As part of Mindset Meets Mastery with Arlene Gale’s goal of flipping what we think we know about business upside down, this program is a great example, because most of us hear success is hard. But Debbie Allen, the Go-To Business Expert, tells us how failure is harder than success. Learn how to be a shameless self-promoter and what the key to success really, truly is from a person who has built and sold numerous million dollar businesses. Debbie talks about how “Success Is Easy” with just a few mindset shifts.
“Get out of the lame excuse zone… Just get out of your own way.” -Debbie Allen
Highlights:
03:28 The ‘Shameless Expert of Experts’
08:10 Success Is Easier than Failure
12:38 Success Defined
16:54 The Squirrel Syndrome
23:13 Get Your Asking Gear
28:06 Rid of the Childhood Mindset
30:17 Own Your Value
32:37 Get Out of the Lame Excuse Zone!
Be a Shameless Entrepreneur! Check out how to make your success easy as @arlene_gale interviews Go-To Business Expert, Debbie Allen. #mindset #shameless #success&failure #squirrelsyndrome #askinggear #LameExcuses #MakeADifference Click To Tweet
Resources:
Quotes:
“You can be shameful; that’s a bad thing. But shameless can be good if… you do in the service of others.” -Debbie Allen
“Being shameless means not letting fear get in the way of you being who you are and sharing your expertise with others.” -Arlene Gale
“Playing nice is okay, but it doesn’t mean you can’t rock the boat. And to be successful and to make success easy for yourself, you’ve got to be bold. You’re going to rock the boat, you got to be shameless.” -Debbie Allen
“Success is surrounding us everywhere, but people choose to look at their failures… and they dwell on the negative energy that that failure makes.” -Debbie Allen
“The only way you know it, is to do it.” -Debbie Allen
“Everybody should define success differently on their own terms… You need to find your own success.” -Debbie Allen
“Success is knowing what you want; making a difference in the world some way… And it’s not anybody else’s terms but yours. Because if you’re trying to meet other people’s terms, if you’re trying to prove something to somebody, then you’re always going to be either a workaholic trying to achieve more or going to feel like a failure.” -Debbie Allen
“If you want success and everybody around you is not successful, you need a new group of people.” -Debbie Allen
“All you have to do is ask because you just never know where it’s going to take you.” -Arlene Gale
“When we put ourselves into other shoes, we don’t see how other people look at us sometimes because it goes back to that little girl or that little boy that might have been insecure or might have had a hard time at one time.” -Debbie Allen
“Once you step up… at a higher level, then you are now gone beyond… People are counting on you.” -Debbie Allen
“When you come from your head and your heart, and you want to help more people, it just becomes easier. Because the value, the return on investment, the case studies you have- once you have that kind of success, there’s no stopping you.” -Debbie Allen
“Get out of the lame excuse zone… Just get out of your own way.” -Debbie Allen
“Get out of the lame excuses zone. You deserve to move yourself into the success is easy zone.” -Arlene Gale
Meet Debbie:
Despite being told many times in her career, “You can’t.”, Debbie Allen has! She survived economic declines and technology changes, which killed many businesses, due to her resilience, insistence, and persistence to keep reinventing her business and a “Success is Easy” mindset. She has built and sold numerous multi-million dollar businesses despite being a horrible high school student, but learned everything she could get her hands on in the business trenches. Debbie is a bestselling author of 9 books, including her newest book: Success Is Easy: Shameless No-Nonsense Strategies to Win in Business. She is featured in Entrepreneur Magazine in the October/November issue.
Website: www.DebbieAllen.com and SuccessIsEasyBook.com
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Transcription:
Arlene Gale: Welcome back to Mindset Meets Mastery. We talked last week about what on earth is Mindset Meets Mastery. And so, this week kind of putting my money where my mouth is because Mindset Meets Mastery is really about taking what we think we know in business and flipping it upside down. And even on occasion, calling BS on those things that just don’t make any sense. But for some reason because they said it needs to be done, people just try and do it that way. And it becomes like beating your head up against the wall to get something done just because that’s the mindset that they said we should do. So in Mindset Meets Mastery, we’re gonna talk to some experts who will help, talk to us about why these traditional mindsets are just plain wrong. And I’m so excited because this is my first guess on my podcast, and she’s a business brainstorming partner of mine, we’ve been each other’s clients, and she’s just an amazing woman. And I’m so excited to have Debbie Allen here to share her expertise. And I can’t think of anybody else more fun and more knowledgeable to talk to because, you know, we’re both all about calling BS on things that just aren’t right. So with that, we’re going to talk a little bit about success, because success is easy is, the expertise that Debbie Allen discusses in her upcoming book. And we’ll talk about that too. But how many of you have been told that success is hard? How many of you have been told only a few people can truly ever be successful? How many have you been told, well, if you don’t have all this training, you can’t be successful. Here’s one that I like. Don’t take risks in business because you could lose it all. Well what if you could gain it all if you took a calculated risk? All of these elements are part of what makes success easy and what makes my expert, Debbie Allen help us to understand how when we define success on our terms and we just get up and do something, we’ll talk a little bit about her. Get Your ASK in Gear philosophy that you too can be successful. So without stalling a whole lot longer, I do want to introduce Debbie Allen. She is shameless, and I mean SHAME LESS. And we’re gonna talk about that too because some of you might go, Ooh, I can’t believe you said that about somebody you called a friend, but you know what? It’s the highest compliment as far as Debbie Allen’s concern. So help me welcome my friend, business partner, and the GoTo expert of experts, Debbie Allen. Hey Debbie.
Debbie Allen: Glad to be here with you, Arlene. Let’s get shameless together here on this show.
Arlene Gale: I like it when you talk shameless.
Debbie Allen: (laughs).
Arlene Gale: Before we go too much farther because I know that everybody listening is probably thinking, well Arlene’s a shameless hussy for calling this expert of experts shameless. Explain to the listeners why is that really a badge of honor?
Debbie Allen: Well, there is really a science and an art to it. I mean there are people that can be just shameless in your face and I think that’s what’s given it a wrong, a bad name like shame was self promotion. But the thing is that there really is an art and a science to it. And you can be shameful that’s a bad thing. But shame was can be good, you know, your own horn when you’re there to help other people. So it’s really doing what you do, talking about what you do in the service of others. So, for example, you mentioned my book Success is Easy, it’s been featured in Entrepreneur magazine this month. I’m going to took my horn as much as I can let people know it’s a full page feature in Entrepreneur magazine. Why? Cause I want them to be recognizing the book, I want them to get the book, I want them to read it cause it’s gonna be really life changing, and business changing for them. And so, you know, I’m coming from a place of service and if I can, I’m doing something I think is going to support other people, I want to put the message out there in a way that’s going to be supportive to them.
“You can be shameful; that's a bad thing. But shameless can be good if... you do in the service of others.” -Debbie Allen Click To TweetArlene Gale: Because part of your philosophy, and I don’t want to put words in your mouth, so correct me if I’m wrong, is that you can be shameless by honoring your expertise and stepping out, even if sometimes you’re scared, or even if sometimes it seems risky. Being shameless means not letting fear get in the way of you being who you are and sharing your expertise with others.
“Being shameless means not letting fear get in the way of you being who you are and sharing your expertise with others.” -Arlene Gale Click To TweetDebbie Allen: Most definitely. And when I wrote a book years ago called Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters, and it was very successful. It got me a lot of speaking engagements, I couldn’t believe I spoke at the governor’s conference in front of a bunch of politicians. They need to be shameless, obviously they hired me, pay me good money to teach them how to do this. I mean, my audience was just anybody that really wanted to put their message out there. So you know, that book was like put on the shelf. Okay, it’s been there, it’s done that. It was such a strong brand for me. And then when I came up with the Success Is Easy, we’re coming up with the subtitles, and you know, you had worked on the book with me. I mean, you know the book as well as I do, you brought so much and been a part of it, and with you, and you’ve been amazing and helped me get this book launched, and even a catalyst and helping me get it into Entrepreneur. So, you know, the thing is that we had to work on it. Changing that subtitle was, you know, taking a long time, even getting the title. But the subtitle, when we first came up with it and we were working together, shameless was in the title, but it wasn’t first cause I was kind of trying to hide it like, okay, been there, done that. And Entrepreneur magazine loved the shameless part, and they wanted to get it out there. So, when they came back with the cover of the book, it was the first word in the subtitle, which is a Shameless, No-nonsense Strategies to Win in Business. So it’s, that was totally what it’s about because like you said, most people don’t have the courage, guts, you know, to get rid of the BS and say, I’m going to tell you like it is, no nonsense, straight shooter. That’s one of the compliments I get a lot of times. Hey, you’re a straight shooter. You say it like it is, well, cause I really care about helping people, and you know, you’re not going to help people if you’re just trying to say, Oh yeah, you know, that’s nice, but playing nice is okay, but it doesn’t mean you can’t rock the boat. And to be successful and to make success easy for yourself, you’ve got to be bold. You’re going to rock the boat, you gotta be shameless. And the only way you get there is no nonsense. Get out of my way. This is how it’s going to be done. And you’ve got to turn heads, otherwise, you’re going to be a commodity to everybody else. And when you’re playing in the average general world of everybody else, it’s hard to be successful. When you stand out, it’s easy because people are going, hey, you’re saying something interesting, you’re saying something different and just like your podcast, people want to get on your podcast now, right?
Arlene Gale: Hmm.
Debbie Allen: If they don’t have something interesting and different to say that’s going to help your listeners, you’re not going to want them on the show.
Arlene Gale: Absolutely, absolutely. So, your book is fabulous if I do say so myself. It is so full of tips and tools that people can use to get over a variety of mindsets. And the first one I want to talk to you about that you talk about in the book is about how success is easier than failure. And that just sounds mind blowing because people will look at that sentence and say, yeah, no, but explain that to us.
Debbie Allen: Well, and they do, they’ve already kinda like what do you mean by success as easy? Or what do you mean the success is easier than failure? I mean, they don’t get it cause they’ve never heard it before. So the first thing it does is, like, they’re either challenging the idea or they’re going, I dunno, you know, I don’t believe that way. Of course you don’t believe that way. It’s why I had to write the freaking book, right?
Arlene Gale: Ehm.
“The only way you know it, is to do it.” -Debbie Allen Click To TweetDebbie Allen: It’s like, they tell you there is another way to believe. When you think about it, you know, success is surrounding us everywhere. Just even, you know, looking in your office, they’re looking at all the books that were surrounding you, the award that’s behind you, success around you, everywhere when you go into your office everyday. Same with me, the books that I’ve read and the things, that just books, okay, those books can be your mentors. That part is that, you know, you can hire somebody, you can invest in somebody that’s been there, done that. You know, it’s, success is surrounding us everywhere. But people choose to look at their failures and go, Oh well, that didn’t work for me. And they dwell on the negative energy that failure makes. Well, you know, if you’re starting a new business, you’re gonna make mistakes and you’re going to fail. Every new business is dysfunctional because you don’t know it, right? The only way you know it is to do it. And I’m a great example of that cause if anybody could write the book, it’s me. I mean, I’d never gone to college, not the brightest, you know, the sharpest tack in the box, you know, I barely got through high school, but I’m a savvy, scrappy entrepreneur, and I always knew who to invest in myself, to find successful people and then do what they’re doing. Because obviously if you do what successful people are doing, you’re going to get there. It’s studying and implementing. And so, when you think about it that way, it really is easier to succeed than it is to fail. Because failures are just lessons going, okay, I’m going in the wrong direction and I don’t want to make that mistake against so better find somebody who knows what the heck they’re doing.
Arlene Gale: Right. Well, and if I tell my kids, if there’s no bloodshed and you didn’t start a fire, then get up and wipe off all the dust and figure out what can you do different this time.
Debbie Allen: Right, exactly. I mean, yeah, you’re going to survive, you know, you lived through it. Okay, sure, you’re still alive, everybody’s okay, right? You know, so for me it was just like, you know, when I knew that, you know, I didn’t want to go out and get a job and work for somebody else, I’m just way too independent to do that. And I think that’s made me entrepreneur. But, you know, when I started my retail business, you know? When I was 30 years old, everybody said, you’re crazy, you don’t know anything about that business, you’re buying a business that lost money for six years. Yeah, I was pretty crazy. But I wanted out of my other, you know, family business so bad and better than repossessing cars in Gary, Indiana, you know, dressing up every day, looking good. So I just wanted to make it work, and I just kept going and thinking, where did you ask? You know, now you can find mentors, you can go to events. Back then, you didn’t have that where you could just go to an event and learn something. And so, really, it was just like asking people who do you know the successful in retail? When I would go to the shows and then I got invited into this group because of my enthusiasm, and I didn’t have any knowledge to share with the group but they let me in and shared their knowledge with me. So I think that if you’re really enthusiastic and a bunch to learn, even when you don’t have the knowledge or the experience behind you, there’s still going to be people that will take you under their wings and allow you to fly. And because they’ve been successful, they want to share it. And that’s one of the things, my motto is “I love sharing success.” Every time I have success, I think, who can I share this with? You know, I have my moment of, like, that felt good, great. And then the next second I’m thinking, who can I share this with? Who can I give the same experience to? And that juices me up because that’s what is important to me. I just love having people be successful, and I want to share it in a way that can help them. And when I find somebody that’s enthusiastic and wants to learn, and is coachable, then they’re the perfect person to support.
Arlene Gale: Absolutely, and that’s the key. If they’re coachable and they want to learn, they can achieve success, whatever success means to them. Which brings up the next question, the mindset issue. What did you find when you talk to people about success? How do people define success?
“Success is knowing what you want; making a difference in the world some way… And it's not anybody else's terms but yours. Because if you're trying to meet other people's terms, if you're trying to prove something to somebody, then you're always… Click To TweetDebbie Allen: Well, everybody should define success differently on their own terms, that’s the biggie. Now, who have been told you that? First of all, I’ve started out telling you success is easy and it’s easier than fail. You know, the next thing I’m telling you, you need to find your own success. Well, nobody said that before, right? Well, if you think success is, I have to have this much money, I have to live in this kind of house, I have to drive this kind of car. Who told you that was success? All right, who says that when you have that, that you’re going to be happy? I mean, success is knowing what you want, making a difference in the world, some way that you’re putting out, you know, you’re supporting people in some way, you’re giving back to others, and it feels good to you, right? Feels like I feel successful and it’s not anybody else’s terms but yours. Because if you’re trying to meet other people’s terms, if you’re trying to prove something to somebody, then you’re always going to be either a workaholic trying to achieve more, or going to feel like a failure. And a good example of that, you know me growing up all of those years in my back of my head, my dad’s thinking that, you know, men are more successful than women. I was, you know, kind of his motto, his thinking way back then, right? So I think I always want to prove myself that I could be successful. And once I prove that to my dad? Or was I trying to prove that to myself? Or when was I going to have, you know, that feeling of success and I realized that, you know, why wasn’t I just taught that if I could define what my own success is, then it would make a difference. And when I defined my own success, it was so powerful and so strong that I actually had to really remove negative doomsayers from my life that tried to pull me away from that success.
“Everybody should define success differently on their own terms… You need to find your own success.” -Debbie Allen Click To TweetArlene Gale: Ehm.
Debbie Allen: Because here’s another thing that’s gonna happen because some people say: “Well, why do you work so hard? How do you get so much done?” Or you know, why don’t you slow down? These kinds of things, you gonna hear that when you’re older, right? That’s why you’re going strong then because you’re wise, you’ve got a lot of experience, and they can, what I’m going to put on this earth to make a difference? Why would I just slow down? And what am I going to do? You know, it’s like, I know my success is supporting other people, that’s my motto. That’s my definition of success, doing things that will lead a message and a legacy to support other people’s success, and that’s when I feel successful. And that’s why I’m so super excited about this book because it’s going to be a bigger market than what I’ve been focusing on, it’s really a general market. Somebody that can read this, it’s coming out of high school and say, wow, you know, this is a different way of thinking, and this is a different way of doing ,and this is a whole model to follow, it could be somebody who’s been in business for years that turns their head in a different way of and doing, it can be a startup company. It’s really for anybody that wants more success, or wants to look at success in a different way.
Arlene Gale: Absolutely. And it really truly is. Success Is Easy, truly is wisdom for all ages and stages of business. So we’re going to take a quick break, and then we’re going to come back with Debbie Allen, and we’re going to ask her to explain some things that she has in her book, starting with what on earth is squirrel syndrome? Or how do you get the heck out of the lame excuses zone? So stay with us. We’ll be back in a few minutes to answer these questions.
So welcome back. We are talking to Debbie Allen, author of Success Is Easy. That book is coming out soon and you can get it on all retail sites online, or any place that you find Debbie where she’s speaking. I highly recommend that you connect with her. And hear her wisdom in person. But in the meantime, Debbie, you got some explaining to do girl, what is squirrel syndrome?
Debbie Allen: Everybody’s got the squirrel syndrome, you know, it’s called focusing basically. You know, squirrels are just very cute little animals, but you know, they have a problem with focusing. Yeah, they’re kind of like all over the place. And so we like to use this word as that scenario of, especially entrepreneurs. We’re looking at the next shiny bright object like, hey, let’s go over here and gather these all little nuts, let’s go over here, and this tree looks better and let’s, you know, it’s just the idea of focusing on something enough that you can be become very strategic on it to be successful. You know, sometimes you learn things from mentors that, you know, I shouldn’t be doing it that way, okay. So one of my early mentors, and my father, and I learned what not to do in business a lot, those are the biggest lessons I learned from him. And they really have been supporting me all my life. And I would see my dad start a new business like every six months, you know, oh I love starting business. You know, once he decided he was going to be an entrepreneur, like, okay, here’s another idea, here’s another idea. And you know, the thing is that the businesses that he focused on and took time to grow, they were always successful. And then he would start something else, and he would lose his attention from one business to the next, and it would fail time and time again. And it was just because of the squirrel syndrome that he had. And then it was like you to have energy and focus on something. You can’t just start something because you’re bored, or you think it’s a creative new idea. And so, I had become a really strategic thinker. I think that’s one of my most successful traits that I have, is that I’m very, very focused and very strategic. And I know what the end game is that I want, my end goal, and I do something every day to get there. And so, you know, a lot of people say time and money is their biggest excuse, well, you’ll find more time if you can do three things every single day, they get to your big main goal, your big success that you want, you’re going to eventually get there. Sometimes you really have no idea how to get there. And Arlene, and let me tell you that people that are listening here wondering like, well, I have an idea. I have this big dream, and I, you know, but I don’t know how to get there, so I might as well just forget that dream, you know? Let me tell you, I’ve had that many times. Every business I’ve ever started right, didn’t really know much about it. I found the right people.
Arlene Gale: Ehm.
Debbie Allen: And anyone I would sit and I would look at an Entrepreneur magazine every single month when it came out. I would look at those books in the back of that magazine, I would think, Oh my God, what a dream that would be to have your book feature in Entrepreneur magazine. I have no idea how to do that. But man, that would be the coolest thing ever. And I would just, you know, be drooling looking at those walks, you know, next to Brian Tracy, and Dan Kennedy, and Jeffrey Hayzlett. And then here I am, you know, I’m just a year later after I really, every month would put that up and just go, I’m picturing my book on this. They have like a kind of a bookshelf thing I feature in the back of certain articles, certain publications, and I just, every time we’d just picture my book there and then here I am aligned with somebody that connected to me and it all worked out because that was where my focus was. Even though I wasn’t, I was working towards doing a book and I knew I needed a new publisher, I didn’t know how to do that. So again, another thing besides the squirrel syndrome is that know that if you are focused on something and it can move the squirrels out of the way, if you don’t know how to get there, that somebody is going to show up and show you how to get there, or an opportunity is going to show up. The squirrels are just flying around you all the time, you don’t even see opportunities because you’re so busy chasing another squirrel.
Arlene Gale: No, absolutely. Well, and that’s interject a little bit of our personal story here is that’s kind of how we met, you know, we were both looking for something and had our eyes open and we were open to receive, you know, what came across our path in different areas and I was down, I was really frustrated and in debt, and not making any headway in business when I met you. But I was open to being coachable and the mindset of I need help, it’s just a matter of where am I going to find that. And when you’re open to receive that, when you’re truly ready, then I believe that, you know, someone like you will cross my path and it’s up to me to have the wisdom to latch on. And I think it was for a mutually beneficial relationship because we both needed different things and lo and behold, we each had those skill sets to help each other.
Debbie Allen: But when we first met, it was just getting you, you had the squirrels. I mean–
Arlene Gale: Yeah, I had the squirrel’s, exactly.
Debbie Allen: Squirrel syndrome, you had like saying yes to everything, and then you’re overwhelmed, and you’re not making money, and you’re feeling undervalued because you’re just saying yes, chasing, chasing every little nut together in your little illness there. But then when you start very, very focused and very strategic, money and opportunity started coming to you, and then it came to so big that you were hanging around with the right people. So not only did that focus get so strong, and more money, and opportunities, you are now hanging around with other experts and other experts needed your work and your support. And it took it to another level because again, you realize that if you want success and everybody around you is not successful, you need a new group of people, right?
“If you want success and everybody around you is not successful, you need a new group of people.” -Debbie Allen Click To TweetArlene Gale: Absolutely, yeah. Because, and you know, to be open to what they have to offer. And I have found it to be true that people who are successful are wanting to share that expertise, are wanting to bring people up behind them. So that would be one of the mindset myths that I would say for people to, you know, get over it. If you find somebody who’s successful, ask, you know, ask for what you want. Which I guess brings me to another issue because I love your philosophy and your statement of Get Your ASK in Gear. And it’s personally been extremely powerful and impactful in my business, and not just in business, but it’s helped me grow my self confidence by leaps and bounds. And you know, being a Texas girl, I kind of reframe it just a little bit. So when I hear your voice in my head, it says, don’t make me come over there and kick you in the ass. Talk a little bit about what do you mean about getting Your ASK in Gear?
Debbie Allen: Every interview I’m on, they asked her about that. Getting Your ASK in Gear. It’s so funny because, you know, the whole thing is that if I wouldn’t even had this book on Entrepreneur, if I didn’t Get Your ASK in Gear, you know, I asked somebody that already had their book there, how it was working for them, I didn’t ask them for the contact. You know, and I’ve actually had somebody turn around and ASKED me for the contact when I’m thinking, well, how have we done business together? How are we supporting each other? You know, when you ASK it’s gotta be a win win, right? So, you know, that’s important. You know, just ASK, like, you know, cause you want something, it has to be a fix place and it works. And so, you know, that got me there. And the same thing with when I was going to write this book and I was coming up with the titles, and I was working with my public or my New York agent for a long time, you know, I was having problems trying to make a decision on the title and we were already working a VIP day then because you said to me: “You know, why don’t you let me help you with your book?” And I’m thinking, well, why would I need to hire you to help me with my book? This is my 9th book, I don’t need a book coach. I’ve never had a book coach. And in my head I had like an attitude, like, well, hey, I’m really impressed that you had the courage to ask. And then I was, you know, like, well, I don’t need you. And then the next thing in my mind switch, like, well maybe I do need her because obviously I can’t get the book title, and the subtitles, and the whole thing together and I need to, how fun would that be to just hang out with you all day and brainstorming, have a VIP day together. And it was a, you know, a posted note day from hell, but we had so much fun (laughs).
Arlene Gale: That’s a secret, sshh (laughs).
Debbie Allen: You know, I’ve admired you. I think I’ve got more and rage. I love you and adore you, you know that. But I think I’ve been getting more admiration for you than any other day. Any other thing you’ve said to me is: “Why don’t you work with me?” Cause you’ve got Your ASK in Gear, what I’ve been teaching you, and I was like, I just turned my head and went: “Holy crap, she got it. And she turned it around on me and it worked. Oh my gosh, that is so powerful.” And so then, you know, you think about this, you think, and every time I’m not asking for something, I think about you see on my shoulder going, don’t make me come over there and kick you when they ask. And it’s like, we laughed so hard when you said that. And so, that little statement is going to go far.
Arlene Gale: Well, I mean it really truly has worked. I mean, when I get hired to do a speaking gig and I’ll say: “Okay, what other workshop can I do for you?” And they go: “Oh, I don’t know. What else do you have?” And so, you know, I’m going out to do three workshops that I’m getting paid for in the next week or so, but they were going to hire me for one, and I kept asking and asking and they hired me for three. Those I am not that special or unique, all you have to do is ASK, cause you just never know where it’s going to take you, so that’s been HUGE for me.
“All you have to do is ask because you just never know where it's going to take you.” -Arlene Gale Click To TweetDebbie Allen: Right. And that’s really helped me years ago building my speaking business is that, you know, I remember when I was going to South Africa to speak, well the main reason I wanted to go to South Africa was go on a Safari, not to go all the way there to go speak. So, I got the keynote for this conference, and then I said: “Hey, do you know somebody who could do a workshop for a day while I’m there?” Well, yeah, then it doubled my fee. Then I tried it from stage and then I tripled my fee and spoke for another company, you know. So, I share that story a lot because it was, again, it took a matter of a few seconds to ask and most people just don’t have the courage and I don’t understand why. Because really, if you had the courage enough to ask to get the business to begin with, and then once you sell it, they already said yes. So once you have a client that said yes to you, it’s so easy for them to say yes again. It’s like the easiest person ever. So once you get a yes, just keep asking, but make sure that it’s always in a service.
Arlene Gale: Right.
Debbie Allen: You know, you’re not just asking cause you want more money, you know, cause you wanna make it a win win. So you know, here’s another thing, you contact a speaking engagement on a book and they say: “We’ve got all our speakers, we don’t need you.” Then all you have to do is say: “Hey, could we do a pre-conference workshop? Can I come in early and do a pre conference workshop?” And maybe you can make some money off of that as an association, or there’s so many different ways you’ve got to get creative thinking how can I ask someone that really needs what I have but is saying no. So either believe you either have the wrong audience altogether, or you need to give more information.
Arlene Gale: Absolutely, absolutely. So Debbie, my friend and mentor, I’m ready to put you on the hot seat. Are you ready?
Debbie Allen: Ooh, I like that.
Arlene Gale: Alright, so answer this question. What is the number one mindset that has hindered you from making progress in your business?
“Once you step up... at a higher level, then you are now gone beyond… People are counting on you.” -Debbie Allen Click To TweetDebbie Allen: Oh, I think it’s probably one that we all have. You know, you go back to childhood and you’re like, who am I to do this, right? Put ourselves in that, you know, that little person of struggling to grow up, or some of your time in your life that you’ve had a hard time and you go back to that moment. So when I go back to that moment, I have to click myself out of it. Well, you look what I’ve done, I’ve been a lifelong learner, You know, I’ve helped so many people, Why not me? But I think that we have to constantly work on that because even when I pull up, open that magazine, I see the full page and I kept staring at that yesterday. I’m like, that isn’t even look like me, that’s hard to believe that I’m here because we put ourselves into other shoes. We don’t see how other people look at us sometimes because we go back to that little girl or that little boy that might’ve been insecure, or might’ve been, you know, had a hard time at one time. So, you know, a lot of that mindset, we go back to childhood and it’s really, you know, that’s the BS we gotta get out of our own way because that doesn’t even make any sense really, it doesn’t, why do we do that? It’s just a natural thing that we all have to go back to that. So, you know, I look at when I get that, I go right to a win, think of the win. Think of the win the time that I helped somebody, or I had a big win, and I’m like, and I think to myself switch that I switched very, very quickly now, but I know that it exists. I can’t, people don’t see that in me because they see that you’re so confident. How do you become so confident and say it like it is? Because I work on it every single day, and I don’t allow myself to go there because if I allow myself to go there in another place, that is not a place that serves me or anyone else. Because once you step up to a level of an expert, an author, a speaker, whatever at a higher level, then you have now gone beyond. You can’t use it as an excuse anymore, people are counting on you.
“When we put ourselves into other shoes, we don't see how other people look at us sometimes because it goes back to that little girl or that little boy that might have been insecure or might have had a hard time at one time.” -Debbie Allen Click To TweetArlene Gale: Absolutely, absolutely. So the next question is, what is the one mindset that has helped you progress in your business?
Debbie Allen: Number one mindset help me progress is the belief in myself in the value that I give. So that’s come with successes. So you know, when you’re starting out and you don’t feel like you’re successful yet, then find a way to create little successes so that you build your confidence. And my confidence really comes from, you know, the things that I have achieved doing, and so I just go back to that every single time. And you know, I have built an amazing confidence in myself from doing that. But it’s, you know, it’s just like I know the value when I go out and I’m trying to, you know, make an offer for something that I’m going to sell, like a personal mentoring with me. Like when you’re working with you, or another one of our friends, Lynn and she said to me: “Well I want to work with you but a time is not right now.” And I said: “What do you mean in time the time is not right now? Well why is it not right? I need somebody like you, you do video marketing just like Arlene, time is right for you. I need people that do books and I need you for this, you need to help all my other clients. I want to give you business.” And so I had to, like, I was that secure about it. Like what do you mean? You don’t want to invest now? Cause it’s like your time isn’t right. You’re going to get your investment back 10 times over, just listen to what I have to say because I know the value that I offer. That’s how strong it comes from. And I think that when you think about your making an offer, or you don’t feel as security, gonna think about who have you helped? And then when you come from your head and your heart, and you want to help more people, it just becomes easier because you know the value, you know the return on investment, the case studies you have, when you have that kind of success, there’s no stopping you. So it’s just little baby steps of success until you get there, do you help somebody else.? Do you have success in a way that you can make it bigger, and bigger, and bigger. And that’s really what’s helped me.
“When you come from your head and your heart, and you want to help more people, it just becomes easier. Because the value, the return on investment, the case studies you have- once you have that kind of success, there's no stopping you.” -Debbie… Click To TweetArlene Gale: Absolutely. That’s such valuable insight. So I want to leave with this question. What is the number one piece, the number one golden nugget that you could leave listeners with today that will help them take that next step forward to finding for themselves how success is easy.
Debbie Allen: Okay. So you mentioned earlier we’re going to talk about the lame excuse zone. And so that’s where I want to take them is get out of the lame excuse zone. So some of these excuses that people come up with, I don’t have money, I don’t have this. One of the ones that, just one of my biggest pet peeves that people say is: “I’m broke.” Oh my gosh, the feeding statement that is, that is killer, right? Get out of that, you know, you’re broke because you say you’re broke, right? Lame excuse, like, well, I gotta ask somebody if I can do this. Let me think about it, I don’t know. You know, just get out of your own way, and these lame excuses that we put on ourselves, you know, Hey, I been responsible for that before too, but I catch it. I can talk to somebody, and this is crazy. I will do a seminar for an hour and I will have people come and stand in line and talk to me, and they will stand in line for another hour to get a two minute conversation with me. In that two minutes, all they do is spend two minutes, give me a bunch of lame excuses why they’re broke? Why they got three businesses going but none of them are making any money? Why they can’t do something? I’m thinking, Oh, you waited an hour to share that lame excuse with me. Oh my gosh, I can’t say that to them, but I’m thinking in my head, I can tell for it in a matter of two minutes, this person’s not going to be successful because of the excuses they’re making.
“Get out of the lame excuse zone… Just get out of your own way.” -Debbie Allen Click To TweetArlene Gale: Absolutely. So listeners, get out of the lame excuse zone. You deserve to move yourself into the successes easy zone. So with that said, Debbie, please tell people how they can connect with you. Find out where you’re speaking, or where you’re doing workshops.
“Get out of the lame excuses zone. You deserve to move yourself into the success is easy zone.” -Arlene Gale Click To TweetDebbie Allen: Sure, They go to debbieallen.com, that’s easy D-E-B-B-I-E-A-L-L-E-N.C-O-M. You can also go to successiseasybook.com and learn about everything we’re doing with the book and connect with me there. So that’s a great place to start.
Arlene Gale: Debbie, I am so grateful and so blessed, and want to thank you to the bottom of my heart for being my very first guest on this Mindset Meets Mastery Podcast. And I cannot say enough good things about what you’ve meant to me professionally and personally. So thank you for your time and for sharing the myths and misconceptions that might inspire people to move into the successes easy zone.
Debbie Allen: My pleasure, my pleasure, and good luck with you on your podcast. I know that you’re doing this from your heart, and your passion, and if we can shift mindsets, we can make the world a better place for sure.
Arlene Gale: Amen. Yeah, that’s my hope. That’s my goal. So best wishes to you, and everybody looked for the book coming out soon, Success Is Easy. Thanks Debbie.
Debbie Allen: Thanks Arlene.