Recently, I had a profound experience with Gremlin work.
It generated a major shift in me that led to a big change in how I feel about myself and how I show up and take action.
Remember, this was after I started working on my Gremlin over two years ago.
This is just a refresher for the audience who do not know what a Gremlin is.
Gremlin is the deepest limiting belief you have about yourself. It’s some specific version of I’m not good enough.
If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to listen to Episode 8 and Episode 9 to learn more about it.
Episode 8 – What’s Your Gremlin Message?
Episode 9 – Transform Your Gremlin
The key learnings from my experience are:
One: Gremlin work is incredibly profound, powerful, and rewarding.
It can generate a fundamental shift in your self-belief.
With that fundamental shift, all of a sudden, you see yourself differently.
The fear and anxiety that hold you back can disappear instantly.
You have more courage and confidence to take decisive action to achieve your goals.
Two: Gremlin is stubborn and deeply rooted. It takes a lot of work to chip it away and loosen its power little by little.
It’s an ongoing process. It’s not a once-and-done kind of thing. However, don’t think and don’t feel that this work never ends.
But rather, think of it as an upward spiral. It’s just getting better and easier.
Three: it’s really hard to do this work alone.
Because we human beings are bad at looking at ourselves objectively.
That’s why you need a thinking partner and a mirror. Because it would be so much more effective with the help of a coach.
Even as a coach, I need a coach. I’ll share my profound experience in this episode to inspire, illuminate, and empower you.
In a typical coaching session, the client always brings a challenge, problem, or issue that they want to work on.
I went into that coaching session wanting to be coached on my money mindset.
A few days ago, in a business mastermind session, I asked the business consultant, Ford, “I wonder when it was a good time to invest in upgrading my website. Since the current site I built is working fine, when should I pay $4,000 for a more professional site?”
He asked me, “How much do you charge for coaching?”
I told him my current rate.
He asked me, “Coco, how much value are you providing your clients? I think you are charging too little. You should charge more, and your website must match your offer. It needs to be top-notch.”
After hearing that, I felt some internal resistance.
I said to him, “I feel like I’m already charging a lot. I don’t feel comfortable charging more”.
He said, “Well, it seems you need to work on your money mindset.”
I told Roy about the conversation with my business consultant.
Roy, as a masterful coach, started asking me thoughtful questions and kept probing me, going deeper and deeper, like peeling an onion layer by layer.
At one point, I asked him to give me his observations because I knew I was not good at objectively seeing myself.
He said to me, “Coco, this is what I see. You strike me as being very successful, and very confident. You said things like you know you’re going to be successful. It’s just a matter of when. You are already charging three grand for your program, and you are already getting clients. And I’m hearing lots of evidence for success here.”
To my surprise, his words touched something deep inside me. I got emotional and started crying.
I know whenever I cry, it’s gold because it connects with something deep inside my subconscious mind.
At that very moment, I realized two things.
One: “wow, despite all the evidence of success, I still feel inadequate. That’s my gremlin talking. This feeling of not being good enough again. Just because I haven’t achieved the goals that I set for myself yet, I feel that I’m not successful.”
I always have the tendency to focus on what I can do better versus what I have done already. And that’s the old programming from my childhood. I always felt that I couldn’t measure up.
In 1st grade, I scored 97 out of 100 on a math test and placed 3rd in my class, and my mom still gave me a hard time. That’s where my gremlin came from.
My gremlin shows up again. It’s very stubborn.
But now I understand what she is trying to do here, and my gremlin is still trying to protect me. Just that simple acknowledgment of my gremlin instantly loosened its power on me.
Meanwhile, I realized what Roy had said to me.
“I’m already successful.” which is the truth.
As a new coach, I’ve accomplished a lot.
In less than 2 years, I have had several dozens of peon clients.
I coached for over 500 hours.
10 out of 10 of my clients are satisfied with their results.
I’m constantly learning and growing as a coach and an entrepreneur, which is extraordinary.
Until that point, I didn’t even realize that my Gremlin of “I’m not successful” was causing me all the doubt, anxiety, and stress.
That was why I wondered if I should invest in upgrading my website and charging more for my service.
The money mindset is really on the surface.
The underlying issue is the gremlin of “I’m not successful.”
With that fundamental shift from feeling “I’m not successful” to “I am already successful,” I immediately had so much more confidence in myself. Then the stress and anxiety about money just disappeared.
Right after, I took some decisive and bold actions that I never felt comfortable doing before.
I hired a web designer to redesign my website. The new website is coming out in a month. I’m very excited about that.
I hired a book editor, a business coach, and a speech coach. I bought all the new AV equipment for my office and started this podcast.”
In a month, I invested nearly $20,000 in myself and my business, unprecedented.
All because now I believe I am already successful.
I see all the money spent as a worthy investment in elevating myself and my business.
Now, I’m just acting in alignment with my new self-belief and identity. It feels so empowering.
Another change I noticed was that, though I’m financially secure, I always had this low-grade anxiety about money, always worried that I may run out of money.
Have you ever experienced that? Which was totally irrational.
I knew where it came from. Because I grew up poor. My family never had enough money. But that nagging anxiety went down significantly after the shift.
Even though, at the same time, I spent over $10,000 fixing all sorts of issues on my house.
It was supposed to be a financially stressful time.
But with the new empowering belief that I’m already successful, I truly believe I’m capable of making money, and I will never run out of money.
With the investment I’ve made over the past several months, I’ve seen a remarkable transformation. I’m elevating myself and my business to the next level.
The results are visible and clear.
I feel so much more confident in myself and my business.
This is what building Grounded Confidence is all about.
I want to share this most recent personal experience with you to inspire you, empower you with the resources to start working on yourself, and illuminate the power of Gremlin work.
The shift I’ve experienced is so profound and powerful, and it can be for you, too.
If you feel stuck, struggle with self-doubt, or notice a gap between what you want to do and what you are actually doing, work on your gremlin. It can change everything.
Don’t let your self-doubt, insecurity, and fear hold you back any longer. Take this step toward building your Grounded Confidence and becoming unstoppable in achieving your goals.
To learn more about how I help successful yet self-doubting women leaders build grounded confidence, visit cocoduancoaching.com.
Until next time, remember to be kind to yourself.