My Top 5 Resources to Change Your Business Mindset

This business journey has shown me that I gravitate towards mentors of action and deep self awareness. I also know that I process information in various forms, so this list includes a book, a tool and community, an online course, a podcast, and a Youtube video series. I hope you find at least one of these as gut shaking as I have in the last year!

1] THE ENNEAGRAM

There are many resources about this system of personality types, but I deeply connected with “The Road Back to You” by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile. Ian also has the Typology Podcast, which I listen to during photo editing sessions weekly. He interviews various personality types on subjects like leadership, the dynamic within a marriage between two opposite types, and friendships that endure through the ups and downs of each type. As a type 9 myself, my superpower is mediating among all numbers, so this system has been crucial to me in recognizing what personality type I am interacting with, and how to orient my response to questions, joy, or insecurity. And don’t be afraid to have all of your loved ones take the test as well – you’ll know so much more about them, and you’ll have personal references when you meet new people of the same personality type!

2] SOCIAL CURATOR

To the untrained eye, Social Curator looks like a stock image system. While it does provide lifestyle photos, caption templates for Instagram and Facebook, and an Action Plan for each month that covers a specific topic for your business, the real gem of this undertaking is the community that it has created within the last two years. I have been part of countless Facebook groups for business, and never have I seen a community so giving, supportive, and willing to help grow each other’s businesses in real, measurable ways. The Facebook group administrators have kept the created resources so organized that I have ditched the need to Google most of my questions – I just head straight to the search bar within the group and find my answer immediately! You’ll be among friends if you join – I can’t recommend it enough!

3] CREATIVE LIVE // YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA BOOTCAMP

As much value as I’ve gotten from Social Curator, I had my biggest lightbulb moments while participating in Jasmine Star’s latest Creative Live class, Your Social Media Bootcamp. I have been a long time subscriber to CreativeLive, as they are committed to democratic education (new classes live stream for free while they are being filmed) and they ask creatives from all walks of life (who are actually doing the dang thing) to share their knowledge and interact with participants. As I have discussed with fellow Social Curators, the ability to watch two business owners (one product based and one service based) actually implement all of Social Curator’s value for their businesses was the eye opening shift. Real results in 30 days, which meant 3.2% increases and 2 new paying clients for one of the featured businesses. This class supports the long game of your business, so do not invest if you are looking for the quick way to make your dream happen.

4] GOAL DIGGER PODCAST

Jenna Kutcher is another action powerhouse that deals it to you straight, and I find myself listening to her podcast throughout the day as well. I appreciate how much of her content is geared toward the starting business owner who may not have all of the funds to invest in the systems/workflow necessary for your business. She covers Pinterest, Instagram, email lists, the early entrepreneur days, behind the scenes calls with her own business coach, and so much more! She is the real deal, and someone to have speaking into your ear on the good, and the hard, days.

5] THE ASKGARYVEE SHOW

I’m sensing a theme here – powerhouses that deal it straight push me to action. Gary Vaynerchuk is the pinnacle of real, punch-you-in-the-throat conversation, so be ready for painful realizations about yourself, some cursing, and a lot of energy and gratitude coming out of his mouth. His Ask Gary Vee series is especially inspiring to me because he sits down with business owners and asks them to go all the way back to the origin – what kind of childhood did they have, were they part of an immigrant family, did they love business from a young age? The breadth of businesses, races, ages, industries, and stories almost guarantees everyone will hear a part of his or her own story in these interviews. And they’re always entertaining, so that never hurts.

Have you also found inspiration and actionable advice in any of these resources? Or do you have any of your own that you would like to share? Leave your resources in the comments and let’s learn more together!