Why You MUST Embrace the Discomfort of Growth.

Episode Transcription

Den Lennie (1s):
Good day, guys. It’s Den here. And this week on the show, I want to talk about the importance of embracing the discomfort around growth. More on that in just one second.

2 (15s):
Welcome to the Video Business Accelerator podcast. Each week we uncover the secrets to creating a wildly successful and scalable video production business with your host, Den Lennie. Discover how the accelerator program is transforming the lives of our members at www.videobusinessaccelerator.com. Enjoy this episode.

Den Lennie (45s):
So, this is episode 266 of the How to Scale a Video Business podcast. And I’m sure you’ve had the expression, you know, mindset is everything and it absolutely is how our mindset is through conditioning. It’s through parenting, it’s through experience, and the number one obstacle that I perceive and I’ve experienced in growing a business over the last 13 years is belief systems around what is possible and what you are capable of, and what your ceilings are.

Den Lennie (1m 27s):
And, you know, it’s very clear to me that how we’re brought up, how we’re conditioned, what is learned from childhood, from school, from parents, from grandparents, from family members has an enormous impact on us later in life. I think it’s been sort of widely documented that all of our behaviors are learned by the age of seven. Now in dogs, it’s 16 weeks. When you’re training a dog, if you don’t get those habits built-in by week 16, they’re very hard to train a dog beyond the 16-week mark.

Den Lennie (2m 10s):
Now in business, we don’t often leave school and start a business. In video, we leave school, we do whatever we do. We go university college, whatever, get a job. But when it comes to walking and video production, it’s something that’s usually driven, certainly my own story by a passion for filming and photography. And having always had that desire to look through a lens. But when my career evolved into choosing to run a business, there was a big shift from freelance to business owner. And the biggest obstacle was my own belief systems about what was possible. I remember speaking to a cameraman in London when I was still a cameraman earning about, you know, 35, 40,000 pounds a year.

Den Lennie (2m 53s):
I think it was 34,000 a year. I was earning in London and I had a car and all this kind of stuff. And that me-time is a lot of money. And I remember this guy saying, I want to make a hundred grand a year as a cameraman. And I was like, that is just not possible. Or what are you talking about? You know? And he’s like, totally it is possible. And off he went and did it. Bought a kit and start working on bigger projects. And so I realized then I had some limiting beliefs and the most challenging thing about a limiting belief is first acknowledging that you have it, but then embracing the discomfort of the growth that’s required to break it. And you know, when you break a bone, it’s very painful and it’s very uncomfortable.

Den Lennie (3m 37s):
It takes time to heal, but when it heals back, it’s calloused. And so it heals back stronger. And then you have a heightened awareness for the risks involved that created the break in the first place. And so the discomfort of growth is the heart of the ecosystem around breaking the idea of limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are like a huge thick glass plate placed just above where you can see if you look up. If you can touch it, it’s probably a little bit too close, but just out of reach is probably your limiting beliefs.

Den Lennie (4m 18s):
So you might decide that, you know, you’ve just started a video business. Let’s just say, I mean, making a couple of grand a month and you might be thinking, well, you know, I’d love to do one of these programs at Den’s, but you know, I need to get my business into better shape before I can do it. And what I say to that is why would you wait? Why would you try and figure this out on your own? As opposed to reaching out to someone who’s done it multiple times in an environment where there are people doing it right now, but sometimes the limiting beliefs are, I can’t afford it. I can’t afford to invest myself because there’s a belief system there that perhaps you’ve never invested in yourself, but yet I guarantee you’ve invested at least five to 10 grand on gear, computers, software cameras, tripods, gimbals, drones, you know, cables, filters, pack bags, multiple bags, multiple new accessories, maybe a few Kickstarter campaigns.

Den Lennie (5m 17s):
You will have spent money on equipment because your belief system says, I need equipment to be a filmmaker. But beyond that basic kit, there’s this kind of bridge, which says, oh, I don’t have money to invest in my business because I’ve got to make money with the money I’ve spent already. And, and I see this quite a lot. And what I want to share with you is you have to embrace the discomfort of growth, because if you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not going to grow. And actually, the more uncomfortable you are with a decision, the more likely you are to follow through and make it work. People suddenly say to me, oh, you know, if you’re so passionate about this, why don’t you do it for free?

Den Lennie (5m 57s):
It’s like, well, I’m a business coach. The word is business. I have no shame in being completely clear that I run this business for profit. It’s not a charity. It’s not a non-for-profit. I run this business for a profit because I enjoy the lifestyle that I’ve become accustomed to. I have plans. I have things that I want to do, and that involves financial stability and financial support and financial security and wealth. So I have used my almost three decades of experience in video production, over 13 years of running a business, and working with hundreds of filmmakers and thousands of filmmakers. I count all the training courses we’ve created.

Den Lennie (6m 38s):
And there’s probably over 10,000 people that have been impacted by my work over the last 10, 12 years. So, I have a great amount of respect and self-worth around the value that we bring. And so I create programs that have the combination of my life’s work that I make available for anyone who is looking to grow their business and they have a price attached to them. And I never discussed the price because we have different payment option plans, depending on the businesses that approach us. And if I just talk about price, then you get caught up in the wrong things.

Den Lennie (7m 21s):
I always look to build the value and then ask the question, does this seem fair? And how can this work for you? I was listening back to someone, some videos yesterday, we had recorded recently and a recent event. And one of our clients said, you know, the one thing Den is really good at is, is actually making you play a bigger game. Having you think a bit broader, more broadly about what is possible. And that is one of the core reasons you have a coach is you have a coach because you’ve got someone in your corner pushing you farther than you feel comfortable with and saying, it’s okay, go over the edge. I’m here to catch you. But the truth is when you leap off the net, we leap off the cliff.

Den Lennie (8m 3s):
The net will appear. That is something that will just happen. So unless you get comfortable with pushing yourself farther than it’s comfortable, and also I’m going to be quite blunt. You know, a lot of people say to me, I’d love to do your program, but you know, I need to save up the money first. And there’s never the same issue when it comes to buying gear. So, why is that? And I think it’s because buying gears is simple. I can buy this camera, then I’ve got this camera. Then I’m a filmmaker. But where I would say 85 to 95% of film businesses, don’t succeed beyond scraping a bare living. Often be 20, 30,000 a year is because they’re not willing to go into the area of discomfort, which is like, hey, I want to invest in a program and support and a coach.

Den Lennie (8m 50s):
And I know it’s not going to happen quickly. And I know it’s not going to be easy, but he’s got the roadmap. He’s got the growth accelerator. He’s got the framework that all you have to do is show up and plug into. And the people that do that have monumental transformation in their lives. So, guys, I hope that’s useful. I will catch you next week.

2 (9m 13s):
You’ve been listening to the Video Business Accelerator podcast with your host Den Lennie. If you are a video business owner who is tired of going it alone and would benefit from mentorship, support, and weekly accountability, then mouse over to www.videobusinessaccelerator.com to learn more about how the accelerator program can help you today. Don’t forget to subscribe and rate the show over on iTunes. And we’d really appreciate you taking a few minutes to leave a review.