EP 150 | Michelle A. Mercier | Top Five Lessons Learned

This is it, entrepreneur. This is officially the last episode for, you know, for the foreseeable future for the resilient entrepreneur. Now I'm going to be talking about my top five lessons that I've learned while interviewing and doing, you know, 150 episodes and just in my travels over the past couple of years and my many, many conversations. So without further ado, we are jumping in to the last episode.

Let's go. Ever found yourself teetering on the edge of throwing in the towel? You know, asking yourself questions like, is this supposed to be this hard? Or is it even possible to succeed at this entrepreneur thing?

I completely get it. Because I built my successful businesses while juggling major health issues for my children and myself, debt piling up to my eyeballs and so much more. Want to know how the hell I succeeded and how you can too? Tune in to find out.

Here we go. Hey there, entrepreneur. Welcome, welcome, welcome. So it's just me and you today, friends.

Just me and you. And what I want to talk about is I want to talk about, you know, it just seems fitting because it is the last episode for the foreseeable future to do some lessons learned, right? I've had the privilege of speaking to so many incredible people and just whether it was, you know, on the recording, off recording, whatever it may be in my travels, I've just, I've just heard kind of certain messages repeated over and over and over again. And I am kind of a data geek.

So I love, you know, looking at the trends of things and kind of picking those apart. So I thought it would be really helpful for me to share with you you know, my top five lessons learned, AKA the things that I've heard repeated time and time again. Now this is an episode that you're going to want to take some notes on and maybe even keep close to you to listen to, you know, while you're going through your journey, because it can be very, very messy as we've all learned from this show that there is no straight line when it comes to entrepreneurship, there's only kind of ups, downs, good, bads all over the place.

So let's start with number one, speaking of downs. And the first thing that I want to say to everybody that I learned is that failure is not a person. I've heard entrepreneurs refer to themselves as failures, and that is impossible, folks, because what is failure? Failure is I've learned myself through personal experiences and from numerous entrepreneurs, it's a moment in time.

And it's almost on some level a rite of passage, but it is never a person. So if you're someone listening to this and you've given yourself that identity of a failure, remove that label right now. Because you can't encompass that. You can't step into that label.

It is just something that happens and then it passes. It always passes. And that's what we've heard again and again from all the resilient entrepreneurs that have been on this show is whatever the down is, there's always an upcoming. You just have to kind of make it through it.

And also, you know, when I speak about it being a rite of passage, I don't know any entrepreneur who has not failed. I have yet to meet one. If you are out there, by all means, shoot me a DM or an email. I'm happy to talk to you.

But, you know, from bankruptcies to losing businesses completely to breaking up marriages to whatever it may be, it is messy. And that's part of the learning, right? And sometimes when you hear that, you get pissed off. Like sometimes if I'm in the middle of a crisis and someone says something like, oh, you're going to learn so much from this, I want to punch them in the face.

But after the fact I can always appreciate the learning that comes with failure right And it also ties into not being you know tethered to the outcome of what you producing and more invested in the process of getting there, right? Because therefore, if, you know, you say you're putting out a product, that product fails. Well, you know what? You have a shit ton of learning that happens throughout the process of that launch.

You know, so really investing and understanding where the learning is and knowing that you cannot ever be a failure. Failure is just a moment in time and it will pass. And number two, and this is something that I have to tell myself, honestly, all the time. And I have to remind myself and my clients that taking care of yourself is actually a business strategy.

Go figure, right? Right. So time and time again, I've heard entrepreneurs come on this show and they talk about how they knew they were in trouble because their self-care was non-existent. They knew they were in trouble because they were exhausted, burnt out, medical issues, all sorts of things.

And we say all the time on this show that entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. And in order to endure that marathon, you need to be in damn good mental and physical shape. So what that means is taking care of yourself does become one of your top business strategies, not just like, oh, it's a nice to have, of course I want to do self-care. No, it's non-negotiable.

So for those of you out there who are thriving on zero sleep and not eating and like running on fumes and wearing that kind of busy badge, you know, try to reevaluate that and try to put a different spin on it so that you can look at that as an actual business strategy to know that when you show up at a pitch or you show up with a client, you feel the best that you can feel. You know, I'm a big stickler on sleep. Don't mess with my sleep or else, you know, shit goes downhill real quick.

So my sleeping, my eating, you know, going back to those basics, it doesn't necessarily always mean bubble baths and, you know, spa trips and stuff like that. just taking care of those basic needs. Like if you think of like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you're not going to get to the top of that pyramid. And if you don't know what that is, please go Google it.

You're not going to get to the top unless those bottom needs are met. So there's just this hierarchy that if you neglect some things, your house of cards is going to fall. So take it from me when it is a business strategy to take care of yourself. And not just me, but everyone I've talked to on the show, the majority of them have said that that is true.

Number three, personal development, continuing to grow, and I'm going to be blunt here, dealing with your shit needs to be included. It's non-negotiable. So what does that mean? That means that constantly growing on your own, constantly examining your own thoughts, constantly examining how you might be getting in the way of your success, and ensuring that you're in the therapy, you're reading self-help books, you are constantly on a journey of more self-awareness and personal development.

Because when you kind of just stop growing and you become stagnant and you just, you're complacent with it, what is that gonna say for your business? Or on the flip side of that, if you are so obsessed with furthering your business, but lose sight of yourself, that's not a good outcome either. Sure. So with dealing with your shit, as I like to say, I say that to myself too, that I need to deal with my shit all the time.

One big piece of that too, I would be for saying, if I didn't say it was money. So if you have longstanding beliefs around money, if you are practicing a scarcity mentality, if you've found yourself getting in your way when it comes to success you know for the bottom line think about how those limiting beliefs might be getting in your way Think about the things that you heard growing up or how you grew up and how that getting in your way There all sorts of things that live within our own consciousness and our own mind that need to be worked out in order to clear the way for success and just growth, because who wants to stop growing?

I always view it as like the minute I stop growing is when I'm dead, right? Because there's always more to learn. There's always different ways that I could be improving the way that I approach this world. And same for you.

Maybe you have an employee who isn't working out. Well, have you looked at what you've been doing? Have you set the expectations correctly? What have you done?

And when you've exhausted all of those things, then you could look outward. But sometimes as entrepreneurs, we really need to make sure we have a strong tether to inside. And that goes for validation as well, because we can look outside ourselves. And I've heard this story numerous times too, of looking externally for the validation, the cars, the money, the houses, the vacations, all of that stuff.

But how many times have we heard entrepreneurs on this show say they had all of that and they were still freaking miserable. So making sure that you are in alignment with your best self internally and constantly growing and dealing with your shit is key. to being successful as an entrepreneur and for creating the life that you actually want to live. We all kind of have this vision of the life that we want to step into as entrepreneurs.

And why we're doing it is potentially because we want time freedom and we want to be the captain of our own ship and all that good stuff. But part of being the captain of your own ship is looking internally and dealing with what might be broken or might just need a little bit of amplification as well. Number four, big one here, folks, big one. And we've all heard it a million times.

You can't do it alone. You just can't. You can't sit in your little silo and hope that you'll succeed. It is much more effective to be out there and asking for help and gaining the support you need and not being afraid to raise your hand and say, I don't know what that is.

I'm always proud of entrepreneurs when they come and work with me, especially ones who may have been in the business for, you know, years. And when they actually ask questions that are kind of rudimentary entrepreneur stuff, like I get it a lot around money. You know, it's P&L, what's, you know, bottom line, all these, all these different things. But I'm always proud of people when they ask those questions because you're never too old and you are never too seasoned to ask a question, right?

Or ask for help. And I think part of that is too, is that part of entrepreneurship and one of the pieces that I am very dedicated to here is that, you know, it's giving back as well. Whatever you put out there does come back at you. So if you are constantly just in your own little world, not supporting anybody else, just chugging along, I think it's going to take you a lot longer to achieve your plan.

that if you were out there lending a hand to other people in your entrepreneurial circle or asking for support of those people, asking for feedback from your clients or your customers, whatever that may be, you're never going to be the subject matter expert on every single thing. And so many of us think we are, right? I mean, I've been there too. And I thought I could just do all the things all the time by myself and it'll all be good.

And again, that will come toppling down on you quickly. And, you know, maybe you'll buy a little bit of extra time. Maybe you'll feel like you have all the plates spinning, but at some point in time, asking for help becomes non-negotiable and you have to learn how to do it. And also, you know, it helps to ask for help in the same realm as asking for money or asking for anything else that may help you from an entrepreneurial standpoint But that is definitely something that you need to understand is doing it alone is not going to help you fulfill your ultimate potential And the last one, the last one is kind of a big one and it's multifaceted one too.

And it is that no one will ever work harder for your dream than you. Fact folks. So that means, what does that mean? That means on the first end, go for it, right?

Don't be surprised if when you tell people your dream that they're kind of like, oh, cool. And then they move along and they're not as like lit from inside as you are. Don't be surprised by that. But that also doesn't mean you stop going forward, right?

You can't expect everyone to be as jazzed up about your dream as you because it's yours. And I think having that dream is what makes you an amazing entrepreneur. Having that dream and that fire that's lit underneath you is what keeps you moving forward when the bad times hit. So remember that dream.

If you are down right now and you are in one of those kind of down seasons and you're just getting your ass kicked, tap into that dream or that why, whatever you want to call it. It's kind of all in the same bucket there, folks. But people aren't going to be able to see it and they're not going to work as hard as you when it comes to your dream. And that's okay because it's yours.

And I think, you know, as you move forward through the ups and the downs, you know, sometimes it feels like there's way more downs. I know I'm in a season personally right now where I feel like the downs are freaking low, but you know, what's, what's bigger than that? My dream, my dream and my conviction and my, my commitment to it, my commitment to impacting this world, my commitment to, you know, helping my family, my commitment to, you know, there's a very long list, but dig deep folks.

When you remember that your dream is yours for a reason, it was given to you. It was given to you and handed to you. So you need to go for it and don't expect everyone to be on board. Don't expect everyone to be as jazzed up as you are because they have their own.

They can go, they can go on their own dreams and that's fine, but don't listen to those who are very quick to, you know, to brush off your dream. Keep going. And again, marathon, not a sprint, folks. Marathon, not a sprint.

Even if you feel like you're taking one step forward and five steps back, you can still keep moving forward. And those are my top five lessons, folks, that I've learned. And I can't even thank you all enough for this incredible, incredible journey that I've had the privilege of taking with all of these interviews. And this is not the last you will hear for me.

It may just come in a slightly different package. I'm not just dropping off the face of the planet. It's time for me to look at some different avenues and I have some tricks up my sleeve that are coming. But again, the top five lessons, failure is not a person.

Taking care of yourself is a business strategy. Personal development and dealing with your shit is non-negotiable. You cannot do it alone and no one will ever work harder for your dream than you. And that's all I have for you all today.

So thank you again for tuning in to all of these lovely episodes. If you haven't had a chance to go back and listen to them all, there's so many amazing, amazing nuggets that you could listen to over and over and over again and to keep you going on your journey. And again, thank you so much for listening and I will see you all very soon. See you later.