DO YOU EVER FEEL FRUSTRATED? 

You are doing all the things but it feels like you’re slogging through the mud? You run the ads, but you don’t get any traction? You’ve definitely logged the hours but why isn’t the needle moving the way that you want it to?

Today, we’re digging into the three bad habits that are stalling out your leadership growth and preventing you from seeing the progress that you’re really craving. No matter how many strategies you try, without these three things in check, it will always feel like a slog. So, we’re digging into those bad habits that are building a wall between you and where you want to be.

Let’s make this journey a little bit lighter!

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:

[2:01] The First Habit 

We live in a society that promotes productivity as being the thing that moves the needle, which can be true. Obviously, you have to take action in order to see actual results. But when you lean too heavily on action, and you try to push through a tough time and a tough mindset, without ultimately figuring out the leadership lessons and what you need to become in order to break through to the next level, it’s going to leave you feeling like you’re on a never-ending hamster wheel. 

So, when you get stressed and you get overwhelmed, you might think that productivity and action is going to solve that discomfort, when in fact you need to fill up your tank first. You have to choose who you are going to be on those days when you have a ton on your plate.

[5:11] What You Can Do Instead

So, I’m going to give you some quick tips on how you can do that:

• The first thing is carving out that whitespace. This can literally mean 15 minutes in the morning. Use that time to write and to map out what your day is going to be like; this will help you shift from stressed action to leadership-focused action so that you can do what you have to do, to be who you need to be.
• Literally implant the thoughts into your brain that you need to have in order to be who you need to be, to carry out the mission ahead of you. Find books that are going to literally implant those thoughts in your head, use that whitespace to read the things that are going to shift your mind.
• Write the story. Write out how you want your day to go. You don’t have to write out every little moment of the day, but write out how you are going to be, how you are going to react when things go wrong, how you are going to be flexible, etc.  
• Another thing that is really useful when you’re in that mega stress mode is to take a break and go exercise. If you’re limited in your capacity to workout, it can be anything from a little walk to doing baby jumps. The key is to wake up your adrenals and your lymphatic system to get more energy and focus.
• Go to a trusted friend or mentor before that stress starts to fester, before you are in a massive ball of uncontrollable stress. Don’t just use your spouse as a dumping ground. Go to somebody that you trust, that you know has your best interests at heart. 
• Reconnect with your vision. Come back to why you’re doing this, where you’re going, what’s missing, etc. You have to reconnect with that vision so that you can see what you’re doing wrong. This is not just a season. This is a habit that you have to break.

[11:12]  The Second Habit

The second habit that’s hurting your leadership and hurting your growth in both business and personally is avoiding the tough things. 

Sometimes the reason you’re drowning in things to do is because you haven’t had the conversation with the team member who is being really inefficient in their work or dropping the ball or not showing up for what they need to do. So you’ve just taken it on, because you’re dreading that conversation. Sometimes you are avoiding the tough thing with your spouse and it’s creating this negativity in you that’s festering. But the more you are avoiding that, the more you are creating a problem for yourself. 

You are a leader. It is your job to solve problems. It is your job to look those tough things in the eye and navigate through them. Avoiding the tough thing is an incredibly bad habit.

[15:01]  What You Can Do Instead

So, here are some simple ways you can use to shift this bad habit into a good one:

• Put the things you have to do into your calendar. You know that it’s not getting done until it’s in your calendar.
• Sit down and write out about how it’s going to go. Write about it like it’s already happened or it’s happening. 
• Make the decision confidently. You waste so much energy stewing on decisions through sitting on it and decision fatigue and it just sucks you dry, taking precious time and energy from you. 

[16:43] The Third Habit

Finally, the last habit that’s just not serving you is going it alone. 

This is probably one of my greatest weaknesses as a leader. I’m very introverted and I really like being alone. Plus, I’m the type that likes to fail in private. So, it’s really hard to let people in. 

It’s hard to take on mentors. It’s hard to be coached. It’s hard to let people see my weaknesses, my gaps and it’s something that I’m constantly working on and often coaching a lot of my clients through, because it’s the plague of many of us. To be coached is to allow yourself to be helped, which is a very vulnerable thing. Do you have the humility for that? Do you have the humility to be helped, to ask for help? 

It is so worth investing in the business village. It is so worth creating the family village so you have support at home. It is so worth investing in the leadership village, the people that are going to lift you up and help you become a better version of yourself. So, open yourself up to being in community with support, hire the people, join the mastermind, participate in a group coaching program. This is where the magic happens – in the experience of not being the island and in seeing the power of relationships. If you want more information on our high-level mastermind to see if it would be a good fit to build your business and leadership village, get on the Incubator waitlist here!

I hope today’s episode shows you how these three bad habits are holding you back and how you can lean into the advice to shift them so that you can become who you’re meant to be.

And if this episode spoke to you, make sure to subscribe and leave us a review! Come connect with me on Instagram at @elizhartke! If there’s a topic, a question or a guest you want to hear on the show, just reach out and share that. We do this for you so the more you tell us, the more we can serve.

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