66: Sitting on the Edge of Your Comfort Zone with Suitcase Entrepreneur Natalie Sisson
Have you ever felt like you want to just get up and go? I’m not talking about taking a five-minute break from work… I’m talking travel to the other side of the world, go.
Our guest today on The Bold Life did just that. Natalie Sisson, best-selling author and entrepreneur, built a business while traveling the world and living out of her suitcase. Today Natalie will be sharing stories of building the mental strength to push past her physical limits (including taking a dragon boat across the English channel!) and letting us in on her top strategies to help you stay on track with your career goals.
Who Is Natalie Sisson?
Natalie is a New Zealand based entrepreneur, three-time best-selling author, speaker, host of the Untapped podcast, and handstand lover. After ditching a successful corporate career and co-founding a technology company, Natalie decided to monetize her six month old blog called “The Suitcase Entrepreneur” into an online education platform in 2010.
Her mission? To help 1000 women earn $10,000 per month and contribute at least 1% of their revenue to causes they care about. Natalie is passionate about helping women tap into their potential and get paid to be themselves.
Being Curious About What Makes You Tick
If there’s something that Natalie has always known for sure about herself, it’s that she’s curious. When she first started out in the tech world, she was curious why there weren’t more female co-founders of tech companies, like herself. At every event and conference she went to she couldn’t help but notice that she was way outnumbered by men.
Feeling frustrated by being the minority, Natalie turned to interviewing high profile and successful women. She was curious how they got to where they were, what mindset they adopted, what tools they used, and what path they took.
It was her genuine curiosity about learning what makes successful people tick that led to the creation of her podcast and business. Natalie calls this being a “leading learner” – to show people what’s possible when you take things one step at a time!
How Do You Get Expert Status?
Think of something you’re really good at. Would you consider yourself an expert? Why not?
A lot of people (especially women) shy away from calling themselves experts – but why is this?
Natalie explains that calling yourself an expert can be intimidating!
Not only being an expert, but learning from an expert can be intimidating too! It’s much easier to learn from someone who’s a couple steps in front of you, rather than learning from the all-knowing guru.
There’s something big to learn when someone instead teaches you “this is how I screwed up, and this is how you can avoid it”.
Here’s a tip on what to avoid: Don’t get to the point where you’re so good at something that you forget what it took to get there! Remembering all your struggles and successes can be a great way to help others learn from your experiences. !
The Joy Of Not Knowing Everything
Have you ever watched a baby try to learn how to crawl or how to walk? You watch them fail over, and over, and over again. But each time they make one extra step they get so excited and they continue to try. I remember being glad Allison had diapers on when she was learning to walk – at least she had some padding for her tush with all those falls!
But as adults we’re scared to fail. Where did we lose the joy of learning?
Get comfortable with not getting it right! It’s only a failure if you didn’t learn something.
Right On The Edge Of Your Comfort Zone
Natalie says this is the area of growth! If you sit in your comfort zone for too long it becomes harder to learn something new and challenge yourself.
On the edge of your comfort zone is a scary place, but it also means you’re right on the edge of your potential!
Thinking you need to instantly be an expert can be impossibly scary for your brain! Your brain will quickly say “no thank you, I’m comfy right here in my zone”.
Natalie recommends sitting right on the edge. Learn something new, but don’t put the pressure on yourself to know it all right away! It’s good to feel a little scared, but make sure you’re not completely overwhelming yourself at the same time!
You’re Not A Crow – Avoid the Shiny Objects!
Getting lost in the “what if’s” can tank your confidence when you’re trying something new. .
Natalie explains if you’re finding that your confidence is failing, look internally to remind yourself of how and why you’re still so awesome. Here are some ideas:
Create a folder of feel-good things that people have said about you to remind you how much you’re appreciated
Have a support network of people who rally around you to remind you that you’re not alone on your bad days
Remind yourself of your “why” and focus on the one thing that you can do to make the biggest difference
Cut out all the extra opportunities that can be fun, but stressful, so you can come back to the single biggest action that will help you today.
The key: Stay rational, keep yourself grounded, and make the most of the moment that you have.
How Strong Is Your Mental Muscle?
Not only has Natalie broken a world record by taking a dragon boat across the English channel, but she’s also finished triathlons and won fitness competitions!
Mental strategies apply much farther than just sport, Natalie explains.
Every step counts towards the big event. And at the same time you’re increasing your mental toughness. Then all that’s left is to trust in yourself on the big day, knowing that you’ve gained the mental habits of
Patience
Determination
Team work
Motivation
Leadership
Communication
One of my favourite things to watch is marathons. Mostly the end of marathons. The marathon runners look tired, but they’re still going strong and pushing to the end. Then, almost as soon as they cross the finish line, they collapse and have to be literally carried off.
I love this part of a marathon because it shows the mental strength that carried them at the very end. It was their mental perseverance, grit, and determination that kept them physically putting one foot in front of the other.
This says a lot about how much we can push our brain and body, but also being able to tell yourself that you can absolutely do whatever you set your mind too.
Intentions Versus Goals
Natalie explains how goals are an objective, like wanting to lose so many pounds in 30 days. That can work, Natalie says, but the reason so many people don’t achieve goals like this is because they’re missing intention.
Intention is a way of behaving and the habits that you build that can make your goal a possibility.
It also helps to be realistic with your goals, not ridiculous! Don’t set yourself up for a hard lesson in failure. If you continue to fail at your goals then you’re not going to want to set them anymore.
Goals can be a lot of work. When you track your steps backwards, you can rest easy knowing that every phase is accounted for, and all that’s left to do is your daily work towards your finish line. It’s so much easier when you have a daily emphasis towards it.
Instead of having a huge and scary goal, break it down into days, weeks, and months so that you have a plan of working towards your goal daily. Start with one small action today so that by the time your deadline comes around, you’re confident that you’re going to smash your goal.
Natalie’s Book Recommendation
A new question that I’m asking guests on The Bold Life is “if I was your best friend, what book would you recommend that I read, fiction or non-fiction?
Natalie’s recommendation? The Alchemist.
It’s a book that’s stuck with Natalie because of its impact. It speaks to the idea that while on the search for happiness you can go all around the world and find that what you were looking for was right there within you. “It’s one of those books that anybody can consume and go deep and introspective and take the lesson out of it” Natalie says.
It’s a simple, beautiful story of how powerful we are as people, and how simple the solution can be to happiness.
Show Highlights
[02:03] - Welcome to the show, Natalie! Natalie shares her background and curiosity.
[05:30] - A common problem in confidence is not considering yourself as an expert, but not everyone needs an expert.
[07:24] - Why as women, we tend to want to be over prepared for new things. We lose sight of being okay with failure.
[09:45] - What happens when we sit in our comfort zone for too long?
[11:01] - The edge of your comfort zone is the perfect balance between being comfortable and pushing yourself.
[12:27] - Natalie suggests some strategies you can do when your confidence takes a dive.
[16:10] - Natalie compares the start and growth of a business to her experiences in team sports.
[21:35] - What is the difference between intention and a goal?
[23:19] - Natalie breaks down setting up attainable goals and a tool she has used successfully.
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Links | Resources
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Email support@drnicolebyers.com
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The Suitcase Entrepreneur Home Page
Natalie Sisson Business Coach Home Page