Lack Mindset in your business
Nearly 500 people have read the piece I wrote about how having holes in your socks has a ripple effect across your whole life. I’ve had so many messages and questions about it and it’s been awesome to chat about the insanity of something so small, having such an impact. The message I’ve received most: “threw out some socks today” followed by: “I’ve ended up having a massive clear out.”
My making space process continues every week, and I hope yours continues too. This week I cleared out two drawers, (under the premise of looking for a pencil sharpener) and I got rid of all sorts of things that were taking up space. The mess in those drawers felt icky, every time I went looking for something I was blocked due to having to rifle through the mess. Now they’re clear, I know exactly what’s in each and where everything is. It’s a smooth channel of energy in my home.
When it comes to your business, it’s can be something as small as a messy workspace that can block your growth or progress. It can also speak volumes about how you feel about a part of your business too.
What lack mindset means:
“A belief that there will never be enough resources, whether that be money, time, or opportunities”
When running a small business, the odds of feeling at least one of these weekly is common. But it’s when these beliefs show up every single day, that’s when it becomes a problem.
I spend my days chatting to other small business owners, and I love it. I work with so many fascinating and inspiring businesses that it’s hard not to get excited and wrapped up in the wonders in all that’s being created.
This also means I hear the very common stories that we, as business owners, get stuck in, and it’s these stories that keep the lack mindset belief alive. I’ve had these struggles myself, and I’ve no doubt I still have some today, but having overcome so many I want to share with you how I’ve overcome them in the past, as well as some other common lack mindset beliefs.
The current ‘lack’ I feel most is a lack of time. At least a couple of times a week, usually as a morning journal entry, I write ideas, tasks, blocks and anything else that comes out in a journal, and then I panic!
“Ahh! I’ve got so much to do!” I whip out the calendar and seek blocks of time in which to put these tasks.
Thankfully I’m very aware of this process by now, so if I get to picking up my phone to check the calendar I can usually take a breath, put it back down, and head back to the journal. It’ll be here that I then write down a constructive list of the actual things I can do and when I’ll do them.
But it’s been a process to get to this point. I recall Festival planning in 2024, I had a holiday booked for the end of June into the start of July, and I know that this is a very busy time for Festival planning. If you’ve ever organised a wedding or a big event you’ll know that the work load is huge when you first start (booking infrastructure, making plans etc), then in the middle there is a big lull, the work load is very manageable (how hard can it be?), then BOOM the last few months are carnage.
So I’m hanging out on a beach (lovely) but I can’t help but keep thinking about the list of things I need to get done, and how I’ll only have 4 weeks until the festival when I get home, and how much I need to cram into those weeks.
The thoughts I was having:
”There’s too much, I’ll never get it all done.”
“It’s going to be shit, I can’t finish everything I want to.”
“Probably wont break even, I’m not present in the business”
The language I was using:
“I can’t do this, it’s too much”
“I shouldn’t be away right now”
“It’s going to have a huge impact”
“I’m so stressed out, genuinely don’t know what to do”
What. A. Drama. Queen (insert eye roll here)
I’ve put my thoughts and the language I was using here, because these two things have the power to shape our reality. When we repeat the same thoughts over and over it becomes a belief, something we hold as true. And we can notice that “truth” via the thoughts we have, the language we use and the outcomes it’s created.
So my truth at this point was “I don’t have enough time to make this festival a success.”
Spoiler alert: My ‘truth’ was bullshit.
And this ‘truth’ showed its ugly head every day of my holiday.
The feelings of panic and overwhelm hit hard after that trip. It was a scramble to the finish line and I hated the run up. There were elements I loved and enjoyed, but there were many aspects I didn’t because this ‘truth’ I’d developed was clouding my reality.
I worked every single hour available to me, I cancelled plans, I worked weekends, I got shitty and annoyed when things didn’t go to plan. I stopped cooking, I started eating badly. I did keep training and sleeping well, but all other work took a hit. I was disconnected and unavailable.
How I switched my time lack mindset:
This wasn’t how I wanted NYF 2025 to go, if I was to keep doing these Festivals I didn’t want every June and July to be 8 weeks of misery and stress. So this year I flipped the script.
The thoughts I purposefully thought: (because, as we know, it’s not natural when we start a new habit)
“I will get done what I get done”
“There is an abundance of time, the work will get done”
“I can control how I use my time, and I choose to use it well”
The language I purposefully used: (amazing how quick it became the truth)
“All good, I’m excited”
“Everything is in place, it’s just the final touches”
“If it was today, it’d be fine, I’m spending my time making it great”
The outcome:
I had a great time!
More than I’d ever hoped did get done, and what didn’t get done didn’t negatively impact the day.
The day was a huge success and we sold out.
I proved myself wrong. There is always enough time, and the practice of making this truth a reality, means I now know how to catch myself in a ‘time lack’ mindset, and apply the same process.
Other ways lack mindset shows up in small business:
My time lack mindset is pretty common, you’ll hear it all the time in day to day conversation, with the “I’m so busy”, “I have so much to do”, “I’ll have to work all hours to get this done”
Sometimes these phrases are truth, not a story, some days we do have to work late, some days are back to back. But, by emphasising this reality, by speaking the truth out loud we give the feeling of lack more energy. That busy-ness gives us purpose, drive, adrenaline, a story to tell. No one wants to hear about how you sat in the car and had 5 minutes peace before a meeting… “That’s not exciting”, “that’s not hustle culture”…
Actually, that’s the story I’d love to hear. I’d love to hear how you went slow, you under booked your week, you made time to just do nothing… please let me know when you make it happen.
But what the busy badge creates is this sense of pressure. We all feel it, that pressure, that sense of constraint, the clock watching and the low level panic. And it only gets worse, when we tell everyone about it, acting like it’s a complaint, when actually it’s for the respect, sympathy, or for the acknowledgment that what you do is enough.
Types of Lack Mindset:
Phrases I’ve heard lately that suggest a lack mindset in some way:
I’m so busy (time)
I’ll never get it done (time)
There are so many studios (audience)
People aren’t interested (space)
I don’t want to pay for data (space)
I don’t want to annoy people (space)
Norwich isn’t big enough (audience)
I don’t have a mailing list (space)
I don’t use my mailing list (space)
I don’t use my social media (space)
I can’t increase my prices (money)
I want to appeal to lower income (money)
There are more, but those will do, as they cover the four main ways that lack shows up in a business.
Now let’s discover what the four are and how to combat each…
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