Welcome back to Your Win-Win Teacher Business. This is our fourth episode in the Business Book Club series and as you likely saw in the title, today’s book is called The Secret.
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Read the transcript:
[00:00:00] Welcome back to Your Win-Win Teacher Business. This is our business book club series, and today’s book is The Secret.
[00:00:36] You are either going to love this book club episode or you’re going to hate it. This is a polarizing book title for sure. It’s another one I’ll put in the relationship status complicated pile. Not a five star read for me, but I think it’s an important book to have on your radar and the timing feels right.
[00:00:57] This book is woo woo. It is all the way out there. I wanna preface today’s conversation with the fact that you won’t find me talking about God or religion on this podcast or anywhere. That’s not my lane at all. But I do believe in universal forces and the overall fact that we are a small speck in a complex universe.
[00:01:23] I own a physical copy of this book and it’s highlighted, so that tells me I’ve read the physical version of this book at one point, but I think for the full effect of this book, you should really seek out an audio option. My library had the audio book in the Libby catalog, and it was okay, but if you compare the estimated time to listen to the audio book with the movie. . .
[00:01:48] I am going to highly suggest you watch the movie and say you read the book. And fun fact, I believe the movie came out before the book and in the name of productivity, it’s faster and more importantly, more immersive to receive the message of this book through the movie version.
[00:02:09] I hope that’s not a controversial suggestion to make in a business book club series. So why am I sharing this book? The world is heavy right now, and you might be in a tough season in your business. In our first business book club episode, Zen Guitar, I encouraged you to return to the mindset you had when you were a complete beginner.
[00:02:33] I received feedback about how helpful that message was and how that episode helped listeners breathe a little bit deeper and relax their shoulders. Today’s book might even take you back one step before you were a beginner, back to when you were just dreaming about building this business in the first place.
[00:02:56] In The Secret, they remind us that there is no such thing as a hopeless situation and oh golly, do I think we need that reminder sometimes when we dive into those revenue dashboards. If you’re like me, your journey into the world of teacher business land started by hearing some success stories of others.
[00:03:17] Your idea of all the ways people make money on Planet Earth grew over time. And one day you asked yourself, “why can’t that happen to me? Why not me?” And you took a leap of faith and decided to see what the universe had in store for you. The book talks about how it is as easy to manifest $1 as it is $1 million.
[00:03:47] When you first start your business, you’re a bundle of nerves until that first cha-ching rolls in. So while you might be feeling down as you listened today, you made that first sale, so it should be easier to believe that you can make more sales from there. If you bravely look at the facts, there are breadcrumbs as to what is working inside your business and what your audience hopes you will do more of.
[00:04:16] If we follow the breadcrumbs and really listen to what our data is telling us, the sales will follow just as they did when we first got started. But the caveat delivered in this book is that while this success is just as sure and certain as the force of gravity, you do have to be all in and truly believe in your success.
[00:04:43] No one can do that part for us. When you place an online shopping order, you feel certain, you know your package will arrive. When you order specific tangible success from the universe and truly believe with unwavering faith, results follow. Whether you read the book or watch the movie, you’ll constantly hear the phrase, ask, believe, receive.
[00:05:12] So step one, ask. This comes down to goal setting and vision board work. The more specific you are with the results you’re trying to achieve, the easier it is to measure progress and identify the steps to get there. If we haven’t asked the universe for a specific outcome, then we can’t be disappointed that it has not yet been delivered to us.
[00:05:36] Step two believe comes down to thinking about this goal daily, feeling what it is like to have already achieved this goal, and keeping that goalpost right in front of us – top of mind as a driving force that we are truly serious about. And step three receive. This is the stage when the results start to arrive because we were laser focused on our goals, took the action to get there,
[00:06:06] and showed up to do the work. When your goal is top of mind and both your heart and eyes are open to receiving each day, you’ll start to be able to see glimmers of progress that give you clues, how to keep going in the right direction to receive more and more and more of what you want. If goals are something fleeting that you write down at the shiny new year and then forget about, then it makes sense why those goals aren’t being achieved.
[00:06:38] If we can’t clearly state our goals 365 days a year, how can we ask the universe to deliver those goals to us? If our goals aren’t important enough to think about each day, to write down, to say out loud, then are we really asking the universe to send us those results? Or are we still just thinking about what it might be we truly want in life. Just as we want our products and offers to be top of mind to others
[00:07:10] our goal should be top of mind for ourselves as we close our eyes and dream about them each and every day. Did I lose you? Is this book too woo woo? Or are you hanging in there? If you took a leap of faith to see if you could make money on the internet in the first place, I’m willing to bet you have some percentage of woowoo belief inside you, so I’ll keep sharing about this book.
[00:07:36] Thoughts. The book reminds us how powerful our daily thoughts are because our thoughts become the things we have in our lives. If we believe in our dreams, in a quiet house in the morning over a warm cup of coffee, but then spend the rest of the day cursing and feeling like a victim of our circumstances, the dominant thoughts are the ones that win the day.
[00:08:01] What energy are you sending out into the world? Is it intentional energy focused on success and a strong belief that you’ll reach your goal? Or is it stress and sorrow about your current revenue worries? This book gives many examples of how to rewire and reframe negative situations that we may encounter during the day.
[00:08:24] My favorite example is having a bill arrive and thinking of the bill as if it were actually a check. The book talks about saying more money for me as you envision that number as a check you’re holding in your hand. And while this mental tennis match likely won’t come easily to you or I, what have we got to lose in trying? Believing in yourself and believing in the universe is free.
[00:08:52] It might just help. It might just make you feel better along the way. It might just help you enjoy running your business again. But only you can decide if you’re open to trying it. This book will also walk you through how to start your day with a grateful heart from the first two footsteps of each day being paired with the words thank and you.
[00:09:17] And the book, will discuss how to replay the events of the day that didn’t go the way you had hoped, and take a moment to envision them with a positive ending. Rewiring your brain, rewriting history, reflecting on how you can move towards a better outcome next time. All of it helps your mind be at rest as it prepares to replay the positive thoughts of the day and line up those universal forces for you as you sleep.
[00:09:43] Your dominant thoughts are powerful. I think that’s likely an area where we can all agree. But only you can decide what you’ll do with that information today. Feelings your thoughts and your feelings together create your life. Hmm. So it isn’t enough to just look at our vision board in the morning. We have to stop time, close our eyes, and truly envision our life as it will be once the goal is achieved.
[00:10:14] My vision board at one time had a picture of Cinderella’s Castle in Disney World with the backs of the heads of two girls, one with long blonde hair who was a bit shorter, and one with long brown hair who was a bit taller. They had their arms around each other in the picture, and they were stopping to soak in the fireworks above the castle.
[00:10:37] I remember looking at that picture on my phone wallpaper each day and taking the time to really feel what it would be like to stand at the castle and share that experience with my daughters. And a few years later, we got to watch that breathtaking Tinkerbell moment as a family and make a core memory together.
[00:10:59] I got comfortable envisioning TPT dashboards that had three figure dollar amounts closed my eyes to get comfortable with the feeling of seeing four figures and five figures and beyond over time. I took the time to step into the person I wanted to become and dream about how they spent their day, what types of tasks they put on their list for the day, how they connected with others, how they cared for themselves, and how content they felt in the life
[00:11:28] they had built one brick at a time. Those quiet morning moments gave me great clarity on where I was headed, and I felt excited about the opportunity to spend another day working to make those thoughts and feelings come true so that others could see them as vividly as I could. It’s not enough to post a vision board on the wall and forget about it.
[00:11:54] Your feelings are the way you communicate with the universe what frequency you are on, and how all in you are about those goals on your heart. Your thoughts and your feelings together create your life. And then the book talked about actions. I was so grateful for this section because the action steps we make help those dreams come true.
[00:12:22] Our goals are like a spiral curriculum. The more we lean into them and get curious, the more specific we can get about what it is we want, and the more specific our goals are the easier it is to see the baby steps that need to happen between where we are now and where we’re hoping to be. And the action of asking the universe for exactly what we want is an important daily practice.
[00:12:51] If you doubt your goal, the universe can feel that. When feelings of doubt creep in, we have to notice them and replace the feelings quickly. We can’t spend time giving our power away and staying stuck in feelings of doubt. I loved the idea of having a secret shifter’s list. It reminded me a little bit of a dopamine menu.
[00:13:13] Having a list of music, images, movements, et cetera, that can help shift our mood quickly is a powerful tool in our teacher business toolbox. The book also delivered a reminder of the importance of treating ourselves with love and respect. This is an action that counts as well. We can’t expect to attract others who love and respect our work unless we first show up with confidence and share about our gifts with the world.
[00:13:43] We need to bravely ask to be in the rooms we want to be in. We need to share our elevator pitches often. We need to offer opportunities to others around us just as we hope opportunities will come our way. Walking around down in the dumps about what we don’t have or don’t have yet is not going to help magnetically attract future opportunities.
[00:14:07] I loved the discussion of generosity and giving, and we have a business book club episode in the queue later this year with a title related to that topic. I truly believe that giving money often, even in small amounts, helps build the faith that we have enough and that more money will be coming to replenish in the future.
[00:14:29] We practice saying, I can afford that and making a physical space where something you want will live, or a folder in your email inbox or a folder on your desktop. These little actions really do bring our dreams closer. In my practice, I have a bank account that I change the name of to remind myself what I’m currently saving up for.
[00:14:56] Something about putting the purchase in black and white sends the message to me that I can afford that and it will be happening even if it’s not happening right in this moment. Creating a waiting room for the money you’re waiting to receive for the universe? What have you got to lose? As business owners, we often spend a lot of time mentally spiraling about how we’re going to make a dream happen, and sometimes that leads to inaction.
[00:15:27] After all, why take any steps if we don’t feel confident that we’ll achieve our goal from those efforts? That mindset isn’t likely to get us where we want to go. When we’re all in on our business and ready to truly think and feel and take steps to achieve those big, scary goals, that’s when the needle starts moving.
[00:15:49] We need to step away from the need to completely understand how things will happen, and instead lean into the belief that it’s all going to work out. We ask for the abundance and wealth with specificity and take the steps needed to move us towards that light. This book invites a certain amount of surrender.
[00:16:12] I loved reading the reminder that inspired action often doesn’t feel like work at all. It feels effortless as we’re operating in a space where we are ready to receive good things from the universe rather than working hard to muscle and make something happen. Flowing with the current of the river with trust in our hearts.
[00:16:36] How could that feel? If you ask me, it’s worth a try. So maybe you’ll read this book and maybe you won’t, but either way, I have a feeling this book will shake up your thoughts and feelings in a good way. This is one of those books everyone has an opinion about and I can’t wait to hear yours.
[00:16:56] Thank you for letting me share this book from my bookshelf today. And remember, you don’t have to run your business alone. Read books and talk about them with business besties. Share about this book on Instagram. Tag me @teacherjaniceva. Slide into my dms on Instagram anytime to talk about the ups and downs of running a business.
[00:17:17] Leave a review on Apple Podcasts to share a takeaway from the book with others and help them on their journey. And if you have a book that’s collecting dust on your bookshelf that you’re hoping I’ll cover here on the podcast, I’d love to hear about it.
Here is a playlist of other episodes about my favorite Teacher Business Books:
