5.2.22

Jon Gold, M.A | Go 4 Gold

“The System & Toolbox”

This past Wednesday I spoke in front of a group of students (and future entrepreneurs) about having a side-hustle. I was noticing some of those pre-performance nerves before speaking, and as a performance coach and counselor, I questioned those nerves. I wondered why I still get nervous when I teach and work with others in manage their own nerves. “If I coach people through this, shouldn’t I be able to do this!?” I teach others to manage physiological and psychological reactions to situations and environments, this was an opportunity for me to practice what I preach and preach what I practice.  It dawned on me that I was getting caught up in uncertainty, resisting the natural human experience of discomfort, and was distracted (I call this getting hooked or pulled away).

So that’s what I did: I named it (hooked), I normalized the fact that I too am human (emotions and worried thoughts), I took a deep breath (bringing myself back to the room), and then I engaged with my audience. I spoke about my side hustle and the work that I do with Go4Gold consulting, and more specifically, I spoke about my process and the stages of readiness in developing the business to what it is today. While discussing the stages of readiness  (bouncing around pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance), I discovered that the consistent obstacle preventing me from making that initial leap towards action was self-doubt (the same thing that was coming up prior to my presentation).

For a while I doubted my competence, I doubted my value, I doubted people paying for my services, and I was comparing myself to others in the field. I compared my day 1 to other people’s day 10, 100, 1000, and beyond. I got so preoccupied with things outside of myself that I struggled to dial into what I could do to prepare for action. I was judging myself and holding myself back. The only way I could act was to connect back to the present moment where I had more pull and control. From this, I was driven to become more introspective and understanding of myself. Meditation, breathing exercises, mantras, self-talk, reframing and restructuring, perspective taking, values development, and more. These skills became my system. With time and focused attention, I developed a management toolbox to break through mental blocks all while discovering what is most important to me. Overall, I became more self-aware, flexible, and compassionate. With this growth and maturation, I knew I was ready to dive in and dig into the business world. I got started.

The same process I used to start my business is what I drew upon to get settled and get started Wednesday evening in front of the students. I relied on my system and trusted my tools. The work I do is always evolving and always a work in progress… a process if you will.

I look forward to working with you so that we can develop your process, and your system to manage and take meaningful sustainable action

Be well,

Jon Gold

About the Author: https://go4gold.net/about/

For more of Jon’s blogs and articles please visit https://go4gold.net/blog/

For more information and/or to work with Jon on your mental game: https://go4gold.net