CRACKING THE WEALTH CODE: THE ESSENTIAL SKILL YOU MUST ACQUIRE TO MASTER THE GAME OF BUSINESS

If You Can Master This, You’re Ahead Of 95% Of Entrepreneurs…

Ah, the pursuit of riches! Entrepreneurs everywhere are buzzing with strategies, tactics, and a gazillion ideas on how to make it rain dollar bills. Yet amidst this intense pursuit, they often overlook a hidden gem: the art of emotional mastery. It’s the key that unlocks a world of consistent action, laser-focused decision-making, and the ultimate manifestation of prosperity in business.

In this article, we will dive deep into the transformative power of mastering emotional regulation, revealing how it reshapes your relationship with money and becomes the catalyst for enduring success in the competitive realm of entrepreneurship. We’ll embark on a quest to discover how controlling your emotions can transform your bank balance and turn you into a cash-creation Jedi.

Let’s dive right in.

THE TRUE COST OF SUCCESS

On this rollercoaster journey of entrepreneurship, we know that success comes at the cost of consistency. Consistency in our marketing, sales efforts, and our commitment to mastery over time cultivates a thriving and successful business. However, to maintain consistency, we must become masters of our emotional states and regulate our nervous systems.

Otherwise, we may be inclined to show up only when we feel good or motivated, which is the equivalent of wanting a smokin’ hot body while only going to the gym when we feel like it. Consistency is essential, and if we allow our emotions to dictate how we show up in our businesses, we miss out on a significant amount of potential success. We need to learn to show up consistently without relying solely on fleeting emotions – because the reality is you’re not always going to feel like showing up and doing the work. (Netflix calling anyone?)

In the past, I operated with a mindset of force, pushing myself through uncomfortable emotions and the tasks that I knew would grow my business. While discipline is undoubtedly necessary, I have come to realize that discipline doesn’t have to feel like unpleasant forcing. Once I understood that I had the power to change my state and shift from highly reactive and un-resourceful emotional states (where I’d much rather be spending the day glued to the couch than making meaningful progress on my business) to more resourceful ones where I was able to focus and get stuff done, everything changed. This realization has become one of the key pillars my success in a variety of different domains from growing my business to excelling at my sports (which are ballroom dancing and horse-riding in case anyone’s interested.)

Want to get ahead of 90% of the competition? Learn to master your emotions and shift your state at will, so you are able show up to do the work regardless of your initial mood or emotional state.

UNLOCK YOUR FULL POTENTIAL: EMOTION REGULATION SECRETS EVERY ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD KNOW

In this article, I would like to share three emotional practices that you can use to regulate your emotions and nervous system. These practices will empower you to shift from un-resourceful states to resourceful ones, building the consistency required for success on your entrepreneurial journey.

THE POWER OF THE BREATH

The first practice I recommend is breathwork. Breathwork has been an integral part of my entrepreneurial journey. The breath possesses the innate power to rapidly change our state. When we are calm, excited, relaxed, or awake, our breath naturally adapts accordingly. We can reverse-engineer these breathing patterns to shift gears from one state to another.

Breathwork is one of my favorite practices for nervous system regulation because it is inherently accessible to every single human being. If you’re alive, you can breathe. There’s no need to take a trip to the Amazon and ‘find yourself’ before you can feel good or shift gears into a resourceful state where you’re able to get things done. You can shift your state wherever you are just by harnessing the power of the breath.

For example, if you’re experiencing stress, overwhelm, and an over-activated nervous system, you have the power to downregulate your nervous system and come back into alignment with calm and focus, enabling you to take your next action steps.

Feeling stressed and contracted today? Try this simple technique:

1. Find a comfortable position, whether seated or lying down.
2. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes – that’s all you need.
3. Close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath. Take a slow, deep inhale through your nose, allowing your belly to expand as you fill your lungs with air. Then, exhale fully through your mouth, releasing any tension or stress with each breath out.
4. As you continue this rhythmic breathing, focus your awareness on the sensation of your breath entering and leaving your body.
5. Visualize inhaling positivity, clarity, and confidence, and exhaling any negativity, doubt, or tension. With each breath, imagine yourself filling up with energy and vitality, aligning your mind and body with a sense of calmness and focus.

You can incorporate breathwork into your daily routine by setting aside a few minutes in the morning or whenever you need to recalibrate your state.

I personally leverage different breathwork exercises depending on how I need to shift gears.

If I’m feeling overly tired or unmotivated I’ll use breathwork that’s geared towards waking my body up and boosting my focus.

If I’m feeling too hyper-active to sit still and write this article (like today) I’ll use my breath to find a sense of calm and focus so I can get into momentum.

SHAKE IT OFF

The second practice is a shaking meditation. This practice involves grounding yourself and intentionally shaking your body to release tension and excess energy. We accumulate stress, tension, and even store past trauma in our physical bodies, and this stored energy can contribute to emotional reactivity.

If you’re curious about understanding more about how the body holds emotion, I recommend exploring the work of Bessel van der Kolk.

Shaking meditation offers a powerful way to release this tension, soothe the nervous system, and shift into a more resourceful state.

This is one of my go-to practices when I’m dealing with circumstances in my world that are out of my control and that elicit strong emotional responses in my body. 

This is a particularly good exercise to use when you’re feeling overwhelmed and frustrated – but it can really help to shift any un-resourceful state.

Give it a try:

1. Find a quiet space where you can move freely.
2. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and slightly bend your knees.
3. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to center yourself.
4. Start shaking your body from your feet all the way up to your head. Allow your limbs to shake and your muscles to loosen up. Feel the vibrations moving through your body, releasing any stagnant energy or tension.
5. As you shake, imagine that you are letting go of any stress, worries, or negative emotions. Embrace the physical sensation of the shaking and surrender to the process. You can shake for a few minutes or as long as it feels comfortable. When you’re ready, gradually slow down the shaking and come to a still standing position.
6. After shaking meditation, take a moment to observe how your body feels. Notice any sensations of lightness, relaxation, or increased clarity. This practice can be particularly beneficial during moments of high stress or overwhelm, helping you release pent-up energy and restore balance to your nervous system.

Feeling like a weirdo? Pop on some upbeat music and shake it like you just don’t care.

THINK, FEEL, DISCERN

The third practice is what I call the thinking-feeling-knowing exercise. This exercise invites us to explore the connections between our thoughts, emotions, and inner knowing. Often, we operate on autopilot, driven by thoughts and emotions without truly understanding their origins or aligning them with our deepest truth. The thinking-feeling-knowing exercise allows us to pause and reflect, so we’re not making decisions based solely on emotion or rational thought without considering them in the larger context of what we desire for our lives.

1) Thinking

Start by finding a quiet space where you can sit comfortably. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to center yourself. Begin by asking yourself: “What am I thinking?”. Observing your thoughts without judgment or attachment.  Simply let them pass through your mind like clouds in the sky. Notice any recurring thoughts or patterns that arise. When you feel complete, move on to the next step.

2) Feeling

Next, shift your attention to your emotional state. Without analyzing or trying to change anything, allow yourself to feel whatever emotions are present in this moment. Acknowledge your emotions and give them space to be without judgment. Pay attention to how these emotions express themselves physically in your body. Are you feeling grief? Do you feel it in your chest and lungs or a numbness in your fingertips? How does it feel? Be mindful of falling into the trap of trying to logic your way through your emotions. Focus on feeling them instead.

3) Knowing

Finally, bring your focus to your inner knowing, that deep sense of intuition and wisdom within you. Connect with that gut feeling beyond the mental and emotional noise. It may manifest as a subtle feeling, a sense of clarity, or a quiet inner voice. Ask yourself, “What do I know to be true?” and allow yourself to receive higher guidance.

By practicing this exercise regularly, you cultivate self-awareness and empower yourself to make decisions from a place of clarity and inner truth, rather than being solely driven by thoughts or emotions. It helps you align your actions with your authentic self and make choices that support your highest growth potential.

Here’s an example of how this practice could look if you’re experiencing a major up level in business (P.S. this is based on one of my past journal entries mid-launch so you can visualize how the exercise can support you in real-time action)

Thinking:

“I need to write launch emails today”

“There are messages I need to answer”

“I need to take food out of the freezer for the dogs”

“What if nobody buys?”

“Do I have the capacity to see that many more clients?”

“Remember that one time in primary school when you tried to launch a fund-raiser and only one person supported you? What if your launch goes like that too?” 

“Maybe I should postpone the launch”

(**There were a lot more thoughts I allowed myself to process until I felt complete – but I’ll keep it short for the sake of this letter. This section took me a few minutes to observe.)

Feeling:

“I feel anxious today. I can feel my heart racing. My palms are sweaty. My chest is tight. I am breathing in a shallow way.”

Knowing:

“My body is telling me that this launch is not a good idea. I’m worried it will fail – but I know that this launch is going to move me closer to my goals (and help me support so many people) despite how I’m feeling now.”

Can you see how things can change when we choose to honor our thoughts and emotions without letting them dictate our final actions?

Can you see that if I had chosen to act on my thoughts and feelings without considering them in the broader context of growth in my life I could have easily played small and stayed right in my comfort zone while missing out on a whole lot of impact and prosperity?

WHERE TO USE THESE PRACTICES:

I recommend setting up your schedule to include some nervous system-regulating activities as non-negotiable wellness tasks. For example, move your body regularly, spend time in nature, etc.

You can choose to practice any of the exercises shared here today on a regular basis – even daily – or you could simply choose to use them like tools in your emotional regulation toolbox when you’re feeling a little funky and need to get back into the zone so you can focus on taking action towards your goals, even if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

IN SUMMARY

These three practices have supported me time and time again to shift my state and find myself back in a resourceful state where I was able to take action. We can’t control our external circumstances, but we can control how we react to them. If you only show up when you feel good, you’ll miss massive opportunities for growth. If you can master your emotions, you’ve mastered a key element for consistency – remembering that consistency in action creates success.

JOURNALING & REFLECTION

Here are some of my favorite reflection questions from today’s topic:

* How often do I let my emotions dictate my actions in my entrepreneurial journey? Do I find myself making decisions driven by intense emotions, or do I strive for emotional regulation and conscious decision-making?

* Have I recognized the importance of consistency in achieving success in my business? Do I rely solely on fleeting emotions to determine how I show up, or am I committed to showing up consistently regardless of my initial mood or emotional state?

* How familiar am I with nervous system regulation practices? Have I incorporated any of these practices into my routine to regulate my emotions and nervous system? If not, how can I start integrating them into my daily life?

* Do I often operate on autopilot, driven by thoughts and emotions without understanding their origins or aligning them with my deepest truth? How can I cultivate more self-awareness and make decisions from a place of clarity and inner truth rather than being solely driven by thoughts or emotions?

* Am I willing to commit to practicing emotional regulation regularly, either through the suggested exercises or other techniques that work for me? Can I recognize the value of mastering my emotions as a key element for consistency and ultimately, success in my entrepreneurial journey?