You have created the perfect system for the results you are getting.
Look at your bank balance, the home you live in and the people around you. Happy with the results?
If not, here’s the good news. Results come from a system, and you can change a system.
If you want to change how you make money, you have to change the way you think.
That system is your business mindset: what you believe, how you feel and what you do as a result.
This guide is for beginners who feel scared to start, or stuck halfway, and want a simple way to get out of their own way.
The stories we keep repeating
Try these on for size:
“Selling is really difficult.”
“Social media is scary.”
“The gym is boring.”
None of those is true. They’re limiting beliefs: patterns we repeat out loud until they feel like facts.
Somebody out there finds selling easy, so selling can’t be difficult.
And if you shrink it to “selling is difficult for me”? That’s a limiting belief too.
Besides, we’re all selling all the time. You sell the idea that a café should serve you. Parents sell their children on vegetables. And parents know the presumptive close: you never ask “Would you like a bath?” You ask “Do you want a bath before dinner or after?” Only the options you want are on the table.
Beliefs make change harder
Say you believe selling is difficult, but you want to grow your business. That’s a double bind.
“I need to sell more.”
“But selling is difficult.”
“So I’m not selling.”
“So I need to sell more.”
Round and round it goes. Before you chop down the trees, sharpen the saw.
Simon once believed nobody would pay his coaching price.
Then he found his first £10,000 client, and three days later realised he hadn’t charged enough.
Watch your words, too. “Cold outreach” sounds horrible. Talking to people and getting them excited about your business sounds a lot better than “biz dev.”
Three ways to get unstuck
When you’re feeling stuck, you don’t need a ten-step plan.
Pick one thing.
Go and talk to someone about it.
Make sure it’s something you’re excited about.
And get comfortable with mistakes. Simon has run businesses for more than 20 years, and he still makes mistakes every day. Getting comfortable with them is one of the fastest ways through a limiting belief.
It’s an inside-out job
Selling is minding its own business. So is social media. So is the gym.
It’s not the thing. It’s how we think about the thing.
There are no exceptions. Simon used to think traffic wardens were evil, after one ticketed him moments after he’d told him he was off to get change. Turns out they were just minding their own business. His experience of them was in his head.
Our human minds are meaning-making machines: they take a piece of information and decide what it means. And you get what you focus on. Focus on what scares you, and you’ll feel scared. Focus on what you want, and you’ll move towards it.
Katie Donegan, who teaches Rebel Finance School, catches herself mid-sentence and says: “It’s just the fear talking.” Fear is false evidence appearing real. Try it the next time you hear yourself say “I hate selling.”
Stop arguing for your limitations
“Yes, but selling really is hard.”
That’s the comfort blanket.
We defend it because without it, we have no excuses.
So ask yourself: Would I rather be right, or move forward?
If you can’t let a belief go, give it to someone you don’t like. Then carry on with your day.
And change your words. Not “I hate sales.” Try “I’m practising selling.”
You’re not an overthinker. Everyone is.
We all have thousands of thoughts a day. One study from Queen’s University estimated around 6,200.
You can’t stop them, and you don’t need to. You just need to know that’s all they are: thoughts.
Keep repeating the same thoughts, and you’ll keep getting the same results.
Don’t sow pineapple seeds and expect strawberries.
A word on mental health
Lots of people start a business because it gives them freedom and flexibility. You can build work around whatever you’re facing. You’re the boss, and you’re allowed to rest. Most of us only need a handful of customers. For many people, 10 sales a month would change their lives.
And here’s something worth noticing. Think about the day you feel flat and low, you can’t face the washing up, and yet something grabs you, and you’re still at it at midnight. That’s a clue to what lights you up.
If you’re struggling, please talk to someone. Your GP is a good place to start.
You can call Samaritans free, any time, on 116 123. In an urgent situation, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option.
Create a vision: The Five Powers
If you don’t know where you’re headed, your chances of getting there are remote.
You can’t hit a target you can’t see.
Your time frame is up to you: a year, a month, or just next Monday morning.
If you don’t know your business idea yet, you can still have a vision. Borrow someone else’s for a bit until you find your own.
1. Imagination: what do you want?
2. Why: what for?
3. Strategy: what needs to happen?
4. Obstacles: what might stop you?
5. Action: what’s your next step?
1. The power of imagination
Fast forward to the time frame you’ve picked. Everything is exactly how you want it. What’s happening? What’s the evidence? What can you see, hear and feel? Start with: “It would be brilliant if…”
Make it yours, not your bank manager’s, your partner’s or the cat’s. We’re brilliant at imagining scary things.
Not everyone is visual. Some of us hear it, and some of us feel it.
A vision is different from a goal. A vision is pictures, sounds and feelings. Goals are the milestones on the way.
2. The power of why
Now ask: why? For what purpose? What would that mean for you?
There are two kinds of motivation. Towards (“it would mean I could…”) and away (“it would mean I don’t have to go back there”). Both are leverage, and you’ll need it on the days you’re not feeling it.
3. The power of strategy
Strategy is a fancy word for the headlines of what needs to happen. Not how.
Just what: build my website, get more consistent on social media, run my first mini experiment, make some sales.
Then put them in order.
4. The power of removing obstacles
What might trip you up? Write it down. Then ask: what could I do about it? Don’t spend long here.
If your why is strong enough, you’ll find a way.
Scared it won’t work? That’s the fear of failure, and almost everyone feels it. You can be scared and still move forward.
Done is better than perfect.
And the tightrope walker’s best advice? Don’t look down. Keep looking forward.
Fear delivers exactly what you’re scared of.
5. The power of action
Now break it down. What can you do right now? What’s the quick win? Who do you need to talk to? What’s the lead domino, the one that makes everything else easier? The best way to eat an elephant is one chunk at a time.
It’s the action you take that changes everything.
Don’t speak to one person; speak to 10.
Don’t send one email; send 50.
Don’t do one post; do one a day for five days.
What’s your next action?
Your story is more valuable than you think
You don’t need three thousand chapters of War and Peace. You need the bits of your story that help someone choose you.
It gives you content for your website, posts for social media, and a way to speak to the press.
Here’s a simple version of the Hero’s Journey:
1. Normal life: what was life like before?
2. Challenges: what happened?
3. The turning point: what did you realise, learn or decide?
4. Life now: what’s different, and where are you heading?
A mum in Indianapolis took her little girl to a party, and her daughter nearly died from a food allergy. Sitting in the hospital, she decided no parent should go through that. She launched an allergy-free cake business and now has 14 customers a week.
That’s a reason to buy from her.
Stories make people know, like and trust you faster, and that means cash. (More on that in our sales guide.)
Your story is never finished. It’s just the next chapter. And you’ll tell different bits to different people, so pick the bits that fit.
To make this real, you can fill in our story form.
You’ll get a copy emailed to you, and if you tick the box, we might feature you on our Rebel Stories page.
Share your story here: therebelschool.com/mystory
How to stay motivated when starting a business
We’re the product of where we put our focus:
What we watch.
What we read.
What we listen to.
Who we hang out with.
What we eat and drink.
What we think about.
Garbage in, garbage out. Try a media diet.
Alan and Katie once binged an entire box set of The Sopranos and noticed after four weeks they were shouting at each other like mobsters. If the news makes you flat, switch it off.
Protect your mojo, too. Some people in your life will say things like “Aren’t there already loads of artists?”
They usually mean well. But find the people who lift you up, and don’t be afraid to see a bit less of the mood hoovers.
Do less of the bad, and more of the good.
Focus on what you can control, not what you can’t.
Find people who lift you up.
You don’t have to do it alone.
If you’re a Rebel, you’re an experimenter.
Be kind to yourself. Negative self-talk isn’t going to help.
Get some AI help
If you like AI, try pasting your answers to the five questions into it.
Something like:
Prompt: Here are my answers to five vision questions: what I want in [time frame], why it matters, the headlines of what needs to happen, what might stop me, and my next actions. Help me turn them into a one-page plan with three clear next steps. Ask me questions if anything’s unclear. Keep it simple, practical and encouraging.
Don’t fancy AI? Ask a human instead: a friend, your support group or someone who’ll hold you to it.
It’s the action you take that changes everything.
Your Action:
- Share your story
- Get some AI (or human) help with your five vision answers
- Take the next action on your business. If it’s pressing publish on your website, tomorrow is the day
Done is better than perfect. Do one thing at a time, then do the next thing.
