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EP359 What’s Keeping Your Business Smaller Than It Should Be · Profit With A Plan

• 0:04
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: What if the thing that was holding your business back is not your strategy, your team, or even your sales process? It may be the belief that's driving the decision you make before you even realize it. That belief can show up when pressure hits.
• 0:21
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: When you start adding more because you think it's not working.
• 0:25
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: When you avoid a decision, or even when a prospect tells you, I can't afford it.
• 0:31
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: On this episode of Profit with a Plan podcast, we're talking about how business owners can catch that reaction before it becomes an expensive decision. Recognize the belief underneath the behavior, and understand what prospects may be really telling them.
• 0:46
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Because sometimes the business does not need more. The owner may need to see exactly what's shaping their next move.
• 0:56
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Hey entrepreneurs, are you working too hard for too little profit? Welcome to Profit with a Plan podcast.
• 1:02
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: The podcast where we help business owners grow smarter, increase profitability, and build a company that's worth more, whether you plan to keep it or sell it.
• 1:10
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I'm Marcia Riner, business growth strategist and the Profit Booster behind Infinite PROfit. Each week, I bring practical strategies, expert insights, and real-world steps to help you grow revenue, improve margins, and build a stronger business.
• 1:25
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Today's episode is brought to you by Infinite Profit, where strategy turns into profitable growth.
• 1:32
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But before we jump in, I have something special for you.
• 1:35
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: If your revenue has plateaued, or your marketing is not producing the return you think it should, maybe it's time to get your free Profit Booster Growth Map. In just a few minutes, it'll help you identify where to bring in more qualified leads, and where those profit leaks may be costing you more money.
• 1:53
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Go get yours after the show at ProfitBooster.biz. And by the way, there's no sales call required. Now, let's get into today's conversation.
• 2:03
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: My guest today is the… is Mark Hildebrand, and he is the founder of Modern Leadership Coaching, an Amazon International best-selling author and a 20-year LAPD sergeant. Wow.
• 2:16
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: After two decades of leading under pressure, Mark went through a major personal transformation that helped him change the way he thought about discipline, decision making, and leadership.
• 2:28
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: What he discovered was that the lasting change usually did not start with trying harder. It started with identifying the belief underneath the behavior.
• 2:38
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Today, Mark works with coaches, business owners, and business owners to recognize the patterns shaping their decision, especially when under pressure, emotion, or uncertainty starts driving their response. Mark, welcome to Profit with a Plan Podcast! I'm excited for today.
• 2:54
  Marc Hildebrand: Marcia, I am too. I am excited, let's go!
• 2:58
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Yay, yay! Okay, so first of all, LAPD Sergeant, wow, into this? How did that transformation happen?
• 3:06
  Marc Hildebrand: That is a great question. So, I think that transformation happened, because honestly, I was struggling as an LAPD sergeant. I know we were actually talking, before we, started recording here about, the, the…
• 3:18
  Marc Hildebrand: I guess it's kind of like the desire to continue to want to work and give everything you can to make the real impact that you want. And, I found that, giving it all to my police career gave me less for my family, also gave me less for my health.
• 3:32
  Marc Hildebrand: And so I went through this challenging time of being 100 pounds overweight, giving it all to my career, and thinking that the only solution to all of my problems was to work harder, which… this is where this was all born from. It was born from my own pain of going through that.
• 3:47
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Wow, okay. Well, I understand, based on my study of you, you had a physical transformation as well, right?
• 3:54
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, I lost 100 pounds.
• 3:56
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Oh, I just… I lost 100 pounds! Like, it's nothing! Oh my goodness, that's a person!
• 4:02
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, it is. Thank you for that.
• 4:04
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Yeah, wow. Okay, so that… was that part of your… your discovery, or was it the re… the… the results of your discovery?
• 4:13
  Marc Hildebrand: That's a great question. So, that is actually what led me to kind of, like, what I do now, which is about being able to effectively lead myself through the most difficult times. It's very easy to lead ourselves when everything's going well, which is about, I don't know, 5% of the time. But 95% of the time, when the whirlwind of life is happening to us, that's when we kind of, like, resort to a lot of our old behavior, but also, like, our old beliefs are kind of, like, running the show.
• 4:38
  Marc Hildebrand: And so, for me, being 100 pounds overweight was because I was telling myself a whole bunch of stories. I had a whole bunch of beliefs of why I couldn't do it. Whether it was the time.
• 4:47
  Marc Hildebrand: Energy, here's a good one. I believe there was just… I was big-boned. This is just how my family is. It's, like, God put me on this planet this way, there's nothing that I can do about it.
• 4:56
  Marc Hildebrand: And can you kind of see, like, I put myself in a box, and when you're trapped in the box, you can't think your way out of the box, and so it was this constant thing of, like.
• 5:03
  Marc Hildebrand: there's nothing that's gonna be able to change me. And any time that I tried to change it, it would be, like, a couple weeks, maybe a month of doing something. I'd lose a little bit of weight, I would stall, I'd try to force myself or discipline myself, but it was really, like, what was going on under the surface that was running my behavior, and I didn't know what that was, which is why I was stuck.
• 5:22
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Wow, that's insane. I think we've all used that, I'm big-boned.
• 5:26
  Marc Hildebrand: Oh, yeah.
• 5:27
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Hack me up, I love the way you think. Okay, so… so let's transition this idea, and congratulations on the weight loss, that is incredible, and… and I thoroughly applaud you, because it is… it is difficult.
• 5:40
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: It was, I'm sure it was not an easy thing, as some people think, you know? Us girls always think, oh, the guys can lose weight anyway, either, you know, easily, all they gotta do is think about it, and they can do it. We've got to go through all this stuff, right?
• 5:53
  Marc Hildebrand: I usually do have it easier, to be honest. It is a little bit harder for women, I'm just gonna throw it out there.
• 5:57
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Yeah, so, well, thank you for confirming my struggle, so yeah, well, cool. All right, Mark, so let's start with the business owners, right? They're capable, experienced, and they're doing a lot of the right things.
• 6:09
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But what business, seems to have, that they similarly have, that they want, right? Or, let me see if I can get my mouth to work. The businesses are trying to get what they want.
• 6:20
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But some of the things that are kind of getting in the way may not necessarily be what we think they are. What's really getting in the way when we want something like that weight loss transition, or, like, maybe we want to reach a certain financial goal, or launch a new product? What's getting in our way?
• 6:38
  Marc Hildebrand: Yeah, such a great question. And a lot of times what I found is, is we tend to live in the past, meaning, like, we had certain beliefs or certain thoughts that help us get to where we are today. And, the one thing that, like, I want to call out, too, is those thoughts, those beliefs, even the actions that you're taking, were important to get you to where you are.
• 6:58
  Marc Hildebrand: But if you want to get somewhere different, we need to adopt some different habits, some different actions, but also some different ways of thinking.
• 7:05
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And…
• 7:06
  Marc Hildebrand: What I find is, like, our brain is very smart, very sophisticated. It will tell you all of the stories in the world
• 7:13
  Marc Hildebrand: So that you don't have to change. Because it really loves the way that you are right now. It feels like, if we can just stay here, we're gonna be able to be safe and protected, and if I step out to that next thing that is way uncomfortable, I don't know if I'm gonna be safe when I do that.
• 7:28
  Marc Hildebrand: Like, our brain will tell us these things, we call them stories, because they're stories that they tell us. It really wants us to buy into where we are now, and not do anything different. And it's these hidden ones, the ones we don't even know there, those are the ones that actually keep us stuck.
• 7:42
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Okay, so give me an example of a story that might be going on in a typical business owner's mind that's keeping them stuck at maybe a certain plateau.
• 7:53
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, okay, first off, you asked the best questions.
• 7:57
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Oh, thank you!
• 7:59
  Marc Hildebrand: So, let's say a business owner is, like, let's say trying to increase their profit. They're trying to increase, like, some of the income. And when they open up their phone, they look at their bank account, and there's a certain number that's in their bank account. Or they look at their P&L, and there's a certain number that's there.
• 8:14
  Marc Hildebrand: Generally, what'll happen is their brain will interpret that information to mean something about them.
• 8:20
  Marc Hildebrand: Sometimes it's like, well, maybe this means that I'm not cut out for this. What's wrong with me? What's the problem with this? Why am I not being able to succeed? And it'll start throwing out all of these different stories. Now, for me, when I got past those stories, my initial stories would be like, I guess this means I have to work harder.
• 8:39
  Marc Hildebrand: Because if I make this amount with this amount of work, then I have to work harder to get to this amount.
• 8:44
  Marc Hildebrand: And the thing is, is that also traps me in the box. That's this version of being big-boned. And when you believe that's the case, you start throwing more action at things.
• 8:53
  Marc Hildebrand: And you know this, because you're the expert at it. More action does not necessarily solve the problem, it tends to create more. And now, we're actually not actually solving the right problem, we're trying to solve a different problem, because we never had that problem in the first place.
• 9:06
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Right, the complexity gets going, right? When we… when we hit certain levels, and… and things… more things get in the way. It's that can of worms, right? You open up one, and it's like, you know, 10 other things pop up in the way, and we start chasing. Interesting that we tell ourselves… what I caught from that was that we often beat ourselves up, right? Oh, we're not cut out for this. Oh, maybe it's this.
• 9:31
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Or, oh, you know, yeah, you're not very good at sales. Or, oh, you're… maybe the product isn't what the business owner wants. We start getting into, you know, our own negative thinking. Is that common?
• 9:43
  Marc Hildebrand: It is, it is, and I do want to call something out, too, because everybody responds a little different, and this is… the reason why we need people like you, Marcia, is because we want… we need to have somebody who understands how these thoughts work, but also we need to find somebody who maybe has achieved the thing that we want to achieve, so that not just because we want to learn the actions to take, but we want to learn some of the ways that they think.
• 10:06
  Marc Hildebrand: So there are some times where people, like, they use the toxic positivity thing on it. They're like, you know what? It's okay, I just gotta keep, I'll be here a year from now, and I know that something eventually will break through. And then 3, 4, 5, 6 years from now, they're still taking the same action, they're still thinking the same thoughts, and they're wondering, like, why things aren't moving. So yeah, there's a certain amount of people who, like, beat themselves up.
• 10:29
  Marc Hildebrand: There's certain people who just, like, try to, like,
• 10:32
  Marc Hildebrand: make this thing look prettier, right? Putting, like, sugar on top, and it's really not helpful, and it doesn't actually solve any of the problems. But when we can find somebody who maybe is a few steps ahead of us, who can go, you know what? Here's maybe some actions that we can think on, but let me ask you some powerful questions, or give you some ideas of how we could think differently about this scenario. And that's when, like, generative-based questions and things like that start to happen.
• 10:56
  Marc Hildebrand: Where you start coming up with brand new ideas, and you will also see that when you come up with brand new ideas, and the person's bought into those ideas, they're excited about it, and their energy just levels up.
• 11:06
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I love that. Thank you. You know, I feel… I've always considered myself as an action person, right? I want to get tactics and strategies and actionable items that take you to the result.
• 11:19
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But then when I'm listening to you, I'm thinking, I guess I am asking them questions in the way to change their thinking and their belief, but not anywhere at the level that you would bring someone up.
• 11:30
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Whereas I'm more like that, let's… let's keep swinging the hammer and finding different ways, versus let's take a step back and think about where… how we got here and what needs to happen. Because that common, that common quote is, what got you here is not going to get you there, right? Yes. Kind of story is something that we have to shift.
• 11:50
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, 100%. And what you just shared right there, especially when it comes to, like, you leaning into, like, tactics and whatnot, like, in order… the reason why you understand those tactics is because you think about the scenario differently. So, let me just give you an example. So, somebody who's trying to grow their business, right? And maybe they want to get to a point where they grow it so much that they can sell it.
• 12:09
  Marc Hildebrand: If somebody doesn't understand what is required to actually sell a business, they might accidentally build a business that is required, that they're required all the time to run the business. And they get to the end, and they're like.
• 12:20
  Marc Hildebrand: what's going on? I can't sell my business, it's not worth anything. And you, because you understand that, are like, well, it's because, like, when you build a business, you don't want to build yourself tied to it, because then, you know, you cannot sell the business in that respect. Or you can, but you'll be working for it, right?
• 12:34
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So it's like.
• 12:35
  Marc Hildebrand: when you are in an environment, you would maybe show up and say, well, here's some things to think about, right? But you had to experience that and get to where you are right now to be able to learn how to process that, so that you could share that with your clients. And your clients would never catch that. They wouldn't, because they're not at that level. They haven't thought about that. They've gotten to where they are, which is a beautiful level, but in order to get to the next one, you have to step that up.
• 12:58
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Mmm, great point. And it's so helpful to have that second set of eyes, ears, thoughts.
• 13:04
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: You know, just like… just like when we're helping our friends move, right? It's just a second set of hands, right? These are so valuable to have in your business and life, and I think people think, I can just keep doing it on myself. I got here, I did it, I can keep going forward.
• 13:18
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Alright, so let's, let's talk this a little bit about these kind of decisions that business owners are making when under pressure.
• 13:28
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So, when that pressure hits, whether it's kind of, you know, my cash flow is not flowing nice enough, or, you know, I hit that wall, or I'm just not able to close right now because they're not accepting my offers, so what is that… how do we change that thinking, that belief system, so that they can start to get past that and move forward?
• 13:50
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, another great question. So, a lot of times, what our beliefs are run by is, they're automatic beliefs, automatic thoughts. They just pop into our head. They're typically, like, focused on what's broken, wrong, or missing. So you'll find yourself struggling with, like, when a situation like that happens, going down the path of… of where your brain typically goes. Which I know you said, like, sometimes it's beating yourself up, sometimes it's looking at this in terms of, like, scarcity.
• 14:15
  Marc Hildebrand: of, like, how do I work myself out of this problem? You typically will resort to that, because your brain has gone through that so many different times.
• 14:22
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: It's a habit.
• 14:23
  Marc Hildebrand: It is 100% a habit. And so one of the ways that I help my clients is I really get them good at being able to ask what we call a generative question. What a generative question is kind of like an open-ended question that helps them create new possibilities, right? And so the first time that I actually heard this was when I was in a mastermind, and I was getting coached. And it was at the time I was working as a LAPD sergeant, I was growing my coaching business, and I was trying to be a better father.
• 14:48
  Marc Hildebrand: And I thought the question was, like, okay.
• 14:51
  Marc Hildebrand: How do I grow a better business so that I can spend more time at home and be a better father?
• 14:55
  Marc Hildebrand: And one of the guys stopped me, and he said, that's actually not a good question. The better question would be.
• 15:02
  Marc Hildebrand: How can you grow your business in a way that actually makes you a better father right now?
• 15:07
  Marc Hildebrand: How can the fact that you actually lean into becoming a better father would make you a better business owner right now?
• 15:14
  Marc Hildebrand: And when, when he asked me that question.
• 15:17
  Marc Hildebrand: all of these lights came off in my mind. I didn't have the answer, to be honest, at the moment, but I'm like, I love how that felt.
• 15:25
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Mr.
• 15:25
  Marc Hildebrand: And it was crazy, because after he planted that seed, I found ways of incorporating my family. Now I get to, like, lead in an organization called the Dad Edge, which is, like, this huge organization trying to become a better father and a better husband. And that would have never happened if he hadn't asked me that question. He didn't have the answers, but he had a powerful question, and he was willing to kind of challenge me on it, to say, that's not really a good question, here's a different one.
• 15:49
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: wow, I felt the same thing you did when the question got shifted that way. I went, oh…
• 15:56
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Okay, and I think that's the power, right? It is. Is that we as consultants and coaches and, you know, I'm the tactical side, you're the thought side, the belief side, it's the same thing. When someone can ask you that question that gets you to stop what you're doing.
• 16:14
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Stop that repetitive, you know,
• 16:18
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: guinea pig circle, or whatever the rat on the spinning wheel.
• 16:23
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And go, wow, I need to think about this just differently, and what could it have shaped? And just that explanation gave me the idea of, hey, this could shape a lot more.
• 16:35
  Marc Hildebrand: It could. It could. Yeah, when it comes to coaching, there's this quote, it says that the questions you ask are fateful, meaning that from the moment you ask that question.
• 16:47
  Marc Hildebrand: it changes the person's life forever. Because when you ask yourself a question like that, like, there's ideas that would never have surfaced if you hadn't asked that question. I mean, that's really the power of what we do as coaches, and I say we, because you do focus on mindset, you do focus on the way that you think.
• 17:06
  Marc Hildebrand: you're… you… you do share a lot of the tactics around it, but you, like I said, you developed all of the things because you know how to think at the level that you're at. And when you… so when you get into rooms like that, and here's one thing I want people to grab onto, when you get into rooms like that, don't just grab onto what somebody tells you what to do.
• 17:23
  Marc Hildebrand: I would focus on that, and write it down. But more importantly, I want you to think about how does Marcia think?
• 17:31
  Marc Hildebrand: It's kind of like the whole idea of, like, do you want to get a fish, or do you want to learn how to fish?
• 17:35
  Marc Hildebrand: I want to learn how to fish. And so when I get into these rooms, even from the first time that I jumped on a call with you, I'm like, I love this, and I love the tactics that she shares, but I really love how she thinks. I want to lean into that. And by doing that, you develop much deeper than the tactics, and the tactics always seem to work themselves out.
• 17:52
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: You know, you're right. You're right a thousand percent, when we do this, and when I coach my clients, and the same thing, like, I've got a… I've got an interesting client that I'm working with right now that she's rebranding herself.
• 18:03
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And, I'm like, okay, well, you know, let me ask you the question, you know, I think I know the answer already, but I want to bring her along to get there. And it keeps changing and shifting, but she's opening her mind up for the possibilities that could come in, and how she wants to live the rest of her life going forward on these new changes that she's making. So it's really… it's really interesting how
• 18:27
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Once you open the window, right, and you can start to see things differently, it really does show up in many, many different areas. Wow.
• 18:38
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Wow, okay, so now that I'm thinking differently, right, and I've got my mindset, and my eyes are open, and my ears are open, and I'm thinking to open to the possibilities.
• 18:49
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: how do we move into those, right? Because again, that protective nature of the mind is going to step back in and go, no, you can't. Stay here. Stay in this little box.
• 18:58
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, yes, two things I'm gonna share here. First off, having to do with, like, thinking about what you want and why. Some people will talk about this as the why. When we're here, when we're growing a business, we're trying to make an impact, trying to make a profit, actually slowing down and thinking about
• 19:15
  Marc Hildebrand: Why is this so important and meaningful to me?
• 19:17
  Marc Hildebrand: What am I doing for people that is, like, literally going to help impact and change their lives forever? And when you can reframe it away from you, and frame it on, this is the impact that I want to make in the world, a different level of energy comes over you, and so many of the other things that would prevent you from actually taking that action seem to dissipate. Because it's no longer about you.
• 19:38
  Marc Hildebrand: A lot of times, our brain will make it a be about us, and that's the protection mechanism, but when we think about the other person.
• 19:43
  Marc Hildebrand: Game on. My coach used to say, the fire turns on on the eyeballs, and there is no stopping that person. So that would be the first thing. The second thing is the environment that you're in.
• 19:55
  Marc Hildebrand: the environment that you're in. So the reason why people sign up and become, you become their coach, and then it's repeated, getting to speak to you, getting to have conversations, is because they know that if they ever get to the point where they feel a little stuck, they feel a little down, they feel like their brain is starting to take over, they think they've ran out of ideas, they have another session coming up with you, and they jump on, and they're like, this is where I'm at. And you're like, let's think about this. You ask them powerful questions, you get to point out differences.
• 20:20
  Marc Hildebrand: things. You get to process this with them, and they leave the call on fire, ready to go.
• 20:25
  Marc Hildebrand: So the first one is more of, like, thinking about your why. The second one is including people in that mission. Make sure the environment that you're in pulls you forward, and just be very intentional with who you hang out with.
• 20:35
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Well, I think that's great, and that's, I really think that's great, but I have a feeling, you know, being… coming from the tactical action side, you know, I need stuff, right? Okay, so what's the next step I'm gonna take from that? I leave feeling good.
• 20:51
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Right? And I feel like I'm on fire, but I still need to have that next step and move.
• 20:58
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So, how does one really not only just shape the way they're feeling when they're in that moment? Because, you know, Tony Robbins is perfect with this.
• 21:08
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: You know, you leave his 7-hour trainings, and you're on fire, right? And you're jumping up and down, and high-fiving everybody, walking on fire, and then you get back home and you go, oh, and you settle back in.
• 21:21
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Right? So how does one keep that kind of energy going forward, and actually take actionable steps to make the…
• 21:31
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: cement in so you're doing the right things, right? You're making that extra call, or you're making a better call.
• 21:38
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Or you're… you're developing a different plan, or a different step, not necessarily telling myself, again, that one more, one more, one more thing, right?
• 21:49
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, yes, 100%. So, Marcia, this is why you're so good at what you do, because it's not just about how you feel in the moment, because how you feel can be something that's fleeting, which means an hour from now, a day from now, a week from now, you forget what you talked about, and you're not taking any action. So, I term this as the difference between what we call, like, life coaching, like, really being able to see what's going on in your mind, and performance-based coaching.
• 22:13
  Marc Hildebrand: And performance-based coaching is gonna talk about, at the end of the call, we're gonna say, okay, what are you gonna commit to doing as a result of this call? What are you gonna do?
• 22:20
  Marc Hildebrand: So, accountability. Being able to see, okay, what are the actions that you're gonna take?
• 22:24
  Marc Hildebrand: we want to actually check in, and I want to see what are the results that you get from that. And as we go, like, we still have this level of accountability, but we also have, like, commitments that they're making. And when we're testing these commitments, they actually, like you said, get to see our eyes on it, too. They're like, you know what, I took these actions, these are the results that I got. And then we can actually help them through that process, especially because usually we're a few steps ahead of them.
• 22:47
  Marc Hildebrand: So now we get to be an active part of that process. I also do think that, like, the consistent environment that we're in kind of propels people forward, but it's not just a, because I've seen coaches do this, every time they get on a call, they're like, so what do you want to talk about today?
• 23:01
  Marc Hildebrand: So what do you want to talk about today? And you never revisit the thing that you're like, you committed to doing this, you said you're going to do this, tell me what happened. Oh, it didn't happen? Why didn't it happen? What do you think is getting in your way? And through this process, you start to remove the blocks from them, you start to see them start taking action, and then you can be there with them to elevate their actions to higher level actions. So that's what I do, and I'm sure it's what you do, too.
• 23:25
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I love that. As soon as you said that, I started experiencing another client of mine that's going through the same thing. You know, she… I can't get her to get moving forward, right? She keeps staying in this spiral that she's in. She thinks she's moving forward, but she's not. And it's like, I can see a couple steps ahead of her if she just took those two steps.
• 23:46
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: everything would open up and she'd be able to move forward, right? And it's very hard to get…
• 23:52
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Like, I can't want their business more than they want their business, right? And it's just, it's so hard for me to not go, I can see it, it's just around the corner to go.
• 24:03
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes.
• 24:03
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Yeah, move! Go take!
• 24:04
  Marc Hildebrand: 100%.
• 24:05
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: It's like, it's crazy, but yeah, I so appreciate this conversation, because it's really… it's really opening my eyes on it. If it's opening my eyes, I know the listeners are leaning in going.
• 24:17
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Yeah!
• 24:19
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And… and it's not… it's not, oh, you need coaching, or you need a coach. No, you need to think differently and get out of the, as you kept saying, the box you're in, and move to the next box, if there's a next box, or move to the open field and see what is possible.
• 24:39
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And then lean into that possibility. I mean, is that the feeling and the energy and the direction that you're asking us to take?
• 24:47
  Marc Hildebrand: 100%, you hit the nail on the head.
• 24:50
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Wow, wow, okay. So, where… where we get in, though, is… is just that example of that client that I have that… that…
• 24:58
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: you know, keeps telling herself and refuses to move forward. What are some of the solid exercises she can take that actually will get her out of that funk and into the next move, around that corner, right? Which is, like, it's there, it's so there, I can see it.
• 25:16
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, yes. So, so I'm gonna give you two different ideas. The first idea has to do with just asking her, what do you think is getting in the way? Because sometimes, and by the way, whatever her answer is, it's usually service level, it's actually not the real thing.
• 25:29
  Marc Hildebrand: Of course not. It's a few levels underneath that. Because when we can see what's getting in her way, we can see, like, some of the things that we could, that we can lean into to really help her, kind of like, get out of those beliefs, those stuck beliefs, and out of the box, being trapped out of the box.
• 25:44
  Marc Hildebrand: But another way, because I know you love tactics, another way, is what I like to call of, like, putting together a simple test.
• 25:52
  Marc Hildebrand: So let's say somebody's like, I want to be able to get in front of more audiences. And you're like, okay, and they're like, I'm going to, try to be on Ed Milet's podcast. And so they have this idea of doing something really big. It feels to them totally, like, unsafe of like, I'm gonna be on that show.
• 26:11
  Marc Hildebrand: And so you're having a conversation, and to them, by the way, they might not look… feel like Ed Milet to you, but to them, it might feel like doing something Ed Milet-style, is thinking about what is a small action I can ask them to take that is a safer test to just test out this idea that maybe they can't do it?
• 26:28
  Marc Hildebrand: So I would say, what if you got on a smaller podcast? What if you just went live? What if you just sent an email? What if you just did a short or a reel, and you just tested it to see what came out about it?
• 26:39
  Marc Hildebrand: And what you're doing is you're taking this thing which may seem, no matter where somebody is, there's always somebody who thinks that that thing is way huge, and you ask them, what's a safer way we can do this? Because when you make it a little safer, their brain isn't as loud.
• 26:51
  Marc Hildebrand: When it feels totally unsafe, it's super loud. So if you give them that little test, a lot of times you'll come back, and they'll come back and they'll be like, that actually wasn't bad. Actually, I got results from that. Actually, and I know, as a coach, you're like, yes, but if we did that other one, it's gonna be amazing. But you're helping them with that, like, next step, and it really helps them get out of their own way.
• 27:10
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I really appreciate that, because I'm a huge fan of small, incremental changes, right? You know, people think that growth, their business growth, has to be this, you know, market domination and Amazon-like adventure, and I'm saying, no, what if you just increase by 1%, right? Small incremental changes make huge steps, right?
• 27:33
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: when you're filling the bottle up with sand, you know, versus rocks, you're doing so much more. So I love this mentality of taking
• 27:42
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: You know, that safer test of taking a smaller step that actually gets the momentum to happen.
• 27:49
  Marc Hildebrand: It does.
• 27:50
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: This is so, so, so good. Okay, so then, how do we keep that momentum happening once they take that first step and they've gotten out of the scary, you know, kind of uncomfortableness and did that? How do we get them to take the second and third step?
• 28:04
  Marc Hildebrand: That's a great question. So, based off of them taking that step, what I like to do is, first off, I like to reflect. I like to acknowledge and appreciate for what it is that they did. I like to pull, like, what did you get from this? What did you gain from this experience? What would it look like in terms of, like, taking this to the next level? What would be the next step that, like, this information has taught us that is the next thing for you to do, that is a little bit bigger than this? And then I would help guide them into that next
• 28:29
  Marc Hildebrand: process. A lot of times when people do this, they do something, they throw something out there, they do a test. They don't sit down and reflect. They don't sit back and like, what did this teach me?
• 28:38
  Marc Hildebrand: You know what? I had this, like, thought that maybe I wasn't good enough.
• 28:42
  Marc Hildebrand: But, like, this did… this proved the opposite.
• 28:44
  Marc Hildebrand: I did this! People responded to it. They said, wow, this was amazing. Maybe that thought that I had is not true.
• 28:51
  Marc Hildebrand: And what it does is it starts to sliver away at some of the beliefs that we have, that maybe we've had for a long time, and it's like, well, maybe that isn't 100% true. And so it allows them to take that next step, and that next step, and that next step. And of course, when you're there helping them along the way, it also does help boost their confidence as they go. But it's like, being able to slow down and reflect on that is really, really important.
• 29:12
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Wow, yes!
• 29:14
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Because then you reinforce what just happened, and say to yourself, okay, I am good enough, right? I won that sale, or I did that video, or I made that uncomfortable call, and fired somebody, or whatever the thing is that you need to do in your business to grow. That's really, really powerful. I think it's definitely something that
• 29:39
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: easily overlook.
• 29:41
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Okay, so looking at this kind of actions and pieces, I know that, business, for me, goes in kind of stair steps, right? We're looking at, plateaus or levels or ceilings that we constantly hit.
• 29:57
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: When a business owner hits that ceiling and has to know, like we said earlier, you know, what got you here is not going to get you there.
• 30:05
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: How can we look at that and using these skills and tactics, that you're giving us to think differently? How can we use that to break through those ceilings? Or first, let me take a step back. How do we recognize that ceiling?
• 30:19
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And then are able to break through it.
• 30:25
  Marc Hildebrand: Of course, somebody… my wife just called me. Let me… let me… let me… let me jump in.
• 30:30
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: How you doing, honey?
• 30:32
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: What?
• 30:33
  Marc Hildebrand: Yes, really great question, really great question. So, first off, how to recognize it. Generally, what'll happen is, is the first way that we recognize this is a certain feeling in our body.
• 30:43
  Marc Hildebrand: Meaning we feel like, not enough, or we feel, like, frustrated, or angry because of the numbers, or what's wrong? Like, like, we experience a feeling in our body. Typically, what happens in those moments is our old patterns of our thinking is kind of getting us to go down that old, direction, old path. And so, for me, one of the ways that I experience this is when I start to feel that different feeling in my body, I pause for a second.
• 31:08
  Marc Hildebrand: Because I do know it's trying to tell me something.
• 31:11
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So we have to recognize it first, that this is not a normal reaction, or it's an old reaction, right? I'm getting angry because I didn't perform, or the numbers are still flatlined.
• 31:22
  Marc Hildebrand: Correct.
• 31:22
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So that's what I have to stop and look at first.
• 31:25
  Marc Hildebrand: Correct, because, like, if you get to this plateau, you're gonna start to experience that as a feeling in your body of, like, ugh, I'm at this plateau. And so, obviously, we can think about this in terms of, like, you know, what's broken, wrong, or missing, why can't I do this? Why can't I break through, right? And then, of course, we can get to the other side, which is like, you know what? I've been through so many other plateaus before, this is gonna be no different. Who is somebody who can help me get to that next level?
• 31:48
  Marc Hildebrand: Who's gonna help me break through this so that I never have to break through it again? And you can even start thinking about, like, once I break through this.
• 31:54
  Marc Hildebrand: How am I going to be able to create a business that helps other people do this, too?
• 31:58
  Marc Hildebrand: See, if you start talking to yourself that way, which is calling out the challenger inside of us, and I know you like to be challenged, I can tell, Marcia, you're like, I am going to step up to the challenge. We ask ourselves those questions, right? Like, how am I going to be able to overcome this, and now help so many other people do this too? Now, it's not, like you said, it's not just thinking about it, going, okay, like, things are just automatically going to change.
• 32:22
  Marc Hildebrand: It's going, okay. We can't wish it…
• 32:25
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Go away.
• 32:25
  Marc Hildebrand: know who out there can help me through this? Whether it's a book, a resource, a coach, a person, like, I got to where I am right now. This is something I… this is an analogy I think about all the time.
• 32:36
  Marc Hildebrand: is that we have climbed so many mountains in our lives. We've gone through so many different things. But right now, the mountain, wherever we are, the one that we're climbing, it feels like the hardest one ever.
• 32:49
  Marc Hildebrand: And the only reason why is because it's the mountain that we're currently on.
• 32:55
  Marc Hildebrand: But if you stopped for a second and you turned around.
• 32:58
  Marc Hildebrand: you would see all the times you plateaued, all the other mountains that you've overcome, all the different ways that you were like, oh, I learned so much about what shoes to wear, like, who to go up the mountain with, how much water, like, I learned so much from those, but we forget about those in the moment. And so when we remind ourselves of those, and then we put ourselves in an environment of, like.
• 33:16
  Marc Hildebrand: how can I learn what the next step could be? What can I try or test to be able to get there? Now you're working on that mindset piece, but you're also working on the tactics piece, and that synergy together is what you need to break through that plateau. That plateau is there for a reason. It is, and I know it can feel painful in the moment, but it's there to teach you something, as long as you're willing to learn. And if you're open to that learning.
• 33:39
  Marc Hildebrand: and you put yourself in the right environment, you're gonna be able to figure it out. And this is gonna be another mountain that you've climbed, that you're able to now help somebody else with.
• 33:46
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: So good, so good. And yes, I can totally look back behind me and see all the peaks I've climbed already to get to where I am, and… and I think that's something, you know, I'm an consummate learner. I'm always looking, well, what can I do? You know, it's great brain health.
• 34:04
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: It's just part of my nature of, like, well, what's around the corner that I can learn and add to my capabilities so I can be better, faster, stronger, healthier, live longer, whatever it is.
• 34:14
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I'm trying to achieve.
• 34:16
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: But I'm always trying to learn what the best thing is, and I think that that's, something I heard from another group or coach that had said.
• 34:26
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: hey, you know, I asked somebody, you know, if they're, you know, what do they… what do they need? Oh, no, I'm good, I'm… I'm perfect, you know, kind of answer, and it's like, you're… you're never, you should never have that kind of
• 34:39
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: belief that I'm good, right? There's always a better way, there's always a better question you can ask, you can always learn more. And I think with that mindset.
• 34:50
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: That's gonna allow you to bust through those… those plateaus instead of beating yourself up, right?
• 34:57
  Marc Hildebrand: Perfect, perfectly said. One thing that, that as you're having that conversation, one thing I do want to bring up is, like, when you get around people like you who are like, I'm constantly growing.
• 35:06
  Marc Hildebrand: You're having conversation with your clients, you're getting new answers from them, because you asked them a question, and they bring you new things. You are constantly growing, which means the value you bring your clients is constantly growing. So, this is the same thing as a parent. When you are a parent, and you're growing, you're constantly able to bring more value to your family. You're able to help them through more things. So, like, the whole idea.
• 35:26
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Listen, wait a minute, the kids never listen, they never take your advice.
• 35:29
  Marc Hildebrand: Oh, they always watch your actions, though. They may not take your advice, but they watch your actions, and like, those things speak louder than words. I can tell you so many times, I've told my kids what to do, and they don't do any of it, and then something will click, and I'm like, what happened? And they were watching me. More than they were listening, right? And it's the same adage, it's like, the more that you grow, the more that you can help other people. And so for me, like you said, it's like, it's a lifelong thing.
• 35:53
  Marc Hildebrand: It's a lifelong thing because I just constantly want to grow, but I also want to be able to deliver more for my clients. I want to be able to deliver more for my family, which is my most important thing, and every time that I put myself out there into that environment and I grow, I remind myself that's what I'm doing it for. And it just helps me to keep growing.
• 36:09
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: I love this. Mark, I love this. This is so valuable. And in the third quarter of the year, going into the fourth quarter, to really shift and think, what can I do to end the year strong? And it is truly
• 36:23
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Thinking a little bit differently, thinking outside the box, challenging ourselves to move in the right direction, and really figuring out
• 36:33
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: why you're doing what you did, and think about it so you can do more going forward, or differently going forward, or better going forward. Yes. I think this is really good. So again, we could talk on days on this topic, and it just really excites me, but I know that we're coming to the end here, so I want to make sure listeners can find out more about you, and modern leadership, and how that they can
• 36:57
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Get more of you, so they can start thinking differently.
• 37:01
  Marc Hildebrand: I appreciate that, I appreciate that. So, for people who are interested in being able to effectively lead themselves, that's what we've been talking about today, the self-leadership aspect of things. My wife Teresa and I, we run a podcast, and on the podcast, we talk a lot about navigating, like, difficult situations in your life. We put together a very short 5-part podcast series for your listeners, so if they go to modernleadership.us.
• 37:24
  Marc Hildebrand: forward slash lead. They can sign up, they get five short episodes that help them navigate some of the difficult situations that come up in their life. And then, of course, if they're wanting to actually increase their profit, they need to talk to you. Like, that is your expertise, right? Outside of that, being able to lead yourself, that's what we're here for.
• 37:41
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: Well, I think everybody needs to lead themselves better for quality of life, for the quality of their business, for the people that depend on them, whether they're customers.
• 37:51
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: employees, family, everything, you know, this is really how you lead it, so I love it. So good, so good. Thank you. All right. Thanks so much for tuning in today, listeners. I hope you're walking away with some practical ideas that you can put to work right now to grow a more profitable and valuable business, and I know what Marc has spoken to us about today is definitely a key lever in driving that growth.
• 38:16
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: And before we go forward, if you want to have a more clear path to more revenue and stronger profit, now's the time to go grab your free Profit Booster Growth Map.
• 38:25
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: It'll quickly show you the top opportunities to grow more revenue and stop those profit leaks that may be holding your business back. You can get it anytime at ProfitBooster.biz. And if this episode gave you value, be sure to subscribe and share it with other business owners who need it. I know that so many business owners need to start thinking differently.
• 38:45
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: To… to transition into the rest of the year, next year, to make stronger companies.
• 38:52
  Marcia Riner | Profit Booster®: All right, I'll see you next week, with more strategies to help you grow smarter and profit stronger. So until then, make your plans and profit with them. Thank you so very much, Mark.
• 39:02
  Marc Hildebrand: Alright.