Business

  • 51: The Unlearnings of 2 years in business

    Celebrating 2 years full time in her own business as a life coach, Phi shares insights on what she’s had to unlearn in here journey.

    Get ready for a thought-provoking discussion on how unlearning has become a crucial mindset and skill in navigating the ever-changing world of business and personal development. 

    Resources from today's episode

    Episode Introduction

    Hi Beautiful Soul, welcome to this week’s Grow Through It Podcast Episode and in exciting news I wanted to share at the beginning of this month November 2023, I crossed over the line of having my own business as a full time life coach for 2 years now. 

    I’ve been busy (hello manifesting generator with the channel of charisma and power) as well as hibernating (that’s my 2 profile line) and I’ve finally had an intentional week of slowing down, nourishment, rejuvenation and pause to reflect and take this in! 

    It’s been so nice to reflect and I did my best to capture 2 years in an 11 second reel on Instagram but that’ll never do it justice! Watching it made me smile for all the amazing moments. 

    Rages & Riches: Scarcity and Abundance

    Even though its been a couple of weeks hitting that milestone it still feels so surreal especially thinking of my second year in business and trust me it’s been a rollercoaster. In the second year so much has happened. I’ve had wobbly moments where I was very scarce and tight on money just barely paying for my expenses contrasted with the biggest months in my business in overflow of abundance. 

    I was reflecting with some girlfriends last night how at one point earlier this year we went to dinner and I didn’t eat because I was on a tight budget so for a month or two I remember I was eating at home before going out with friends, I didn’t drink and what not to now the contrast of having excitingly bought a new dyson vacuum, previously paying for a retreat in instalments and now paying for it in full with overseas flights and upgraded seats next year and had a big birthday month of spending. For my birthday I had never spent so much in my life for individual things such as the dress I wore was $450, my nails cost $150, blow dry $200, cake $200 and so fourth.

    Clients, book and podcast

    https://www.amazon.com.au/Great-Unlearning-Awakening-Aligned-Authentic/dp/0645344494In terms of clients I’ve had lean months the first in a long time but also contrasted by seeing the most clients I ever have in my business whether it be in a day, month, year or quarter. I think despite it all whilst a lot has unfolded for me personally over the last 2 years whether it’s quitting my corporate job, relationship changes, moving homes it’s been really grounding to have my business as the most stable core in my life: the essence of what I do and being able to return to my grander purpose which is to make the world a better place and help people live their best lives: at peace, happy and soul fulfilled. Really trusting and returning to that in moments of fear, doubt, worry has been humbling and gratifying. 

    On June 23rd this year I released my debut book The Great Unlearning: Awakening to Living an Aligned and Authentic Life which was a year and a half journey in the making and two years from the idea of the book conceived whilst I was side hustling as a coach and full time in my corporate career landing a book deal, writing the book and editing process. The excitement as it hit #1 in Amazon for particular categories in Australia and did well in the top 3 or was it 5 in the US too, trending domestically on Booktopia when it first released too.

    This has also been the year of being a guest on other podcasts such as with Georgie Stevenson on Rise & Conquer and I’m really feeling the desire to consistently do more podcasting on my own here on The Grow Through It podcast too. I’ve been so fortunate to travel extensively this year for personal reasons such as going back to my ancestral roots and lineage on my mum’s side in Vietnam and work including recording my talk unlearning and unbecoming through writing with Janelle Hardy for Day 2: Taking the lid off grief and rage the Healing Through Writing Festival from a gorgeous 5 star retreat in Bali, visiting clients and doing in person coaching and business sessions and what’s been really exciting is working with business teams in terms of planning, strategy, energetics and human design of course. 

    I was reflecting with some girlfriends last night how at one point earlier this year we went to dinner and I didn’t eat because I was on a tight budget so for a month or two I remember I was eating at home before going out with friends, I didn’t drink and what not to now the contrast of having excitingly bought a new dyson vacuum, previously paying for a retreat in instalments and now paying for it in full with overseas flights and upgraded seats next year and had a big birthday month of spending. For my birthday I had never spent so much in my life for individual things such as the dress I wore was $450, my nails cost $150, blow dry $200, cake $200 and so fourth.

    Client results and testimonials

    The growths and changes in the clients I work with has been so incredibly rich and rewarding in year 2, my heart feels all warm and fuzzy and I get teary thinking about it. The biggest trends I’ve seen with my clients are working more with entrepreneurs or people wanting to start their own business, younger women starting their personal growth and development journeys at 18-24 (hats off to you, I can only imagine how different my life would’ve been having the tools, mindset and support from a coach in my early 20s vs starting later), beautiful mamas navigating life in all facets and in particular getting to the core of their identity and self outside being a mother, couples (a lot of work coaching couples, reconciliation or transitioning to a conscious uncoupling) and men — at one point this year half my clients were males aged between 28-47. Moreover this year has been deeply intense work in terms of the feminine: sensuality, sexuality, slowing down, embracing cycles whether moon or menstrual and womb healing.

    To name a few of the amazing achievements in year 2 so far, clients that I have in e-commerce and manufacturing have doubled their revenue since I’ve started working with them and I’ve also seen clients break through income plateaus and receive pay rises and promotions. Clients have fallen in love (yay) and met a significant other whilst working together. Clients have left jobs and religions that are no longer in alignment with them and sought out more soul fulfilling and gratifying paths. Clients have moved homes and countries and started a new chapter in their life. Clients have broken familial and ancestral patterns and chains holding them back in particular being that support person for the family at their own expense. Clients have moved past and healed from heartbreak and break ups. Clients have reconciled in important relationships whether romantic, friends or family. 

    Honestly I could go on, so much has happened and I can’t even do it justice talking about it because when I hear from clients about how they’ve grown and changed so much, talking about how they can’t even put a price on their transformations it’s truly mind blowing and blows the water on what one think can logically happen when you work and invest in yourself.

    Phi celebrates 2 years in business

    In honour of this 2 year milestone, I thought I would share a few musings of what I’ve had to unlearn in my journey thus far particularly in my second full year of running my own business…

    I don’t know why I had so much resistance to recording this episode: I felt bad for missing a week of podcasting last week with personal things arising to the surface and so ultimately I’m preaching done is better than perfect! Knowing why I want to do the podcast, it’s not about me it’s about you the listener.

    Freedom in your own business full time

    Having your own business means complete freedom and so you’ll be happy all the time – I would say for the most part it really is true!

    I have to say one of the best parts is not having to be bound by a certain time to wake up and hear that pesky alarm. It’s true being able to go on holiday whenever you want, being able to work from anywhere you want — that’s a dream! Being able to set your own schedule and shuffle it around for appointments or to help out friends and family is a blessing too. 

    Not forgetting freedom in terms of this poignant point that remember why you started your business and personally for me one of the driving factors  was freedom. So I always come back to applying that principle – I get to do business my way and forge my own path. I get to show up in a way that I want to not what the industry standard/expectation is or what some person online says. 

    I have found my flow in creating content I really love which is writing turned into a book this year (The Great Unlearning) and at the moment online reels, in turn clients are able to find me to do 1:1 coaching and human design readings despite not actually ever posting content about that. Logically one may say it doesn’t make sense but hey it works for me! 

    Again it’s not about this method working for you but the core message is give yourself full permission to do business and run your business in a way that lights you up and really excites you, that feels really good in your soul. I think that’s coming up for me next year, now I’m less in ‘survival’ mode in business and serious, how can I have more fun and pure joy that tingles up my sacral in true manifesting generator magic?

    Change is a part of life and business, I remember everyone saying you have to be on TikTok but again my main platform is Instagram and I’m still getting my work out there and having clients without necessarily having to follow trends, pay for advertising and show my face all the time. Although I’ve definitely pivoted and done more reels because I love having the visual and audio aspect accompany my words. I want someone to see a piece of content and really feel the message I am conveying in all senses. 

    Gratitude vs guilt in business full time

    Intertwined with this all, is a deep genuine to the core, heart and soul feeling of being really grateful that you are able to do what you love everyday. I think that’s why you don’t hear many people talking about the downsides to running your own business at least for me I feel a resistance because it’s like I should be so grateful you know? It’s also that whole everyone wants the success but don’t realise that with it comes other things too: as I always say new level, new devil.

    Loneliness in business and entrepreneurship

    Such as life, no matter who you are, how much money you have, how much personal development work you do and what you do — it’s not always happy! I have definitely struggled with bouts of loneliness and I’m a natural hermit too. Especially the beginning of this year where everything was perfect on paper yet I live by myself, work by myself and was single. It was exacerbated as I live at the beach known to be it’s own bubble and the majority of my friends live half an hour to an hour’s drive away. I was humbled by a friend who reminded me it was my choice to live at the beach as I could also easily live closer to my friends in the suburbs. It’s true I value the beach lifestyle and environment so much, it’s the glitter for my soul.

    There was no where to hide by just throwing myself into work so I really spent the beginning of this year in contemplation and making the most of the time I have alone. It taught me to put more of an effort in to connect with people whether driving to see friends or really savouring a conversation at my local cafe or a kind stranger walking by at the beach because apart from clients at time was my one piece of personal interaction for the day!

    Not everyone has the same lifestyle as you so therefore even though I can work anywhere from the world, I’ll likely be by myself unless a friend and partner can take that time off work for example. You can go the beach at 2:30pm on a Wednesday but not many people you know will be able to unless their circumstances are similar. You can work overseas for 2-3 months straight, again doesn’t mean your partner can too.

    The things you think about and experience again will be different for example the way you approach money and investments. One of your main interests naturally will be your business and the nature of business: growth and the pains that come with it. You’ll be questioning “do people get me?” 

    I’m the first in my friend group to have my own business, so it’s quite an adventure on your own and wondering do other people experience this or feel that way? The answer is yes! The absence of colleagues or a team makes it important to find community in the day to day and have a support network. 

    With success I also found it interesting to see who have been the people that have supported me from day 1 vs now especially when I released my book I found it interesting people from my past that suddenly reappeared again acting all friendly when I hadn’t heard from some of them for at least 5 years!

    Less proving, more being, living, working an presence

    Feeling less of the need to prove myself. I used to feel the need to be online 24/7 showing off being achievements or luxurious purchases/holidays. It could be the fact I have a 2 profile line hermit yet nowadays I like to keep some things private and sacred for myself. I don’t feel as though I need to post all the time my successes and testimonials because I’m grateful to have built my business that the work speaks for itself and the majority of clients I get are from referrals or content I put out online. 

    I feel at peace but of course you still have the shaky moments from time to time where you fear oh my gosh what if I don’t have enough money as an example but that happens less now, it’s like my brain can now logically click well it’s been 2 years and I’ve been doing this full time without a need to get a second job or a casual job for sustainable income. 

    In saying that achieving things, it can be so easy to tick it off and move onto the next. It’s so important to celebrate yourself and hitting achievements and milestones. This year I really allowed myself to do that financially as well as with taking time off. I really went all in on celebrating with my book launch earlier this June, having a month in Bali and Vietnam and throwing a huge party for my birthday in October. It can be big celebrations but I also had the practice of celebrating solo with Uber Eats and a kombucha on the couch too.

    Don't be afraid to spend money

    Hence the next unlearning: Don’t be afraid to spend money. I feel that the initial first few years of business even now still the majority of money is being reinvested back into myself and the business in terms of scaling, growing and expanding. It’s true what they say spending money to earn money of course getting to that sweet spot. My money mindset has rapidly expanded because have you ever noticed that rich people keep spending money? They don’t stop and hoard. That’s what people do with less money and a poverty mindset. The richer get rich because they invest… whether that’s in stocks, property, other businesses, themselves catapulting them to create more money in their existing business by scaling or even starting more businesses. It’s something I’m definitely thinking of doing and looking to in the future whether it’s another service business or an e-commerce one. 

    Just because you can doesn't mean you should

    Just because you can doesn’t mean you should – It’s realising I can do many things and I am good at many things but where does my joy lie? I’m at a point where I can do less jobs in my business, whereas the first year I was the coach, admin, accountant, marketer etc. Where is my effort and energy bests place within my business? What is the opportunity cost of me doing a instead of doing b? What is the cost of me doing something I dread vs love? How do you put a price on that? Financially? Mentally? Physically? Emotionally? More than ever I really value my time, energy and input. 

    Business and boundaries

    This year I’ve had to drop out of plans even though I felt bad because I had to honour my body or mind being tired or just not feeling it or being in the mood for it. I’ve had to have firmer boundaries especially with family, friends or strangers seeking guidance, advice or to pick my brain. I truly honour my clients, prioritise and put them first and give them my all when it comes to my life coaching and intuitive abilities. That put an end to receiving voice notes from people that went from anywhere between 2 to 10 minutes, I simply didn’t have the energy for that after working with clients all day.

    Working with your energy vs against it

    With that I’ve really had to honour my natural working flow and style instead of working against it: it’s taken the majority of the year to come to my conclusion that I have a maximum amount of clients I can see a day with at least 15-30 minutes in between, I do not work weekends and the majority of my work is done during the day, not too early because I love a sleep in now and it takes time for my brain to wake up and not at night where I feel tired and taking into account insights previously where I  was guilty of that one when I was single I would work days and nights but now I have a partner I prioritise our relationship). I was definitely guilty before of putting work before my relationships and perhaps even having a sense of getting complacent or taking it for granted prioritising work you know? 

    Investing in yourself

    2 years in business I can afford to invest more in myself and business and that has resulted in me going on a retreat at the beginning of this year, having just paid for one in India next year as well as being able to have my virtual assistant work more hours to support me in the things that I don’t enjoy such as admin work: reposting my content to my website, sorting out my inbox, scheduling in my calendar. This is an area I continue to identify as something for me to work on as I can really be in the feminine flow and I really crave and need to plan, organise and structure my business. I used to think it slowed me down but I needed to slow down in order to speed up. All of this makes for the second year in more refined, I feel more on top of business and it’s manageable whereas the first year for me was experimenting, trial and error: figuring it out. 

    Consistent mentorship and beginner mindsdet

    Having regular consistent mentorship is a game-changer too, I really honed in on having a mentor for the year consistently which is dedicated time for me to reflect, express myself and access new perspectives or guidance. Once your business is established I find it’s more personal things that I discuss and work on as opposed to necessarily business problems. It’s always refreshing to see things from a different perspective. 

    You don’t know everything and that’s a beautiful thing. I never want to get to a point where I think I know it all. In fact I would prefer to be the beginner in a room and take the most out of speaking with people than being the expert, that’s how I grow the most. Your interactions with people help you to grow, especially in the field I work in, a lot of the times the things i’m coaching a client are resolidfying insights and experiences I have so really adopting all connections and relationships as a valuable mirror and opportunity to grow. 

    Exponential growth vs sustainable growth

    In saying that I think people have this idea your business has to always grow year on year a crazy exponential amount and I’ve come to realise that’s not sustainable or enjoyable (for me at least anyway). My business has undoubtedly grown in it’s second year but part of it is the ebbs and flow. I launched a book and a part of me felt the pressure to do even more however when I tuned in with my soul it said the book is huge, this is enough. You don’t have to do the group coaching program or retreats until next year (hence watch this space!). Just like personal development we need integration time, stabilisation time, like the new norm for me is like it’s okay, I have a consistent stream of clients, I won’t die and run on out of money. I don’t need to show up online all the time to make money. In fact this year I’ve shown up the least and I’m okay! Which comes to another insight yes consistent revenue is important to sustain your business and self especially soothing your nervous system.

    The importance of health and rest

    This was the year I truly understood how much I need to pause, rest, integrate and recharge. Business is a marathon not a sprint. Essentially you are the driving engine and compass of your business. You need to be on top of your energy to have the desire, drive and motivation to keep your business going. This is an area I want to focus on particularly next year consistency in my health: fitness, diet and meditation. Knowing myself when it gets busy I prioritise work and in turn work out less, eat bigger portions for comfort and energy or do the opposite I forget to eat and all I’ve had is a coffee until dinner, meditate less… or I’m so tired I lack the energy and feel lazy: I’m not swimming as much or walking as much — always areas to improve and work on! 

    Purpose and the long haul

    No matter what happens it’ll always come back to this: keep going! The journey is never going to be perfect and you won’t be ‘put together’ all the time. In life naturally challenges and obstacles arise and what I’ve found is that the anxieties and fears in my head, are always worse and scarier than what actually unfolds in reality. 

    I still remember my first day in business and now two years later, the life that I live today is far greater than I envisioned for myself. If you told me where I would be today when I started I would’ve been like what you’re crazy, how!? 

    And that’s thing for me really knowing my own human design, responding to the world, following those intuitive nudges and breadcrumbs to take inspired action step by step has led me here. Knowing I am here because of the me that made decisions despite fear, worry, doubt and insecurity a month ago, six months ago, a year ago, two years ago… 

    If you’re listening with an idea or passion of something to do, this is your sign to go for it, see what happens – it might not work out but what if it did… that is something powerful enough to pursue in itself! Thanks for listening beautiful soul, until next week but in the meantime if you’d like to work with me I offer 1:1 coaching and human design readings. Details on my website phidang.com or message me on Instagram @thephidang. 

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  • One year on…

    Trust your heart and soul, it led me here

    🥹🚀 6 FIGS IN LESS THAN A YEAR FULL TIME 🧡🤩

    September 13 2021. A year ago today I emailed my resignation letter through after 5 years in my corporate job in brand integration and strategy… less than a year later I just did my tax for 2021-2022 🧨

    I remember being so scared yet so excited at the same time. Forging my own path breaking free from societal conditioning on security as well as cultural pressures. Healing my ancestral money stories.

    I haven’t been tracking numbers because I’ve just been enjoying the journey of being a full time life coach since I finished my corporate job in November 2020.

    In less than a year
    🧨 6 figures
    🚀 surpassed my corporate income doing less than half the hours if not more
    📖 secured a publishing deal, my book is coming June 2023

    I share not to trigger but to ACTIVATE you 🧨

    The leap of faith was scary… watch my last video for more details. I filmed that shortly after resigning. I
    feel more happy and myself than ever.

    I am also more abundant than ever. We are conditioned the wrong way around make money = be happy… it’s be happy = lots of money 💸

    You can do what you love and be abundant.

    You can be spiritual and live comfortably.

    Best of all I never thought I would run my own business some day let alone be a life coach, life surprises you in the most delightful ways 😄

    I am so grateful for you reading this and being here.

    I am so grateful to the incredible soul mate clients I work with.

    I am so grateful to my higher spiritual council and team.

    I am so grateful to my coaches who always believed in me and continue to support me.

    I am so grateful to the women before me who have celebrated and shown me that this is possible.

    This is truly only the beginning… watch this space.

    I was you 9 months ago. Seeing others living the dream. Wondering if I could do the same… YOU CAN!

    We are here to not just be alive but to truly LIVE.

    GO BIG – if I can do it, so can you.

    Trust your heart and soul… it’s led me here.

    love & positivity ✨ phi

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  • 09: How to Create and Have Success in 2021

    Episode Summary of The Grow Through It Podcast with Phi Dang, 09: How to Create and Have Success in 2021

    Learn about the #1 Mistake people make when it comes to success in addition to practical tips and strategies on how to create and have success. I also do a Q&A on all things success from how to stay motivated, being successful during times of uncertainty and a lack of resources such as money when it comes to having success.

    What you'll learn from this episode

    • The #1 Mistake People Make When it Comes to Creating Change and Success
    • Why Getting Started is Always the Hardest 
    • Why There is No Such Thing As Success Without Failure
    • How to Achieve Your Goals and Success
    • Habit Stacking
    • How to Prioritise Your Goals and Success
    • How to Stay Motivated To Hit Your Goals
    • How to Achieve Your Goals and Be Successful during Times of Uncertainty
    • How to Achieve Your Goals and Be Successful without Resources such as Money

    Key Quotes from this Episode

    Don’t let others or society define it for you, figure out what success is for you.

    The outer world is a reflection of your inner world.

    You can create the reality and results you want. But guess what? You aren’t entitled to that without doing the work.

    Featured Resources on the episode

    The Grow Through It Podcast with Phi Dang, 09: How to Create and Have Success in 2021 - Show Transcript

    You are listening to episode 9 of the Grow Through It Podcast with Phi Dang: How to Create and Have Success in 2021.

    [Introduction to the Grow Through It Podcast With Phi Dang plays – Background Music: upbeat, confident, rising beat]:

    Don’t just go through life, grow through it. Don’t just go through life, grow through it.

    Hi and Welcome to the Grow Through It Podcast with Phi Dang.

    My name is Phi and I am a Clarity and Confidence Life Coach known as the “The Positivity Queen.”

    My passion is to help you go from stuck and self critical to courageous and empowered so you can conquer anything.

    Join me, every Tuesday, as I discuss all things mindset, self love, energy and purpose.

    This podcast won’t just inspire and motivate you, it will also provide practical tips and strategies you can implement in your daily life.

    Ready to grow? Let’s grow!

    [Grow Through It Podcast With Phi Dang End of Intro]

    [Episode 09 – How to Create and Have Success in 2021 Begins]

    Hello beautiful souls.

    Happy 2021! 

    This is going to be your best year yet, I just know it. 

    If anyone hasn’t told you already, I have full faith in you.

    I have full faith because you are here, listening to the first episode for 2021 of the Grow Through It Podcast with Phi Dang. 

    By doing this, you are intentionally setting time aside for you. 

    To work on yourself, to create success for yourself – so congratulations, I’m proud of you! 

    A mindset open to learning and prioritising their self development and growth is always going to be successful.

    People like you, are the people I love to work with in my 1:1 coaching program. 

    If you are the type of person who loves personal development through books, courses and podcasts and you are ready for the next step, to supercharge and accelerate your growth, let’s chat – I have limited 1:1 coaching spots left for this first quarter of this year as I am so happy to have 3 of you beautiful souls join me last week! 

    Now as you gathered from the title, this podcast is all about creating and having a successful 2021. 

    In this modern day and age, we know that success looks different to everyone, it’s a matter of defining your success. For some it will be money, for others it will be a running a huge marathon.

    Don’t let others or society define it for you, figure out what success is for you.

    When we talk success, in this episode its in the framework of achieving your goals because I know goals are at the top of many people’s minds when it come to a new year.

    Now I also know a lot of other podcasts and all the freebies, motivational speakers and influencers talk about how to create successful goals, for me that’s something that I do with my 1:1 coaching clients as it’s very personal. This podcast will focus more on the journey of achieving goals and your success. 

    So let’s begin.

    The #1 Mistake People Make When it Comes to Creating Change and Success

    I want to lay down for you a foundational base for creating success. To do that I want to first of all address the #1 mistake people make when it comes to creating change based on my experience as a life coach with clients from all over the world.

    People try to change their reality by changing the outside world.

    This is a thought error.

    The outside world is just circumstances.

    Circumstances are neutral.

    The factor that will truly shift and create change for you is your thoughts. 

    Your thoughts cause your feelings.

    Your feelings cause your actions.

    Your actions cause your results.

    So to truly change anything it begins in your thoughts because your thoughts are in your control.

    If you don’t agree with my statement, you have work to do. 

    If you don’t understand why, let’s chat because this is the realm I work within as a life coach.

    Most people go around this world on auto-pilot dangerously in their mind. They believe whatever goes on in their brain and they don’t intentionally choose their thoughts!

    When you don’t intentionally choose your thoughts, you choose to believe the negativity that goes in on your mind that’s formed over years of subconscious programming.

    Then you go around life not knowing why you feel bad on a regular basis and you don’t know what to do with those thoughts. The lines become blurry. You don’t know how to change your thought process or how to process your emotions.

    It’s not a surprise and it’s not your fault. We don’t learn about this at school, at university or even in our jobs.

    We only truly learn about this when we work on ourselves through personal development, when we invest in a coach.

    Your thoughts are your inner work.

    The outer world is a reflection of your inner world.

    For example if you have a chaotic mind, you’ll find more often than not a messy, disorganised home.

    If you’re finding it hard to find love, it’s because you don’t truly love yourself.

    If you’re finding it hard to make money, it’s because you have a scarcity mindset.

    Trying to change your reality by changing the outside world, is like trying to change white wine to red wine by adding food colouring. 

    If you want actual change, you have to go to the source.

    If you want the wine to actually change, you have to use a different variety of grapes.

    If you want your reality to change, you have to fo the source: you, your thoughts. 

    Zero to One

    In the journey for change and success, the first step is always the hardest.

    First of all, when you want to do something new, you’re starting at zero.

    You have no track record or experience.

    You have no momentum.

    There’s nothing.

    More than anything, it takes determination, energy and effort to go from zero to one than it does to get to get from any other steps after that.

    After that, every step is easier than the first.

    You can achieve the goals you set.

    You can create the reality and results you want.

    But guess what? You aren’t entitled to that without doing the work.

    You have the do the work.

    You have to earn your results.

    Now zero to one is the hardest but don’t let that stop you.

    You can do hard things.

    You were made for hard things.

    There is no such thing as success without failure

    We cannot discuss success without failure.

    Guess what, success and failure go hand in hand.

    You can’t choose whether you will succeed or fail because failure is always going to be a part of success. You can only choose what kind of failure you are going to have.

    The only real failure in my eyes is to not try at all or to use it as an excuse to quit.

    Further to this, allow yourself to grow. Give yourself permission to grow.

    When you plant seeds in the garden, you don’t check every day to see if they have instantly bloomed.

    You simply water them everyday, clear the weeds and know that in time they will grow.

    Breathe easy beautiful soul, it will happen – let things unfold as they are meant to.

    How do you achieve your goals?

    If anyone tells you there’s a secret to making it happen, there isn’t.

    There’s no magic formula or button, it truly is just doing the work.

    It is overwhelming to go from 0 to 100 but it’s much easier to go from 0 to 1 to 2 to 3.

    The key to success is consistency and knowing that every little bit counts even just 1%.

    The pain you feel today, becomes the strength of your tomorrow 

    What can you do everyday to get you one step closer to your goal?

    Think of success like a ladder.

    To get to the top of the ladder sure you could leap from 0 to 4 rungs or even jump from rung 3 to rung 7 but when you do that, not only is it harder and requires more energy, you may fall in the process of doing so.

    Consistency on the ladder is going up steadily one rung at a time..

    Accountability

    Further to this, let us sprinkle accountability into the mix.

    How different is it when you write down a goal in your journal and tell no one vs have a life coach checking in with you weekly asking if you’ve done what you needed to do that week to make your goal happen and post about your goal openly on social media?

    Very different right?

    Studies have shown that when you share your goals with others, you are twice as likely to achieve them than if you keep the goals to yourself. 

    When you don’t share your goals in some way, you aren’t truly committed to them. It’s very easy to give up because it’s like they never really existed.

    Another reason why accountability works is well we are human and we want to save face.

    Your reputation is on the line to loved ones, to people you know, to strangers on the internet. You want to fulfil the expectations that others have of you. 

    A life coach is worth the investment as there isn’t the strain of telling a loved one or friend. A coach does not judge, scold or blame, your coach is there to support you every step of the way, help you develop strategies to overcome obstacles and help you realise what works for you and what does not.

    So far everything I’ve discussed cements the fact that success is not an accident.

    Success is intentional.

    Habits play deeply into success as they account for about 40 percent of our behaviours on any given day. 

    Let’s pause for a moment to consider this.

    Almost half of the things you do on any day isn’ a result of conscious decisions but behaviours that you have repeated so many times they have become more or less automatic. 

    You no longer think about them, there’s no mind drama, you just do them.

    It has been widely said that it takes 21 days to make a habit, so I’m not going to go into this.

    Rather I want to introduce the concept of habit stacking with you

    Habit Stacking

    Habit stacking uses the habits you already have and using the power of connection to create new habits.

    It makes sense right, you’ve already done something so much it’s almost auto pilot – if you use that as a foundational base to make a new habit, it’s more likely to stick.

    Habit stacking goes like this

    After or Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].

    Simple examples could be:

    Before I eat breakfast, I will write down 3 things I am grateful for.

    After I brush my teeth, I will take a minute to meditate.

    Before I check my phone in the morning, I will stretch for 5 minutes. 

    So when I discussed the topic of goal setting and success on my Instagram you beautiful souls had a variety questions that I would like to answer. A Q&A a on goal setting and success.

    How do you prioritise your goals and success?

    When it comes to prioritising, think of it like this.

    Everyone in the world has 24 hours including Beyonce, Oprah, Elon Musk. What are you doing with every hour you get?

    Is what you are doing helping you get closer to your goal? 

    Another useful tool is to use a decision matrix, how important is the task and how urgent is the task? 

    How do you stay motivated towards your goals and success?

    Always know your purpose.

    A great exercise for this is something I learnt from The Life Coach school. It’s called the 3-2-1 method.

    Everyday write down your goal followed by 3 reasons why it is important to you, 2 reasons why you are equiped to make it happen and 1 thing you’ll do today to move closer to making it happen.

    If you’re struggling to understand the purpose of your goal, use the 5 whys technique. 

    Ask yourself why, 5 times until you distill it down.

    For example:

    I want to get fit

    1st why? To be skinnier

    2nd why? So I can fit into my clothes

    3rd why? So I can wear the new clothes I bought

    4th why? These new clothes make me feel attractive and confident

    5th why? They show off my figure. I want to feel attractive and confident to call in a relationship into my life. To feel so much love not only for my partner but for me too.

    Realise this, when you chase a goal you’re chasing the feeling you get by achieving the goal. Most of the time it’s about feeling good.

    The great thing about feelings is you can also conjure up feelings by recalling memories right?

    If you want to feel happy, think about times where you have felt so much joy, you were laughing.

    If you want to feel sad, think about times where you have experienced heart ache and pain.

    If you want to feel confident, think about times where you felt at your best.

    Let’s tie this into achieving our goals and the realm of success.

    Let’s time leap and think about the you who achieves your goals this year.

    What does the future you who achieved your goal think?

    How does the future you who achieved your goal feel?

    What does the future you do?

    Taste it for a moment.

    Your subconscious can’t help but latch on and work in the background to find a way to make it happen.

    Not only that, how do you embody future you right now?

    What about achieving your goals and having success during times of uncertainty?

    Life is always going to be changing, change is the only constant.

    No matter what you need to have confidence in yourself.

    When you are confident in yourself, it doesn’t matter what is happening in the external world.

    The outside world doesn’t define who you are and what you can do, you do.

    Your job doesn’t define you, how much money you make, your relationship, how much you do, you do.

    You control your thoughts, you control your belief, you control your decisions.

    You know you can do hard things.

    You know you will find a way to make it happen.

    You know that you will figure it out.

    Self confidence is having belief in yourself.

    It’s taking the leap through the faith.

    Is reality controlling you or are you making the most of the current reality? 

    Think about this analogy, that you are at a casino playing blackjack.

    Whatever cards you get, your goal is to win. 

    You can’t control the cards you are being dealt, but what you do with those cards you control that. You also control your appearance, do you look confident with your hand or are you truly confident with your hand. Do you look defeated by your cards but secretly you know you have been dealt amazing cards?

    That doesn’t mean you’ll always win with every hand but thats okay right? Just because you lose one round doesn’t make you a terrible player. Just because you’ve been losing consistently doesn’t mean you’ll always lose. The tides turn. After all you can win big in just one round and leave.

    What if I don't have enough resources to make my goals happen and be successful?

    This one really ties into a scarcity vs abundance mindset.

    Scarcity says why is this happening to me. Abundance says what is here for me.

    Focus on what you do have, when you notice the good things in your life, you can’t help but feel more abundant. 

    An abundant mindset looks for opportunities and understands the more you give, the more you will get.

    For example, if it’s money – the most incredible thing of our time is the internet. There are SO many free resources out there. In exchange for money, you may exchange time because you need to filter out all the information to find out work best for you, you need to try and learn along the way.

    Instead of I can’t afford that, think how can I afford that.

    Are you conscious of where your current resources are going? Your time, your effort, your energy?

    Most of the time we think we are but we can’t account for minute to minute of our time or dollar to dollar. 

    This truly is a hard one but I truly understand. 

    In 2020 I spent $10,000 on my self development during a global pandemic. What I realised though is I had more money than I thought. The money that I used to use on frivolous things like new clothes, Ubers, dining out and takeaway was now funding my development as a life coach through taking courses and having my own coaches.

    The Grow Through It Podcast with Phi Dang, 09: How to Create and Have Success in 2021 - Close

    This episode has been like a mini intensive on how to set yourself up for success in 2021. 

    I wanted to close this episode with some quotes and food for thought.

    “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.”

    “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.”

    “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.”

     “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

    “I never dreamed about success, I worked for it.”

    Thank you so much for listening to this episode on creating success in 2021. I am so excited for all the things to come this year. Watch this space! If you have any episode suggestions, please get in touch as I’m always looking for new ideas to explore.

    Not only that, as I mentioned earlier, I have limited 1:1 coaching spots left so if you are interested and want me by your side in 2021, let’s chat, I would love to help you.

    I hope you all have an absolutely incredible 2021 full of joy and success.

    Love and positivity, chat to you next Tuesday.

    [Episode 09 – How to Create and Have Success in 2021 Ends]

    Are you wanting to find out more about 1:1 Coaching or working with me? Maybe perhaps you want to know more about me. I’d love to connect with you. You can visit my website phidang.com or connect with me on Instagram @thephidang. Speak to you soon.

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