Have you ever been stuck in a victim mentality in your business? My guess is you have been even if you didn’t realise it…
We all do it.
One day we’re sailing along happy-as-Larry, growing our businesses; the next, we are blaming someone or something for things not going our way.
We can fall into being a ‘victim’ without even realising we’re doing it!
And while we all do this from time to time, the key to staying out of ‘victim mentality’ is to be aware we’re headed into the loop, see how quickly we can catch ourselves, and take action.
Recently, when I was in Austin, Texas at my mastermind, I experienced first-hand the beginnings of a spiral into the dreaded 'victim mentality'.
After getting a personal invite, I had just joined this new mastermind program, and I had invested (big) to join. So, like any investment in business and ourselves, it was scary.
As the mastermind kicked off, I was not disappointed… (at first).
How I realised I was in a victim mentality…
The minute I joined the first day of the 6-day event, I was blown away. I was instantly taken to a new level of business understanding.
I learnt SO much on the first day alone, and within days I had filled books of ideas.
But, on day 4 something happened.
I had a chance to be in the hot-seat, where others were invited to support me with a personal problem, and I didn’t get the answers I was hoping for.
Is this post helpful? I created a free workbook to teach you actionable steps to move from Victim to Accountable! Click the button below to get it right now.
I slowly became irritable. I started questioning my investment. I started panicking because I hadn’t got the answers.
I started to ask, 'What was I supposed to do next?'
I even started to get angry at the event organisers; feeling that the support I had pictured wasn’t just wasn’t there.
I started to panic.
I didn’t like this irritation rising in me. I felt shame at feeling spoilt or ungrateful, yet it was there, and I started to think more and more negative thoughts.
At this point I caught myself at a point (which I later learnt was the ‘choice point’ of the Victim Loop).
I knew this is not how I wanted to experience the event, and so before bed that night I pulled out my journal and started to let my emotions out on the page to see what was really going on.
Journaling is my go-to tool for letting go of emotions when I am not feeling ‘high-vibe’.
I journaled 3 pages, and by the end identified that the truth wasn’t the story I’d been carrying that day (I don’t know WHAT to do next in my biz) – heck, I’d just done 4 days of intense training, so I had plenty of ‘what–to-dos’!
The truth was, I didn’t know HOW. And instead of seeing that, I had avoided it and gone into victim mode.
So I asked myself, “What do I need to move forward?”
Three things came to me:
I need to understand the steps it will take to implement the funnel I had come up with in previous days (I’m great at big ideas, but I don’t always understand HOW to do the technical pieces at first)
I need a copywriter who understands advanced sales funnels
I need someone on my team who can build that funnel
As soon as I got that clarity and broke the overwhelm down into steps (see my process for doing that here)...
I felt a massive sense of relief – and all of my agitation was gone in an instant.
Now, this is where the power of masterminds come into their greatest.
At breakfast the next morning, I ASKED the others in the group if anyone knew of a copywriter that understands advanced sales funnels, what I should be looking for in a funnel builder, and what the steps I needed to take to implement the funnel might be.
Before we even started the mastermind for the day, I had answers for all 3 questions:
Someone had walked me right through the entire step-by-step process of implementing my ideas.
I had a copywriter introduction, and...
I had 2 offers of help to build out the funnel (or help me identify the tasks if I wanted to manage it myself).
While I'm not sure who came up with this Victim Loop framework - which was introduced to me by a friend later in the event AFTER I'd gone through that wobbly patch...
THIS is my interpretation of it:
The Victim Mentality Loop
I had moved from 'victim mentality' to being accountable...
By taking the following steps:
Recognising that I wasn’t feeling high-vibe and choosing to explore it within myself (no more blaming others)
Identifying what I needed in order to move forward
ASKING!! I was blown away by how much people wanted to help when I knew what to ask for and wasn’t afraid to do so (no one can help us if we can’t ask for what we need – people are not mind readers – it is our responsibility to ASK)
Not only did I get so much clarity, but I enjoyed the remainder of the event even more than the start. I was so open to new ideas and being part of the supportive network of the mastermind.
Don't forget to download your free workbook on how to take actionable steps to move from Victim to Accountable! Click the button below to get it right now.
Had I stayed in victim mode, stuck in that loop, things might not have been so expansive for me and I highly likely would have cut myself off from receiving all of the greatness that was on offer for me.
now it's Your TURN:
Let me know in the comments if you have ever found yourself stuck in victim mode, caught up in that victim loop...
And let me know what strategies you used to move yourself up into accountability instead. How did you move forward in growing your business? What did you learn from that experience? Did you notice a pattern?
Love,
Amanda xx
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