45. Your Desires & Doubts
What are your truest desires for your life and business? Do you give them ample space to be heard and acknowledged? Are you maybe unsure about what it is that you really want?
My clients often have some idea of what they desire. They know there is more that they want to achieve, but their vision isn’t crystal clear or specific enough for them to begin taking deliberate action. Add to that the inevitable doubt that comes with wanting to bring a bigger vision to life, and they can find themselves stuck, lacking inspiration, and operating from survival mode.
Join me this week to discover how to navigate your desires to grow your design business and the inevitable doubts that will arise along the way. Whether your desires are big and long-term or small and short-term, you’ll hear why desires and doubts go hand-in-hand, how to recognize that doubts aren’t a problem, and what happens when your desires are pursued, regardless of doubt or worry.
I have decided to open up just two spaces this fall for private coaching clients. This is an intimate, high-touch coaching experience where we partner together on both mindset and strategy to create a business and life you really love. Click here for all the details!
And, for a limited time, if you leave me a rating and review, you can be entered to win a one-on-one coaching session with me! All you have to do is leave your rating and review, and then click here.
What You’ll Discover from this Episode:
Why we don’t acknowledge and own our desires.
What inevitably happens when you declare your visions and desires.
How doubts are often the biggest obstacle standing in our way.
Why your brain offers up doubt.
What happens when you discount your desires.
How to prevent doubt from keeping you stuck and achieving your desires.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
If you never want to miss an episode of the podcast, make sure to follow the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you haven’t already, I would appreciate it if you left me a rating and review. As a thank you, you’ll be entered to win a one-on-one coaching session with me! Simply leave your review and then click here to enter!
If you love what you’re learning on the show, I’d love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm
Follow me on Instagram!
Sign up to my Monday Mindset email list to get bite-sized insights on topics that you can use to set your week up for success!
Submit your questions for Ask Desi here!
Full Episode Transcript:
Hey designer, you’re listening to episode 45. This is the one where I’m sharing how to navigate the desires you have to grow and up-level your design business, and the inevitable doubts and fears that will arise along the way.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello designer, welcome back to the podcast. I’m so glad to be here with you. It’s been a while since I actually recorded because I got ahead. We went on a fantastic family vacation and this is my first episode recording back since we were out in Washington state.
And I will just say here that something weird is going on with my sinuses and I don’t know what it is. But I sound kind of weird but I can’t not record this for you because there are deadlines. So I appreciate your patience with my voice. I should be back to normal, fingers crossed, by the next time I record.
But anyways, we had this fantastic time in Washington state. And we started out in Seattle, which was really fun. We did a bunch of touristy things like going to Pikes Market where we got a bunch of fresh produce which was really fun. We went to the space needle and we did that in just about two days and then we went on to Olympic National Park, which was definitely our favorite part of our trip.
We like the city but we love to get out and explore and hike. And we did so many different hikes while we were on this trip and we saw all these cool beaches with driftwood. And then some of the places we were hiking were rainforest-y and so the trees were just covered and dripping in moss and it looked like something out of Dr. Seuss.
It was really fantastic. I’ve wanted to go out there for a long time and I’m really glad we made it happen and the kids have just been talking nonstop about what a great trip it was and all the things we did. So I’d call that a success.
And this is the day back, I’ve got a totally clear day, which I call runway. And I’m so thankful to my past self for planning zero meetings for that first day back so that I can ease in and get my priorities for the week done on this day before I dive into calls later this week.
We’re also headed into the last bit of summer break, so we’re doing all that fall prep for back to school. I’m sure you are all, if you have kids, in the same position. And also really looking forward to the routine of school. We have had such a fun summer and I’m also really looking forward to some consistent schedules.
Today we’re going to be talking about desires and doubts. And I thought today would be the perfect day to talk about the desires you have for your life and business, specifically desires that are beyond where you’re at now. And also how to work through the doubts that come up with wanting to bring a bigger vision to life.
And when I’m talking about desires, these can definitely be big desires like growing a team or hitting a large financial target. But I also want you to consider that these desires can be small, short-term desires you fulfill that are part of a greater vision, like getting to yoga once a week. Or having time to get out of the office and learn about new products. Or even just taking a break for lunch away from your desk.
The reason I thought this would be such a great time to talk about this topic is because what I just did, which is taking a week off without it being stressful or feeling like I would have to pay for the trip before or after in super long days and high levels of stress, was a desire of mine years ago. That was really why I started my own residential practice, was because I did not see a way to do part-time in commercial design, which is where I started out in my career.
And I really wanted to have that flexibility to take time away and be with my family. And now that’s my reality. And I definitely did not think that was possible long ago when I was stuck in the cycle of overworking and feeling burned out and exhausted and always on in that design business that I started because, of course, just because you have a business doesn’t mean freedom and flexibility automatically comes with it. You have to create that for yourself very intentionally and proactively.
And now that I’m in that place I can see that of course I had doubts and it was far from the reality when I originally had that desire, and I’m also so glad I didn’t let that stop me.
Before we dive in, I want to remind you all to submit a review and rating for the podcast. This is how other people can find the podcast and let them know, hey, this is something you need to listen to. And to encourage you to do this, which is so helpful to me, I’m doing a giveaway right now.
And so all you have to do is leave that rating and review and then you’ll click the link in the show notes to fill out a super quick form to tell me that you left the review and you’re going to be entered to win a private coaching session with me. I’m going to be doing this over the next couple of months, there will be several winners. So grab that link, submit your review and make sure you’re entered.
All right, let’s talk about desires and doubts. So one of the first things I do with my private clients is guide them to create their business and life vision. This is how we bring those desires to light so that we can take a look at them. I do want to note that I’ve opened up a couple of spots for private coaching clients to start with me this fall.
And if you want to learn more about private coaching and what happens in that, visit the link in the show notes or you can go to DesiCreswell.com and click on the coaching tab. On the page you can read all about the regularly scheduled calls we have to focus exclusively on you and your business. The online support that you receive for when things come up between calls where you can get coaching and feedback. How you’ll get access to all of my tools and resources.
This is really the most high-touch way that we can work together. So if you’re a designer who is ready to invest in your personal and professional growth and really set yourself up to succeed in hitting your goals by the end of the year, and into the next year, this is for you. The link is in the show notes.
And when you head to that page on my website, you’ll also be able to schedule a complimentary consultation. You’re going to answer a few questions to help you get clear on what you want to achieve through coaching. We’ll meet over Zoom to discuss your specific strategies and mindset work that would help you accomplish those goals. And then if it feels like a fit on both ends, we can discuss what it would be like to work together.
As I was saying, when you start as a private client, I guide you through this process that I’ve developed to create that business and life vision. And I do this for many reasons, including what we’re going to talk about today. One of those being giving you the space to get clarity on your desires for what’s next and use this process to support you to set goals and make plans to achieve those goals. And then have me coach you through the obstacles along the way.
Often, there’s strategies that you do need to implement or learn when you are up-leveling in some way. But often one of the biggest obstacles you’ll encounter is yourself and the doubt that comes up when you get clear on what you really want. It is so important to be clear on your desires and the vision you have for the future ahead because the way that we use this document is that it becomes really a filter that you can refer to again and again, and I of course refer to.
It becomes a filter for how you invest your time, energy and attention. It makes it really clear on what’s a yes and what’s a no or a not right now when you’re presented with opportunities, when you’re making decisions in your business. It brings so much clarity. And I talk more about this business and life vision in episode one if you want to hear more about that.
Often, the clients I work with have some ideas of what they want. They have a bigger vision for their life and business. They know that there is more that they want to achieve and accomplish. And at the same time, the vision is not always very clear or specific enough to set goals from and start taking that deliberate action that’s moving you in a very clear direction.
And sometimes there’s also the instance of not having really acknowledged or owned that vision. And I think that happens for a few reasons, and it can be, of course, a combination of these things as well.
The first being you really haven’t given yourself the time or space to deep dive into your desires. After years of navigating Covid and all that has shifted in the design industry, and frankly the frantic pace you’ve been moving at, the energy in your business has been very much survival mode. And so many of you that I’m talking to are lacking inspiration.
It’s like you’ve been running a race that is never ending. And it’s just been heads down and you’ve forgotten to take a moment and look up and assess if you’re heading where you want to end up. It’s possible that maybe you’ve achieved the vision or your desires you’ve previously had, and are now ready to set new goals but haven’t done that, or don’t have an idea of what could be even beyond that.
Or you might be really running on default and there might be parts of your business that are ready for reassessment or possibly even parts that you no longer want. What you desired in the past might no longer be what you desire in the present.
The other thing I see vague or kind of these lackluster desires is that when you declare your vision you are always, I would guarantee it, going to experience some level of doubt. And this could be your doubt or the doubt of others. And that’s because the desire for more will always bring up the excitement of possibility, and then the doubt surrounding if it’s actually possible.
And here’s the thing, humans do not like doubt. We really crave certainty and comfort. So when doubt arises, it’s easy to turn away from your desires and return to the comfort of what is familiar, even if you don’t love the current familiar state. And, of course, if we always turn away from those desires, we won’t pursue them.
The other doubt that might come up can be presented in the form of doubt expressed by others about your desires. Just like you, others want to have that certainty in the outcome, don’t want to have failures and often when others are expressing doubt for us, they are simply trying to protect us from making a mistake.
Everyone, to some extent, is afraid of failure and disappointment. And when you go after your true desires, you really do sign up for the possibility of failure and disappointment. The desire and the doubt and the possibility of it not working out go hand in hand. And this is really why your brain offers up doubt. It’s trying to prevent you from taking action that could potentially lead to an undesired outcome or difficult challenges that it doesn’t want to have to navigate.
And it’s often the same when we share our desires with others. They don’t want us to have that experience and so they express their doubt. And unfortunately, we often then take that doubt on as our own. And I really do believe that most often these doubts are really coming from a genuine place when others share them with us.
And it’s also important to remember that this is where you need to filter out other people’s opinions if they’re not welcome or you don’t respect their opinion, or they have no experience in the area you’d like an opinion on. Or sometimes just not giving them the opportunity to share their opinion.
So now that you know that desires and doubts go hand in hand, what do you do so doubt doesn’t keep you stuck? Because doubt is the thing that’s going to prevent you from taking action on your desires. And as always, the first step is going to be awareness.
I want you to just notice that there is tension between these two emotions. It’s going to be there and that can be okay. I love the phrase, “of course.” It’s so much understanding for myself, right? And so just even going, “Of course I have doubt, I’m trying to do something I’ve never done before. Of course this makes perfect sense.”
And it really does. You don’t have evidence to lean on at this point, you have a desire without the results. And this is really where self-confidence comes into play. In episode 23 I talk about the two types of confidence. Self-confidence being a trust in yourself, versus basing your confidence on evidence.
And what happens then when you develop that self-confidence is that instead of using the presence of doubt as a truth teller, that you aren’t capable, that it is possible, you’re able to just acknowledge that it is simply part of the process to have doubt when you’re going after a big desire.
The next thing I want you to do is have the courage to give your desires a chance to be heard. They really deserve it. Those internal nudges are there for a reason. This is critical because when you discount your desires, they’re going to stop showing up. They’re going to become muted. You essentially start telling yourself that you’re not listening, because you aren’t. You’re dismissing yourself.
As a creative business owner, we need that desire to stoke those flames of possibility and excitement to keep us moving because entrepreneurship is hard. What I want you to know is that by giving your desires a chance to be heard, you no longer are the one who’s continually saying no to yourself. You start switching to a more powerful question of why not you?
I love to ask myself, what is the purpose of this doubt? What is it here to tell me? Is it simply my brain trying to protect me? And if so I can greet that with kindness and gentleness. Or maybe the doubt is there to tell me that there really is something I need to look into. Or it’s a sign that I’m looking to someone else’s vision to inform my own and it’s not really what I want.
When you get curious about the doubt, you really change the relationship to it. And it doesn’t have to be this intimidating thing that puts a big roadblock between you and your desires.
The last thing I want to share is that you get to decide what you want to believe about yourself and your desires ahead of time. And I encourage you to take this and run with it. Your business as it is today is based on a series of decisions you’ve made in the past and your belief in what’s possible for you up until this point.
So making new decisions and taking new actions to fulfill your desires is going to offer up many opportunities for your brain to present nonsense and not be your cheerleader. And you’re going to encounter real life obstacles too, that you have to overcome.
And you can either make these obstacles and failures along the way mean that you can’t have what you want. Or you can make it mean that you’re getting closer. You’re learning, you’re growing, and you’re not going to give up. I say decide this ahead of time because when you’re in the thick of it, when you’re expanding and growing it can be hard to have perspective.
And so decide ahead of time, what you want to believe about yourself, and what’s possible for you so that it can ground you in times of doubt. What I really want you to take away from this episode is the importance of giving your desires space to not only be heard, but to be clarified. And also recognize that doubt does not have to be a problem and it is certainly not evidence that you’re not capable or the sentences that your brain is offering up are true.
When you allow yourself to get clear on what you really want and have the tools to navigate the doubt that is just part of bringing your desires to life, you will be unstoppable.
I’ve got a question that I want you to play with this week. And the question is, what are the desires you’re noticing? And where are you letting doubt prevent you from taking action? Because when you make your desires known, you are faced with a choice. Are you going to be more loyal to your desires or to your doubts? And I want to help you be more loyal to your desires as a design business owner.
I think this is something really unique about the way that I coach, we focus on business, your strategies, your actions, of course. And I support you with the very real need to develop emotional resilience and confidence as a business owner. You are a whole person and when you’re supported holistically with a combination of business and life coaching, as I do with my clients, the transformation impacts everything you do in all of the spaces you show up.
If you want to get clear on your vision for what’s next in your business, make a plan to achieve those goals and be supported by me, remember to head to the show notes to schedule your consultation and learn about private coaching. Vision really gets neglected when you’re in the weeds of running your design business. But holding a vision for your future so that you can actually pursue your desires is one of the most important roles you have as a CEO. Your business, your clients, you, your family, everyone needs and benefits from your desires being pursued.
That’s what I have for you today. In the next episode I’m going to be talking about a concept called arrival fallacy. This is a concept relevant to what we talked about today and achieving goals. I can’t wait to dive into that, as always. Until then, I’m wishing you a beautiful week and I’ll talk to you in the next episode, and hopefully my voice will be back to normal.
Have you ever wished I could be your coach? If so, keep listening. For a limited time when you leave a rating and review for the podcast you’ll be entered to win a one on one coaching session with me. I can answer your questions and coach you on your unique challenges.
All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of your podcast app, tap the five stars and leave a review. Tell me your favorite episode, why you look forward to listening every week, or why another designer needs to check out the show. It won’t take long, and as a thank you for leaving a rating and review you’ll have the opportunity to win a private coaching session with me.
Just click the link in the show notes to submit your review so I know how to get in touch. I can’t wait to select a winner and it might be you. I’ll talk to you next week.
Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.DesiCreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you’re ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you’re in the right place. I’m Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let’s go.
Hello designer, welcome back to the podcast. I’m so glad to be here with you. It’s been a while since I actually recorded because I got ahead. We went on a fantastic family vacation and this is my first episode recording back since we were out in Washington state.
And I will just say here that something weird is going on with my sinuses and I don’t know what it is. But I sound kind of weird but I can’t not record this for you because there are deadlines. So I appreciate your patience with my voice. I should be back to normal, fingers crossed, by the next time I record.
But anyways, we had this fantastic time in Washington state. And we started out in Seattle, which was really fun. We did a bunch of touristy things like going to Pikes Market where we got a bunch of fresh produce which was really fun. We went to the space needle and we did that in just about two days and then we went on to Olympic National Park, which was definitely our favorite part of our trip.
We like the city but we love to get out and explore and hike. And we did so many different hikes while we were on this trip and we saw all these cool beaches with driftwood. And then some of the places we were hiking were rainforest-y and so the trees were just covered and dripping in moss and it looked like something out of Dr. Seuss.
It was really fantastic. I’ve wanted to go out there for a long time and I’m really glad we made it happen and the kids have just been talking nonstop about what a great trip it was and all the things we did. So I’d call that a success.
And this is the day back, I’ve got a totally clear day, which I call runway. And I’m so thankful to my past self for planning zero meetings for that first day back so that I can ease in and get my priorities for the week done on this day before I dive into calls later this week.
We’re also headed into the last bit of summer break, so we’re doing all that fall prep for back to school. I’m sure you are all, if you have kids, in the same position. And also really looking forward to the routine of school. We have had such a fun summer and I’m also really looking forward to some consistent schedules.
Today we’re going to be talking about desires and doubts. And I thought today would be the perfect day to talk about the desires you have for your life and business, specifically desires that are beyond where you’re at now. And also how to work through the doubts that come up with wanting to bring a bigger vision to life.
And when I’m talking about desires, these can definitely be big desires like growing a team or hitting a large financial target. But I also want you to consider that these desires can be small, short-term desires you fulfill that are part of a greater vision, like getting to yoga once a week. Or having time to get out of the office and learn about new products. Or even just taking a break for lunch away from your desk.
The reason I thought this would be such a great time to talk about this topic is because what I just did, which is taking a week off without it being stressful or feeling like I would have to pay for the trip before or after in super long days and high levels of stress, was a desire of mine years ago. That was really why I started my own residential practice, was because I did not see a way to do part-time in commercial design, which is where I started out in my career.
And I really wanted to have that flexibility to take time away and be with my family. And now that’s my reality. And I definitely did not think that was possible long ago when I was stuck in the cycle of overworking and feeling burned out and exhausted and always on in that design business that I started because, of course, just because you have a business doesn’t mean freedom and flexibility automatically comes with it. You have to create that for yourself very intentionally and proactively.
And now that I’m in that place I can see that of course I had doubts and it was far from the reality when I originally had that desire, and I’m also so glad I didn’t let that stop me.
Before we dive in, I want to remind you all to submit a review and rating for the podcast. This is how other people can find the podcast and let them know, hey, this is something you need to listen to. And to encourage you to do this, which is so helpful to me, I’m doing a giveaway right now.
And so all you have to do is leave that rating and review and then you’ll click the link in the show notes to fill out a super quick form to tell me that you left the review and you’re going to be entered to win a private coaching session with me. I’m going to be doing this over the next couple of months, there will be several winners. So grab that link, submit your review and make sure you’re entered.
All right, let’s talk about desires and doubts. So one of the first things I do with my private clients is guide them to create their business and life vision. This is how we bring those desires to light so that we can take a look at them. I do want to note that I’ve opened up a couple of spots for private coaching clients to start with me this fall.
And if you want to learn more about private coaching and what happens in that, visit the link in the show notes or you can go to DesiCreswell.com and click on the coaching tab. On the page you can read all about the regularly scheduled calls we have to focus exclusively on you and your business. The online support that you receive for when things come up between calls where you can get coaching and feedback. How you’ll get access to all of my tools and resources.
This is really the most high-touch way that we can work together. So if you’re a designer who is ready to invest in your personal and professional growth and really set yourself up to succeed in hitting your goals by the end of the year, and into the next year, this is for you. The link is in the show notes.
And when you head to that page on my website, you’ll also be able to schedule a complimentary consultation. You’re going to answer a few questions to help you get clear on what you want to achieve through coaching. We’ll meet over Zoom to discuss your specific strategies and mindset work that would help you accomplish those goals. And then if it feels like a fit on both ends, we can discuss what it would be like to work together.
As I was saying, when you start as a private client, I guide you through this process that I’ve developed to create that business and life vision. And I do this for many reasons, including what we’re going to talk about today. One of those being giving you the space to get clarity on your desires for what’s next and use this process to support you to set goals and make plans to achieve those goals. And then have me coach you through the obstacles along the way.
Often, there’s strategies that you do need to implement or learn when you are up-leveling in some way. But often one of the biggest obstacles you’ll encounter is yourself and the doubt that comes up when you get clear on what you really want. It is so important to be clear on your desires and the vision you have for the future ahead because the way that we use this document is that it becomes really a filter that you can refer to again and again, and I of course refer to.
It becomes a filter for how you invest your time, energy and attention. It makes it really clear on what’s a yes and what’s a no or a not right now when you’re presented with opportunities, when you’re making decisions in your business. It brings so much clarity. And I talk more about this business and life vision in episode one if you want to hear more about that.
Often, the clients I work with have some ideas of what they want. They have a bigger vision for their life and business. They know that there is more that they want to achieve and accomplish. And at the same time, the vision is not always very clear or specific enough to set goals from and start taking that deliberate action that’s moving you in a very clear direction.
And sometimes there’s also the instance of not having really acknowledged or owned that vision. And I think that happens for a few reasons, and it can be, of course, a combination of these things as well.
The first being you really haven’t given yourself the time or space to deep dive into your desires. After years of navigating Covid and all that has shifted in the design industry, and frankly the frantic pace you’ve been moving at, the energy in your business has been very much survival mode. And so many of you that I’m talking to are lacking inspiration.
It’s like you’ve been running a race that is never ending. And it’s just been heads down and you’ve forgotten to take a moment and look up and assess if you’re heading where you want to end up. It’s possible that maybe you’ve achieved the vision or your desires you’ve previously had, and are now ready to set new goals but haven’t done that, or don’t have an idea of what could be even beyond that.
Or you might be really running on default and there might be parts of your business that are ready for reassessment or possibly even parts that you no longer want. What you desired in the past might no longer be what you desire in the present.
The other thing I see vague or kind of these lackluster desires is that when you declare your vision you are always, I would guarantee it, going to experience some level of doubt. And this could be your doubt or the doubt of others. And that’s because the desire for more will always bring up the excitement of possibility, and then the doubt surrounding if it’s actually possible.
And here’s the thing, humans do not like doubt. We really crave certainty and comfort. So when doubt arises, it’s easy to turn away from your desires and return to the comfort of what is familiar, even if you don’t love the current familiar state. And, of course, if we always turn away from those desires, we won’t pursue them.
The other doubt that might come up can be presented in the form of doubt expressed by others about your desires. Just like you, others want to have that certainty in the outcome, don’t want to have failures and often when others are expressing doubt for us, they are simply trying to protect us from making a mistake.
Everyone, to some extent, is afraid of failure and disappointment. And when you go after your true desires, you really do sign up for the possibility of failure and disappointment. The desire and the doubt and the possibility of it not working out go hand in hand. And this is really why your brain offers up doubt. It’s trying to prevent you from taking action that could potentially lead to an undesired outcome or difficult challenges that it doesn’t want to have to navigate.
And it’s often the same when we share our desires with others. They don’t want us to have that experience and so they express their doubt. And unfortunately, we often then take that doubt on as our own. And I really do believe that most often these doubts are really coming from a genuine place when others share them with us.
And it’s also important to remember that this is where you need to filter out other people’s opinions if they’re not welcome or you don’t respect their opinion, or they have no experience in the area you’d like an opinion on. Or sometimes just not giving them the opportunity to share their opinion.
So now that you know that desires and doubts go hand in hand, what do you do so doubt doesn’t keep you stuck? Because doubt is the thing that’s going to prevent you from taking action on your desires. And as always, the first step is going to be awareness.
I want you to just notice that there is tension between these two emotions. It’s going to be there and that can be okay. I love the phrase, “of course.” It’s so much understanding for myself, right? And so just even going, “Of course I have doubt, I’m trying to do something I’ve never done before. Of course this makes perfect sense.”
And it really does. You don’t have evidence to lean on at this point, you have a desire without the results. And this is really where self-confidence comes into play. In episode 23 I talk about the two types of confidence. Self-confidence being a trust in yourself, versus basing your confidence on evidence.
And what happens then when you develop that self-confidence is that instead of using the presence of doubt as a truth teller, that you aren’t capable, that it is possible, you’re able to just acknowledge that it is simply part of the process to have doubt when you’re going after a big desire.
The next thing I want you to do is have the courage to give your desires a chance to be heard. They really deserve it. Those internal nudges are there for a reason. This is critical because when you discount your desires, they’re going to stop showing up. They’re going to become muted. You essentially start telling yourself that you’re not listening, because you aren’t. You’re dismissing yourself.
As a creative business owner, we need that desire to stoke those flames of possibility and excitement to keep us moving because entrepreneurship is hard. What I want you to know is that by giving your desires a chance to be heard, you no longer are the one who’s continually saying no to yourself. You start switching to a more powerful question of why not you?
I love to ask myself, what is the purpose of this doubt? What is it here to tell me? Is it simply my brain trying to protect me? And if so I can greet that with kindness and gentleness. Or maybe the doubt is there to tell me that there really is something I need to look into. Or it’s a sign that I’m looking to someone else’s vision to inform my own and it’s not really what I want.
When you get curious about the doubt, you really change the relationship to it. And it doesn’t have to be this intimidating thing that puts a big roadblock between you and your desires.
The last thing I want to share is that you get to decide what you want to believe about yourself and your desires ahead of time. And I encourage you to take this and run with it. Your business as it is today is based on a series of decisions you’ve made in the past and your belief in what’s possible for you up until this point.
So making new decisions and taking new actions to fulfill your desires is going to offer up many opportunities for your brain to present nonsense and not be your cheerleader. And you’re going to encounter real life obstacles too, that you have to overcome.
And you can either make these obstacles and failures along the way mean that you can’t have what you want. Or you can make it mean that you’re getting closer. You’re learning, you’re growing, and you’re not going to give up. I say decide this ahead of time because when you’re in the thick of it, when you’re expanding and growing it can be hard to have perspective.
And so decide ahead of time, what you want to believe about yourself, and what’s possible for you so that it can ground you in times of doubt. What I really want you to take away from this episode is the importance of giving your desires space to not only be heard, but to be clarified. And also recognize that doubt does not have to be a problem and it is certainly not evidence that you’re not capable or the sentences that your brain is offering up are true.
When you allow yourself to get clear on what you really want and have the tools to navigate the doubt that is just part of bringing your desires to life, you will be unstoppable.
I’ve got a question that I want you to play with this week. And the question is, what are the desires you’re noticing? And where are you letting doubt prevent you from taking action? Because when you make your desires known, you are faced with a choice. Are you going to be more loyal to your desires or to your doubts? And I want to help you be more loyal to your desires as a design business owner.
I think this is something really unique about the way that I coach, we focus on business, your strategies, your actions, of course. And I support you with the very real need to develop emotional resilience and confidence as a business owner. You are a whole person and when you’re supported holistically with a combination of business and life coaching, as I do with my clients, the transformation impacts everything you do in all of the spaces you show up.
If you want to get clear on your vision for what’s next in your business, make a plan to achieve those goals and be supported by me, remember to head to the show notes to schedule your consultation and learn about private coaching. Vision really gets neglected when you’re in the weeds of running your design business. But holding a vision for your future so that you can actually pursue your desires is one of the most important roles you have as a CEO. Your business, your clients, you, your family, everyone needs and benefits from your desires being pursued.
That’s what I have for you today. In the next episode I’m going to be talking about a concept called arrival fallacy. This is a concept relevant to what we talked about today and achieving goals. I can’t wait to dive into that, as always. Until then, I’m wishing you a beautiful week and I’ll talk to you in the next episode, and hopefully my voice will be back to normal.
Have you ever wished I could be your coach? If so, keep listening. For a limited time when you leave a rating and review for the podcast you’ll be entered to win a one on one coaching session with me. I can answer your questions and coach you on your unique challenges.
All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of your podcast app, tap the five stars and leave a review. Tell me your favorite episode, why you look forward to listening every week, or why another designer needs to check out the show. It won’t take long, and as a thank you for leaving a rating and review you’ll have the opportunity to win a private coaching session with me.
Just click the link in the show notes to submit your review so I know how to get in touch. I can’t wait to select a winner and it might be you. I’ll talk to you next week.
Thanks for joining me for this week’s episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit www.DesiCreswell.com. And if you’re ready to take what you’ve learned on the podcast to the next level, I would love for you to check out my signature group coaching program, Out of Overwhelm.
Enjoy the Show?
Don’t miss an episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.