Pivoting is an essential skill for entrepreneurs.
Introduction
Welcome back to the Coaching Hive Podcast. Now, you may have noticed that the Coaching Hive Podcast is no longer called the Coaching Hive Podcast. Last week about on Wednesday, everything changed for the podcast. Instead of being the Coaching Hive Podcast, now, you will find all of our episodes under the name The Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast.
So, today I want to spend some time talking about what that means, where it came from and why, but all from the position of the need to pivot as an entrepreneur and pivoting by definition is to modify while retaining some continuity with its previous version. That’s what business is all about, pivoting, making changes, retaining what works, shifting to incorporate new things, and that is what we are going to talk about today alongside the entrepreneur mindset, what I think that means, and where this podcast is heading moving forward.
If you are ready, grab your pen and paper and let’s dive in.
Entrepreneur Mindset
Now, let me officially welcome you to the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast.
I am so thrilled that you’re here. I can’t wait for what 2023 has in store now, although the name and the podcast channel cover art has changed, it’s not purple anymore. Not a lot is changing. With the podcast itself, we are still going to talk about your business foundations. We are going to talk about audience making, your offer, building community, all things marketing and messaging, but it is going to be with our foundation of growth mindset and grit in mind. Now, if growth mindset and grit are concepts that are not terribly familiar to you, that’s okay. Go ahead and check out episode 1 0 3 that was released last Tuesday. This is going to give you some of that foundational ideas, those concept definitions, and really they’re going to be woven into everything that we do moving forward.
You’ll also notice that this year on the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast, I am going to be sharing some more outside perspectives with you. I have some amazing guests lined up who are going to help you shift how you think about your business so that you can take action.
I promised you, as the podcast got started today, that I’d share a little bit about what’s happening, right? And I just said, okay, not a whole lot’s happening, but I want to share with you why the name of the podcast has shifted. And part of that is a pivot, but not necessarily a pivot in the definition.
So the definition of Pivot, once again, is to “modify while retaining some continuity with its previous version” (www.dictionary.com). The Coaching Hive Podcast, I just told you, is going to retain a lot with this new underlay of growth mindset and grit. Why? Because as the podcast has grown as the Coaching Hive itself, as a business has grown, as I have grown alongside all of you and our members and the clients that I’ve had the opportunity to work with over the last two years, something has become abundantly clear. And that is that to be a successful entrepreneur defining success, however it looks for you, you have to have an entrepreneur mindset. And some of this is kind of double sided here.
Entrepreneur mindset to me means two different things. I’m thinking about the fact that I need to have a mindset that is growth oriented, like we talked about last week, that we’re building grit. We’re really in this for the long haul.
It’s about mindset and making sure as an entrepreneur, you are focusing on your mindset, but it’s also about the idea of an entrepreneur mindset. And that is what I consider to be a mindset that really focuses on learning and testing and experimenting and connecting and embracing change, and recognizing that every time you get something figured out, something else is going to have to shift. There will be another pivot along the way. One of the things that I love about being an entrepreneur is that there’s a lot of flexibility. Now, those of you who know me really well know that I love systems and processes. So systems and processes are usually fairly rigid in the sense that you know exactly what to do, right? But systems and processes when developed correctly can actually be really flexible.
And I think as an entrepreneur, you have to be flexible. And so I really want to focus, especially this year, 2023, on the concept of having an entrepreneur mindset where you aren’t going to know everything, and that’s okay, but you can learn and you can test and experiment and try things out.
Recognizing that some stuff is going to go amazingly well, and some stuff is going to be an absolute belly flop. You know, with the pain that’s involved in the belly flop, the kind of ugliness of hitting the water, it’s a full-on belly flop, but that’s the entrepreneur mindset and the mindset piece that I want you to think of as the growth mindset and grit component.
Okay, so let me kind of come back for a moment. The podcast name has changed the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast, and it represents a pivot in my business. And I like to always go ahead of my clients and my customers and everyone that I work with, because I want to figure out how things work first and then guide you in that process of making changes.
In this case, how do you pivot? Well, here are a couple of things that I’ve learned over the last few years about pivoting. The first one is give yourself permission to do it. Don’t worry about what others are going to think of you or what, how they’ll feel about you making a change that’s in better alignment for your business. That doesn’t mean you can’t care.
What it means is that you are not allowing others to dictate your decisions in your business. So first up, take time and know that your decisions are right for you. The second thing I’ve learned is that being an entrepreneur is not constant. And in that, I mean that you can start down a path and recognize that it’s not the right path, or maybe that there’s a better path or a more aligned path that you’d like to take.
And so you can’t stay constant on the path that’s not working for you. You have to pivot. You need to make a shift. And it may mean putting your foot on a parallel path. It might mean taking a perpendicular path regardless. It’s okay to shift what you’re doing. The third thing is that you don’t have to have it all figured out before you jump into that new direction.
And this is probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to say as an entrepreneur. I don’t have it all figured out. I don’t know exactly where the Entrepreneur Minds Growth, the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast is going in terms of our foundation of growth mindset. I have a really good idea. I have a lot of things mapped out for you guys. I have a lot of guests, like I said, lined up for you that I think are going to be a great addition to your entrepreneurial toolkit. But I don’t have it all figured out.
So if you are sitting here thinking, I really want to make a pivot in my business, but I don’t know exactly what that looks like or how people are going to react, or what my next steps are for the next year, let me be the first to tell you. It’s okay. It’s okay not to know all of the next steps. There is a saying that as you walk along the path, the next step appears. I’ve butchered that, but it’s something similar to it, and that’s the truth. You aren’t going to know exactly where your business is headed until you’re on the path and you’re walking it, and you wait for that next step to appear.
So don’t worry if you don’t have it all figured out. Know that this is a long haul. We talked about grit and growth mindset last week, and we talked about the fact that grit in business is critical because grit is all about the long haul. Building a business is not done overnight. It’s not done without change.
And feeling sometimes like you’re walking up Mount Everest. But it can be done when you’re consistent, when you find your community to connect with, when you are honing in on what your audience needs and how you can fulfill that need in a way that is aligned with what you want, what you want your life to look like.
So today is all about, first of all, just welcoming you to the new name, the new vision of the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast, the fact that we are going to talk mindset. We are going to talk about the entrepreneur mindset, and it’s still all going to have that foundation of things that we’ve been talking about all along, talking about audience, making your offer, building your community, all things, marketing and messaging. It’s all still going to be there, but in a way that hopefully helps you move through the challenges with more ease, with less doubt, and a little bit more grit.
Action Item
Now you know that I always give you an action item, and so this week’s action item is to look at your business and really sit and think with it.
Brandon Lucero always says to kind of sit in the silence. I want you to sit in the silence this week and recognize what pops up for you. When you think about your business, is it completely in alignment with who you are, how you wanna spend your time, how you’d like your business to grow? Are there places in your business that you feel like could benefit from a change, a shift, a pivot? And if so, I want you to start thinking about what that might look like. And then I want you to think about what has to happen for you to do that sooner rather than later. Because you don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to have all of the answers on day one. You don’t have to have them all on day 30 or even day 365.
In fact, as an entrepreneur, you will find that you rarely have even half of the answers simply because your business is a living, breathing thing. That’s part of the entrepreneur mindset, knowing that your business is a living, breathing thing. You’re learning, you’re testing, you’re experimenting, you’re connecting, you’re embracing change. You are looking for new ideas, ways to serve your audience better and to do more good in the world. That’s what The Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast is all about. So your action item for this week, quick review. Take a look at your business, sit in the silence as Brandon Lucero says, and notice what comes up.
What is not in alignment for you in your business for 2023?
It might have been in perfect alignment in 2022, but as you think about your life, your business for this year, maybe you want some things to shift. Maybe you know you have big things coming up. You have a kiddo graduating from high school, you’re trying to help them get ready for college, and you want to spend more time with them.
Maybe you’re expecting a brand new baby into the family. Maybe you’re getting a puppy and you know that you’re going to be up many times during the night taking them out to potty, and you want to make sure that you have time to train them and get them acclimated to your family. Maybe you want to travel more. Perhaps you want to read a few more books.
Maybe you just want a little bit of a break. Figure out if you need to make a pivot in your business. Look at what needs to be done to start that pivot process and how long you need to take that first, next step.
Conclusions
Before we wrap up today, I just wanted to thank you once again for joining me here on the Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast, which was previously known as the Coaching Hive Podcast.
I hope that as we continue this new year, you are excited about the new approach, the new foundation of our growth, mindset and grit as we look at our common topics of audience, making your offer, building your community, and all things marketing and messaging as an entrepreneur. Remember, this is a process.
Building a business is a process, and with it comes exploration and new relationships, new connections, and new opportunities. So I will see you back here next week for another episode of The Entrepreneur Mindset Podcast, here a focus on mentoring and community and implementation removes the overwhelm of building your successful and profitable business and adds in a dose of momentum.
Until next time, have a healthy, safe, and happy week.
