Seeing the Bigger Picture: How Reframing Can Help You Achieve Your Business Goals

a goal setting secret

John Nieuwenburg

John Nieuwenburg has been a professional business coach since 2004. Prior to becoming a coach, he held executive positions with Tip Top Tailors and BC Liquor Stores. In 2019, MacKay CEO Forums awarded him with Canada’s CEO Trusted Advisor Award in the Small Business category. Since becoming a coach, John has worked with over 350 clients, taking them through a systematic process that helps them feel organized, confident and in control of their businesses.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

Edison’s quote is a great example of a powerful technique that we business coaches refer to as “reframing.”

Reframing is the process of changing the way you perceive a situation.

It involves looking at a problem from a different perspective, finding the positive aspects of a negative experience, or identifying opportunities for growth and learning.

As a business owner, it’s common to face challenges that can leave you feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, or discouraged.

However, these challenges can also provide an opportunity for growth and learning if you reframe the situation.

Here are three specific business situations where reframing can be useful:

1. Making Better Decisions About Managing Your Time

Here is a simple re-frame that I teach all my clients:

This simple shift in perspective opens up multiple possibilities for clearing your schedule and taking the overwhelm out of your day.

Without being locked into a perspective that requires YOU to do it, you could delegate, automate, or hire a VA.

As one of my clients put it: I keep hearing John’s voice in my head asking, “couldn’t someone else be doing this?”

2. Adopting a Higher Level Money Mindset

If you want to grow or scale your business, you need to re-frame how you think about money.

This illustration shows how people think about money depending on the role they perceive themselves in.

How would your thoughts and actions change when you look at your business through each of these frames?

How do you see yourself now?

How might changing how you see yourself impact your business?

3. Changing How You See Yourself

Who do you think would be more successful at quitting smoking?

The person who identifies as a non-smoker?

Or the person who sees themself as a smoker who is trying to quit?

Are you holding on to any identities that aren’t serving you?

For example, I’ve had clients who claimed that they “aren’t a good salesperson” or “aren’t a good manager.”

When you reframe how you see yourself, your identity shifts.

This is the fastest way to drop limiting beliefs.

Reframing sounds simple but it can be challenging

Our perception of a situation is limited by our perspective

When we are in the middle of a situation, it can be difficult to see beyond our own biases, emotions, and assumptions, which can prevent us from seeing the bigger picture or identifying new opportunities.

Or as I tell my clients: “It’s hard to see the whole picture when you are inside the frame!”

One of the biggest benefits of business coaching is having a neutral outside expert to provide perspective when you’re stuck inside your frame.

If you’re curious about how coaching might help you, book a 15-minute call here: time with John

The Ultimate Guide to Scaling Your Business

w5 what does it mean to scale your business

How to grow your business without sacrificing time freedom

This post is part of my Ultimate Guide to Scaling Your Business. Visit the guide homepage to get my best advice and coaching exercises to help you:

  • Develop systems and processes to free up your time
  • Hire and manage a great team to run your business (mostly) without you
  • Make the mindset changes that enable you to grow your business bigger - faster than you dreamed possible