In the world of business, we often focus on external factors such as business strategies, marketing trends, product development and customer service. However, the success of any business also massively relies on an individual’s Inner Game – the mindset, beliefs, and emotions that shape that person’s actions and decisions.
Understanding and harnessing your Inner Game can significantly impact the trajectory of your business. I know from personal experience, having dealt with so much adversity in my life and business, that I would not have the success and life that I do, without the work I have done on my Inner Game over the last 20 years.
From being born with a disability, to getting out of $250,000 of bad debt to overcoming chronic health problems, it has honestly been the Inner Game work I have done that has allowed me to move forward in the face of insurmountable challenges.
It doesn’t mean that my life or business is perfect. It isn’t. It doesn’t mean that I don’t experience regular challenges, because I do. But I do have a great life and business today. One that is very blessed and filled with so much joy, fulfilment and love. I recognise and appreciate that my life could be in a very different, harder place if I didn’t make the choices I made and done the work I have done.
I have people ask me regularly what Inner Game means and what it is all about. Below are the various aspects of your inner game and how they relate to the success of your business.
What is your Inner Game?
Your ‘Inner Game’ is everything in your internal world that is influencing
& helping to create your external world.
Your inner game influences what shows up the world around you. Many people talk about mindset, but to me that doesn’t encompass everything that is important when it comes to your inner world and what really creates the external results that you desire. That’s why I use Inner Game instead of mindset.
Below I detail all the elements that make up our Inner Game. Also I call it a ‘game’ because life can be too darn serious! I like to take the heaviness out of the inner work by looking at it as some what of a game. That way it is easier to do the work, and make the changes without getting caught up in a heavy space.
Most of our Inner Game is simply programming and conditioning from our life experiences and so it is about shining a light on those programs, without judgement, and then choosing whether we want to keep running them or change them.
Here’s the different areas Inner Game is made up of:
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Thoughts, Stories and Language
The way we think and the stories we tell ourselves greatly influence our actions and outcomes. The words we use matter. Whether it is words we say to ourselves, or the words we use when talking to others. They have a direct influence on what shows up in our life. Disempowering thoughts and self-limiting stories can hold us back and make us stuck, while empowering and supportive thoughts and words can drive us towards our own success.
By consciously choosing our language, changing our stories, and reframing our thoughts, we can cultivate a more productive and confident mindset to create the results we truly want in our business.
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Beliefs, Values and Drivers
Our deeply held beliefs and values shape our decision-making processes, as well as our behaviours. They act as the guiding principles that drive our actions and determine the direction we take in every aspect of our lives. Our drivers determine what is going to motivate us and move ourselves forward.
The majority of our beliefs, values and drivers are unconscious. So, we are not even aware of them! This can be a problem because they are also a large part of the results that do or do not show up in our lives.
By becoming aware of and aligning our beliefs, values and drivers with our business goals, we create a strong foundation for creating meaningful success in our business. It is a bit like taking the hand brake off in a car, suddenly we can get to where we want to go much more easily.
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Feelings and Emotions
Feelings and emotions play a vital role in our daily lives and business interactions. Understanding, processing and managing our emotions allows us to respond effectively to setbacks, handle conflicts, and make sound decisions.
Emotions are also our “super attractors.” Emotions are magnetic, and so they determine, even more so than our thoughts, what gets attracted to us and what gets repelled.
That’s why if you are thinking positive, but you aren’t “feeling” those words, the outcome you want is unlikely to come to you.
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Attitude and Perspective
Your attitude and perspective are built through your beliefs, but to me it is important to list these separately to demonstrate the different aspects that our beliefs shape. Attitude and perspective can determine your approach to challenges and opportunities. An expansive and flexible attitude along with an optimistic outlook can fuel perseverance, creativity and resilience. This can enable you to overcome obstacles and bounce back from failures quickly. By maintaining a growth outlook and adopting an expanded perspective, you can see setbacks as learning experiences and turn adversity into opportunities leading you to more successes in your business.
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Intentions and Goals
Setting clear intentions and goals is crucial for driving business success. It is hard to create something meaningful for your business when you don’t know what you want or where you are heading. What kind of intentions and goals you set is going to help to influence the outcome that shows up.
By aligning your goals and intentions in a meaningful way, you provide a sense of direction and motivation for yourself and your team. Intentions and goals act as a roadmap, helping you make strategic decisions and prioritise your efforts towards achieving desired outcomes.
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Habits and Behaviours
Our daily habits and behaviours shape our long-term success. Consistent action, discipline, and self-awareness are important for business growth. By cultivating productive habits both in our personal life and business, we can align our behaviours with the goals that we have set. Thus, we create a strong foundation of success upon which our business can thrive.
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Patterns
Patterns are the recurring behaviours and responses that get played out again and again in our lives. By identifying and understanding our patterns, we can leverage the supportive ones and change the ones that are destructive. Recognising the destructive patterns we are playing out in our business, allows us to make conscious choices, adapt our strategies, and refine our approaches to achieve better outcomes and break the patterns.
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Unique Gifts & Strengths
Everyone possesses unique gifts, talents, and strengths. It can be easy for us to downplay or dismiss our own greatness within, making our lives harder. However, our strengths can help us to move our business forward with more ease and flow. It also means that when we know our limits and weaknesses, we can delegate and outsource tasks that don’t suit us, to get things working faster.
When we own and leverage these qualities, we can better understand the value and gifts that we bring to our business. Which leads to us communicating the value our business has in an easier and natural way.
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Physical body and intuition
Our physical body is a powerful tool. It gives us feedback in terms of what is going on in our inner world that we don’t always see. For example, if we are overly stressed or anxious, then physical symptoms can start appearing to let us know that changes need to be made. With the physical symptoms that show up, along with our intuition, we be guided and can make better decisions that are going to benefit our own wellbeing AND our businesses success.
There is no point in building a business if your health and wellbeing are getting destroyed in the process. So, this aspect of your Inner Game is an important one to pay attention to when creating the results that you desire.
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Connection to Universal Energy
Recognising the interconnectedness of all things and tapping into the universal energy can have profound effects on our business. By cultivating a sense of purpose, practicing gratitude, and connecting with universal guidance, you can attract opportunities, forge meaningful connections, and create a meaningful impact in the world.
Can you see how this break down encompasses much more than just “mindset”. If we only focus on the mindset aspect then our results can fall very short because it is only focusing on one small area of our inner world.
This is why I am so passionate about teaching and coaching people in shifting their Inner Game. It creates real, long lasting and sustainable change for our business and life.
I have studied and implemented Inner Game for the last 20 years, and it has had such a deep impact on my life. It has lead me to have more success, joy and fulfilment in my life and business.
If you know you are getting in your own way to creating the results that you want in your business then I can absolutely help you with this.
Check out my upcoming online masterclass Unlock Your Business Blocks or visit our Work With Us page to see other ways I can help your business thrive.
