How Entrepreneurs Solve Their Biggest Obstacle With Accelerated Growth Intensives When Traditional Coaching Doesn’t Work

Our state of mind and the level of consciousness from which we operate are at the core of our biggest challenges, no matter who we are. When we are stuck in mindsets that impede our decision-making and keep us from accessing the best parts of ourselves; we cannot bring those best parts to our business. 

Frederick Laloux said in his book Reinventing Organizations, that “an organization cannot evolve beyond its leaders’ stage of development.” For high-achieving entrepreneurs to imagine or implement new ways of work, move past old patterns, and break deeply held beliefs, it is necessary to experience a massive upgrade or reboot. 

The truth is,  this type of change cannot be accessed through the traditional approach to coaching because frankly, it isn’t powerful enough. Traditional entrepreneur business coaching tends to overlook the human condition. The human condition dictates that we hide limiting beliefs deep into the depths of our shadow, or subconscious or unconscious mind. We put up barriers of protection to lock those limiting beliefs away. Then, when we wish to fix those beliefs, we have that protection mechanism blocking our ability to get to their root cause and uncover every layer associated with those beliefs. It leaves us with one foot on the gas for change but one foot on the break immune to change. 

Accelerated growth intensives deviate from the traditional approach and tend to boldly knock down the walls of protection, uncover the origin of that belief, and integrate a new way of thinking with lasting results. By creating peak experiences through plant medicine and equine experiences, we can uncover unconscious shadows and highlight the things we haven’t been willing or able to access through traditional coaching. 

This personalized growth intensive has three critical elements: intention, which allows you to pinpoint your greatest obstacle; peak experience, which allows you to access new information; and integration, which gives you tangible new ways of thinking and behaving to support change in yourself and your business. 

Creating Clear Intentions 

Jason Frishman, Psy. D. says, “as you learn and commit to your goals, intention becomes the very first step in achieving them.” That is why in the discovery process, we spend quite a bit of time uncovering a clear intention for the road ahead to unlocking high-achieving entrepreneurs’ biggest obstacles. 

Setting clear intentions deepens our understanding of our belief system and makes change possible. We can only set clear intentions through the development of self-awareness. Unfortunately, for high-achieving entrepreneurs, the more success you achieve, the fewer people feel comfortable telling you the truth, which in turn; can impact how much truth-telling you give to yourself.  

Therefore, we start by asking high-achieving entrepreneurs to take an inventory of how they see themselves, how they perceive others see them, and ask them who they really are. It is a challenging first step but it forces them to dive deep early on to get to the root of their obstacle. 

The Peak Experience

The peak experience is probably the biggest differentiator to traditional business coaching services. Both plant medicine and working with horses help high-achieving entrepreneurs get outside their comfort zones. They heighten their emotional arousal so they are able to access vertical knowledge, along with horizontal knowledge, working in tandem to change their limiting beliefs quickly. 

Horizontal knowledge can also be referred to as head knowledge or information, skills, and competencies. Vertical knowledge is heart knowledge or emotional intelligence, and body awareness. Both are necessary to understand not only the impact of your obstacle but new intuitive ways to change the belief into one that supports rapid growth. 

Plant medicine particularly works to quiet your default mode network (DMN). This is mental chatter constantly playing in your mind. Our brains are wired to confirm our beliefs, so they keep replaying them and attuning to old patterns and behaviors, whether they serve us or not. Plant medicine increases the brain’s neuroplasticity and opens us up to new insights, new ways of healing, and awareness that we aren’t privy to. 

Research has shown working with horses can do the same. Equine-based growth interventions have been purported to improve self-awareness, advance emotional intelligence, and overall, improve an individual’s well-being. In working with horses, high-achieving entrepreneurs have a chance to create powerful opportunities to lift the mask on their minds and reconnect with their souls. Horses are also great reflectors. They provide instant feedback and pick up on human sensations and emotions that we may not be able to recognize in ourselves. According to a study, the behavior and heart rate of horses changes in response to stationary humans who are either calm, afraid, or physically stressed. 

Integrating New Insights 

The integration process is vital because it creates a sustained implementation of the new information received during the peak experience. The integration process ensures high-achieving entrepreneurs work to tie in both the horizontal and vertical knowledge to not only consume the new knowledge but make it a part of their lasting consciousness. 

The integration process allows you to take advantage of new opportunities and insights, rather than be overwhelmed by them. Think of it this way, when you go through these intense peak experiences, you will learn so much about yourself and the world around you. Next, you may be thinking, what do I do with that information? The integration process helps you develop tangible new habits, choices, and behaviors to create lasting growth. 

The truth is that when you have a clear intent, undergo a peak experience that changes how you think, then integrate the new information into your daily life, lasting change cannot be undone. The change becomes a part of you.