Mindset | Taking Ownership of Your Destiny

Today I’m talking about taking ownership of your own destiny.

I wanted to explore this topic because we’ve had a few situations here at Codebreak lately which have presented some interesting challenges – but also really useful learning experiences which any entrepreneur or business owners will relate to.

So recently we started working with a client who wasn’t too happy with their previous agency.

They felt their agency was using a bunch of different freelancers and there was no consistency; we hear that quite frequently.

We started helping them with their digital ads and the leads were flowing in.

Then they began complaining that it wasn’t generating sales.

“We might need to change tactic and do something more geared towards lead nurturing,” they said.

So we adjusted to that and they were really happy. So happy, in fact, that they wanted to bring more work over to us; their websites, marketing materials, the works. We got stuck in and started doing the work.

But every week or so, they’d want to burn everything to the ground and change direction.

I quickly realised that every time I spoke to them, someone new had done something wrong in their eyes. This put me in a difficult situation, because as a supplier, it’s hard to tell a client that they need to look at themselves and take responsibility for why things kept going wrong.

It’s not the first time this has happened; we recently had a similar situation with another client. At this point I should say that if you’re a Codebreak client listening to this, it’s all said with love. But I think it’s important to present a real picture of what actually goes on behind the scenes.

Anyway, this client started kicking off because they didn’t know where their leads were.

“You’re the professionals,” they said.

“You’re the ones generating these leads. I can’t believe you haven’t been notifying us about our leads. We would expect better from you, we’ve invested a lot of money with you.”

We reminded them that at the start of the project, it was agreed that the leads would go into their CRM system for their sales team to pick up.

“Surely the CRM system should notify us if a new lead has come into it?” they said.

Perhaps it should, I told them – but that’s a question for the system’s developers, not your marketing agency. Then they asked for the logins to their CRM system, like it was our responsibility and not theirs to keep those details.

I could get really frustrated with these situations.

But you know what? I have to take accountability, too. Maybe things weren’t communicated to clients correctly from the get-go, and if that’s the case, the buck stops with me.

I can’t just lash out and throw my toys out the pram; I have to look at what might have gone wrong from our end.

A few months ago, Codebreak brought in a sales agency that had a minimum three-month agreement. I had to ask myself whether I was willing to risk a three-month investment to see what happens.

Selling in our game is hard; it’s a low trust environment and there’s a lot of competition, so I knew the sales agency would have a tough job. In the end, I took the risk.

They didn’t get the result I wanted.

But I didn’t attack them for it; it was my choice to take that risk. I made an informed decision.

Yet I’ll often come across business owners and entrepreneurs who aren’t willing to look at themselves and take that kind of responsibility. They want a magic pill, something they can spend money on and everything will magically fall into place.

Everything in business is a risk, but sometimes you have to weigh up whether it’s worth taking calculated risks to get results. If you don’t take risks, you’ll never know.

And here’s another great example. This week I’ve been training the team at Codebreak in how to see phone calls as an opportunity.

One of the guys said: “Well, I don’t want to appear salesy.”

I told him I didn’t want him to appear salesy either; it’s a risk. But it’s also my responsibility as the owner of Codebreak to make sure the company is healthy; and that means taking opportunities to make a sale whenever they come up.

When you’re running a business, you need to sell. It’s your duty. And if you provide a good product or service and you’re afraid to sell it, that’s a problem – because the destiny of your business rests on it.

If you miss the chance, people will go and buy something that might be inferior to what you could offer – so you’re actually doing them a favour.

Maybe you’re great at selling, but you’re not so great at taking risks. Or you avoid responsibility.

Whatever it is, no one’s going to fix that problem for you.

You have to be able to see where you might be the bottleneck in your own business. If you don’t, whatever problems you have will keep coming back to haunt you.

The most successful business owners are those who push through their problems, through challenging clients, quiet sales periods, staffing shortages, through everything else a business can face.

The key is not to let that victim mentality creep in and start blaming other people. You’re in charge of your own destiny.

Bad things will happen in business, just as bad things will happen in life. I’m a prime example of that. In the last three years, my dad was wrongly imprisoned and then put into a mental health hospital.

Then my stepfather went into hospital for a routine vein bypass and unexpectedly had to have his leg amputated. Then just before Christmas, my wife had an operation and has now been in a wheelchair for three months.

They say bad things come in threes.

I could’ve crumbled in any one of these situations. But I know that the power of your response to difficulties defines what happens next.

Sometimes it’s about taking a step back and realising that you can’t control external events; you can only control your response to them. Controlling your mental state, and your response to challenging situations, is the key to taking ownership of your destiny.

There are entrepreneurs out there who’ve turned massive setbacks into huge growth opportunities by striving for success during the most difficult times.

Often, the moment where you feel like burning it all to the ground is the moment you’re about to get to the next level.

Even if you don’t realise it at the time.

Building a mindset that helps you stay in control of your reactions involves cultivating positive daily habits. It might be journaling every day, going to the gym in the mornings, doing some breathing exercises – whatever helps get you in the right state of mind.

For me, it’s drinking London Nootropics; it gets me into a flow state where I power through my to-do in a few hours. If I miss it, or skip my journalling, my mindset starts to crumble.

So, four key takeaways from today’s blog:

1. Take responsibility; it’s not always someone else’s fault
2. Reframe your challenges into opportunities, however difficult they might seem
3. Audit your headspace and let go of things you can’t control; they’re taking up valuable energy
4. Last but not least, write down one big change you’re going to make – your morning routine, the way you communicate with clients, whatever will move your business forward. Measure it and put a date on it.

Remember, you’re in control of your business’s destiny; and your own.

Don’t miss the next episode of Stay Hungry – we’ll dive into straight-talking insights on business marketing, growth mindset, and the realities of running a business. And if you want to take the hassle out of your marketing, we’ve got you covered with our done-for-you service.