TIB #52: How Ayush crushed fear (and you can too!)

Disclosure: This issue mentions Ayush and his business Indie Masterminds. This is not a sponsored post, nor am I being compensated in any form. I share this with you, with his permission, for your benefit. Thank you, Ayush 🙏

In this issue I’ll share how you can find and overcome limiting beliefs.

We’ll do so, by looking at a real-life example from Ayush, founder of IndieMasterminds.com. You will also get a 5-step process to find and crush your limiting beliefs.

Ayush is a serial entrepreneur who runs two successful businesses. 

He needed to raise prices for his mastermind program to increase sustainability. But he struggled to do so due to a limiting belief. He was aware of that, and after a coaching call together, he found a way to absolutely crush the fear that had held him back.

Overcoming limiting beliefs empowers you to:

• Unlock your true value
• Attract more ideal clients
• Achieve sustainable financial success.

Unfortunately, fear, self-doubt and a lack of awareness holds back many people from overcoming their limiting beliefs.

Break through to unlock increased sustainability

Limiting beliefs are deeply ingrained thoughts, beliefs, or assumptions that you hold to be true. Whether about yourself, others, or the world around you. They are self-imposed restrictions that limit your potential and hinder your growth both as a person as well as in your business. These beliefs often stem from past experiences, upbringing, societal norms, or fear of failure.

A common limiting belief is of the “I’m not good enough” variety.

It shows up as self-doubt:

• questioning your abilities
• perceived lack of expertise
• perceived lack of value you bring to your customers

This leads to procrastination, imposter syndrome, and a fear of putting yourself out there.

For Ayush, it showed up as reluctance to raise prices on the service his business provides.

The biggest challenges to overcome in his case:
• Fear of customer rejection
• Imposter Syndrome
• Personal Money Mindset

Fortunately for you, Ayush agreed that I share his story, so you can benefit from it yourself. Thank you Ayush 🙏

Fear of customer rejection

A common fear when it comes to raising prices, is angry customers.

We get all sweaty even thinking about telling them prices will be going up. What if we get angry e-mails. Or worse, what if your customers vent their dissatisfaction on social media?

We’d rather not raise prices to prevent that from happening.

But, if your business is not sustainable, you have 2 choices:

• increase profit
or
• keep losing money

Losing money can be acceptable for a while, but consistent losses are not sustainable long term, especially as a solopreneur.

Ayush was afraid he would alienate his existing customers. Even though he would not raise prices on the cohorts he had already sold and started, there was still some fear of pushback.

Let’s look at that from the perspective of an existing client though:

• “I just bought a product or service”
• “I get a lot of value from it, awesome”
• “Wat, what? Prices are going up?”
• “Sweet, I got a great deal then!”

Especially if you are selling programmes and cohorts, it is fairly easy to avoid raising the price for existing customers.

This can be completely impossible to see when your view is clouded by your limited belief. Happens all the time.

Imposter Syndrome

Ayush explained to me, he had been running his Indie Masterminds for a year now. Each month, he kicks off 3 mastermind groups on average and facilitates each group through their sessions. 

He has facilitated 35 cohorts so far.

When I asked him what kept him from raising his prices, he said: “I have only been doing this for a year”.

That’s imposter syndrome, right there.

Doing something for a year, means you have a wealth of experience already. Experience means you are better at your craft. You understand your customers on a granular level.

You will also have started to spot patterns and commonalities.

You are on a learning curve. As long as you keep going on that learning curve, you have something to offer to those behind you on a similar curve.

Personal Money Mindset

This one hits hard for many people I have come across, Ayush included. He has raised prices in the past already, let’s compare his last two offers.

2 months ago, this was Ayush’ offer:

• 4 sessions of 1 hour each
• At most 4 members per group
• Each member would be in the “hot seat” for 1 session. This means the rest of the group would support that person with a challenge they are going through.
• Price: $125

Then he raised his price, and expanded the offer:

• 8 sessions of 1 hour each
• Not more than 4 members per cohort
• Each member hase 2 hotseat sessions
• Each member gets an extra 30 minute 1:1 call with Ayush
• Price: $175

He has sold out all his cohorts so far, and has a waiting list with new people eager to join. And that is after raising his price 40%! That can’t be bad, right?

Let’s do the math:

For the $125 offer:

• 4 members X $125 each = $500 revenue
• 4 sessions X 1 our each = 4 hours of work
• $500 revenue for 4 hours of work
• A rate of $125/hour

For the $175 offer:

• 4 members X $175 each = $700 revenue
• 8 sessions X 1 hours each = 8 hours of work
• 4 members X 30 minute calls = 2 hours of work
• $700 revenue for 10 hours of work
• A rate of $70/hour

That 250% MORE WORK to make 44% less per hour.

On top of that, 3 new cohorts start each month. Each cohort runs for 2 months. That means, Ayush had to juggle 6 concurrent cohorts. That creates a lot of overhead, context switching and mental gymnastics. Seeing it this way made it clear this was not sustainable.

Note: This example may look like the goal is to squeeze as much money out of the customers, but that is not the point. The point is that you need both financial and mental capacity to keep doing this in a sustainable way.

Bottom line: Find confidence in your own value

If you doubt whether your product or service is worth a higher price, check in with yourself to see if you undervalue your expertise, experience or unique approach.

For Ayush, no customer ever complained about the price or the value of his offer. In addition, he:

• offers purchasing power parity for customers in lower income countries
• has a waiting list of potential future clients
• made 78% more per hour, 2 months prior

As a result of our coaching call, Ayush found the confidence to raise the price for his next cohorts with confidence. Now he can work towards sustainable consistency in his business.

Your turn, how you overcome your limiting beliefs

Let’s end this issue with 5 practical steps you can take to identify and overcome your own limiting beliefs.

1. Increase awareness: Recognize and acknowledge your limiting beliefs. Understand how they affect your mindset and actions. Easier said than done. But through deliberate self-reflection, you will become more aware of your limiting beliefs over time. Journalling is one way to do that.
2. Challenge: Question the validity of these beliefs. Seek evidence and counterexamples that prove them wrong or unrealistic. This is a very powerful step. Past evidence shows why and how you got this limiting belief. Finding opposing examples helps you gain perspective that there is another way.
3. Reframe: Replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations. Cultivate a growth mindset that focuses on learning, improvement, and resilience. I know you’ve heard this all before. But it is paramount that you find ways to start telling yourself different stories. More positive ones.
4. Seek support. Surround yourself with a network of like-minded individuals, mentors, or coaches. They can provide guidance, encouragement, and accountability. I don’t mean the motivational quotes you see on social media though. Connect with real people that can help you find another perspective and ask the difficult questions you need to hear. It is the best way to break down that part of your belief that is holding you back
5. Take action: Step outside your comfort zone and embrace calculated risks. Each small success will help build your confidence and challenge the validity of your limiting beliefs. Again: this is easier said than done is this is where the hard work begins. But, it is also where you will build the new belief system and confidence that you change for the better.

These are 5 steps to go through to overcome self-imposed mental barriers. These require effort and self-reflection. 

We all have to deal with our limiting beliefs. Ayush is a successful serial entrepreneur with two business. He was aware of his own limitation. 

Our coaching call was the quickest path to overcome the obstacle, so he could start taking action.

That’s it for this week. I hope you found it useful! 

Ps. One final shout out to Ayush for allowing me to share his story! His honesty and vulnerability allows us to benefit. Find him on twitter ​@ayushtweetshere​ or checkout his business ​IndieMasterminds.com​