551: Breaking Negative Mindsets: Practical Tools for Growth with Kristin Morrison
Time to Pet. Go to timetopet.com/confessional for 50% off your first 3 months.
National Association of Professional Pet Sitters. Learn more at www.petsitters.org.
What’s holding you back from reaching your full potential—your mindset or your habits? Kristin Morrison explores the powerful impact of mindset on business and personal growth. She unpacks strategies for breaking free from negative loops, creating affirmations that actually work, and incorporating daily practices like journaling and movement to foster resilience. Kristin also shares practical advice on overcoming self-sabotage and finding balance amidst the chaos of running a business. If you’re ready to reclaim your time, energy, and confidence, this episode is a must-listen!
Main topics:
Mindset Shifts
Overcoming Self-Sabotage
Practical Affirmations
Self-Care Essentials
Accountability and Support
Main takeaway: If you think you don’t have time to pause, breathe, or reflect, that’s exactly when you need it the most.
We’ve all been there. The to-do list is never-ending, the phone won’t stop ringing, and it feels like every moment of the day is accounted for. Taking a break? Forget about it—it seems impossible.
But here’s the truth: Those moments when you’re racing against the clock, overwhelmed by everything on your plate, are the moments your body and mind are begging for a reset.
✨ A pause isn’t just stopping—it’s recharging.
✨ A breath isn’t just oxygen—it’s clarity.
✨ Reflection isn’t wasted time—it’s the foundation for smarter decisions.
By giving yourself permission to pause, even for 30 seconds, you create space for calm and focus to return. That small action can be the difference between feeling like you’re drowning and rising above the waves. 🌊
Challenge for Today: Take one intentional pause. Set your timer for one minute. Close your eyes, take deep breaths, and notice how it feels. You’ll be amazed at what just 60 seconds of intentionality can do.
About our guest:
Kristin Morrison is an amazing entrepreneur, business coach, and author dedicated to helping pet business owners achieve their personal and professional goals. With over 25 years of experience in the pet care industry, Kristin founded and successfully sold her own thriving pet care business, employing 35 staff members and four managers. She is the creator of the Six-Figure Pet Business Academy and host of the Prosperous Pet Business Podcast, where she shares expert advice and real-world coaching for pet business owners worldwide.
As the author of six books, including bestsellers on business growth and mindset, Kristin combines her expertise with a deep understanding of the challenges entrepreneurs face. Known for her actionable insights and empathetic coaching, Kristin is passionate about empowering business owners to break through limiting beliefs, overcome burnout, and create thriving businesses that align with their ideal lives.
Links:
Previous episodes
https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/034-kristin-morrison
https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/130
https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/164
https://prosperouspetbusiness.com
https://www.sixfigurepetbusinessacademy.com
10% off the Fear Free Pet Sitter Certification Program with promo code PSC10
ProTrainings: For 10% off any of their courses, use CPR-petsitterconfessional
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
Follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, & TuneIn
Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
mindset shifts, negative loops, time and peace, morning pages, emotional processing, self-sabotage, positive affirmations, daily practices, self-care, business challenges, mental health, personal growth, accountability, resilience, well-being
SPEAKERS
Collin, Kristin
Collin 00:00
Music. Welcome to pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter today, we're brought to you by time to pet and our friends at the National Association of Professional pet sitters. How would you describe your current mindset? Too often as business owners and entrepreneurs, we find ourselves in toxic and negative loops of our mindset and beliefs that we have about ourselves or the world around us. Unfortunately, these can become limiting to the business to ourselves, even unintentionally cutting ourselves off at the knees when we least expect it. Today, we're really excited to have Kristin Morrison from prosperous pet business on the show to talk about breaking our negative mindsets, how to get out of those loops, and ways that we can foster a better belief and a better mindset about ourselves and our business. Let's
Kristin 00:51
get started. Okay, great, wonderful, and I'll try to be concise here. So yes, I'm the founder of six figure pet Business Academy. I am a podcaster. So my podcast is prosperous pet business. A lot of the episodes are me coaching pet business owners on the podcast who are really struggling, either with burnout, hiring startup, whatever they're struggling with, they apply to be coached, and then my podcast team chooses them, and I don't usually know very much about them and what they need help with. I prefer to just sort of do a deep dive together, where we're both not really knowing what's going to happen, and I feel like that creates a lot of aliveness in the in the coaching slash podcast episode. So and then I'm an author. I've written six books, and I'm a business coach for pet business owners, and I've been coaching pet business owners since the year 2000 I started my own pet business in 1995 and I sold it a few years ago. I've hired over 250 people in the course of running my pet business, and when I sold it, I had 35 staff members and four managers, and I was able to really create a life where I wasn't working very much, which was very different for me, because I'm a type A. You know, typically when I'm not, like, monitoring myself, I can be a type A I can be really a go getter. And I love that part of me, that productivity part of me, but I also really need to balance it with time and peace in order to really be my most full, balanced self. And so it's been a real big process, so I'm excited to dive into mindset, because it's been a big part of it for me.
Collin 02:46
Yeah, that that time and peace, that's something that we feel like we don't have enough of and that we'll never attain, right? Because we're always putting out little fires, or there's little things that come up in our either personal lives or our business. And sometimes it really does feel like I can never, I can never let my shoulders down. I can never just actually be for a moment. Oh, I
Kristin 03:11
understand. And so it's counterintuitive, but it's like, actually, if you think you can't put your shoulders down, try putting them down. And if you think you can't take a breath, try taking a breath. It's kind of like there's a quote about meditation, and it's like, if you think you don't have time to meditate for 10 minutes, meditate for 30 because you really need it, right? Yeah, and the thing too, what I notice in myself and in my coaching clients when they're really amped up, is they are and I am. This is, you know, a human condition, afraid to be still oftentimes, because of the feelings that will come up, the anxiety, the stress, the panic of like, how am I going to deal with this business issue? And so they slash I, like, push it away, like, I'll breathe, or I'll rest, I'll take deep breaths, or I'll rest when I'm done solving this problem. But it's like, actually what happens then is the holding, which causes the nervous system to feel like we're dying because we're just taking limited breaths, and so taking some time in the thick of it, you know, when you're really in it, to give yourself that opportunity to take a breath and also be willing to see what comes up, because you. For a lot of people, especially people that are like Type A workaholics, have a really busy business, and they're putting out lots of fires, checking off things on their to do list that can be a really great and accepted way of pushing feelings aside, right? Right. It's like, I'm going to outrun my fear, grief, pain, whatever it is. And it's like, guess what? You're not like, you can do it for a little bit, but at some point that grief, pain, fear, you know, upset, is going to be right here in front of your face, and you're gonna have to deal with it.
Collin 05:44
Yeah, yeah. There are many days where I'll end the day, or we'll end the day. It's been a busy day, and I'll be sitting down, and I feel like I'm supposed to be relaxing at that moment, but my heart's still racing, and I'm like, why am I panicked? What is going on? Yes, and what's happened is, I haven't taken an opportunity throughout the entire day to sit and reflect on going, hmm, What? What? How did that red light affect me, or did that that phone call with the client? Maybe I'm pent up because I got a bad, you know, review, and I just never took those few minutes to just breathe and think about it. And then 678, 10, hours later, I'm still racing, because that's on my mind and I haven't dealt with it. And then, like you said, Kristen, we just keep pushing that off. Well, I just gotta, I'll tackle something tomorrow, or I'll dive into another project, or I'll dive into another thing, and then all of the stuff just just builds up.
Kristin 06:42
Mm, hmm, yeah. A good practice for me, which has been so helpful, is a practice called Morning pages. It was, I found it in a book about 20 years ago, The Artist's Way, it's by Julian Julia Cameron, and it's, it's for artists or creatives, but really it's a great book for business owners as well. It's a 12 week process that you can do yourself. There are also online groups, and one of the weeks is like, begin to write morning pages. And what they are is three pages of journal writing in the morning, without thinking about it, without critiquing yourself editing. It's not writing on the computer. It's actually like old school notebook, you know, pen and just going for it. And for me, I've been writing these journals for over 20 years now, in the morning, most days, not every single day, but most days. And what happens in the beginning is the first page is, usually, I'm kind of taking out the trash, the mental trash, the emotional trash, you know, this upset me. This was very hard. I don't know how to deal with this, whatever that thing may be. And then after that, there's a level of calm that usually descends into page two, or maybe I don't get it until page three, but then I start to come up with solutions, you know, for those challenges or ways of coping or dealing with them, you know, being strategic. And so it's almost like finding your own inner therapist in that way, or coach, you know that you can kind of begin to work with and as a result, I think because I've been doing this for so long, I'm really deeply connected to myself, like I feel my feelings as they're happening. Doesn't mean I always deal with them. Okay? So I still do that sometimes, like or sometimes I just can't deal with it. I have an appointment that I need to go to and it, you know, I do need to put it on the shelf. But I'm also more and more aware that just because I put something on the shelf doesn't mean it gets to stay there and create and collect dust, because that will not work, right? It's like, I have to take it down and really have a conversation with it, perhaps, you know, in my journal, or Figure Figure out what I need to do as a result.
Collin 09:15
And that can feel weird to schedule time to process emotions later, right? It can be like, Am I really putting this I put oil change on my calendar? Am I really gonna process emotions? You know, maybe you are, yeah, but maybe you have to, because the problem is, if you're like me, if it's not on the calendar, if it's not written down, my brain is like a steel trap, right? It rusts shut, and it doesn't open a lot of times, and I'm going to forget about it, and I'm just going to, you know, then I'm going to, it's maybe three weeks later, and then all of a sudden, I'm going, oh, right, okay. And now and then I've got more things to process and more things. So having that dedicated time, whether it's in the morning or whether it's at night, where you're kind of decompressed and letting the day go so you can go to. Night's sleep, finding that in your rhythm really allows you to at least go, here's the stuff that's burdening or was burdening me today, and now I can actually do something with that. That's
Kristin 10:12
right, and it's not, not, you know, for everyone who's listening, some people are just not going to write in their journal. That is not their thing. So for them, it might be to go on a 15 minute walk without the phone, okay, without technology. Just go for a walk, even if it's in your neighborhood, not specifically in nature. But if you can get into nature, that's really helpful. And you know what can happen is the more we walk and we can kind of begin to process things. You know, for other people, it's going to be getting on their bike. You know, for me, I ride my peloton, or I do hot yoga. Those are things that, even though I'm not perhaps, you know, specifically processing something I'm working out through sweat, through exertion, through exhaustion, like sometimes our body needs that, especially if we're stressed. It's like hot yoga for me, is like wringing out the towel that is my body. It's not fun a lot of the time. It's really hell. But then when I'm done, it's like heavens, because I've let, I've let whatever I needed to let go in this, in the practice, in the studio, yeah,
Collin 11:37
well, and, and too, if I'm sitting here with my heart racing because of a phone call that I did. Sometimes it's going well. My body needs to do something with this. So I need to get up and move. I need to get up and walk this out so that my activity can match what my body's trying to do. And I can think a little bit easier in that when I'm when I'm doing that.
Kristin 11:59
Yeah. And what can also be really powerful. A lot of people jump to meditation, like, I'm going to meditate as a way to feel better or more calm, and it's like, Oh no, you're not like, if you're really amped up or jacked up, meditation like that is perhaps even going to be the worst thing you can do personally, at what I've seen. Maybe there are some people out there who are like, Hey, it works for me great. What works for me when I'm really jacked up and I don't have a lot of time that I need to, like, let go of feeling is to, like, grab a pillow, warn my husband, put my dog in another room and just scream into the pillow for even one minute. It's amazing, like, oftentimes I will be working with a client and they will be jangly, and it's like, go grab your pillow. I'm gonna mute so you can have your privacy. Give yourself a minute and scream into it, and they will come back, and they will be like, I feel so alive. It only took 60 seconds, and I feel freaking amazing, yeah, and I'm like, it's because you like, let it out, you know, running away like it's almost like putting a cork in it, yeah, you know, but if you can consciously release it, then you can actually move on with all of you. You're not going to be burning on two cylinders. You're going to be running on eight, right? You know, have
Collin 13:41
you heard of our friends at time to pet Chris and from raiding cats and dogs? Has this to say? Becoming
13:46
a time to pet clients have been a game changer for us. We can give our pet services clients real time, cloud based information they never imagined they'd be interested in. And most importantly, to me personally, I can better manage my company and look forward to more and not a small thing. Time to pet is responsive to my request for new features and modifications to existing ones.
Collin 14:10
If you're looking for new pet SIG software, give time to pet a try. Listeners of our show will save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to pet.com/confession and while we're going through that, through that process of sitting with those feelings, kind of be in the silence, like you mentioned. It can be, it can be unsettling to know what's kind of knocking around in between our ears. Sometimes we don't even really fully understand that. Sometimes we are going to have or discover that there's this, there's this negativity, right? There's these negative mindsets that we have can can build up. And I was curious Kristen, what are some, what are some common negative mindsets that you see, especially in in pet business owners, that you help people work through?
Kristin 14:55
Yeah, so often, when there's a slump, like ultra low. Of business owners after the pandemic, you know, they experienced like a huge financial drop. Some they went up for whatever reason, you know, but most that I know, their businesses went down. Some are still recovering. And for those who are listening, who are there, I feel you. I'm just loving you right now. You know, the mindset that might be at play is my business will never get to where it was before. You know, I've I've lost that. You know, maybe I've lost my mojo. I you know, whatever that may be, it may be, I'm not successful. So what can be really powerful? And it's anytime we switch a mindset that is a negative mindset to a positive, it always feels like a lie. And it is a lie. It's not true yet. You know, you've got that record running. Let's say of I'm not successful. You know, my business will never be successful. I can't make six figures or more. You know, a lot of people are like, they just can't go beyond for whatever reason, or maybe it's, you know, multiple six figures, and they can't reach beyond that. They're just stuck, right? And so it's like, how can you begin to turn that negative into a positive? And this isn't, we're not talking about toxic positivity, because that doesn't work okay, and that's it's not good to yourself. But what you can begin to do if you are noticing there's a negative mindset and actually want to back up a little bit. So let's say you're not making money in your business, or you're not making a profit. You want to look at like, what's not working. Maybe it's something in your personal life, like you've been single for a long time and you want to be married, right? So, but let's, for the sake of this podcast, let's talk about business. So I you know the the running loop might be, I'm not successful. Distill it down like notice what the problem is, and then what is a very simple phrase, like five or fewer words that encapsulate what you know, what might be underneath the problem. So not making money, I'm not successful, or I can't make money, right? That might be or I can't make good money, or I can't make enough money, right? You don't want to, like, go to I'm going to make a million dollars this year. Like that will not fly with your subconscious, nor your life. You know you're going from zero to 60, so, so look at that. So let's say, for the sake of this example, I am not making enough money, or I cannot make enough money. The opposite is I can make enough money, and it's important to feel into how do I feel when I say that? Like say it out loud, I can make enough money, and it's probably going to feel like a lie, because you've been living in I can't make enough money for probably a long time, if that's your situation, where you can begin to bridge the gap from I am not making enough money, or I can't make enough money, to I am making enough money, the bridge is to notice when you have made enough money so that you can back it up with proof. Right? A lot of people in business, they talk about social proof. It's like people saying you've done this for me, you know? Thank you. It's reviews things like that. So this is like going back into your own it's like doing a business review, right? Yeah, and getting proof. Like, well, there was that week where I made a huge amount of money. It's been a couple years, but it is possible for me, yeah, and so that can then create the bridge to the subconscious to the conscious, so that you begin to really believe the truth, like the subconscious doesn't know if it's a lie or the truth. Okay, your body does. Your body's like, well, that's a lie, but your subconscious doesn't like if you start to say, I am successful or I am making plenty of money, sooner or later, your actions are going to begin to support. Support that belief, that positive belief, and what you might want to do, too, is make a list of actions that would support that so marketing every day. What's one, even small marketing action I can take every day to support the belief that I am making enough money, or I can make enough money. The other thing that's really powerful when we're working with affirmations, mantras, or whatever you want to call them, is to get into the first second and third person, because that really is incredible when you're working with affirmations. So for example, I am making plenty of money. So you might if it was you, if I was you, Collin, I would say I Colin and making plenty of money. He, Collin is making plenty of money. You, Collin, are making plenty you're making plenty of money. And it may seem odd or weird, but there's something about that. It's almost like we're looking at it from all different angles. We're hearing it from outside of ourselves, even though it's us. Does that make sense?
Collin 21:14
It's kind of like a verbal way of looking in the mirror. I you know, of going, No, it's, it's this, no, it's, I'm actually talking about me. It's not somebody out there in the world. It's not some random person that I'm selecting, or a person on the internet. It's, it's me, who I'm dealing with. And yeah, that is that can be really scary, especially if we are not sure of of who we are, or comfortable in our own skin, or even, you know this we're talking about here, these affirmations of, I've got to build this up. And I am combating a lie that maybe the lie has been around for 1015, 2030, more years of how we view ourselves. That's right. And as you say these things, it can start to go because I really love how you then how you said, Okay, we have these affirmations. We're working. We're making this thing. We gotta bridge this with the data of how our business is actually doing, because unfortunately, I could have all the data in the world, but not the right mindset to understand the data, and so I could, I could be making gobs of money over here, paying my bills 10 times over. But if I've got that negative mindset, I'm it's never going to be enough, no?
Kristin 22:24
And you're going to sabotage it probably, yeah, you
Collin 22:29
know, conversely, if I've got a positive mindset where everything's great and hunky dory and we're perfect, and it's kind of that, that toxic positivity, like you talked about, but the data is not there to actually feed into that. Now I'm living a real mismatch in this. That's
Kristin 22:43
right, and it really is about action and mindset. Like that is the secret sauce, I believe, for moving beyond from where you are now to where you want to be, doesn't mean it's going to happen overnight. It probably will take some time. You know, we humans who are living in this day and age are like, I want it now. Give it to me now. I want my money. Now. It's not where, you know, it's not a drive through, right? It's a process. But, you know, good things, I believe take time. You know, we are human beings. We are not human doings, although we do a lot and so, you know, remembering that we're not robots, it is going to take time if we can have some patience with ourselves, that patience will also translate into the people in our world. We will begin to be more kind and thoughtful and generous when it comes to, you know, customer service people on the phone who aren't getting it right away, right? Yeah. So it's like, how can we be in the hallway? Of, we're not quite in the room yet, like we've left somewhere that we don't want to be, which is the dark place of, let's say I'm not making enough money. We're in the hallway. We see the door at the end of the hallway, and we're walking towards it, yeah, and we can support that walking and to actually be able to enter a new room of our life with the thoughts that we think, with the actions that we take with the daily, ongoing practices that really support our well being. I mean, it's like, it's like a stool that has three legs. And if we can really give attention to those things, it doesn't have to take. Long time either in terms of a daily practice, but the more we can do it, and the more it becomes a habit saying, you know, the positive affirmation like write post it notes and put them on your mirror, put them on the dashboard of your car. I had a client, oh gosh, few years ago that I was working with and she could not make more than like 7000 a month. And she was so frustrated. She was doing all the right actions, she really was. But when we dug a little bit, it's like she had this belief that she couldn't make more than 7000 in a month in her pet business. And so I had her do something. I said, this is going to be really weird, and you're going to be like, why am I doing this? But do it anyway. And she's like, okay, okay. She'd been working with me for long enough. She's like, I trust you. Okay, good. Here we go. This is what I want you to do. I want you to write a post it note, and I want you to put it on your computer, put it on your bathroom mirror, put it on the dashboard of your car. And what it's going to say is, I make $10,000 a month or more, easily and effortlessly.
Collin 26:19
And she No joke, like, the next month, she reached out to me and said, You won't believe it. I made, like, $10,051
Kristin 26:34
you know. And I'm like, Yeah, because you had it all around you. And, you know, some people can't make that jump in a month. It's just not possible. But she was willing to do actions, but her mindset was really keeping her stuck. And she was able to kind of blow the roof off of it through saying this every day, seeing it around her, it was huge. Well,
Collin 27:02
I'd like for you to talk about those subtle ways sometimes, those self those subconscious ways that we do sabotage ourselves, and why those negative mindsets really do cut us off. Because a lot of times, you know, people may go, well, what's the big deal? It's just a belief that I have, what? What could possibly be wrong about that? It's just a truth. But you know what you're talking about here is, there are ways where, where you said self sabotage, or we cut, we prevent ourselves from actually getting that. Yeah,
Kristin 27:33
and, you know, I want to, like, I want to mention that, talk about that, but I also want to talk about how our world is actually created through the thoughts that we think, yeah, so that's important to recognize. And if you don't believe that, think about when you're in a really bad mood, and all of a sudden, you know, and you might say to somebody, oh, my God, I'm having one of those days. Yeah, it's not, I'm having a difficult hour or a few minutes, you know, it's like, you've already declared it at 10am you know, having one of those days, and it's really hard to, like, pull back from that. You've already, like, put that out there. Your mind is there, and then somebody cuts you off. A client cancels and is unwilling to pay the cancelation to be, you know, whatever that may be, okay. So being conscious of our mind, creating our reality, we then have choice. We're not victims of circumstance, even if we feel like we are, you know, I think about people when I've done traveling and they're in poverty situations, and yet they're laughing, they're having a great time, you know, they're just lit up. So, you know, think about it like think about what you know, if your life isn't working, if your business isn't working, what thoughts are you thinking that are supporting that negative reality? Okay, so that's the first thing, yeah. Second thing, what you were what you were saying is, like, what, how do we sabotage ourselves? So in business, what that might look like is not enforcing a cancelation policy, not having clients sign contracts. Maybe you have a contract, but you don't send it to clients, you know, for whatever reason, then you cannot back up your policies if you don't do that. So look at that also, if you're not returning client calls in a timely manner, if you are wanting business, and yet you're returning calls 48 hours after that's not supporting your desire to have more clients, right? Yeah, if you are about to hire somebody, and you're seated in front of somebody who, like on paper, looks great, but you're Spidey. Senses are like, No, I, you know, I don't know why I don't feel good about them, but I don't. And yet, you hire them anyway, and something goes wrong. That's a sabotage. It's not worth it to just, you know, get somebody in with a pulse, you know, to give you a little bit of freedom, because it will bite you in the butt, I promise you.
Collin 30:27
Yeah, it's, you know, I know. One for me is, you know, I know, going and talking with other pet businesses, or just businesses in my area, going door knocking, and communicating and networking with them. I know that's really beneficial. Yeah, on the bad days, you know, whenever I'm feeling bad about the business, what do I do? I pull in front of the shop, and I stare at the front door, and I sit there and I just stare, and I go, I go, I don't what's it going to matter? Why would I talk to these people? Right? It's not going to make a bit of difference anyway. We're just, I might as well. And there have been times where it's like, I you talk myself out of that reverse. I'll go try and find another, another one, and you get this loop of, no, I can't. It's what, but it's not going to be that big of a deal, and I'll just move on. I won't bother them. I'm not feeling I'm not feeling confident about my business enough to tell them about it. And right, like you were saying with the phone calls. I know the networking is good. I know returning the phone call to the client is really beneficial, but if I don't act like it's beneficial, because I don't believe it's beneficial, from my negative mindset, my negative position, I'm just destroying every opportunity that I have before me. That's
Kristin 31:36
right. I think it's actually important to not market when you're feeling when you're feeling down, because it's like, perpetuating that kind of down energy. And I don't know that it will be helpful. Like, if it, if it is helpful, it's a fluke. It's like, you know, wow, kind of like winning at the blackjack table. It's like, Woohoo, you know, aren't I lucky? So you know, let's be instead of being lucky, let's be strategic. And we can be strategic about marketing in person when we're feeling good, because people sense our vibes. They feel it, you know. And you know, blink, the the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, is such a good example of that. He talks a lot about how we as humans know the truth. We may, you know, kind of like if we're trying to hire somebody and, oh, but they're good on paper, or we're dating somebody, but they're good on paper, but inside, we're going, No, you know, and yet we do it anyway. That's us bypassing our wisdom, our internal wisdom. And so if you're not feeling confident, and yet you have marketing on your calendar for that day, put another type of marketing on that's not in person marketing, because it's actually not going to probably help, because
Collin 33:04
you're in there, you're not feeling good about it, you're not with energy, you're just kind of home, okay. Well, thanks, appreciate. I have to do this. I do this that people do pick up on that. And so in both cases, if I'm not going in there and talking to somebody with my best effort, best foot forward. Or if I am talking to somebody and I'm annoyed and angry that I'm there, both of those are going to, you know, they're not going to help my business at all. And so that does take us having a little bit of planning, of going, Yeah, and knowing ourselves. And that's why starting the day with, where am I at today? Am I, uh, is today my people day, where I can go and talk to people, or do I need to have my email day and my social media where I'm not doing that stuff exactly,
Kristin 33:48
and being aware that it might change too, like if you give yourself what you need in the beginning of your day, yeah, you know, and you don't push yourself to be with people in the afternoon, you might actually Be like, Hey, I want to be with people.
Collin 34:04
Maybe, yeah, or just having, you know, having some options to do, and I know that that's kind of something to work on, is going. I need to have a little bit of planning here with flexibility in my day, so that when opportunities do come up, I can take advantage of them, maybe that's maybe I wasn't planning on going and talking to people, but one of my long term clients just left me a glowing review on Facebook or Google, and now I'm like, pumped up and amped and I'm ready to conquer the world. Like, okay, let's go do something with that and make the most of
Kristin 34:36
it. That's right, exactly. Yeah. So when we can begin to be conscious of how we're feeling, what we're thinking. I mean, it sounds so kind of navel gazing. I don't mean it to be. I found it to be incredibly powerful for me in my life, and I've seen it in my coaching clients too. So. So if we can take just a bit of time in the morning to connect with ourselves, like, don't jump out of bed and eat your breakfast and run in your car and you know, what is your morning routine? How do you start your day? That is the foundation of your day? Yeah, are you, like, running out the gate, like, from the very beginning? That's probably how your whole day is going to be, unless you take a pause and go, Wow, this isn't really what I want to do today. I'm not even really thinking. I'm not even really in my body. Need to get back in my body here, what's going on?
Collin 35:42
Yeah? Because, yeah, that does take us, us knowing ourselves. Because, yeah, many times we wake up and we think, as we talked about earlier, I don't have time to take 30 seconds to breathe and do a reset right now. I've got, don't, you know, and I hear this, don't you know, I'm so busy, I've got so much to do, I don't have time for that. And the point is, you don't have time not to because that's right.
Kristin 36:11
Well, in the refrain of I'm so busy, it's like, how is that serving you? You know, a lot of people see it as a badge of honor, and I used to, I used to, like, that was my mantra. I'm so busy. I've got so much going on. What it made me feel is important and, you know, valuable. But it's like, how can I feel those things without going 100 miles an hour? Yeah? And actually, how I feel those things today for the most part, I still, you know, sometimes I'm very busy, but how I feel them for the most part today are it's comprised of my my daily practices that really support my well being, inner and outer.
Collin 36:57
Because if we aren't taking care of ourselves, right? We don't have anywhere to pull from if i i do as business owners. We're going to have tough days. We're going to have tough weeks or months. And that takes a resourcefulness that that we need to supply. We have to supply that energy to do things in our business. We have to supply that, that energy to go out and do the marketing and be creative, that that does come from us. And if we aren't taking care of ourselves inside and out, there's nothing to pull from and then we are literally, you know, empty and frustrated.
Kristin 37:34
Yeah, it's true. And so how can you begin to fill the, you know, become resourced. Fill the well inside. Yeah, is it bone dry? Well, what will it take to begin to fill it for yourself? And this isn't about going again, going from zero to 60, like, what is one very small action you can take, or inaction, if you need to rest and take a nap, you know, but what is one small action you can take to begin to fill your inner reserves, and what that will do is it will also help you get into alignment with Your spirit, with your body, with your essence. It's like, if you're constantly pushing yourself like a horse, you know, riding a horse and you're like, whipping it like, hurry faster. You know, more and more and more your body is not going to trust you. It's like, you don't give it time and energy. Your psyche isn't going to trust you. Your spirit isn't going to trust you. It's like, Who is this driver that is, like, constantly making me do more, do more, you know? And then we're at odds, right? There's this, like, pull, push, pull, yeah, instead of like, how can we get into alignment with ourselves? And it won't happen overnight, likely, and you're going to be frustrated by that, but do it anyway, because there will be like, small changes that you will begin to see from even like, you know, a week is usually a good amount of time to begin to see a shift. You know, if you're doing small daily practices or even one practice to support your well being and your mindset.
Collin 39:29
Our friends at naps. The National Association of Professional petzls wants you to know that the 2025 conference will take place February 28 through March 2 of 2025, in Tempe, Arizona conference theme this year is enrich and elevate. And their goal is to bring together industry leaders with session topics that are idea focused and on a wide range of subjects to foster learning and inspiration for your mind, body and business. Register today at pet sitters.org you. Uh, because those tough times will come, we have to be ready for those. And I know one thing that it just it is going to happen and and giving yourself time, and that's one of the that can be really frustrating as a business owner, because we're so worried about time anyway, and we do look for those quick fixes, don't we? Of going, No, I just need this. Just need to move past this. I need to get over this. But when we're dealing with things like burnout, self doubt, when we're lacking motivation, like you said, Kristen, those things don't just do a flip switch and they're done the next day, and the light flips on and we're perfectly back to normal, because we do have to unpack sometimes years and years of bad habits, of bad ways of thinking and trying to get off that cycle of, oh, I, you know, did I see that? Oh, I had that bad. I knew today was going to be bad. And look, look at all these bad things that have happened. And I knew today was gonna be bad. Look at these other bad things that are gonna happen. This is just my life of bad things just always happen. That's right. We getting off that track does take time which we have to stay motivated for that as well, of knowing I can push through this and I'm going to be okay,
Kristin 41:05
yeah. And if we're doing the daily practices, regardless of what's happening, whether a life is good or bad or challenging or whatever, then it's a habit. It's like brushing teeth, right? Also, I would encourage people to really look at what are some bad habits that they're doing that aren't supporting them? Is it scrolling on your phone late at night and it's hard to then, like wind down and be able to go to sleep?
Collin 41:36
I feel I feel okay.
Kristin 41:39
I feel called out too, because I did that last night. I'm just saying, but I've gotten better at it. You know, the other thing, like this is kind of a funny thing, but this was one of my kind of bad habits, which was and I didn't realize. It took me a while to realize it is my, one of my things that I really love and loved more loved now than in current time are true crime podcasts. Like, you know, I won't name names of what those podcasts are, but I was really getting into those and loving those. And what I realized is, you know, they're about murder, destruction, you know, all these bad things, and that's what I'm like, filling my mind with as I'm going on a walk in nature, what? And so I finally, like deleted almost all of them. I still listen occasionally to one or two, but it's very infrequently. It's usually, like once a month. It'll be kind of my guilty pleasure, you know. But I also notice how I feel after and I don't feel great. So for some people, it might be, hey, I'm gonna have a glass of wine after dinner or or before dinner, or a cocktail, or whatever it might be that is then causing them to not sleep well, wake up in the morning not feeling well, you know, I was noticing that for myself with the alcohol like, you know, during the pandemic, I started really enjoying cocktails. My husband is an incredible mixologist, and loves to make cocktails, and so we were just having a great time, you know, having cocktails, you know, on a weeknight after work. But then I started kind of craving them, like, oh my gosh, you know, looking forward to them, kind of thinking about them. And I thought, I don't like this, so I thought I'm going to take a break drinking for a year. And it was, it was harder than I thought. And I went to three, three day weddings, which was really challenging. During that year, everybody was drinking, it seemed like, but me and but then after the year, I realized how much better I felt. My sleep was better. I felt more alive, clear, you know, my skin looked better. I lost some weight, you know, easily, without even trying. And so after that year, I was like, You know what? I'm going to keep this up. And it's been, it's been almost four years now, wow, and it, I don't even think about it anymore. It's not even something that i i will probably ever do again, because my life is so much better without it. So you know, the flip side is really looking at, what are the habits that you have in place now that are actually sabotaging your well being? Yeah,
Collin 44:37
it's funny. It's funny. You mentioned that the podcast one I know for me, I found myself listening to all sorts of like tech podcasts and review podcasts, and I started to feel, I knew, I started to feel discontent with, like my phone or my computer, and I started to feel like, oh, I need the next best thing, or this isn't good enough anymore. And that was, that was what my brain was of like, oh. Just need the new shiny stuff, and I wasn't happy or content with things that were around me. And yeah, as soon as I stopped listening to those, it was like, Oh, well, I just, I don't know anymore What's my phone it's been, it's just, it's been, like, that's one piece of my brain that doesn't that I can use elsewhere. Now, instead of being worried or concerned about what the latest tech specs are for the next phone or computer or iPad or whatever I can. Let me take that time where I was scrolling and looking at reviews and looking at things like that. Let me take that time and actually invest that back in the business, or take the time off and spend it with family, right? And actually go lay out in the grass and enjoy some sunshine a little bit.
Kristin 45:38
I did that yesterday. So I have been wanting, it's such a simple thing, but it's like, it's powerful to walk on the earth. They call it earthing, you know, and or forest bathing, or something. So you know, to walk on the on the grass for the earth, and just be bare feet. And I just got on the grass, and just for five minutes, I had a timer that wasn't my phone, and I was just laying on the grass and it was medicine. Let me tell you so simple things like that can really make a difference. Yeah,
Collin 46:17
and, and it does take that, that trust in the time is going to be worth it, and that finding the stuff that's going to feed us is actually beneficial, instead of just I need to work more work, more work, more it starts with going figuring out, why do I have that feeling and emotion? Why do I have the need to not do this thing? And let me address that by, like you've said already, Kirsten, Kristen, doing the thing more, right? Just, just do that. And you find, oh, man, I because you get those, you feel amazing afterwards. And then you start to seek after that. You go, No, that was actually really beneficial to me. I What? What do I need to change in my life? How do I need to structure my business? What policies do I need to reinforce so that I can have more of that time, or I can spend more time with those people, or doing that thing that I actually
Kristin 47:05
love, that's right? And it's going to feel really weird if you've been running like a chicken, running, running, running, and then all of a sudden you're still so a lot of people who lose their job or they retire, they have a lot of feelings come up, and they're super uncomfortable. The thing that they thought they wanted, which was an abundance of time, actually becomes a very big challenge for them, right? So just know that if you've been running for a long time and you all of a sudden have an opportunity, or you create an opportunity to be still. Feelings will probably arise that you've pushed away, that you know you're going to have, there's going to be discomfort, but get over it. Just be willing to go through it, yeah, because that is, you know, that's where the freedom lies. Is actually like being willing to be with the discomfort in order to begin to have a different relationship with time. Time is good, like, okay, here I am. I you know, I have blank space in my schedule. How wonderful. The other thing I wanted to say is how important it is to bookend things that are challenging, especially the self care. And what I mean by that is yesterday, when I knew I needed to be on the grass for five minutes, and I've been kind of resisting it for whatever reason, I texted a friend and told her, I said, you know, I'm going to go lay on the grass. I know it sounds silly, but I'm going to bookend with you, so I'm letting you know I'm going to do it right now, and then I'm going to text you when I'm done and let you know how I feel. And she was like, great, you're inspiring me to do it. And she ended up doing it later that day. It was really sweet, but so it was helpful, like creating almost a parameter, like a boundary around that, you know, by letting her in and saying, Can you support me in this? I'm going to do this, and then I'm going to text you on the other side when I'm done. And it creates accountability too. So sometimes we need that, not
Collin 49:21
to be afraid to reach out to people, but also importantly, if somebody reaches out to us for that, help to be ready to respond and be supported in the ways that we can be.
Kristin 49:34
Yeah. I mean, it may not be possible for us if we have a friend in need who needs to talk, for us to talk in that moment, but maybe we can schedule it for later that day. And when we help others, it often helps us so remembering that if somebody is reaching out for help, not that we want to be self absorbed, right? Like, oh, this is going to help. Help me. I'm going to do it, but to remember, like our instinct might be, I don't have time for that. But actually, how can you create a little bit of time to help a fellow human in need? Yeah, because it'll help you too, I promise.
Collin 50:16
Well, and when you put it like that, it all of a sudden just puts everything into perspective of finding priorities in going is, isn't helping somebody? Isn't that a that should be a pretty big priority. I would, I think so. I think that should be a big one. And so right, going, what? What can I do to make that happen? If I think that's good and worth my while and worth my time, I should, I should make an effort to make that happen, because also, there may be a time where we need that back in return to us, where we need to be somebody else's bookend or support network or whatever. Yes, exactly, wrapping, wrapping up here, I did want to talk about breaking this cycle of I know we've talked about a few things, but if somebody finds themselves in this constant negativity loop and this constant they can't break out of it. What are some things that they may be able to do to today or this week to start turning that around in their
Kristin 51:10
life? Sometimes just thinking about, you know, if you think about a record player and how it's playing a song, it's got the needle, even just thinking about, I'm going to lift that needle off the loop. You know, it's a neural pathway, that is. It's a groove and so, you know, sometimes just even thinking, imagining, you know, that path being a loop, and picking something up, like a record needle, putting it on a new song. You know, it's amazing how that can be really quite powerful, moving the body, talking to a friend can be really powerful, even for five minutes to say, can I just share what's going on for me? Sometimes getting it out of our body, out of our mouths, and having another person witness it, they don't even have to offer advice or guidance. That can be incredibly powerful if you don't have that ability. For whatever reason, a friend isn't available, grab a journal and just start writing. Give yourself five minutes to talk about it. Don't be afraid to say, you know, I'm so angry at this person I can't believe they did this, or I had a really bad review, and I'm feeling embarrassed or frustrated, or, you know, angry, or whatever it is like, the more we can begin to identify our feelings too. That can be very powerful and help us take it off the loop. Even though we're putting attention on it, it will begin to help us diffuse that. So if you look online, you can look at feeling wheel. They have pillows that are feeling wheels that you can then, like, have on your sofa, and you can, like, do this with your partner, like, you know, what are you feeling today, and give them the pillow, you know? Or, here's what I'm feeling today, to begin to identify those. Because when we can identify those, it's giving those feelings of voice. It's helping them and us feel heard, even just from ourselves. You know, so a powerful thing to do might be, you know, today I'm feeling angry, sad, you know, optimistic. I mean, you know, we probably have a bunch of different feelings that are both positive and negative. That's typical, right? But we might have one predominant feeling, which is, let's say, anger. And so what are some go tos to release anger? Well, like we said, screaming into a pillow, right? Journal, writing and writing, just go for it. Be angry in your journal, let it out, let the caged lion roar. You know. You know, maybe you need to, like, get on your peloton bike and just ride like a demon. You know, it may be that, like just to get it out of your body, but the worst thing you can do is just sit there and hope it goes away, right? That is not a recipe for diffusion from the feelings
Collin 54:35
well, and that that brings it so that we are processing our emotions in real time as opposed to later, and that really helps us then speed up that, that loop process of being, oh, there's that thought right there, as opposed to what happens to me is it's two or three days removed, and I go, Oh, that's why I was really crummy on Wednesday, right? Yes,
Kristin 54:58
exactly. And the more we can. Begin to do this, the more we notice how, how we are starting to, like, feel down, yeah, and the the sooner we can begin to do that, the less time will stay there, too, because it's takes a long time. It takes longer when we've been in that loop for a day or two or three or a week or two weeks, right? It's like get used to noticing when you're feeling off, and know that the sooner you can identify that and really begin to work with it, the sooner you'll be headed in the right direction in terms of where you want to go in your life, in your business, all of it. Kristen, I
Collin 55:49
want to thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing with us those practical techniques to stay not just motivated, but also working towards identifying how we are processing emotions so that we can stop cutting ourselves off at the knees and self sabotaging our businesses to get to where we need to. I really, really, really want to thank you so much for your time today and for coming on the show. For those who want to follow along, check out everything that you are working on these days. Kristen, how best can they do that
Kristin 56:19
so they can go to six figure pet Business Academy. It's all spelled out. They can also go to prosperous pet business. That's the podcast that I have. My books are on Amazon, and feel free to reach out to me you're struggling. And you know, I coach people on the podcast, so if you're struggling with a mindset issue, let's hop on. I'd love to work with you.
Collin 56:46
Perfect Well, I will have those links in the show notes and on the website, so people can click right to that. Kristen, this has been an immense pleasure. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Kristin 56:56
Thank you, Collin. Have a beautiful day.
Collin 56:59
What beliefs, what mindsets, have been holding you back, unintentionally or intentionally this year? What are you willing to let go of in the new year to meet not just your business goals, right? It's not just about the finances or the making of money or, you know, those things, but you personally. What personal goals do you have that we need to let go of some things in order to get there. You have control over your mindset. It takes work. It takes intentionality, takes practice. May take an accountability partner, but you do have the ability to change those thoughts, to change those beliefs, those limiting beliefs, those negative beliefs about yourself, about your actions, about your possibilities, so that you can actually start making the progress that you need to make for you and your business. We want to thank today's sponsors, our friends at tying to pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters, for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll be back again soon. You.
