We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Long a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nicole, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
In life, we always have a choice. It sometimes may not feel like it, but there is always the option to view our circumstances as gifts and opportunities. Over the last few years I have spent a lot of time learning about mindset, and working on my own, and something amazing has happened. I have learned how to truly embrace a positive mindset, and even when I encounter hard times, I now know how to default to looking for the gift and the opportunity rather than wallowing in the unfortunate circumstance I found myself in. Sometimes it’s realizing this particular hardship will better prepare me to coach my clients who will run into something similar. Sometimes it’s trusting that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be on this journey, as it is preparing me for the next step in my life. And sometimes, it’s developing empathy for others who have endured something very difficult just as I have, because I better understand their pain, having experienced it myself. This muscle takes time to build, it’s not something I developed overnight; but by continually choosing to look for the positive, it does become easier to find it. Then it becomes easy to live life full of gratitude, because I see that everything is happening for me, rather than to me. So, my optimism comes from the concentrated effort I have put into managing my mindset, always choosing to look for the good, and living my life in gratitude.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am all about supporting and empowering other women, especially women who are considering becoming entrepreneurs. I help women find the clarity and confidence to start their own business without overwhelm or fear of failure.
I always knew I wanted to start a business of my own at some point, but I wasn’t sure what it was going to be, and I definitely wasn’t sure what all was needed to start a business. As I did a lot of self-exploration to discover what I was truly passionate about, I realized I wanted to help other women in my same position – women who struggled with limiting beliefs keeping them in a career that wasn’t fulfilling; women who felt overwhelmed at the prospect of starting a business of their own, having no idea where to even start.
This is how I came to pursue coaching. After two years of training, research, and learning what is needed to start a business, I consolidated my most valuable takeaways into a 10-week group coaching course that I created called MBA, which stands for Mindset, Business Clarity, and Action. Believing that you CAN start a business, getting clarity on what your business should be, and then taking action are the three components that will help others fast-track their path to entrepreneurship. This program was designed with the assumption that you’re not quitting your day job while you figure this out, so it’s built to fit around your work life without being overwhelming. My favorite part about coaching is seeing the light bulb moments – when it just clicks, and my client has the realization that they can do whatever they want in life. It’s like discovering a secret superpower, and once you’ve found it you become unstoppable.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that have been most impactful for me are resilience, curiosity, and vision. Being able to bounce back and keep moving forward when I have a setback has been crucial in my entrepreneurial journey. This ties into the positive mindset which is a big part of what helps me continue to make forward progress. Curiosity is so valuable because there is always more to learn, and being able to dig deeper than what’s at the surface level uncovers additional opportunities. My ability to have a clear vision of where I’m headed helps keep me motivated and reminds me why I’m doing the little things every day.
As far as how to develop these three qualities, when things don’t go how you had planned, start asking yourself, where is the gift or the opportunity here? This will help build your resilience. Continually seek to understand things on a deeper level and embrace learning to build curiosity. To be more visionary, practice visualizing your future self and what you want that to look like. When faced with challenges today, ask yourself what your future accomplished self would do. It’s a really empowering exercise that will help you start acting like your future CEO self now.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Shirzad Chamine’s book “Positive Intelligence” and his teachings on the topic were extremely impactful to me as I was starting my coaching career. He introduced me to the concept of Saboteurs. These are the negative voices in our head that impact our ability to view life’s challenges with a positive mindset, such as the Judge, the Controller, the Hyper-Achiever, and the Victim, to name a few (there are ten total). In contrast, our Sage perspective is what helps us view every circumstance as a gift and an opportunity. By strengthening our Sage and weakening our Saboteurs, we are able to have a more positive mindset. It’s an excellent book that everyone can benefit from, and it reveals some fascinating truths about our brains and the science behind negative vs positive mindset. There are a lot of practical applications for how to strengthen these mental muscles. This book was a big influence in how I have been able to be so optimistic in my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nicolesahara.com/mba
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolesahara/
Image Credits
Tami Renae Photo & Films
Headshot by SJ Tudor
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
