Episode 504: What does it take to have a growth mindset?
Connect and get in touch with My Daily Business
Your one-stop destination for premium business tools and resources
Connect and get in touch with Jo Barry | Scarlet and Rae
Fiona Killackey: Hello and welcome to episode 504 of My Daily Business podcast. Today it's a coaching episode, and this is something, it's a, particular term that is banded around a lot in small business. And today I wanna talk through how to actually, firstly understand what it means and then develop this type of skill that I think is just crucial for anyone, no matter how long you've been in business, or even if you've just got a business idea, actually think, I think this is.
Actually crucial for anyone full stop. But particularly important if you are running a small business, and especially if you're running it without like a huge amount of resource in terms of staff or financial resource as well. Before I get stuck into that, I wanna let you know that marketing for your small business will be kicking off in the coaching and course.
Together program in early May. So if you are interested in that, you can head on over to marketing for your small business.com. You can always buy the course. It's avAIlable anytime, but twice a year. We offer a nine week live component of coaching with it. [00:01:00] So you do the module and then you come to an hour coaching live with me.
Now we have people from all over the world who do that, so it's usually in a time. That works with the US and Europe, as well as Australia. So don't let it be a deterrent. If you're listening and thinking, well, it'll just be in Australian time and maybe you'll be asleep at that time. It usually works across all territories. So agAIn, if you're interested in that, just go to marketingforyoursmallbusiness.com. You can also just go to mydAIlybusiness.com/courses.
Before we jump in to today's coaching episode, I just wanna have a moment for our sponsor, poppy AI.
/
Lastly, I'm going to acknowledge where I'm coming from and acknowledge that traditional owners and custodians on these beautiful lands where I run my marketing course, where I run all of my workshops and [00:02:00] everything else. And so for me, in North Warrandyte, that is the Wurrendjeri and Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
And acknowledge that sovereignty has never been seated. Alright, let's get into today's coaching episode.
/
So, as I sAId in the intro, regardless of where you are in business right now, I think that this particular element of business I'm going to coach you through and talk about today is so important and it's something that you're going to come up agAInst time and time and time agAIn. It's not like you just ace it and then you never have to.
Kind of question yourself around this element agAIn. So what is that element? The element is this concept of developing a growth mindset. Now, before you switch off and you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know all about it. I'm going to go through, you know, really how this has impacted myself in my own business, but also the commonalities that I've seen over almost 10 years of coaching people.
The same stuff that comes up again and again and [00:03:00] how to, sort of work through that, because like I sAId, it's not something that you just, oh, yep. I've developed a growth mindset and then I never, ever will come up agAInst it agAIn. Or I'll never kind of switch to a fixed mindset. It's I don't believe that you just learn it and then you've got growth mindset for the rest of time.
I mean, maybe there's some people out there that just have that personality and it's part of their character, and they never have to really go up agAInst a fixed mindset. But in my experience myself and then working with, thousands of people. That fixed mindset can come up agAIn and agAIn and agAIn, especially if you're learning something new.
So I guess I'll start by talking about where does the concept first come from? Like where, why do we have this idea of growth mindset?
/
I guess the concept, the what we envisage the idea around growth mindset, so the concept, the idea or the coining I guess you would say of the term growth mindset really came from psychologist Carol Dweck and she created a book, called [00:04:00] Mindset, the New Psychology of Success. But the theory, I guess, is really around this idea that if you have a growth mindset. Then you have the belief, the inner belief, that your abilities, your intelligence, your talents so much of about who you are as a person can be developed through dedication or hard work or learning education, you know, listening to podcasts, reading books that you can get there.
You just maybe don't have the skillset just yet. So you definitely have the idea that if I just put in the work and if I learn things, I will figure it out. Like I have that ability. That is really the essence of a growth mindset. This contrasts with the idea of like a fixed mindset, because the fixed mindset is really this idea that, oh, I'm too old, or there's no way I could understand that or really that the qualities that you need to be able to just learn or work hard or whatever.
You don't have, and that you are born that way, or you, it's just who you are. Like you are not somebody who learns. You [00:05:00] never, you know, it's using terms like never, always, I never understand, you know, I listen to these podcasts, but I never implement anything. Or that wouldn't be me that could figure out how to become a video editor, or that wouldn't be me who, you know, finally gets my head around marketing.
So you have this kind of fix, this closed mindset where you believe that. Either people have these qualities or they don't, and so that idea, obviously that distinction between fixed and growth is absolutely imperative when it comes to business because with businesses and being a small business owner, you are constantly coming up agAInst challenges.
You are constantly having to problem solve. I often talk about working with creative and curious small business owners. However, when people come to me and sometimes I've had people say, oh, I'm an anesthetist, or I'm a lawyer, or I'm an accountant, and do you work with me because I'm not in the creative sector.
I will always say that anyone in small business is a creative, because you have to be a creative to problem solve. You have to look at, okay, let's look at different scenarios here. Let's, let's creatively imagine what the outcome could [00:06:00] be. So I absolutely think that even if you don't believe that you have a growth mindset, there's a part of you that does, because you wouldn't be in business if you didn't have somewhat of a growth mindset.
However, as I sAId, it may be that you've got a growth mindset in so many areas of your business, but when it comes to marketing or when it comes to hiring staff or when it comes to, leveling up to that next level, that's when your fixed mindset is going to come in and rear its ugly head and be like, absolutely not.
This is not for you. This is not for your type. This is not. Something that you can achieve. And so this is where you've gotta question all the time and constantly you're going to come up agAInst it agAIn and agAIn and agAIn, and so. I guess with a, with a fixed mindset, it's, it's thinking, am I somebody who, when I'm faced with a challenge in my business or faced with something new that I have to do, am I somebody who says I haven't figured that out yet, or, are you on the flip side and saying, I'm just not good at this.
I'm not good at it. So that language, that inner language, and often when I'm coaching people, I will pick them up and say, [00:07:00] I'm not sure if you're aware, but when you were just talking now. Some of the language you used was, and, and it can either be a fixed mindset or so often the language people use around themselves is so, negative and damaging and the type of language that you would never say if you were talking about anybody else, you would never put them down in these kind of passive aggressive ways or or just, outwardly aggressive ways.
And so when you think about, like, if you think about a challenge maybe in your business right now. What comes up for you first? If I sAId to you, I reckon you could work on that and have some sort of solution in the next two months, what is your instant gut response? Is it as if, Fiona, you have no idea what you're talking about?
There's no way that could get done. It'll never happen. Or do you have actually, there's a curiosity that's coming through and. Okay, well let me listen to the rest of the episode and see how maybe, maybe we could just get there. And obviously some problems are not going to take two months. Some problems might take two minutes, some problems might take two years.
But it's about having that [00:08:00] idea and that mindset that it is possible for me to, fix this situation or challenge this situation or get curious as to how things could be different as opposed to putting a wall up and being like, absolutely not. This is just not going to happen. Because that is, that latter one is much more of a fixed mindset.
/
Now, as I sAId previously, you can have a growth mindset in lots of parts of your business, and then you are facing something new or doing something that you haven't done before, or maybe you are, I don't know, being challenged by a staff member or something else comes up and suddenly the fixed mindset appears.
So I know when I first started this podcast, which I mean we're up to 500 plus episodes, when I started, I honestly thought. I would never even get to episode like three. I felt like the technical aspects were absolutely overwhelming and honestly, like I don't have crazy tech to do it now. I was watching a tutorial, I have to say by Pat Flynn who is just [00:09:00] incredible.
He's been in the podcast space for a long time. I think he started in 2008, but I was watching a tutorial on YouTube from him on garage band. Garage band. I always say garage 'cause I'm from the uk and I was watching it and I just thought, oh, there's all these buttons. There's all these like things and filters and I'm never going to understand.
So when you catch yourself saying never or always, they're very like black and white thinking. And so I had this idea that I'm not tech savvy enough, which is ridiculous because I've worked in huge tech companies. But I thought. I am too old. I don't understand technology in able to do this. I, I'm not going to be a perfectionist enough to be able to have a, a podcast out because I just saw all of these ways that you could change the waves.
And I still don't do that to be honest. I literally press record and that's it. And I, I know how to turn off like the ticker thing and I know how to put the time on so I can see how long my podcasts are. But really, I, I thought. I dunno how to do this. I'm never going to learn it. This whole podcast idea is like a silly concept.
I'm just never going to go there. And I [00:10:00] let that fixed mindset really deter me from launching a podcast for like three years. After I watched that first tutorial, three years, it took me or longer to actually launch the podcast. What I had to do to get myself outta that was to think about how could I just get to 10 episodes?
That's what I did. Instead of going, okay, it's going to be this podcast that keeps going and going and gets to 500 episodes. I never, ever imagined that I thought, I need to get to 10 episodes. So can I learn enough of garage band? To be able to make 10 episodes. And that was it from the start. I also got curious onto how am I going to get this edited and like, if I'm scared of this technology, can I afford to hire an editor?
Now that editor has been with me since day one and it's five years later. And that has been incredible because I was like, okay, I'm going to ask for help and I'm actually doing an episode soon on this whole concept of asking for help. 'cause I get how hard it can be and, and really in your personal life as well.
But for the podcast, I thought, okay. I have to get curious. And so as soon as you can [00:11:00] switch from like chaos to curiosity, as soon as you can go, what if, what if that happened or the word yet is really important as well. But that is is one story that I, I know I often think about how if I hadn't, if I had let that fixed mindset keep me where I was, this podcast wouldn't exist.
We wouldn't have, so many hundreds of thousands of downloads we wouldn't have had, I wouldn't have had all the opportunities that have come from this podcast. I wouldn't have had all the people that have joined group coaching or coaching or bought courses because of this podcast. And so that growth mindset was absolutely key in just unlocking like, okay, just start.
Just start somewhere. So if you don't know whether you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, here are some ways that. Outside of what I've just sAId about saying always never, that you can identify, what is holding you back. One of the biggest ones, and I hold my hand up, I've done this so many times in business, is to avoid a challenge because you fear that you're going to fAIl.
You're going to try something and you'll be absolutely a fAIlure at it. [00:12:00] The thing is, no one's going to know if you fAIled. So if I'd put that podcast out and I just did 10 episodes and nobody listened, all I would do is call it a season and be like, season one of the My DAIly Business podcast has come to an end.
Listen out for season two. And then I decide if I wanted to do a season two. And if I didn't, I could have gone into the last episode edited out where I sAId, look out for season two. And no one would be none that you know, no one would be any wiser. They wouldn't have gone, she fAIled. They would've gone, "she tried the podcast. She just did a season. Oh, it was really good. I wish she did a second season". That's more likely the feedback that you're going to get from people as opposed to what a fAIlure you have completely bombed.
/
So that's, a really obvious one. If you're like, I am, I'm just avoiding doing it because I will just fAIl. That is often a sign of a fixed mindset. Another example is if you just give up, if you give up really easily, so let's say for example. You are recording a podcast, you put it out and you get [00:13:00] like five downloads and you feel like you know every single person that has downloaded 'cause it's your family or you've asked some other people, you may think, nah, that's just, it's too hard.
I'm not getting anywhere even though you've only given it one episode. Another thing is when you just see like, I guess to that point as well. Where you just think that it's completely there's no point. There's just no point in doing it. And I see this all the time. I've done this myself where you spend 45 minutes on a reel, you put it up, you don't get the traction that you thought you'd get, and then you just sort of go, well, what's the point in doing that?
Like, I'm never going to get ahead. I'm never going to get this, I don't know, validation that you seeking from social media which is a whole other, whole other podcast. But it's where instead of going, I need to learn this over and over and over until I get better at it. You go? No, there's no point. So I used to write for a lot of publications.
I, I studied journalism. I used to have a column in the newspaper I'd write for, I don't know, I've probably written for 60 or 70 magazines and newspapers in my life. Now that is a great, that's a great, breadth of work. And I've, worked for magazines in the United Arab [00:14:00] Emirates, the it, like, the uk, the us, Japan, New Zealand, a whole bunch of places.
Mm. I wouldn't have got anywhere if I had taken the first few rejections from people and gone, okay, that's it. Well, obviously I'm not supposed to write for magazines. It just wouldn't have gone anywhere. Whereas if you go, okay, the first few articles that I've written probably aren't the best. However, the more you do it, the better you're going to get, the better your skillset.
Same with podcasting. When I first started this podcast, I would script everything that I sAId. Somebody told me that a friend at the time told me that, and I took on that advice instead of thinking, oh, I know the stuff. I could probably just riff. And I actually prefer just riffing. I know it probably doesn't always make sense and you guys will know that I go off on tangents and then I come back.
That's how I am, that's how I coach. So it is better for people to get an idea of how she actually works and her humor, and then wanna maybe work with me as opposed to, it being so structured. And then they work with me and realize I'm a bit more lAId back. So. I wish that I just started the way that I had wanted to start, but also that I, it, it [00:15:00] helped me get started.
It helped me. If I script it all, I'm reading something and it helps me get started. I. Now, I wouldn't say necessarily, oh, I'm a master podcaster, but it is so much less stress to pull together a podcast. But if I hadn't kept going, it wouldn't get easier. Everything gets easier. I have two children at the moment at the moment, not planning to have anymore.
I have two children, and at the moment they are 12 and five. Now, my 5-year-old often compares himself to his 12-year-old, and I'm always saying, you are not, you don't have as much experience as he has, kicking a soccer ball or you don't have as much experience yet. Doing this, but you know, when you get to his age, you'll be X, y, z.
We try not to compare them, but it's just a natural thing. And we do that all the time. And we will look at somebody, people might look at me and go, oh my God, you got 500 episodes of a podcast. And they'll think that they're starting their podcast. They have to be they have to have as many downloads or they have to have as many reviews.
And it's like. You're not, this podcast has been going for years and years and years. You cannot compare, it's apples and oranges. They're just different. So in a part of fixed mindset is thinking, ah, I'm [00:16:00] trying this, I'm not getting anywhere. What's the point? Another thing that I know that I, I have found this hard sometimes is to not take on feedback, especially people who might be giving you feedback that actually matters and that actually you should listen to.
So I remember years ago, and I'm just sharing very openly here. I sent an emAIl in 2020 and it was around Black Lives Matter and I sent it and IW I'm just forever grateful for this person who wrote back to their Sunday emAIl and she sAId, I just want you to know I. That some of your terminology and also some of the way that you write, it feels as if you're just writing to people like you who are white.
And you're not actually remembering that you have a whole bunch of people that are reading this emAIl that maybe people of color. And so I want you to, also acknowledge us in, in your emAIl. And I was like, you are so right. You are so right. And it's, it's. It's embarrassing to to say this into a public forum like this, but [00:17:00] without taking on that feedback.
I wouldn't have been able to, potentially I hope, be a more inclusive place for, for everyone. And, and particularly in that circumstance. Absolutely. You wanna take that feedback on board. There's so many times when you'll be given feedback by somebody, and a lot of the time it's Mel.
Well-meaning even if it comes across in a certAIn other way. Like, and I know I've, I've felt. Criticism from, from different people in my life who've given me feedback and that at the time, I probably didn't take it on board and it could be about all sorts of things. And there's definitely regret in, in some parts of that where I wish I had listened to some people more around all sorts of elements of life.
And so that can be a part of a fixed mindset as well, where you're like, well, I know best and I'm not going to be open to that feedback. You know, sometimes I'll have to be kind of. Harsh in a way to some of my coaching clients because it's like, well, nothing's changing. I often say nothing changes if nothing changes.
And if you're given feedback and you are, you don't take it on board. I mean, some feedback, yes, you can take it or leave it, but some [00:18:00] staff you absolutely need to be open to. And if you're not open, if you think about like, I don't know, maybe somebody gave you some feedback recently and your first response was defense.
And I, believe me, I have absolutely been there with people. And, and, and it's a really hard thing to get your head around sometimes to be like, okay, let me just listen to what they're actually saying. Another big thing, and this comes up for people all the time, is just sticking to what you know, rather than exploring anything new, just, just going, this is the way, that whole adage like, this is the way we've always done it. I've gone into so many corporates and consulted to them and you have these marketing teams and often I'm consulting into the brand team or the marketing team or both. And I will hear from somebody who's been there for 15 years who is just seeing me as an absolute threat.
And being like, are they going to, is she going to uncover? Is she going to say that what we're doing is wrong? And like, this is the way we've always done it. So I don't understand why we even have a consultant coming in. And that is definitely a fixed mindset as opposed to going, what could I learn right now from this situation?
And what could they teach me? It's the same with. I dunno, anything. So people that come [00:19:00] into group coaching or or other coaching, they'll come in and they've got incredible experience in stuff that I also have an experience in. And I have to not get defensive or not be like, oh, they, they know more than me or they're showing up X, Y, Z because that just is a fixed mindset and I learn nothing.
It probably makes them feel uncomfortable. So that whole idea of just, oh, I'm just going to do, do what we've always done, is also another sign of fixed mindset. And another one, I guess that is a hard one, it's a hard one to get over sometimes, is this idea that if other people succeed you, you worry that there's no nothing left in the pie for you, as opposed to seeing it as a form of inspiration.
Like, if they can do it, then I can do it. I often think that in terms of, I remember I had somebody in my life who when I got my book deal, my first book deal. I was talking to my husband and he actually sAId, oh, I don't know. Are you going to tell them? Because they really wanted a book deal and it was really difficult to go, oh, well I'd really, I'd love to be able to tell them, I'm just worried that they're going to get.[00:20:00]
Frustrated or it feel like I knew that that person would feel as if I have got a book deal and I'm going to take it away from their opportunity to get a book deal, which was ridiculous. But we all sometimes will feel like that and we think, oh, well, if that person got the speaking gig at that.
Particular conference you want it to be at, but there's no way that you are ever going to get a speaking gig at that conference. Or if that person, maybe somebody in your sector was just on a podcast that you listen to and you're like, oh, I wanted to picture to go on that podcast. And now they've just had somebody who does the same job as me, so, or has a business similar to mine.
So they probably will never have somebody else on like that. Which I have to say as a podcast host, absolutely not true. If we have an accountant on, we will have another accountant on. It's showing you that we have an audience that we think will like hearing from an accountant, so therefore we'll have another accountant on, or if we have a lawyer on, we recently had Nick from Birch and Co.
That doesn't say that any other lawyer can't come forward and pitch to be on the podcast because we know that small business owners will take different learnings from different people, even if those people are doing roughly a similar job. So that idea of like, [00:21:00] oh, they're doing this. So therefore it's, it's not avAIlable to me anymore.
That is huge. Sign of a fixed mindset. So I guess I'm talking about like, signs for fixed mindset, but if you, if you wanna get more of a growth mindset, what do you have to do? I think the first thing which is really important for, for anything in life is to really question the way you're speaking to yourself.
Like, really, really question. Am I, I often say to people, is it kind? Is it, what is it? The three things? It's from like psychology somewhere. It's like, is it kind? Is it truthful? Is it necessary or some version of that? So is it kind, would you say the same thing to yourself? Would you say it to a friend the way that you're talking to yourself, is it necessary?
Like, is this talking to yourself actually going to do any good? Or is it just beating yourself up because you want to and then it puts you in your place and you know. Helps your self-esteem stay low. And then is it true? So if you're saying to yourself, I am just so crap at X, Y, [00:22:00] Z, where's the facts? So if you had to present that in court, where's the evidence that you're bad at that?
So you might say, I had somebody the other day actually who was saying something similar to this, and they'd been in business for 15 years and they were saying, I'm just so crap at money. I sAId, you're not, you've been in business for 15 years. Have you managed to pay yourself during that time? They were like, yep.
Have you pAId your super ideation during that time? Yep. You know, super pension 401k for anyone listening overseas. They were like, yes. I was like, have you managed to keep your kids, you know, getting them food, keep the lights on, pay your mortgage? They were like, yep. I'm like, have you managed to go on a holiday every so often?
Yep. It's like, I wouldn't say that you're crap at money. You've had a business that's been running for 15 years when most of them fAIl in the first three years. That's five times the average. And you've been able to do all of this without going into massive amounts of debt, without struggling to put food on the table with, you know, being able to have a money to have a holiday, like paying yourself, putting money into superannuation, which is so important.[00:23:00]
And you've been able to do all of that. So I definitely wouldn't be telling yourself, I'm so bad at X, Y, Z. So that is the first thing really thinking about can I, am I constantly saying stuff to myself like, I always do this. You never do this. Or even, you know, I can't with, I can't yet. In my first book, I talked about this a lot, the power of the word yet, and it's such an important thing, you know, I stop people all the time, mid-sentence, and I'm like, did you just hear how you sAId I'm crap at money.
I'm crap at social media. I never have a good system. Not yet. I'm crap. I'm, you know, I'm not good at social media yet. I'm not good at understanding my finances. Yet when you have the word yet, you open up space for education. You open up space for curiosity. You open up space for getting better at something.
So the first thing is to, you know, change your self-talk. Really think about that. I had a small thing. I remember one of my friends at high school, she was very pretty, she was a model. Oh, I think she wanted to be a model. I don't know if she did model, but she, she was, you know, very beautiful. And I [00:24:00] remember when I noticed one time when people would say compliments to her, she always just sAId, thank you.
Like, they would be like, oh, you're so beautiful, or, I love how you're dressed, or, I love your jacket, and she'd just say, thank you. I, on the other hand, when people would say anything, I would be like, oh God, no. I look so tired. Or, oh, this thing, yeah, I got it really cheaply at a op shop. Or I would always.
Put myself down when they had just complimented me. So even that, I have had to learn and I learned that, I don't know, in like year 11, but I'm still not great at it. I have to say, there are definitely times when I'd catch myself just going into that negative kind of talk and just saying, thank you, thank you.
Or if people, even at the moment, you know, people are like, oh, I love your book so much. I used to be like, oh, like thank you. You know, a bit awkward as if, oh, I'm going to be boastful if I say thank you. And it's like, yes. I think it's a great book. I really do. I think both of them are really good. I spent years making them like, and they've got years and years and decades of my experience in them.
So yes, they are really good books and you can buy them on my website right now if you like. But that first thing is just to [00:25:00] really listen to how you're talking to yourself and, and change it. The second is to, you know, set up ways that you are stretching yourself. Like intentionally, so you know, that could be learning a new language.
I am of Irish heritage. My brother has been learning Irish for the last few years. My parents spoke Irish. We had like some Irish children's books when I was growing up, but we were never encouraged to learn the language. I think my parents were like, nobody knows the language, so. What's the point? And we were, came to this country and everything else, so, obviously, and they both spoke English as their first language.
Oh yeah. But anyway, I digress. I am going to learn Irish too. It is a very difficult language. It's got a lot of weird sounds that you wouldn't make in, in, in, when you speak English. So that is something that I'm setting myself. That is a, that is something I'm going to be crap at for a long time. I don't know if I'll ever be able to speak Irish fluently but I'm going to embrace it and I'm going to.
Set that intention that it's go, I'm not going to be an expert at it. And so I feel like that is something that you can do. It could also be like I, I remember taking up [00:26:00] quilting. I used to quilt a lot. I used to quilt like blankets, and I'd love to go back to quilting. I'm not an expert at quilting. I'm definitely not a perfectionist.
My sewing is definitely not in strAIght lined, but I love doing it. It's really joyful. And you have to start somewhere. I remember watching like a bazillion YouTube videos back in 2008 on YouTube from a company called Missouri Quilt Company. That woman taught me everything about quiliting and I just learned so much from it, but I had to go, I'm, I'm new to this and sometimes in business when say even right now we have this AI chat group. We have people in there that have been in their business for so many years. They're really good at what they do, and yet this is new. And so they'll say, I just feel like I'm so behind, or, oh, I'm never going to understand it.
That idea, like we are all behind in terms of AI. AI is changing so rapidly, so fast that nobody in the world is an absolute AI expert, because even if they are, even if they've founded an AI company, there's some other AI company that's coming up behind them who's going to impress them with X, Y, Z that their platform can't do.
So that idea of just embracing. A [00:27:00] challenge embracing something new and doing so deliberately and knowing I am going to start as an absolute student here. I need to be open. That is the best way to grow a growth mindset. And it goes back to that whole thing of getting curious rather than stressing about stuff.
The third thing you can do to improve, I guess your growth mindset is to, to really, I don't know how to say it, like get into learning and. And create space to learn to create, an ongoing way to educate yourself. So I feel like, and I guess it goes back to that idea of, embracing something that you are going to be a student.
You're starting at the absolute lowest rung to learn. For me it's learning Irish but a way of developing. A time each week that you're going to dedicate to learning. So I've talked previously about how my husband usually goes surfing on a Wednesday evening. And that for me, once the kids are in bed, I have that learning time.
So that is a time that I can watch YouTube and [00:28:00] learn something, or I can, dive into a course that I've bought or, watch a masterclass or a BBC Maestro or something else. I can, I can learn. And that becomes a ritual. That's, that's my night to learn. So even when I show my clients, this is what my weekly, plan looks like, I will show them like Wednesday evenings is learning time.
You may have a different thing. You may have like a ritual where on Sunday mornings you grab a cup of coffee and you sit down with a business book, or you sit down with maybe a self-help book or a psychology book, but that. Dedicated time to going, I am learning something. I'm going to increase my skillset in something.
It could be, that time obviously a, a really easy way to do that is to join like a group coaching program. We have one just saying you can sign up to the wait list@mydailybusiness.com slash group coaching. But that group coaching, it keeps you accountable. It keeps you showing up. You are there with other people.
You, people see if people don't show up regularly, or people see if people aren't doing their homework and they're not staying true to what they're saying that they're going to do. So you could join a, a group coaching program [00:29:00] or a Mastermind or something else. You could also decide that actually I'm going to invest in workshops, or I'm going to, look at the calendar and see what conferences are on and what workshops on part of that conference.
If you're listening to this in real time, I should say on Sunday, this coming Sunday, on the 6th of April, I'm actually running a workshop live as part of the makers and Shakers market in Melbourne. So if you're interested, you can go to my daily business.com/makers. It's only $79. It's the cheapest workshop I've ever run.
And we're doing that because we wanna make it as affordable and accessible for people as possible. And in that I'm going to run through, how I run my business, my systems, all of that. The point here is to dedicate some learning time. Have a learning ritual. Have something that you are going to, look at your week, look at your month, look at your year, and go, these are the times that I'm going to learn.
Just doing that, because you're opening up yourself to learn. You're saying, I don't know something, so therefore I'm going to learn something, which is exactly what growth mindset is about. It's about having this idea that I can change [00:30:00] things, I can increase my skillset if I'm open to it, and by opening to it.
You are, saying yes to the universe, I'm going to learn, and, putting a, putting a time in place each week, or putting a time each each month, then that is, that is you saying I'm open to it. And often it's like, it, it builds on each other. When you go to a workshop often you are like, oh my gosh, that was so fun.
Let me see what other workshops are out there. So that curiosity builds. Whereas if you don't do any, it's sort of like, oh, okay. Well, I'm, I'm not that good at it anyway, I went to a workshop recently. I have to shout them out, that paper joint, they're so good and creative and it was a collage workshop.
Now I was there and I was like, oh God, I'm just not good at this stuff yet. But I had so much fun and whether I was good or not, and my outcome was that good. I enjoyed it. It was one of the best things, best workshops I've ever done. In terms of the creativity, in terms of getting out of your head just meeting other people.
It was so fun. So they're called that paper joint. It's in Melbourne. If ever you come to Melbourne or you're visiting, or maybe you're from Melbourne, check out their workshops. [00:31:00] Especially that collage workshop. It was so good. But that is an example of having a growth mindset going into something and going, yeah, I'm probably not going to be that good at it.
Yet, but I haven't learned, so of course I'm not going to be that good, but I'm going to have fun. I'm going to try, I'm going to get curious. Another thing on that is to think about being in growth mindset is to really like I said before. See something that maybe you've stuffed up on or a mistake that you've made as just feedback, as just learning.
You know, people often use that saying like, something is either a blessing or a lesson. So if something doesn't go to plan, and maybe it's a friendship, maybe it's a relationship, maybe it is a job, maybe it was a client that you worked with, maybe it was a project you took on, maybe it was a new collection or some stock that you bought that didn't actually sell very well.
Instead of thinking, oh, I'm so bad. , I'm always crap at, you know, choosing the right stock, or, oh, I'm just, I didn't have a great relationship with that client. Therefore, I'm just such a bad person at whatever your service industry is. I. Instead, you take it and go, what could I learn from that? What could that client relationship teach me?
[00:32:00] Or what could that stock that I brought that now I've gotta sell at a loss? Teach me about the way that I'm looking at things. Maybe I'm ordering things to, to impulsively. I'm not running the numbers first. Maybe with the client, maybe they've given you some feedback that you really need to take on board and document this stuff.
Document what you have learned. We learn something from every. Situation in life, I really strongly believe that even the very difficult ones. When my mom died, it, it really shocked my entire world and my system and, and still does. Sometimes I forget that she's dead and I go to call her and yeah, it's, I, I, there's thousands of times each week that I wish I could talk to her.
That lesson still, like that grief was such a lesson and I think anyone listening who's gone through that, it is a lesson. It is really a bloody hard lesson, but it is a lesson nonetheless. And you learn things. You learn for me, what's most important, how do I wanna build my business? So I've got time to see my dad, who's also now passed.
You can take something that is absolutely heart wrenching and hard and think, okay, what, what, what is this teaching me? What can I [00:33:00] learn from this experience? It's, it can be really difficult to go through things, especially like a breakup, whether it's a friendship breakup or a romantic breakup, or a breakup with a, a client.
It's like, what am I learning from this? So that is another point to think about in developing this growth mindset. What can I learn from this experience? And I guess the, the last one, which goes to that point in some way, is to seek feedback, to ask for customer feedback, customer testimonials. Not always, they're not always going to be positive.
Ask what you didn't do right, what they would love. I. What maybe if they, they worked with, let's say, I don't know, let's say you're an accountant and they've decided they don't wanna work with you anymore. It's like, okay, maybe like, what could, what could we have done to keep you what did you like about working with us?
What didn't you like about working with us? Ask questions. I know. That you know, my husband and I have a really open not open like sexually open, but just a very open dialogue and discussion and we are always talking to each other about things and, and he will be really open in saying, [00:34:00] sometimes you can be a bit X, Y, Z, and I think that, you know, sometimes you don't realize that you're doing that. My sister and I are very open with each other, and when we went to Bali last year together we had a really good chat about friendships and my sister was really, you know, she said, you just open yourself up. And, and sometimes people take advantage of that.
And I think it's something that you have to learn, like your boundaries. And she's like, you've always been like that. And that, in terms of giving, giving, giving and, and you know, I'm sure there's some friends out there who, who, who don't agree with that. But you've got to be seeking that feedback seeking it, and, and.
It's hard sometimes to seek that if you have a fixed mindset, it's even harder if you have a growth mindset that says, okay, I'm going to seek this feedback. I've got a really good friend and we talk through WhatsApp like pretty much every single day. And I will say sometimes to her like, Hey, why do you think I keep coming up against this?
Why do you think I can't seem to move past this? Or, why do you think X, Y, Z? And she asked that of me too. And it's such a beautiful friendship to be able to have that openness. [00:35:00] And she's from Amsterdam. She is very blunt. That whole like Dutch. They just say what they think. And I love it because, you know, sometimes I think in Australia we can dance around issues with our whole British colonialization.
We can dance around it and instead of saying what we actually think, so that idea of like seeking and, and, and then getting the feedback and then implementing it. It's like when you read a business book, like you're not going to learn anything if you don't actually action anything from the business book.
The, the, the, the action is, the implementation is actually changing things. Reading a book doesn't change your life. Fixing things because of that book and what it's taught you will. So these are kind of five things that I guess will help you in terms of the growth mindset. Just to recap, really look at the language that you're using intentionally set out to challenge yourself.
Think about like a learning ritual or, or a time each week or each month or each year. Think also about looking at any mistakes for the lessons, like what can you learn from this? And then asking for [00:36:00] feedback, asking and implementing feedback is really, really important. The other last thing that I'll leave you with that I think is huge for developing a growth mindset is to document something.
To document. Now, what do I mean by this? So I have been talking about starting a YouTube channel for years, and this is the year 2025. Mark my words. It will happen finally. Now, I have been worried about all sorts of things. I'll start it. I'll get like two views, how embarrassing. I'll start it and I've got all these wrinkles.
I'll start it. And I can't be bothered putting makeup on and doing my hair all the time. So. You know, I'm not polished enough to be on YouTube, like just all this stuff, which is actually just a procrastination tool, to be honest. Anyway, this good friend of mine that I talked about in in Amsterdam, she challenged me the other day and said, I want you to create a YouTube video, your first one, and I want you to send it to me, and you need to do it in the next four days.
And I was like, oh. And I came up instantly with, [00:37:00] well we've got this on the weekend and then it's this and I've got this other stuff and I'm booked, blah, blah blah. So I really don't think I'll have the time. And she said, that is bs. You are just procrastinating. So I made a video and at some point it took up on YouTube and I sent it to her.
And it was actually really fun to make. It didn't take as long as I thought it would take and I sent it. There was, you know, definitely skill sets I need to learn in terms of editing and everything else, but. Just doing it allowed me to actually get comfortable. There was a deadline in place. I also sent it to her and she was, I said, just be your absolute brutal, honest self that you always are.
She was like, I loved it. I laughed. I didn't know you were actually that funny. Even though she's been talking to me every single day for like three years. She was like, I actually was like laughing at it. And I was like, I didn't realize she's a funny person. She didn't say that. She just said, you're funnier in there than I thought you would be.
She just, there was lots.
There was so much that she said that was positive about it and there was some stuff that she said, yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't film in that particular part of [00:38:00] your house. 'cause yeah, all your wrinkles came up. Not that I need to not show wrinkles, but you know, you're trying to be, you don't wanna be editing a photo, a video going, oh my God, I look the most horrible that I've ever looked.
And so that documenting something and also documenting like I'm going to. Put that out and people will go, oh my God, she doesn't really know what she's doing. And it's like, yeah, I'm not, I'm not a YouTuber. Yes, I've worked in marketing for a long time. I've got clients who've got incredible YouTube channels.
I personally am not a YouTuber yet. Yet, yet. So not that I'm necessarily trying to become a YouTuber, but it's another marketing channel. Just like podcasting. I had to learn how to do it, and I'm going to be learning how to do it, and I'm going to be documenting part of that, which is awkward as, but. That accounts, it, it creates accountability.
It provides, valuable content because I'm documenting it, and I'm sure people will be like, okay, well I wanna start a YouTube channel too, so dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. It's a business asset. Like it's, it's showing me how far I've come and at some point, hopefully I'll look back and be like, okay, but again, maybe I'll do YouTube and I'll just put 10 videos and that [00:39:00] will be it.
And it just, they just stay there forever. Maybe I will not, do it as consistently as I am doing the podcast, who knows? But if I don't have that accountability and I don't start, and I don't have that growth mindset to just go for it, even though, I have all these different insecurities or whatever that will come around it, then nothing changes.
It's the whole, nothing changes if nothing changes. So. The growth mindset is really about giving yourself opportunity and curiosity as to what could happen, what could happen. It's an ongoing practice, like I said before, it's not something that you just do. You turn on once and you're suddenly a perfect person, and you always have a growth mindset for every single thing in your life.
This fixed mindset will come up again and again, and again and again, and sometimes when you just think you are a completely fully growth mindset expert, something will come up that you know, gets you to question yourself again. So really think about. This concept because it's human nature sometimes to tell ourselves, we are crap at X, Y, Z.
What you wanna do is think about how can I override [00:40:00] those feelings? How can I work through them, question them, interrogate them, because that is part of a growth mindset. And I think for business success, it is absolutely key to have a growth mindset. The most successful business owners, from what I've seen, are not the people who you know, know every single thing and get everything single thing perfectly right at all times.
They're the people who approach. You know, anything with curiosity, they think about, okay, I'm going to keep persisting even if this's not necessarily paying off, you know, the way that I want it to immediately. And they're going to continuously evolve and change and, and just do things differently because they're curious about what's next for them.
When I interviewed the amazing Felicity. From cargo crew, she talked about that and just said, I'm a endlessly curious person, and that has helped me build cargo crew. 'cause I'm like, huh, what else could we do? What's the next thing? Maybe we could market it like this. Maybe we could develop this in our collection.
And that curiosity allows her to have this growth mindset, which is so key for business success. So thank [00:41:00] you so much for listening. If you wanna go through this in text format, you can find it at my daily business.com/podcast/ 5 0 4. As this episode 504, and again, I wanna say a massive thank you to our sponsor, poppy ai.
I genuinely use it for so many parts of my business, and it's absolutely been a game changer. So if you're going to sign up to any ai, check out Poppy, poppy ai, and you can use the code Fiona F-I-O-N-A for a discount. Thanks for listening. I'll see you next time. Bye.
Plus any links to anything I've mentioned at my daily business.com/podcast/504. Thanks so much for listening.
See you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to the My Daily Business Podcast for a range of tools to help you grow and start your business, including coaching programmes, courses and templates. Check out our shop at mydailybusiness.com and if you want to get in touch, you can do that by email at hello@mydailybusiness.com or you can hit us up on Instagram at mydailybusiness_. You can find us on TikTok at mydailybusiness or find me Fiona Killackey on LinkedIn. I look forward to connecting.
