Are you ready? How does that question make you feel?
Excited?
Scared?
Worried that you’ve forgotten to do something?
A mixture of emotions?
In this blog I want to explore this idea of being ready, how being “ready” may or may not be serving us in our business and the components of a ready mindset.
So are we ever actually “ready” in our businesses?
What does it actually mean?
For many of my clients, the idea of being ready means having most of their ducks in a row and being able to take a calculated risk rather than being impulsive.
For some business owners the idea of being ready is a wonderful way to avoid moving forward because they don’t have ALL their ducks in a row and feel they need to gather more information before they can make a risk free decision.
There is a wonderful quote by Hugh Laurie:
“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now.”
What stops us being ready and why?
There are quite few things that can stop us or slow us down when it comes to being ready:
Fear, procrastination, overthinking, second guessing, self sabotage, setting ourselves up for failure.
But why do we do this? More often than not it’s’ because of the fear of change and the fear of moving out of our metaphorical comfort zone. A part of us knows that as soon as we feel “ready” we will become unstoppable and it doesn’t want that. Remember the ego wants everything to stay the same; it wants survival.
The idea of being ready can actually help you or hinder you in business – how is it serving you?
Perhaps a part of you feels ready and this is propelling you forwards.
Perhaps a part of you doesn’t feel ready and this is slowing your progress.
Perhaps you are experiencing all of the above at the same time and you have come to a standstill.
I invite you to be really curious about how you feel about the word “ready” and how it is and isn’t serving you. Is it time to create a new story/narrative about the word “ready” so you can move forward with your business?
What are the components of a “ready” mindset?
This will obviously vary from person to person and it’s important to find out what works for you. A resilient, abundant, open, growth mindset is a “ready” mindset. If you are unsure how to build a mindset like this then gratitude is a great place to start. Practising gratitude on a daily basis builds resilience as it reinforces positive pathways and the ability to look for the good (the solution) rather than the negative (the problem).
There are obviously other things you can do to soothe your ego on this path to readiness:
- Create a plan.
- Be held accountable.
- Connect with your why.
So are you ready? Being ready is not about being “on it” all the time. It is not a heightened state of alert that exhausts you. What if being ready is an internal sense of peace and calm, an inner knowing that you are in the best state possible to process anything that comes your way? This is not about the hustle and always chasing the next sale. Being ready is about being you and being true to you.
Until next time.
Best wishes
Philippa x