Suz Chadwick [00:00:00]:
Hey, lovely. Welcome back to the Brand Builders Lab podcast. Awesome to have you here. If this is your first time, welcome. I'm your host, Suze Chadwick. And we love talking all things brand marketing mindset and how you can make more money in your business as well. Why? Because when women get more money in their hands, they change the world. And so we want to make sure that you're being profitable, that you've got an amazing personal brand so that people can get to know you and you can have the impact that you want.

Suz Chadwick [00:00:30]:
That's what we're all about. So amazing to have you here today. I want to share something with you that I heard at a conference. It's definitely something I wanted to share with you because I think that it's a question you should write on a piece of paper and stick on your wall somewhere. So I was at a marketing conference two weeks ago for the Digital Picnic, which is an amazing digital marketing agency here in Melbourne, Australia. And one of the speakers, Anita Sikh, was sharing her story of how she went through a really tough time in the business where the business almost had to fold. And she went to a very successful person that she knew who had a multi million, multi billion dollar company and said, what do I need to do to get out of this hole that I'm in? And the person said to her, what are the hard things that you're avoiding? Like, write down the hard things that you're avoiding. She had hired people and so she wasn't really in the numbers, she wasn't really in the detail.

Suz Chadwick [00:01:42]:
She had just let things go as far as, oh, they'll take care of it. I don't need to know about it. And doing that had gotten her into really hot water, the business. And so those are some of the hard things that she was avoiding. Looking at the profit and loss, understanding the financial elements of the business, which she used to do all the time because she's an accountant as well. And so sometimes, even when things should be easy for us because of our background, because of what we know, because of how long we've been doing, it doesn't mean that we automatically do it, which we're going to talk about that as well. But the first thing was, what are the hard things that you're avoiding? And I feel like it's a flip on something that I saw on the Internet a lot a while ago, which is the magic is in the work that you're not doing. And so the question is every day, and this was something that she did every day, she would sit and she would write down the seven things that were the hard things she had to do that day.

Suz Chadwick [00:02:48]:
And then she would eat the frog, she would do the work. And I think that I know in my life and in my business as well, whether it was in my corporate career or whether it's been having my coaching business now, it is the things that feel hard that when you're avoiding them, they just seem to build up and build up and build up. And they also stop you from moving forward. And so how can you take that question and how can you really live it every day so that you become somebody who is super self aware of what's going to help you move forward and what you need to do in order to get there? And the second thing I want to talk about is that sometimes we're really skilled in the things that we do. So Anita was an accountant in a previous life, but it doesn't mean that we automatically do the things that we know that we should do, which is why they're the hard things. And I get a lot of clients that come to me and say, I feel embarrassed. I feel embarrassed that I haven't done this. I help other people to do this, but mine isn't done.

Suz Chadwick [00:03:55]:
It's the plumber's tap is always leaky. And that's why I'm such a big believer in coaching as well. Just because I'm great at helping my clients to get an outcome, to get what it is that they want to be able to move forward doesn't mean that I'm an island. Doesn't mean that just because I'm good at doing something that I can just automatically do it for myself. Now, a lot of times I can, and a lot of times you can as well. It's a choice that we make. But getting help, getting the support that you need is 100% fine. And so if you're sitting there and you're like, I'm a marketing person, but I really haven't been on top of my marketing, or I haven't done the things that I know I should be doing or that I get my clients to do, or if you're a website designer, a copywriter, a social media manager, whatever it is that you do, getting somebody to help you do that so that you can take it off your plate is worthwhile thinking about.

Suz Chadwick [00:04:51]:
Because it's really easy, I think, for us to do it for other people, but it can be harder for us to do it for ourselves. And you don't want your business to suffer because it's not something that you've done. And another example is that I was literally about to email my subscribers and say, for the first time in eight years, because that's how long the podcast has been going. I've just decided that I'm not going to do it this week because I've got other priorities. And then I thought about, do the hard things. What are the hard things that you're not doing? And it would have been easy for me just to say, listen, I'm busy. I've got a lot of other things. We're shifting the business.

Suz Chadwick [00:05:33]:
We're doing a lot of testing, we're doing different activities. And so I don't have time to do the podcast this week. And like I said, I have done it every single week for eight years. We may have missed, like, once. And so I got up this morning and I was thinking about this question. I shared it on my socials last night, and I unscheduled that email. And I'm sitting and I'm recording the podcast for you. Why? Because I can do hard things.

Suz Chadwick [00:06:04]:
Because sometimes we tell ourselves we don't have time. I don't have time for that. But I did have time to sit and watch Netflix for a few hours last night. I did have time to scroll on my phone. So sometimes we've also got to call ourselves out where it's like, suze, you're making a decision, you're making a choice. And can I just say, if you need to let things go and you need to set boundaries around things or you need to prioritize, that's okay. So I'm not saying that we have to do all work all the time, but I think you've also got to ask yourself, is that true? Like me not doing that thing and saying, no, I can't do that. I don't have time for it.

Suz Chadwick [00:06:46]:
Is that actually true, or are you just making an excuse so that you don't have to do it? Which I was doing. I was like, no, I'm just going to choose not to do the podcast this week. Going to email my subscribers and let them know that I'm not obviously sharing a lesson or insight. And then I just thought, suze, you can do this. It will take you half an hour max to sit down, record, share, and put it out there. Why? And this is the big thing, why? Because you've made the commitment to yourself. And I was sharing with one of my clients the other day who is looking to start his podcast, and he was just saying, I don't really know that I want to start my podcast if I don't know that it's going to be successful. And my response to him was, the podcast has always been a big thing for me, not just my audience.

Suz Chadwick [00:07:44]:
What does that mean? It means that when I sit and I do the podcast, it helps me share a message, it helps me articulate my thinking. It helps me develop concepts, thoughts, ideas. As a personal brand and business coach, I talk a lot about thought leadership. And so me sitting and doing this is committing to myself that I can do a thing every single week. It allows me to obviously send that out to my subscribers. It helps me develop my speaking, my thought leadership, my communication skills. And so obviously, I'm always grateful for my audience who listens, and I've been grateful for my audience who has listened over the last eight years. But I'm also really conscious that by me sharing this, even if one person listens and gets something from it, I feel like it's been a win.

Suz Chadwick [00:08:37]:
And so when you think about the hard things, I really want you to think about who are you doing it for? If you don't do this, if you don't get on socials and you share your message, if you don't get online and start to create content, what is happening? Number one, you're missing the opportunity to share your message. Two, you're missing the opportunity to attract new clients to you. You're missing the opportunity to make an impact. And I'm sure the list will go on. It's stopping you from making more money in your business. It's helping you from getting more traffic, generating more interest, building your personal brand, being able to work with more people who you know that you can help to do whatever it is that you do. And so I know that socials is a big thing for a lot of people where they feel like it's hard, they feel like it's something that they can't do. But I just want you to really think about what is the cost to you and what is the cost to your potential clients who are gonna find you.

Suz Chadwick [00:09:37]:
For me, it's been YouTube. I want to grow my YouTube, but it's a hard thing for me. And so then I have to prepare for it and I have to think about it, and it's another thing. But do I want to do it? Yes. Did I make a decision to do it for a specific reason? Yes. I aligned with those reasons. Yes. Well, then, Suze, you have to do the hard thing.

Suz Chadwick [00:10:01]:
And I talk to my clients all the time. About self coaching. When my clients come into any of my containers, I teach them a lot of my self coaching tools and tricks and mindset management. Because as we all know, if you've been in business for more than a minute, that this is the biggest personal development journey that you're going to go on and your ability to be able to manage your mind. And that's exactly what we've been talking about in this episode. Saying to yourself, what are the hard things that I'm avoiding? And being honest with yourself, writing it down and then doing it. Understanding that even when you don't particularly want to do something. Once Again, we are CEOs, not toddlers.

Suz Chadwick [00:10:45]:
We do not want to be driven by emotion all the time. And so really looking at why am I doing this? If I don't do this, what is the cost to me? What is the cost to my business? What is the cost to my client? And how can I make sure that I'm really aligned with it so that when it does get hard, because as we know, it gets hard, that I'm like, yeah, I know why I'm doing this. I'm not just doing it for the sake of doing it, I'm doing it for a reason. And I'm doing it because of the impact that I want to make. I want to become better at what I do and the way that I manage my business and the way that I show up and build my brand and connect with my audience and attract new clients, I want to get better at that. So I've got to go through the crappy beginning before I find my flow with it sometimes as well. If that's hard for you, I really want you to think about the evidence of you doing hard things before. Like if it's so hard for you that you haven't taken the first step, you haven't created a consistent practice around whatever it is, whether it's running your profit and loss to know how much money's in the bank, whether it's reconciling your accounting software and financials, whether it's getting on social media and sharing your message, whatever it is emailing your subscribers, creating sales, doing the ads, speaking on the stage, whatever it is that you know is going to have an impact and going to help you to be a better business owner, to be somebody who is of service to your clients, then you've got to make that decision and you've got to understand, why am I doing this? And you've got to be able to call yourself out on it as well.

Suz Chadwick [00:12:33]:
I know so many of my clients hire me because they're like, I need somebody that's going to call me out on my own bs, and I know that that's you and hold me accountable. And I'm so more than happy to do that. But I think that that has to be a balance as well. Where I have a coach. I want somebody who's going to call me out and say, no, like, we need to be thinking about how you can do this better. Yes, I want somebody that's going to push me, but I also want to be the person that pushes me as well. I also want to be the person that's like, suze, we can do better. We can share more, we can create more.

Suz Chadwick [00:13:05]:
We can do the podcast and do the hard thing, even though we're like, I don't think I want to do it this week. And so think about, what are the hard things that you're avoiding? Because those are the things that are going to move you forward. And if you need to write that down and stick it on in your office somewhere or next to your computer on a sticky note, then do that. Because when we remind ourselves to do those things, when we remind ourselves that we're fully capable, that, yes, we can do this, that, yes, we can achieve the thing that we want, that we can learn to do something that maybe we've not done before, and that has felt really uncomfortable. You know, I always joke around and I say, I still remember the very first time I ever did an Instagram story. It had just come out and I was so awkward, and I was like, so this is an Instagram story. I don't know what it is, but here I am doing it. That was a long time ago.

Suz Chadwick [00:14:07]:
But the point is, we've all got to start somewhere and we've got to create patterns for ourselves that allows us to be able to do hard things on a regular basis. So I hope that that question has had an impact on you. I know that even though it wasn't the first time I had heard it or in that way, it definitely landed. And I think that's the thing. Sometimes we've got to hear things multiple times in different ways for it to land and for us to remember it and be able to commit it to memory and actually start to apply it. So my question to you is, what are the hard things that you're avoiding at the moment? And if you need help with them, you know where I am. Have an amazing rest of your day and week, and I'll see you next time on the podcast.