What if you trusted yourself more than your fear? Here’s how we build that
How solopreneurs build real momentum (Hint: it’s not strategy 😉)
I’m a Self-Belief Business Coach who helps high-achieving solopreneurs unlock their next level of success through action, without pretending manifestation is a strategy.
Unlike other coaches, I won’t just tell you to ‘embody high vibe’ to reach your goals.
I’ll help you develop deep self-trust, so you can build the wildly successful business you know you’re capable of.
But how the hell do I do that?
Because you’ve read the books, repeated the affirmations, tried to “just be more confident.”
You know your triggers. You even know where the root causes are sometimes because HELLO 👋🏼, you’re self-aware and curious.
So what exactly is a coach like me going to do that’s different?
Because you know you want to change something.
When you’re up-levelling and going big in your business – maybe you’re rebranding, launching a new offer (or a whole new income stream), shifting into consistent 6 figure years – you keep circling back to hesitation, doubting, procrastination, overthinking, and self-questioning. And you want that to stop.
The plans you have feel exciting for about 5 minutes when you’re on your own with your plans and thoughts.
But then your brain kicks in.
And when you start taking action (or trying to), it feels terrifying, uncomfortable and suddenly overwhelmingly impossible.
Why?
Because self-doubt isn't a mindset glitch. It's a protective mechanism.
To reach a place of deep self-trust, to be that business owner that keeps showing up and taking action and sees the big rewards of those major shifts (hello enjoyment in your work, ease and balance and an income to a level you’d never achieved before), you can’t just push through or bypass your doubt.
You need to work with it using a step-by-step, evidence based process.
Let me walk you through how I do it.
It’s called my TRUST framework.
TRUST stands for:
T Tune In and Trace
R Rewrite
U Understand your Self-Doubt
S Strengthen your Self-Trust Synapses
T Test & Observe
1. Tune In and Trace: Start with signals, not solutions
This is where we stop rushing into action and start noticing.
Most people try to fix the discomfort (or plough over it with practical actions like writing content, creating offers or launching) without ever asking where that nagging discomfort comes from that’s hanging around in the background.
In this first step, we begin to listen.
We tune in to the resistance, the fear, the discomfort, and trace it back to its source.
It might well be that you’ve done similar work to this before.
A toxic previous job with a horrible work ethic.
A loving but smothering parent’s voice.
A friendship group experience that left scars.
I use tools from my Self-Belief Coaching certification to help us bring fresh eyes and a new take on this look into the past.
Together we see what you’re bringing with you that impacts your ability to take bold action today.
Tools like the Self-Doubt Archetype test (you can take the free version here, I’m trained to go deeper and expand on it), mapping your protective beliefs and creating belief biographies all help to build a clearer picture of the strongest messages your inner protector uses to keep you from going all in on your next big business move.
And look – this isn’t counselling or therapy.
But if I’ve learned nothing from my training in the last few years, as well as they near decade of coaching solopreneurs, it’s that we can’t just pretend that we’re operating from a zero vacuum when we start our business.
We all come with often heavy baggage of beliefs and thought patterns from past experiences and conditioning.
These thoughts and patterns are the important things to work on, far more than polished messaging or a social media plan.
This isn’t about wallowing in the past, it’s about understanding the pattern we’re stuck in so we can interrupt it with intention.
2. Rewrite: Your brain’s not broken—it’s freaking brilliant
Once we’re really clear on the stories and beliefs that trip you up and trigger the doubt, it’s time to start rewriting them.
We look at what you’ve made things mean and how to see it differently so you can respond with courage instead of fear.
(This is such a good question by the way to ask yourself if you ever get that sucker punch in the gut when something’s not going well – “what am I making this mean?”)
The stories we tell ourselves shape everything – and you know that already.
When I chat to solopreneurs about their big goals they say “but Vicky, my braaaaain! It’s just always getting in the way!”
You know what we mean?!
That constant monologue of your brain going on and on, questioning and throwing shade when you want to do an overhaul or try something new or take it to the next level… when all you want is to channel the creativity and curiosity and optimism that this could be great.
The thing is, those stories and that voice inside were created to keep us safe.
Safe from perceived risks – the risk of failure, disappointment, embarrassment, loss, complexity. And a myriad of other versions of ‘don’t go there!’ scariness and threat.
Whatever the risk is – it’s valid, it feels real and visceral and your shape-shifting protective voice will keep raising the alarm unless we rewrite a new narrative.
But when I say rewrite, we don’t just slap on new affirmations. That doesn’t work.
Instead, we gently and strategically reshape the narrative. We find something that the real, true, trusting you does believe, but that just isn’t getting the airtime it needs. And we clarify that new belief so we can amplify it and build evidence for it (see steps 4 (S) and 5 (T)!).
This is the part where you start seeing your doubt not as a block, but as a breadcrumb trail to transformation.
3. Understand Your Self-Doubt: Meet your Safety Guardian
Here’s the twist most programmes miss: your self-doubt is a part of ourselves we need to befriend and work with, not squash down and feel annoyed about.
This step requires compassion and understanding – which is often something we’re not used to bringing to the party in the land of hustle, work-hard, push through and do more.
And I get it, my relentless work ethic has got me so far, why would I abandon it?
But in this stage of the TRUST framework, we meet the part of you that’s doing the protecting, and build a relationship with it. So we can be in dialogue with the voice that says no, slow down, what if, it won’t work.
Only then can we keep moving in a sustainable and enjoyable way.
I like to call this part of us the Safety Guardian.
When I envision the two parts of me (and it’s important to emphasize the hesitating, doubting and overthinking you is just part of you, not the real and whole you), I see:
- The Safety Guardian. The buzzed on coffee, crazy memory hoarding, frazzled, overworked, worrier that tries to keep everything ‘safe’ but ends up getting in the way.
- The True Experimenter. The real you. The part of you that’s often shouted down, but has the great ideas and trusts that you can take the steps to make it a reality, and figure it all out along the way.
You can read this article on what it was like to go and ‘meet’ mine as I use the same tools I give to my clients in my behind the scenes in The Self-Belief Business Experiment (paid subscribers only).
When you understand that the part that’s keeping you small has a job, we can work with it, not against it.
This is one of the most emotional and empowering moments in the process—it changes how you see yourself forever.
4. Strengthen Your Self-Trust Synapses: Make it neural, not just nice
Having worked with hundreds of solo service-pro business owners over nearly a decade, as well as working for myself for 8 years, I’ve come to see patterns in the beliefs that hold us back from the wild expansion and ease we know we’re capable of.
Largely the beliefs we have fall into these 7 categories and sound something like this:
Self: I am not worthy or capable of serving clients and running a successful business
Client: People don’t want this or understand what I can do for them
Offer: My offer is not transformative or ‘enough’ for people to want to invest in
Price: People won’t pay for this / People won’t pay this price
Model: I can’t succeed without following a specific, unaligned business model.
Selling: I can’t promote my work without being pushy or salesy
Market: My offer isn’t anything different, there are too many competitors out there
Sometimes one of these is dominant for you. Sometimes it’s a blend of a couple. It might even be a mixture of them all at different times – the Safety Guardian is a shape-shifting expert and can try and keep you safe from risk with any story it thinks will work!
But in order to be seen and recognised for the depth and brilliance of what you do - not just by others, but by yourself, these 7 beliefs need to look closer to this:
Self: I am worthy of success and capable of running a thriving business that has impact.
Client: The right clients are actively seeking my services and ready for transformation.
Offer: My work delivers profound change to every client I serve.
Price: My pricing reflects the value of the transformation and the support my clients receive.
Model: I can build a business on my own terms, marketing and making money the way I want
Selling: Promoting is sharing and being in dialogue about the solutions I offer.
Market: My distinctive approach and perspective make my offer stand out to the right clients.
As part of the TRUST framework we use targeted tools, exercises and prompts to get you rewiring these synapses so your business to reflect the version of you that’s bold, strategic, grounded and powerful (not the overthinking, reactive one).
(and don’t @ me about the term ‘Synapses’ which I know I’m not using perfectly here. But Self-Trust Synapses is such good alliteration I couldn’t resist, and you know what I mean!)
5. Test & Observe: Turn insight into brave, beautiful action (in tiny steps!)
This is where it all comes together.
We don’t just talk. We experiment.
If you know me at all, and the fact I wrote a book and ran a podcast and community called Just Start Now, you’ll know I love action.
And I know the people who are a perfect fit for my coaching are also those high achieving A-Type personalities that enjoy doing things, not just thinking about them. Which is why this method is a perfect fit because it combines practical action with purposeful belief building.
And it can be small and subtle but still incredibly powerful.
In short, the Test & Observe method involves taking that protective belief, rewriting it into a more helpful and expansive belief, and then going out and taking tiny actions to help build evidence for it.
Think micro-actions to reaffirm: “The right people will resonate with my unique approach”
Think tiny steps to start defaulting your thinking to: “People are willing to invest in what I do because it creates long-term success.
Think clever, quick, business focused tasks that also reiterate to yourself: “There is a way to build a business that aligns with who I am and how I love to do things.”
You can read this article on how I use this Test & Observe method myself in building new beliefs in my own business – and the amazing impact they have.
Action isn’t the end goal. It’s the evidence that self-trust is growing.
You don’t need to be fixed. You need to understand yourself
There we have it: the TRUST framework.
T Tune In and Trace
R Rewrite
U Understand your Self-Doubt
S Strengthen your Self-Belief Synapses
T Test & Observe
The 5 steps to create success that actually feels good. Not driven by urgency, comparison, or proving your worth.
It’s not a method that is about ‘becoming someone new.’
It’s about peeling back the protective layer of your Safety Guardian to finally be your True Experimenter self, with more conviction and clarity than ever before.
This is the work – far beyond branding, perfect packaging, sales skills or social media know-how - that creates lasting change in your business, your visibility, your confidence, and your life.
If this process speaks to you, I’d love to help you bring it to life.
It’s the work I do every day with solopreneurs who are ready to stop overthinking and start believing again.
I’m doing a complete offer overhaul at the moment and will be looking for BETA testers for my new 1:1 coaching support programmes, using this TRUST framework.
Feel free to reach out with questions or let me know what part of this resonated with you most and if you’d be interested in testing it out for yourself with me by your side.
You can find out more about working with me here.
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