Small Business Talk

The Podcast to Grow your Business Faster

6 Hurdles That Sabotage Success with Darcy Luoma

Show Notes

Please be aware that some of the content discussed is of a sensitive nature.

Background

Darcy Luoma, author of Thoughtfully Fit®, is a highly sought-after coach and consultant who has worked with more than five hundred organisations in forty-eight industries to create high-performing people and teams. She balances her thriving business with raising her two energetic teenage daughters and competing in triathlons.

Figuring Out Your Hurdles

The six hurdles that can sabotage your success are:

Stillness
Strength
Endurance
Flexibility
Balance
Agility

Which one affects you most strongly will depend on who you are as a person, and you can learn to jump over them with effort! We all have different strengths and weaknesses, but we can practice and train to improve where we find ourselves lacking. This can apply in all parts of business, but especially in your mindset.

Making Choices

Do you have the strength to consciously choose how you act?

If you are exhausted and have had a bad day, sometimes it is hard to stop that from affecting the way you interact with others. A bad day can turn into a fight when you return home, or issues with a coworker or supplier or client, or something even worse. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself and your business is to simply stop, breathe, and think about what you are doing before you act.

Your task at hand might even seem too big for you to deal with right now. Adopt a growth mindset towards these seemingly impossible situations – just because you don’t know how to handle it yet, doesn’t mean you won’t later.

Who is Sabotaging Your Success?

Your relationships with others can change the way you interact with your business, but you cannot change someone else’s behaviours to align with how you need them to be.

Sometimes it is a partner or employee that begins to put pressure on you as a business owner but more often that not, the problem can come from within. To be physically fit, you have to take time to rest and have days where you have a ‘break.’ The same applies to your mental fitness.

Remember that being flexible can help you in more ways than one.

Struggling to Say No

Setting boundaries should be a priority, even when you are just starting your business. Saying no and creating healthy routines will help you achieve success – taking on every single client, including the ‘wrong’ client, can be a huge issue for newer business owners and more experienced ones alike.

Don’t let your ‘no’ turn into a yes. ‘No’ is a full sentence, but it is not an easy one to use. An easier route is to try another answer that is still no, but has more compassion related to it:

Not Me (Introducing them to someone else who might be interested.)
Not Yet (Saying no, but offering to come back for discussion after a set period of time.)
Not This (Providing an alternative to what they have asked you for.)

If you say yes to everything and everyone, you risk giving up your core business and getting overwhelmed, which impacts your success.