Does Mindset Really Matter?

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Welcome to The Business Animal podcast. Saddle up for a

gallop to the top of the animal industry, where you'll learn how

to tame your wild business beast with tips, techniques, and tools

that will take overwhelm to obedience school, and have you

wagging your tail with joy. And now your hosts, Kim Beer, and

Cara Taylor Swift.

Hey there business animals, it's Kim with

Be More Business

and Cara with Fast Horse photography.

Welcome to The Business Animal. So I know all

of you out there because you're listening to a podcast. I know

you appreciate information and inspiration and knowledge, I

know that it's a value for you. Or you probably wouldn't be

tuning into a podcast, I would love to think that Cara and I

are that entertaining that we could carry that whole

conversation. But I'm sure you're here for more reason than

just to listen to the two of us banter back and forth. And for

the occasional weird thing that we do all of that aside for

entertainment value, the fact that you appreciate that means

that at some point in time, in your podcast, listening, in your

experience, I'm sure you've run across coaches or influencers or

people who talk about mindset. And I think this conversation

gets really heavily put into a lot of the things that we are

offered as far as self improvement as far as business

development and business building. And today, what Cara

and I want to do is we want to have a really candid

conversation within the scope of our big three, around mindset

and around does it really matter and why it matters if it does,

and why it doesn't matter, in some instances why this topic

gets talked about a lot and and some things that that concern

both of us about all of the shifts that happened around

influencers, telling people to focus on their mindset, and some

things that can happen in that direction. Because as

entrepreneurs, we've listened to all of those podcasts as well.

And we've read those books, and we've followed those

influencers. And frankly, I think we both have a little bit

of our own two cents to put into this conversation. So that's

what we're up to today. Cara do you have anything to add to

that?

Yeah, that's it's interesting, Kim, because

when we broach the idea of having this conversation and

talking about mindset on the show, we both came at it from a

perspective of, you know, mindset matters. And we were

going to talk through it. And then when we started, like

really having a real conversation about it between

the two of us, something just didn't sit right with us. And so

we went back, and we thought through it again, and I think

that this is going to be probably more of a conversation

a little bit for us today. What do you think, Kim?

I do I do, I still think we need to talk

about the big three, because we did come up with three things

that we feel are very important around this conversation. So let

me just get those introduced. And then we're going to go back

and talk about the definition of what mindset means. But first of

all, let's dive down those big three mindset does affect you.

And everything around you. That just is part of the equation

mindset is energy creation, and energy creation is all around

us. right mindset. And number two is mindset can either be a

benefit or a barrier. And we're going to talk a little bit more

in depth about that. And that fact that barriers aren't always

a bad thing. And the third thing is that shifting your mindset,

when you really want to do it, it needs to be done with some

mindful consideration of you can't just flip the switch and

change your mindset. So let's start by talking about mindset.

So for me, I'm going to define it and then Kara can define it

for her. For me mindset is a lot about the attitude that you

bring into what you're doing in your work. And it's also about

the underlying belief that you have in yourself in what it is

that you're selling in your business, in your service and in

what you provide as a value to the world at large to the

community as a whole or the entire universe or whatever you

want to think about that mindset is what you're focused on and

and what your belief system is around that. How do you define

it, Kara?

I have always been one of those people that

cringed when people would say you just need to be more

positive about this or you know, you just need to flip the way

you're thinking about that. I tend to be pretty skeptical

about stuff like that. I mean, you know me and I think the

folks that listen to this show know me well enough to know that

I get really just kind of queasy when people start talking about

stuff that feels kind of woowoo. To me, I mean, I wake up, and

I've typically am in a mindset already. And I do have to. And I

do believe there is some power in thinking about your mindset

and putting effort into creating a mindset that works for your

day. And for the folks that are around you. There is absolute

power in that. But I also think that mindset, and your general

attitude as a whole and how you feel about certain projects,

your business, your life, that will drive the things that you

do the things that you accomplish, and that you put

your effort into. So that for me makes sense. But I don't you

know, there are certain there are certain things about the

whole mindset, like you said earlier, the idea that there's

coaches out there, and there's people out there pushing this

idea of mindset. And if you've done any work on this at all,

you've heard probably the talk about growth mindset versus

fixed mindset. And I will tell you in my son's class, I have

gotten reports back from his teachers saying that one of the

things they're really working on him right now is increasing his

growth mindset. And I find that really interesting, because

before we started doing research on this topic, and on this

episode, I hadn't put a whole lot of thought into it other

than thinking maybe negatively, like, Oh, my goodness, why

doesn't my child already have this mindset where he's growing

and learning, right? And so there was that feeling. So when

I started doing the research on it, I realized that the theory

is out there. And it's something that's been picked up and pushed

a lot. But there's not a lot of well, there's nothing that I saw

scientifically proving the theory of growth mindset versus

fixed mindset. So anyway, I just thought for folks that are

familiar with those terms, and what they mean, I thought that

was really interesting. And I think what Kim and I want to

talk about today is how how does your mindset affect your day to

day and operation of your business?

Yeah, absolutely. And as you're talking about

that, it almost feels like as we're teaching kids, this, it's

almost coming up as a skill set, right? It's almost coming up

like mindset is now a skill, it's like learning how to use a

computer, or how to use a wrench or how to groom a dog or how to

ride a horse. It's a skill that you learn, and you develop over

time. And and I think that really aligns with how I feel

about mindset is that it is something that you do develop,

and it is a skill that you can learn how to use. But like all

skills, there's one a learning curve. And, and two one skill is

often not a solution to every single thing. That's where I

think I rub up against some of the current trend out there is

that people say that it you know, well, it, you just need to

fix your mindset, and then everything else will fall into

place. I don't think that's true. I think there's still a

lot of work to do beyond that is just one tool. One skill in your

bailiwick. One thing I do want to say and I know Cara, this is

going to be important to Cara is we don't want to link mindset

and mental health. Those are two different topics and two very

separate discussions. So you cannot manage your mental health

by mindset alone. I wholeheartedly agree with that.

And I think you do as well. Right, Cara?

Well, yeah, that's what I think the big

thing for me is that where I rub up against all of this is that,

you know, in the work that I've done in the past, working with

survivors of domestic violence, and people that have had mental

health issues, and folks that are struggling with depression,

if I hear another person, say, I'm sorry, that you feel that

you're going through this period of feeling so down, and that

you're depressed, and you know, try to be positive and try to

think positively about things. And it can be really

frustrating. And I think the struggle for me is I never want

to give somebody another reason to fail at something in their

life, right. And that's what it comes down to is if you set this

expectation that having a positive mindset and just

flipping that switch, and you know, changing that conversation

in your brain is going to heal you or it's going to make you a

super successful person, just by flipping your mindset to a more

positive mindset, then I feel like we're setting people up to

have another area that they're not being successful. So I love

that you and I are able to have this conversation and be

realistic about it. And at the same time, hopefully give people

some tips that that are really positive that will help grow

their animal business.

Absolutely. And I think that brings us really well

into our first of our big three, which mindset does affect

everything around you. And this is true, and I don't think

anyone that is listening to this podcast, that's any kind of a

big Newsflash, but the fact that you may not have mindfully

thought about it is important. So I am a proponent of systems

theory, which basically states that you in of yourself and your

world around you like we all are parts of all of these moving and

growing systems and if any part of that system has energy that

is slowed down or is negative or conversely is overly positive,

it can affect the entire system, right, there's a nice little

balance in there, that keeps the whole system running really

smoothly. And if you're seeing problems either in your own

system being your physical body, or your emotional body, or your

business, or your community or your family, if you notice that

something feels out of balance or isn't running quite right, or

you know, mean, isn't humming along like it should, then

checking mindset is a good place to start. Because it's a good

first line of defense in being able to clean that up and fix it

to the point that the system as a whole runs better. And I think

that's just tuning into the fact that you do not live in a

vacuum, your business is not in a vacuum, we all interact with

each other, we all have energy that we trade and give and share

and and suck away from other people. And we just need to be

really aware of that. And our mindset, what our attitude is

what our belief system is, brings that to the table for

everyone.

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I mean, that really makes sense. And I think

that when you think about it that way, and you think about

that in terms of your business and your interactions on a daily

basis, and how successful you are some days at maybe booking

clients or answering leads and how successful that is, and then

days where it just doesn't seem like anything's working well, it

makes sense that that energy is transferable. And it makes sense

to stop for a second and say, you know, where am I at right

now physically and mentally? And how is that affecting the way

that I'm responding and reacting, and we all have to be

on some time. You know, we all have to have days where we're

out. And we're about and we're have to be on with our clients.

Some of us it's every day. And some of us are more fortunate

that when we have days where our energy is just in the dumps, we

can work by ourselves. We don't have to be on phone calls. And

we don't have to be meeting with clients and out in the field.

Some of us are lucky. So thinking about it that way makes

a lot of sense to me.

Yeah. And like when you do discover something

in the system that isn't working, and you look around you

and say there's something in the energy here, that's not working,

that's not working? Well. A lot of times if you just sit for a

moment and are really quiet and check in with yourself, check in

with your environment, check in with the people around you, it

becomes really apparent really quickly what is going on. And if

it is something that is you and you need a mindset shift, maybe

take a moment to see if you can make that shift all on your own.

Or if it's something deeper that is driving you I think which

brings us to the second point of this conversation is that

mindset can be a benefit or it can be a barrier. So one of the

things I want to mention with this is that I took the Clifton

Strengths Finder in addition to some, some many other typology

and temperament assessment tools. But one of the things I

learned from the Clifton Strengths Finder is that one of

my strengths is positivity. And I actually worked with a Clifton

Strengths Finder coach to understand what I brought to the

table a little bit better and positivity is in my top five.

And it's not my number one. So that's a different subject. But

the positivity, what the coach told me is, she said to me, that

can be both a good thing and a bad thing. So on the good side

is that you tend to see everything in a super positive

way you slip into a really positive mindset quickly, which

means you can recover from a lot of things. The other side of

that is it's sometimes a barrier for you to see things that need

to be fixed, or things that aren't working correctly, or

things that possibly are really set up for failure and you just

don't recognize it. Or another thing that that positivity does

is it makes people around you feel uncomfortable, because they

aren't always in congruence with your positive focus. And so it's

both a blessing and a curse, so to speak. It's both a benefit

and a barrier. And it's an interesting thing to think that

about yourself because we've all been told and taught that

positivity is going to win the day right that if you just

believe it, you can do it. You No, but but the truth is

don't make me throw up.

The truth is that that positivity sometimes gets

in the way of a bigger conversation, and it gets in the

way of progress. So that's for me. That's how it works.

I feel like your positivity problem is, like

that question on the job interview application where they

ask um, you know, how could you improve? That would be like your

answer, that's really not a negative answer.

Yeah.

You know what I'm talking about? That

question?

Oh yeah, that awkward question

List, list your best strength and list your

your biggest weakness, and you're like, I'm just too

positive, it's sometimes really gets in the way

Well I do.

There's people out there right now that

want to slap you probably

If there are, and trust me on this, they're not

alone. There's a lot of people in my life sometimes that are

like, your positivity sometimes is just really overwhelming. And

I have to I have learned how to how to suck it in a little bit.

But I can also tell you, the positivity is what has carried

me through some of the darkest moments in my life. And so it is

a benefit. And it is a barrier. It is both of those things and

understanding how again, just understanding being aware,

cognizant of how my mindset goes back to the first thing we said,

it affects everyone around you. And I think if you work with

animals, that is a very clear thing for you. Because if you

show up to the barn, or the kennel, or to work with an

animal of any kind in any kind of a situation, whether it's

just handling or training or taking care of your mindset is

very apparent to them, they're they're far better at

understanding it than we ever could be. That means that you

you've got to keep your mind set a little bit more on track, so

to speak, you need to be aware it to the appropriate to the

setting, and being aware of it is important.

I've definitely been at photoshoots

were my energy was just too high, because maybe I was

anxious, or I was trying to remember everything that needed

to be done. And I would approach the horses with too much energy.

And they would let me know and I'd be like, and I would be like

apologize, I'm so sorry, I came at you with way too much energy

and excitement and you know, just that whole energy. So that

makes so much sense

It does. So obviously I want to talk about

benefits of a mindset. Mindset benefits can mean that you are

more supportive of the people around you, if you are carrying

a mindset and you are incongruence you have faith in

what you believe in, you understand your value system,

you have some confidence around those areas, I think that that

frees you up, to be supportive to be uplifting and to really

focus on abundance instead of lack. For those of you who've

read it, there's a book called The Secret. And it's like a lot

of other books that kind of, I'm even in Cara's boat here with

sometimes they make my stomach kind of turn because of the

heaviness that they put on us around how our attitude affects

our success. And I think that that can sometimes be as

derogatory, but I also have worked in a lot of projects with

a team where we've had one or more team members that really

focuses on lack or competition, or you know, I mean, they

they're not focused on the positive, but they're focused on

the negative or whatever the situation is. And I always feel

like that slows the team down. It's kind of like a stone in

their shoes, so to speak. They're limping along with this

little bit of pullback, or a big bit of fullback that can cause a

problem. So again, both benefit and barrier there. Have you ever

been on a team like that? Cara?

I'm thinking about that. Now, I was listening

here like times that that comes up. I mean, I think anytime I'm

in like a work group situation, and there's competition, and

you're just trying to, I don't know, create something that's

better for everyone. But there's folks in the group that are

really worried about the competition aspect of it,

especially in business, you know, that can be really

challenging if you have that. That mindset that there's not

enough business out there for all of us. It can be limiting

for everyone I think in the group.

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It can it can and and again, it's just

understanding mindset. And I will tell you a great thing to

do is if you have a team member like that, ask them why? Ask

them how, how is that affecting them? And what's the scoop

behind that? What's their viewpoint because sometimes

again, it's a good barrier, it may show up as a boundary, or it

may show up as a really healthy strategy to make sure that

you're not like me, I run around with my head in the clouds all

the time, I occasionally need somebody to yank my string and

go, Hey, come back down here to earth a little bit. Because

you're out there way too much. On the flip side of that in the

the barriers, sometimes the barriers around mindset, they

are rooted in trauma that we have experienced. And that

trauma can come out as a limiting belief or negative self

talk or an unhealthy strategy. We did an episode a long time

ago about setting on your but. And that was that that's the

kind of things that I'm talking about here. The things that when

you go to look at something you you always have to say a but,

which negates everything that got before it in that way. It's

not a healthy barrier. It's an unhealthy barrier. And in that

case, it's again, you can't just flip a switch, and for some some

way just change your mind. And all of a sudden you're you're

good with things you you need help possibly or assistance in

getting that boundary moved. Cara, do you have anything to

add?

Yeah, I was just thinking about the episode

that we had with Melisa Pearce on banishing the troll, and then

also limiting beliefs, especially around money, and

what you're able to accomplish that sort of thing. And I would

definitely recommend for folks that are thinking about mindset

barriers, to take some time to go back to those two episodes,

the one Kim mentioned "Sitting on your but", but also, I can't

think of the name of it off the top of my head one of our early

episodes around limiting beliefs, especially around money

and that sort of thing. And then of course, the episode on

banishing your troll, because I think you know, when you talk

about that negative self talk, and those unhealthy strategies,

like a lot of that comes from somewhere, and it will affect

your mindset. So in like you said, this whole issue of trauma

as part of a trauma response, that all is cycled together

sometimes. So that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah, we need a little guidance around because

it's one of those situations where you can't see the forest

for the trees, because when you're standing in the middle of

it, a lot of times you can't step back from your own

situation and see, but another person who's trained or helpful

in that can guide you to that larger view and help you really

tune into it. And that I think brings us beautifully into

shifting your mindset needs to be done mindfully. It's one of

those things where you have to consider is a mindset shift

going to be a benefit? And is it going to set me up for success?

And is this something I want to put the energy into, because to

be honest, shifting your mindset on occasion is a lot of work.

And honestly, some of the biggest mindset shifts that I

have had to make have been incredibly uncomfortable. In

other words, I've had to look at things I have developed

strategies that I don't have to deal with that. And in order to

really truly be in alignment with the mindset that I want to

attain, I have to let go of things that are a little bit

uncomfortable for me to let go of or to allow something to be

so there are some things to consider around that. And being

mindful Cara, I know you have a beautiful list here of tips that

will help you if you do want to shift your mindset get started

doing that. So I'm gonna let you launch into that because they're

pretty awesome.

I think Kim and I have both shared an

agreement today that there's no amount of positive energy that's

going to always be there to shift your mindset and that when

you shift your mindset and to something positive, it doesn't

mean necessarily that you're going to be able to accomplish

every goal that you set out. I think what I would like to leave

you guys with are that there are some things that you can do

small little tweaks on the daily that you can do to get yourself

in a mindset that will help move you forward in your Day and help

set you up when you have to be around clients or you're with

your family, or you just have tasks you have to get done every

day, we do know that, you know, putting yourself in a good place

mindset wise can help with those things. So here are a couple

things that I think would be super helpful just to improve

mindset in general. First of all, if you can take a moment

and believe to yourself that you can, you can make a shift like

it is possible, it doesn't mean that it's going to happen

quickly, it doesn't mean that it's an overnight thing. It's

not instantaneous. And sometimes it might require help, you know,

it might require someone to help work you through your mindset

issues. But believing that you can is a great place to just

start. And I you know, I love the idea of just kind of working

at it every single day and realizing that the things that

you expose yourself to during the day can mess with your

mindset. So being able to recognize that is huge, I have

certain times of the month where I will wake up and just be the

biggest grump ever, and I can feel that energy affecting my

family. And so for me to recognize that, you know, and

then being able to work at it throughout the day is a start.

And I think there's probably other people that feel that way.

Occasionally, as well. One of the things that I think is

really cool is if you can start your day by creating some kind

of anchor some kind of thoughts or positive plays or activity

that you can bring yourself back to a positive mindset to get you

rolling, that that's a great place to start. Because when the

shit hits the fan later, and it always does, at some point stuff

happens right in life, stuff always happens. And we might get

a phone call that's gonna bring us down or an email from, you

know, a client that we were hoping to work with that will

turn our mood negative. So having some kind of anchor to

just bring yourself back down and to kind of re work that

mindset can be a big help. We talked about trolls a little bit

on a previous episode, you know, banish that that inner negative

voice, just be aware of those reoccurring thoughts that are

running in the background of your mind? You know, are they

holding you back? Are they keeping you stuck today? So

start kind of thinking about some of those things like what

is this? What is the script that is putting me in this mood, and

is there a way that you can start working on that. And then

I like the idea of rewarding your effort and not necessarily

your results. It doesn't mean you can't celebrate when you

accomplish something, but spend a little time rewarding all of

the effort that you put into trying to get there, because you

are doing the work, you are daily doing the work. But it

doesn't mean that every single day you're going to finish a

task or you're going to accomplish something incredible,

that's going to keep you boosted and needs to be rewarded. So

think about that mind shift from rewarding a job well done to

rewarding all of the effort that it took to get you there.

Because that really is something that you have control over

definitely look to those people in your life, your mentors, your

coaches that can give you feedback on your work and can

help provide some positive or I guess concrete tips on on your

work and keep you moving forward. And then Kim has

mentioned it before, sometimes you have to just get

uncomfortable and that sometimes the best path is the hardest

path and the one that requires us to stretch our brains a

little bit more. And I think she's mentioned that and that

sometimes requires help and requires people that are willing

to be in your corner and help work you through that. The last

one I have here is we are all going to fail. Sometimes we're

all going to have crap days, we are all going to just not do the

work well or not do the job correctly. And if we can try to

think about it as a positive learning opportunity instead of

a failure, then I think we're slowly, very slowly trying to

keep ourselves on the right path. So I'm coming at this very

tentatively, but also with the idea that there are things that

each of us can do every single day. I hope that it's helpful.

I think it is I think it's very helpful for me

and everyone else out there, Cara just to have a few things

to think about regarding shifting your mindset because we

get there's so much noise in this conversation. That is it

just seems unrealistic some of the noise. And I think bringing

it back down to what is realistically attainable, and

what we can do within our human condition to improve our mindset

and to focus on becoming more positive, but in a way that is

beneficial and healthy for everyone and ourselves. I hope

you guys have enjoyed this episode today. It's a it's an

interesting topic. And I think that it's something that we all

struggle with and want to embrace more of. So if you have

any comments or would like to have a conversation around it,

we would be more than happy to discuss it with you on social

media tune into our Instagram account or a Facebook page and

drop us a message or publicly post and we will be happy to

have the conversation around this particular topic. I would

love to see what other people's impressions are around mindset,

the mindset movement and how they feel or how mindset shows

up in their particular business or lifestyle.

Thanks for joining us today.

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Business

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to hear from you. Until next time, keep your business well