Mindset plays a huge part in running your own business. It’s a struggle at times when you’re hit with slow times or money isn’t flowing easily. That’s why we need to continually bring our focus back to embracing the CEO mindset, rather than the employee mindset.
I had this lightbulb moment recently when I made a big purchase for my business. It wasn’t a take-a-week-to-decide kind of purchase, but an enough-to-take-your-breath-away kind of purchase 😆 It wasn’t as if I didn’t have the cashflow or time available, it was that I doubted that my business and I were worth the investment.
But if I brought this type of scarcity mindset to everything in my business, and in particular my content marketing, it would get me nowhere! So, let’s take a moment to pause to see what a CEO Mindset and an Employee Mindset looks like and which one we should be focusing on to grow our business.
Employee Mindset
Many of us start our own businesses to give us flexibility to be with our families. Usually, we’ve had a corporate role or a full-time job, had our first baby and decided that going back to that ‘office’ environment isn’t what we see as our future.
So, let’s think back to those hours spent making money for a business that we often had no emotional connection to.
Typically, we were task oriented and ‘doing’. Our performance was measured on transactional and financial outcomes. How many ‘things’ we made, how much we sold, how many phone calls we made or documents processed. It’s all about getting through the to-do list.
When you’re an employee you’re usually in reactive mode. Always on the back foot, trying to catch up and meet the quotas and deadlines. If you do have breathing space, it’s usually filled with more tasks to accomplish.
The end result? It’s about getting through the day, with no real thought for the future or connection to a greater vision.
CEO Mindset
On the other hand, let’s think about what’s in the job description of a CEO. They are a leader, a visionary and a decision maker.
They invest time and money into the bigger picture, thinking about where the business will be one, five and ten years down the track. All the while they are driving the strategy that will help the business reach these milestones.
A CEO Mindset is about being revenue focused (because, without those sales there’d be nothing) and proactive especially when they realise that something isn’t quite going to plan. They are willing to invest money in people and resources that will make everyone’s life easier.
Above all someone with a CEO Mindset is inspiring and someone you want to hang out with.
How to embrace the CEO Mindset
So, looking at these two mindsets, it’s pretty obvious which one we should have for our business, but which one we usually bring to our business. So how can we embrace the CEO Mindset and apply it to our Content Marketing?
1. Set time aside
The number one reason I hear why people don’t do any sort of planning for their business is due to a lack of time. But if we plan to plan, and make it non-negotiable, all sorts of things will shift in your mindset.
After talking and thinking about it for a long time, I recently scheduled a CEO Day into my calendar once a month. It’s solely for my business, so I don’t even answer client emails. The difference it’s made to my outlook and confidence is quite amazing and I wish I’d done it sooner. It doesn’t have to be a whole day, it could be a couple of hours or even once a quarter.
Plan to cover some of the items below for your content marketing, use the time to plan your content themes for the next month around any launches or ideas you have, revisit your ideal client avatar or even spend time journaling what you want your business to look like and how your content will help you get there.
2. Review and plan
It’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been. It’s so important to celebrate your wins, dive into what worked well and what didn’t and then set a clear vision of where you’re heading with your content. Download my Content Review and Planning Guide if you’d like help with this on your next CEO Day.
3. Set 90-day goals and objectives
Once you’ve reviewed and planned for where you’re going, you need to set yourself the goals to get there. If you need some help setting your objectives, then this blog will help. Clear goals and objectives create focus and focus creates action. So, use your CEO Day to set out exactly what you want your content to achieve.
4. Know your numbers
Now you know your goals and objectives, how are you travelling? Track your objectives so you can easily identify what’s working and what needs tweaking. This goes not just for your content marketing related objectives, but those across your entire business. Bring that visionary CEO Mindset to set your business up for growth.
Whilst switching on your CEO Mindset can be difficult, especially if you feel as though you’re constantly stuck in the doing, it’s all about making the time and space. It’s about saying no to the other things in your life and prioritising your CEO Mindset to set your business up for the best success.
If you’d like help taking the first step towards embracing the CEO Mindset, then I’d love to invite you to join me for a new workshop Find Your CEO Flow. Eliza Ludwig from The Flow Society will set you on the right path with her workshop on Pricing for Profit and I’ll be helping you create Impactful Content Marketing. You’ll then step out in your new CEO confidence with 2 beautiful headshots from Anni and Matthew at Fancy Boy Photography.
Gift yourself the time and space to find your flow and channel that CEO Mindset and your future self will thank you for it.
