, Pampered Chef, Tupperware, Mary Kay, Maskara, Scentsy, Color Street, LuLaRoe… it’s everywhere. I’ve never sold any of it. Ever. The thought of relying on my friends and family to buy stuff from me makes me queasy.

Earlier this year I got this crazy idea that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I’ve never had this desire before. But I’m a very passionate person. Life coaching changed my life so drastically that I immediately wanted to share it with the world. I can’t believe I didn’t have these tools until now and I feel this drive to help everyone else find it and change their own lives.

I spent the better part of this year learning everything and getting certified. And now the fun part begins: Building my business. Being an entrepreneur is a brand new experience for me. I’ve always worked for someone else and never in a selling role. I’ve never sold anything for money.

The first time I tried to sell my coaching this wall came up out of nowhere. I had done my self coaching. I was in a good place mentally. I wasn’t tied to the outcome. I wasn’t going to make it mean anything about me if they said no. I wasn’t nervous. I’m seriously excited about sharing my coaching. I truly believe that if I don’t sell it to you I’m doing you a dis-service. If you don’t pay me to coach you, I have failed you.

But when it came to the money part, I froze. I didn’t coach my client, which is my entire job. I just froze. So, of course, I got some coaching on it.

My coach found this tiny little thought that I didn’t even recognize as a thought: “I don’t like it when people try to sell me something.” Can you see how this thought would cause me a problem when I’m trying to sell something? Of course I froze.

So we examined this thought. Why do I think this? Is it even true? Is it serving me? It’s actually not true. I love buying things. I love finding things that make my life easier or better and I’m more than happy to hand over money for them.

Remember the movie “Second Hand Lions?” Most of the salesmen get run off the property with shotguns. But this one salesman really thought about his clients and what they would want. The main characters go from loathing getting sold to, to loving it. They look forward to his visits and whatever amazing thing he’s bringing them.

That’s how I really feel about people selling me things. I love people who sell me things that will make my life easier or better. Love it. I love it when they go out of their way to find me and make an offer because I didn’t know this thing existed or that I wanted it. But I had this thought “I don’t like it when people try to sell me something.”

“I don’t like….” doesn’t feel like a thought. It feels like an observation of a fact. I’m just stating the facts. That’s just the way it is. But it’s totally a thought. So often we overlook these pesky little thoughts and don’t realize they might not be serving us.

After I figured this one out I thought, what else do I not like? I don’t like driving in the car. There are people in the world (you may be one of them) that go on drives…for fun?!?!?! That has always baffled me. Like, they just get in the car and drive somewhere. And that’s the activity. I’m the exact opposite. If I have to drive more than 10 minutes to get to an activity, relaxing at home suddenly looks much more attractive.

So…is this thought true? In what ways is it not true? How is the exact opposite true? What result do I get when I think this thought? Is this thought serving me? Do I want to keep it?

Thoughts are optional. And they create all the results in our lives. Sometimes thoughts feel so much like facts that we don’t even recognize them, much less examine them and see what result they are creating.

I challenge you this week to write a list of everything you don’t like. And then examine each one with the questions listed above. If you need a coach to help look through your brain, I’d be honored to be the one that helps you change your life.