What is the temperature of your right foot?
Now your attention is focused, consider the last time you thought about your right foot. I'm confident in saying that most of the time you're not even aware of your right foot. It supports you as you walk, run, and exercise. It gets you from one place to another. It's the foot that controls the gas and the break: Heck, it's fifty percent of your foundation!
But despite your right foot's obvious importance, you spend most of the time oblivious to its existence. Your right foot is just 'there', hanging on the end of your leg, minding it's own business and doing its thing. You're so caught up in the day to day that you forget to pay attention to it. Until, that is, your pedicure is past its best. Or you get a blister from running. Or you stub your toe. Or, God forbid, your get plantar fasciitis. Any one of those things - and more - can turn your attention very quickly to your right foot. As soon as it causes you problems and gets in the way of your going about your business, your right foot becomes the focal point of your attention.
Mindset works in much the same way.
We're so busy doing 'stuff', trying to get to where we want to go, that rarely do we consider what's going on inside our heads. We may notice that we're lacking clarity, we don't feel confident, or we're struggling to be consistent in our day to day business, but rarely do we shoot up into our minds and ask what the heck is going on up there. Instead, we reach for another program, system, tool, or webinar to fix the problem. We believe that the answers we need can be found anywhere other than inside our own heads. Once we've invested hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands on programs and systems that don't deliver the results we expect, once we're running out of cash, once we get to the 'make it or quit' point, that's when we start noticing what's going on between our ears.
Your mindset is like your right foot. You notice it only when the struggle, the anxiety, the absence of progress, the lack of confidence - the pain - forces you to notice. Only then do you pay attention. Once you're in a place where you're convinced you can't do it, you're not cut out for it, a place where you believe you should pack up and quit, do you realize that you're full of unhelpful beliefs that are holding you back.
Is it ever too late to do work on your mindset? Well, is it ever too late to redo your pedi, treat your blister, or have physio for your plantar fasciitis? No. But here's a thing: The earlier you intervene, the faster you get results.
Mindset work delivers fast, long-lasting, and incredibly effective results. The slightest adjustment can make a massive difference and it's never too late to start.
People who do the mindset work at the start of their journey - whether it be an entrepreneurial journey or a personal crusade - make faster and smoother progress than those who don't. Even those who are incredibly successful in their businesses in the early days inevitably hit a 'mindset wall' when it's time to scale and grow. At some point, if you're not on top of your mindset, it will bite you in your behind.
Whatever stage of your business you find yourself in, shoot up into your head and dig around. Are your thoughts clean and clear, or are there hints of doubt? As often as you analyze your stats, you should analyze your mind. It is, by far, your most effective business tool.