This post is about all the stupid shit that we business owners get hung up that keep us stuck from moving forward to our next level of growth. 

1. Websites

We tweak and tweak and tweak our websites to reflect the unattainable perfection we believe will win us "overnight success". We are slaves to pretty plug-ins, tempting templates and themes, and colors and fonts and widgets and....and....

Stop it! Websites are our digital storefronts. They are meant to convey our personality, story, or vibe (aka: warmth, likeability, trust) in a two-dimensional way. That's it. It's not our first born child or the junk drawer catch-all. Like their brick and mortar counterparts, websites need to be clean, organized and help guide our customers to make purchases. 

Pro Tip: Even if your site is not exactly perfect hit publish and/or link it up on all your profiles.  Just do it. 

2. Logos

Another thing we obsess over. Listen up! If you DIY your logo you can be trapped in reworking it until kingdom come. So leave it alone and focus on other activities that will really "wow" your audience. Activities like sharing content that matters, giving excellent service or just showing up. 

Pro Tip: Have a professional design your logo. I'm not talking about like $5 logos. I'm talking about going to a graphic design company and having the whole she-bang done from scratch.

Love my logo? The glorious house of Braizen deserves credit. I also recommend Jennifer B Jacobs, JWatson Creative, and The Petite Co.  for graphic design deliciousness. 

3. Business Names

We either have a stroke of genius or we struggle when it comes to our business names. If you've outgrown your business name - change it. If you're embarassed by your name - change it. Remember, it's your business.

If you internally hate saying your business name out loud or feel trapped by it - fucking change it.

Because if you decide to just "shoulder on", energetically you're really cock-blocking the right clients and money to you. So, have the balls to ch-ch-change it. 

Pro Tip: Here's an article about changing your business name. Either to your God given name or to a fictious business name. No wrong or right way. Just do or do not. 

4. Services/Products

Anyone else hate figuring out how to "package" their offers? Yeah, me too. I literally like killed myself trying to craft the ones you currently see on the website. And you know what the shitty part is? It's not even how I make my money.

Back in the day, I believed that I needed to have packages to offer to look (you know) legit.

Turns out the services that I ENJOY doing and get paid MONEY for are slightly different. Why not change them? Because I'm soooo attached to the idea of these offers. Totally, lame I know. But true. So, if you don't want to look lame like me here's what you have to do:

• Thin out your herd. If you have an offer that hasn't sold or a product that isn't moving - pull it from the shelf or liquidate. No point in letting the dead weight keep you down.
• Next, update your offer. If it's a service maybe take out the crap you don't want to do or add in what you do want to do. Or start from scratch ( I know....painful! I feel you). If it's a digital product, you can update content, change graphics, bundle it with other products or just don't offer it anymore. For physical products, you can give it away or liquidate your stock. 
• Finally, just take action to move on. Let it go. 

5. Social Media

I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter. I find the best articles on there but hate tweeting. I would put our Facebook relationship status as "It's complicated".

So, here's the deal: If you honest to goodness hate or have no interest in engaging in a particular social media platform - DON'T.

Who cares if it's being heralded as the next Facebook killer or whatever. If you hate it, you'll resent being on it. So, just make peace and focus on the social media places that you do enjoy.

Pro Tip: Pick your TOP 3 places to share and then focus on them. Chances are you'll end up really liking one or two of them. Take advantage of the autopost function.

Just REMEMBER to RESPOND & REPLY in a REASONABLY timely manner and you'll be fine. 

6. Ideas

I am the QUEEN of awesome, kickass, visionary ideas. They just pour out of me like a drunken rant. I write them down. I sketch out whole websites, worlds, and words. I start planning, implementing then BOOM!

I start to realize that it was a good idea and not a good decision. Too many roadblocks. Not enough bandwidth. Lack of time. Lack of interest. And the signs to move on present themselves. But nooooo! It was my idea.

My baby. My darling. It WILL work [ see number 4 ]. If the last few sentences struck a chord, it's time to let an idea go. 

Pro Tip: If you implemented and it's just not working, it's a sign that either a) it's not the right time, b) it's not fully developed or ready or c) it was a shitty idea. Regardless, you need to cut your losses, save your sweat equity and move on.

If it is a good idea remember to write them down, save all your notes (make sure they're decipherable) and revisit them later. 

7. Identity

Nothing will keep you stuck in your business like hanging on to an idea of who you think you are. So, you started out as graphic designer, then you realized your calling was something more than just pixels and proofs. You realized you are a coach. A BRANDING coach. But you're afraid to let the world know because:

1. You just made up that title and you're pretty sure there's a rule that states you can't make up your own job title
2. You think someone might think you're a fraud, poser, fake or wannabe because you're morphing into something else
3. What will all the people who knew you as a graphic designer say?
4. Calling yourself something else is akin to dying your hair a radical new hair color and giving it an edgy cut - all in the same sitting - BREATH!

Honestly, change is the name of the game. We all grow, revolt, and evolve from where we first started. Everyone single one of us.

The longer you hold on to an old identity, the longer you put off showing up as who you really need to be.

Don't be a douche to your dreams. Channel your inner Beyonce or Lady Gaga or Madonna and go forth with reinvention. 

Pro Tip: Start small. Update your social media profiles. Talk to your mentors and business coaches. Tell'em you're looking to change and ask for advice, blessings or wigs. Tell your friends and collaborators. Or go BIG. Announce it to the world.

Let everyone know there's a change coming. Be glorious and be brave. Regardless, of how you do it, make the decision to move forward with your new business identity confidently. 

So, in closing, if you find yourself nodding your head or cringing because you know you're guilty of holding on to a few or all of these attachments then decide on which one to let go of first.

Baby steps if you're like most normal folks. Big, crazy, burn-it-all-to-the-ground if you're not. Either way, good luck and let me know how it all works for you.