What's holding you back?

Happy Tuesday Friend,

Last week I hosted a live event for the students in my Powerhouse program (which, if you’re not familiar, is a coaching & mentorship program for online business owners). I spent a whole day teaching both big picture strategy, along with the nitty gritty stuff that’s working right now in the online world, covering everything from mindset and how to reverse engineer your goals to how to get more traction on Instagram.

And it was fun. It’s been a few years since I hosted any sort of live in-person event, and I think I had forgotten how much I love it—just digging in and being 100% my tough love self and letting the truthbombs fly. (There’s a reason we call our live events Get Ruthed!)

But I also had the chance to get to talk to a lot of my students one-on-one or in small groups, and it was in those conversations that I noticed a recurring theme come up again and again. 

So what was the theme?

Limiting beliefs.

Those self-imposed limits that we place on ourselves of what we’re capable of, or what we should dare to reach for. Of the goals we set for ourselves, or the risks we’re willing to take.

I talked to several women who were terrified of raising their prices, even though the value they’re creating in the world is worth so much more.

I talked to others who were afraid to commit to a particular target customer, worried that they might be getting it wrong.

And I talked to so many others who were afraid to actually set real financial goals for their businesses, because saying a number out loud would make it feel too real.

So many limiting beliefs, seemingly everywhere I turned. The fear of making a mistake. The fear of what other people might think. The fear of getting it wrong. The fear of being rejected, or not being worthy. 

And I get it, because I’ve certainly experienced my fair share of limiting beliefs too. We all have.

And it made me sad, because I could see that every single person I talked to has something incredibly valuable to offer to the world. Passion. Expertise. Empathy. Wisdom. Experience. Humor. Perspective. No two were alike, and yet all of them have incredible, unlimited potential.

That is if they could just get out of their head long enough to actually take action.

To just start taking the right steps in the right direction.

You see, I’ve been coaching and mentoring online business owners for ten years now, and I’ve watched many of my students grow businesses that are far bigger and more successful than my own, which is actually a really cool thing to see.

I’ve learned enough to know that pretty much any idea—even the ones I didn’t think were that great to begin with—can be successful, and that even the most genius ideas can fail miserably.

Because the best predictor of success is not actually your great idea, or your business name, or your perfect product, or your beautiful graphics. All those things can be improved with time.

No, the best predictor of success in any area of your life is your ability to get out of your head, to refuse to let the limiting beliefs hold you back, and to take action. 

Because limiting beliefs aren’t limited to online business owners.

They can pop up in all areas of our life at any time, whether your goal is to lose weight and get healthy, or run a marathon, or pay off debt, make a career shift, or create more meaningful relationships.

They’re that little voice in the back of your head that says, “who do you think you are?”

And that voice is lying to you.

Because the truth is that almost anything you want is possible, and you are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for. 

Will it be hard? Probably. Will it take a long time? Maybe. But is it possible? Yes.

But only if you take action.

One of my favorite quotes is a Chinese proverb that says, “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is right now.” Along those same lines, Zig Ziglar once said that “you don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great.”

In other words? The only thing that’s truly holding you back is you.

And so, my challenge for you this week is twofold: First, I want you to ask yourself what thing you’ve been avoiding because of those limiting beliefs inside your head. What are you not doing that you’ve thought about, or wish that you could? And second, I want you to do something—literally anything—to take action on that thing. The smallest step in the right direction. Then hit reply to this email and tell me what it was—I’d love to cheer you on!  

Live with purpose, friend, and have an amazing week!

xoxo, Ruth

P.S. In case you haven’t heard, we’re sunsetting our Living Well Spending Less brand at the end of the month. If you haven’t yet grabbed your Living Well Planner®, be sure to do that soon as supplies are quickly dwindling! 

P.P.S. In other big news, our new Thinlicious App will be launching to our first group of Early Adopters next week Monday! If you want to be part of that group and get access to a free trial of the app plus more than $800 in free gifts, be sure to join our VIP Waitlist now!

This week’s podcast episode…

What’s cooking in my kitchen…

Here are the recipes I shared this past week:

The latest from my Instagram…

One of my goals this year is to be more consistent on social media, so I’ve committed to sharing at least one post a day on Instagram. If you’re there, I’d love to connect with you—find me at @RuthSoukup 

What’s Happening Around RSO…