AP 1214: How Do I Let Go of the Past to Become the Best Entrepreneur I Can Be?

Pat Flynn: What's up, everybody? Pat Flynn here, and welcome to episode 1,214 of AskPat 2.0. Wow, that is a lot of episodes. And you're about to listen to a coaching call between myself and an entrepreneur, just like you. And this may very well be one of the most useful episodes that you can listen to because although we thought we were going to talk about business today, we're talking about something more important than business. We're talking about the mindset that you have when approaching your business and letting go of the past, in order to grow in the future. Today, we are speaking with Michelle Krieg who does a lot of work in the yoga space. In fact, she's had a wonderful long journey to get to where she's at, which we discuss quite a bit here, but she supports one of the biggest names in the yoga industry, Mark Stephens and his yoga studio.

Pat Flynn: And he teaches yoga, teaching his books. He teaches yoga teachers, just an amazing, amazing icon in the space. And she supports him with online business related items. And it was a result of a failed online business that they started ended up working together. I mean, it was a journey that's worth listening to because what we uncover today are a lot of feelings that I know many of you might be having as you explore entrepreneurship and continue to push yourself whether you just got started, or you've been doing this for a while and we talk about growth. We talk about mindset. We talk about letting go of the past. We talk about time and freedom and the grind and hustle, and so many other important topics that are so, so important for us to understand about ourselves, that I hope this starts a discussion between you and yourself and you and the other important people around you. So here we go. This is Michelle Krieg, and I hope you enjoy.

Pat Flynn: Michelle, welcome to AskPat 2.0. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Michelle Krieg: It's an honor to be here. Thank you for having me.

Pat Flynn: I'm excited that you're here. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Michelle Krieg: In short, I'm a yoga teacher. It's kind of what I do. I'm also a mother and a wife. So for me in my career getting the balance of work life and home life and a space that's manageable to me has always been a really big priority. That's where working at home and having the online business really came into play for me. The dream has come true for me now. I am in a space where I am able to work from home, manage the work life, home life thing a lot better, but I'm also in a place where it just doesn't feel quite like I always dreamed it would be over the years.

Pat Flynn: Okay. We'll talk about that. I'd love to learn more about what you mean by that. Give us some more info. Are you doing yoga at home and how is it an online business specifically? Or is the online business separate?

Michelle Krieg: Yes. Sorry. I realized I skipped ahead to my question.

Pat Flynn: No, you're good. That's why I'm here. You're good.

Michelle Krieg: What we do is my business partner and I provide online education for yoga teachers. So we provide full certification to be a yoga teacher. And then we also provide continuing education. We have a full advanced 300 hour certification. It's your second tier of certification for a yoga teacher. And then we have your short mini courses that are 12 to 20 hours based on individual skills a teacher would want to improve and work on. And we also have a mentorship monthly membership program as well.

Pat Flynn: That's really awesome. So I didn't realize there was this much certification required to be a yoga teacher. I knew there was some, but this seems like there needs to be some ongoing. There is a large sort of upfront certification required. How long has this business been in practice? I'm curious.

Michelle Krieg: We've been in practice for about two years now, in the sense that me and my business partner and I, his name's Mark Stephens, that we've been together in the online space. Prior to that, he's been an expert, internationally acclaimed yoga teacher trainer for about 25 years now.

Pat Flynn: Amazing.

Michelle Krieg: And then I got into yoga and being on the business side of yoga in 2013. So I've been through this journey for going on about 10 years now as well.

Pat Flynn: Amazing. Well, that's really awesome. I'd love to dig a little bit deeper into what you said earlier about how working from home is a dream that many people have, and it's not uncommon to get there, but also go, well, this isn't quite what I expected. Can you go a little bit deeper into maybe what the disconnect is or what you thought was going to happen, but maybe isn't? I'd love to explore that if you don't mind.

Michelle Krieg: Yeah. When I submitted my question to AskPat a couple weeks ago, it was one of those days where you kind of wake up, maybe on the wrong side of the bed, if you will, you're kind of late, my son, he's not listening very well. And you got that morning routine, we get him off to school a little late. You come home and you just kind of settle into life and the work day. And I just had this immense gratitude that I didn't have to be somewhere exactly at 9:00 AM, that I had the ability to adjust my schedule and still take some time for myself. So, I had those moments of this really immense gratitude for what it is I've created. But then in that day too, I thought, why don't I feel like this every day? Why doesn't this feel like the dream every day? A lot of days, it still feels like a grind.

Michelle Krieg: It still feels like there's a lot of challenge every day. Even though I've reached the level of what I feel is success for me, that I can work from home, have my own schedule, and that it's now finally a viable income as well, I just don't know. It feels surreal in a lot of ways. And then it feels a little bit challenging too. I feel like I haven't let go of all the struggle of the 9 to 10 years it took me to get here.

Pat Flynn: Yeah. I mean, I feel you on that. I mean, I got laid off, so it kind of happened overnight for me, the big change, and then to become an entrepreneur, it wasn't easy. I didn't even know what I was doing. And then when I got to success, I didn't really believe it even. There were a lot of times when I was like, is this even possible? Is this even real? It doesn't feel right. I went to school for so many years to be an architect and it was supposed to be a certain way. And then here I am going against that and almost in a better spot, did I waste all that time in school? Was I fed the wrong information? What's everybody else doing? I'm so lonely because I'm going down this new path and everybody else is still over there.

Pat Flynn: It's just a lot of feelings. It's a lot of things happening. And so I resonate with that. I empathize with that wholly. As far as the idea of deserving it, I mean, you worked hard, right? You've put in the things, you've met the right people, you've made the right decisions to get to this point. And so it can go one of two ways. You could say, "Well, I don't deserve this," or "I do deserve this," and that's a choice you have to make in terms of the internal story that you're telling yourself about that. And I love the fact that when you had like this hard start to a morning, that you then were able to go, "oh, but even though that happened, look at what we have and look at how awesome it is." And it's funny because sometimes it takes, it's almost like that movie Inside Out where sadness is kind of actually required because that then can show the other side of it and how awesome it is.

Pat Flynn: And so one thing I love to do to sort of remind myself and it's not to be like, look how awesome I am every day, it's not like I don't wake up and say that, but I do consciously express and practice gratitude every single day and not wait for the times to have bad things happen to go, "Well, at least I have this," but rather to proactively say, "Wow, new day and I can't believe I'm here and I'm so excited." So I actually have a journal and this may be a practice that you could implement or something similar where every day in the morning, before the kids get up, I actually write in a journal and it's actually a journal called The Five Minute Journal. It's actually structured. It's not like a blank page, like a diary or anything, but it's actually a prompt, every single morning, write down three things you are grateful for and what are three things you hope to accomplish today?

Pat Flynn: And the cool thing is by the end of the day, I can see the things that I did and I can write a few of those things down and I can also have a space, there's an actually a prompt that says, "What's one thing you wish you had done differently or better today?," so I can always sort of end it day. And essentially the day is sandwiched by gratitude on both sides. And it just allows me to be present, I think. And you being a yoga person, I think you know the importance of being present and not letting a lot of these outside things affect you at moments where it's required. And so I think that having a gratitude practice, very common in the entrepreneurial world, a lot of high performers practice gratitude.

Pat Flynn: And it sounds weird on the surface to practice being grateful but a lot of us in life, we go so fast that we don't even stop to just enjoy it sometimes. And I think that you could benefit from just even when you wake up in the morning, maybe it's while you're brushing your teeth or whatever, it's just like, "Wow, I'm so grateful that I have this ability to be at home on my own terms, or it could be anything, I'm grateful that my son is working hard at school or I'm grateful that I'm working with this world renowned yoga instructor," could change every single day, but this then becomes automatic over time. Yes, initially I had to force myself to write these things, but then over time it starts to change into just how you live in this world of gratefulness. And I think that could be a great place to start at least for a lot of those kinds of feelings.

Pat Flynn: And then as far as the letting go part, I mean, that's going to be something that's very difficult. If you imagine yourself on two ladders, you have one ladder that was the previous path, the path that everybody told you to be on and then you have this other ladder that you're on now and you're straddling it with one foot on each. You can't climb both ladders, right?

Michelle Krieg: Yeah.

Pat Flynn: You have to let go of one to be able to go up the other. And so again, it's just like a mental shift that has to happen. There's not really anything that has to happen other than what's the story you tell yourself about that. So I didn't know we were going to get in pretty deep, really fast here, but I hope that helps at least and gives you some of my own personal experience to show you're not alone in this, and there are ways to work your way through that.

Michelle Krieg: Well, thank you. Yeah. I feel like with any emotion, anything that you're going through in life, it's so common to feel alone, even though you're probably likely not. So it's always great to hear other people's experiences and yeah, I mean, gratitude is something that I try to practice just every day, but we can all use more of it and journaling comes up for me here and there. And I've never just had a real regular journaling practice and so I think that's a great tip. And I guess I also didn't really realize too, that I could be on these two ladders like you explained. My degree is in health education. It took me nearly 10 years to finally get it and a lot of student loans and once I did get there, that's when I started the yoga studio, which was my entrepreneurial journey started there, simply because I couldn't actually get a job in health education.

Michelle Krieg: I was going to constant interviews and I just didn't have enough experience. And I just said, "I'm going to do my own thing and open this studio. And I'm just tired of this job application process and looking for work." And I still have student loans that I'm paying back. And I still question what was that all for? Was that all worth it? And now here I am teaching as a yoga teacher, not really using that degree, not using all of that. And I guess that's another part of the story that I do really need to let go of.

Pat Flynn: It will require you to let go. I mean, I went to school for five years for architecture and I haven't built any buildings or put my finger on any plans for a very long time, but I also reflect back and I go, well, a lot of that experience, although I don't "use the degree right now", those experiences helped me shape who I am today. So do I wish I could do it differently? On one hand, yeah. I mean, I feel in a way that was five years that I could have put into business or other things. I could have developed some software in that time that would've done well, versus what I ended up doing and then switching gears, but it also helped shape who I am now. So a lot of those years, I mean, yes, it was 10 years, have helped you understand that, okay, that is actually not the path and you know that for sure now.

Pat Flynn: And it's a fail safe, in case things go awry in this space that you're in now, you have that to fall back. You've given yourself a little bit of a safety net. And so it wasn't all for nothing, but also you know that that's not where your heart is right now. And so, although it's there, it could be either, "oh my gosh, I can't believe I wasted that time," or "hey, thankfully I figured it out because it could have been 20 years, it could have been 30 years in the industry," and you like many people have, could have regretted much more time. And so again, to be present, here you are now, and it's amazing. And you can have some freedom in the morning, and it's not to say that everything is all unicorns and rainbows and roses now, no way. In fact, doing your own thing is a lot harder in many ways, but it's also that much more rewarding. And the freedom you have is what you earned after all that time.

Michelle Krieg: You're right about that. And you're bringing in gratitude again, it's just about being thankful for those things and thankful that I have something to fall back on when needed. Another thing I need to let go is the struggle that it took me to get here. I'm still stuck in that mindset of hustle and grind and am I good enough? Am I doing the right things? And I-

Pat Flynn: Where do you think that came from? In your nature to gravitate toward hustle and grind and working so hard? I mean, obviously you have done that, but where do you think that comes from? What is the worry?

Michelle Krieg: I'm not really sure. I think the worry was not being good enough, that's where it all kind of stemmed from, going through the job application process and nobody was willing to give me a shot because of my lack of experience. And I just thought I needed to work harder. I decided to go out on my own to do that. So I didn't have these people telling me what to do and who I was and how hard was enough, but it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. Opening a brick and mortar studio to start with and then when I was in that and really trying to make that work is when I discovered SPI and I started to see something different, a new possibility for life and career, and that was not having the high overhead of a brick and mortar, not having the stress of that.

Michelle Krieg: And I started to get a new hope and a new thing to work towards. And that's when I sort of shifted out of the brick and mortar space, I sold my studio to a teacher that was working there and then I started to transition to working online with the yoga teachers and developing their skills that way. I guess the only answer was really to work hard. I mean, nobody was going to do anything for me so it became a matter of hustle.

Pat Flynn: And, oh my gosh, you have the ability to go wherever you want to go. That's the crazy cool thing about this story is that almost feel like the people who you were trying to apply with back in the day, maybe you were overqualified. It's like you have this ability that is just too good for them and they didn't need somebody to your caliber and you were able to build something of your own. And whether you want to believe that or not, I mean, I like to position things in that way, because truly it was a blessing that they didn't hire you. I looked for architecture jobs too, and I was not able to get any in 2008 because of the recession. And it is constantly on my mind, how life would've been different, if I had gone down one of those paths.

Pat Flynn: And the fact of the matter is, society tells us. We are ingrained as early as elementary school that we have to live life a certain way and we go get a job and we do all these things and if we don't follow that path, maybe something's wrong with us. But when you look at most people who are successful in life, they don't follow that path. They follow a different path. They go down a different route. And here you are going down that different route, showcasing the fact that you are not somebody who has to do what everybody else says to do, but you have your own way of approaching things and you can build it and design it in any which way you want. And you've come to these different levels, level one was your 10 years of work and college and degree to get to the understanding that, okay, now that I'm at the end of this level, I can choose to keep going down this path or not.

Pat Flynn: You chose not to. That's level two. Now you started your own brick and mortar and understood business. And you actually ended up selling that. That is something that a lot of business owners will never, ever tell themselves or ever, ever get to. So congratulations on that. You've now graduated to level three. You now understand even more wholly that not only do you not want to go down the normal path everybody's going through, but you also don't want to have a brick and mortar company. What amazing understanding to have this early in life. So now you've basically are creating these filters that are proven in your life so that every single day, and every decision that you make is constantly getting you closer and closer and able to find that full fulfillment, which we don't even know if that even really exists. But the truth is you are where you want to be because of the decisions that you once made.

Pat Flynn: And this idea of hustle, I mean, for me, especially in the entrepreneurial space, I don't know how it is in the yoga space specifically, but in this space it's like grow, grow, grow, money, money, money, bigger, bigger, bigger, and I had to really slow down. And it was actually a few books that I read and a number of people that I've interviewed on the podcast that basically said like, "Why? Why are we growing in that—for what reason?" And I couldn't answer that. I was like, well, to grow. Well, why grow? I don't know, that's what everybody else is doing. So that's why I was overworking myself and overclocking. And it wasn't until I was like, well, what would my happy life be like? It would be being with the kids, being able to drop them off at school, just like you have, to be able to have some freedom and flexibility in my time, kind of like you have.

Pat Flynn: To be able to work on amazing things and help a lot of people, which I'm sure you're doing as well. And to at least be financially stable enough to start maybe investing and doing that kind of thing. And that's where I'm at. So I've stopped trying to grow just to grow. Now when I choose to grow or when I choose to hustle, being the keyword, choosing to hustle, that I'm going to work on this course that I'm going to promote, or that I'm going to work hard on this book, I'm going to hustle on it and then put it out there into the world. But I don't feel like I have to, I choose to now and choosing to hustle or choosing to work a lot on something is far different than feeling like you have to.

Michelle Krieg: What about your responsibility to your team or business partners and their growth goals? I mean, I'm sure you have a really great team with you that you guys have worked together for a long time, but do they ever conflict?

Pat Flynn: Yeah. Sometimes there's-

Michelle Krieg: You want to say where you're at and maybe other people want to grow more.

Pat Flynn: Yeah. I mean, absolutely. And we work together to discuss those things when those things come up for sure. And in many cases, some of those people left and started their own thing, and I'm really happy for them. I'm glad that SPI was a stage of their life that they could learn from and move forward with. And that's, again, a part of the nature of business is business changes, the environment changes, people change, but as long as the mission is clear for the business. New people can come in and support that mission and make it even better. And of course, if your mission, your heart is clear, then you can more likely see where people fit in or don't fit in and how you might be able to help manage that process. So, no, the goals aren't always in alignment, but because they're working for a company that has a clear vision of who it's built for and what the purpose is we try to, during the hiring process, obviously make sure that we hire the right people who can support that mission.

Pat Flynn: However, if a person decides they want to go elsewhere, then you know what, hey, more power to you, we'll find somebody to replace you, but we also want to wish you best as well. And it's always hard. I mean, it always feels like when you're in a good spot, something changes. It's like, I was just like getting into a good rhythm here. I enjoy those things because they become challenges. And I always look for the opportunity. When the pandemic hit a mentor of mine and Michael Hyatt, said, "Well, what does this make possible?" Everybody was thinking, what is this going to take away from me? What is this going to do to my business or my personal life? How hard it is and I'm not going to say it wasn't hard and it still is hard for many, but it also, for many people became a huge opportunity for people.

Pat Flynn: It became, well, what does this make possible for me? It made it possible to realize that I didn't have to travel all the time anymore to be successful in business. I can just be at home with my kids and not put that burden on my wife anymore. And it allowed me to slow down. A lot of people started new businesses during the pandemic. It sounded like this business that you have with your partner kind of almost started around the time of the pandemic perhaps, and became an opportunity that you both saw and are taking advantage of and helping people with.

Pat Flynn: So again, it's a matter of the fact that we can't always control the things that are happening to us and the things that are happening in the world, but we have every ability to control what we do with that and how we use that. We can either use it for good, or we can either use it for bad. Now I'm not also saying never be frustrated. I'm not also saying you should never be upset about anything. No, but you can get up and move forward sooner knowing that it's your choice to do what you want to do with this.

Michelle Krieg: Yeah. That's helpful. Very helpful. I mean, hindsight, you mentioned it's a blessing that I didn't get those jobs back when I was just out of college and I can see too now in hindsight, it was a blessing that honestly working with my own brand and the ebooks and the coaching and the podcast and everything that I did for years, it didn't work out for me in the end. In early 2020, in January is when my partner and I came together.

Michelle Krieg: He was the teacher trainer who I did my training with, and I'd been trying to get him to go online for years, but it just didn't really line up right for us. And I was trying to do it all on my own. And now we have this really beautiful blend that works so well together. And we came together early in 2020. And yeah, the pandemic really, I mean, it's such a double edged sword, but it did really help us out quite a bit in what we were doing. We got a little leg up on things too, because we were already in the plans of offering online training and certification and that-

Pat Flynn: And then everybody came online at that point.

Michelle Krieg: Yeah. Yes. Our regulating body, the Yoga Alliance, they really didn't even allow you to do a full certification online at the time. You could really only do up to 30 hours I think, or something online. And so, their hands were forced to allow it to go online completely. And now they've made the permanent change that we can fully certify online, which is wonderful so.

Pat Flynn: Incredible.

Michelle Krieg: Yeah. I mean, in hindsight, it all works out the way it's supposed to and it is a blessing that it went that way for us.

Pat Flynn: It's definitely easy to look back and see those things, but then now it's like, how do we take that experience and that understanding from prior and how do we apply it moving forward? How do we know that things are going to work out in the future? And it's hard because we don't know what's going to happen, right? But at the same time, imagine all the new opportunities that you have created from all the decisions that you made and the decisions that you will make, and this amazing partnership that you have. I mean, just the fact that certain organizations are making changes and that you are demonstrating that there is quality there as well. This is going to open up even more. And then it's an understanding of, with these new opportunities using that filter that you have, that you and your business partner have for your business, but also you for you, what should I say yes to and what should I say no to?

Pat Flynn: And this yes/no filter is really important because everything you say yes to is you saying no to something else. Perhaps a decision that you made before or another responsibility, or what have you, but on the flip side, everything you say no to means a reconfirmation of a yes you once said, a recommitment to something perhaps. And that's the biggest thing that's helped me is trying to understand, well, what deserves a yes from me and what deserves a no from me and learning how to say no, been the biggest thing, because I was I'm kind of a yes guy. I like to please everybody, or I try to, and I might over clock myself sometimes as a result, but then now being more clear, I'm able to help those who I said I was going to help much, much more and then I can get to the others later.

Michelle Krieg: In terms of your success and what you defined as your success, or the moment where you reached your level of success, did you still feel like an imposter? Did you still feel like you were still-

Pat Flynn: I have weeks where I'll wake up and I'll be like, do I even deserve this? Is this even something that I'm qualified for when I'm creating something new, like a new book that I'm working on right now, or even a new course, I always have feelings in my head that go, do you even know what you're doing? Or are you qualified to do this? But then I have to again, look back and the past and go, is it true that I can serve people? Well, absolutely. So that idea that I have in my head of, well, you're not even able to serve people is false. It's literally a false statement. I look for proven truth within these stories that I'm telling myself. And in many cases with imposter syndrome, especially, I can usually find real proof that those are just made up things that I'm telling myself. And then the second thing that helps me with that is connecting with other people who will support me, because sometimes you can't read the label when you're inside the bottle.

Pat Flynn: So I need some people on the outside who can go, "Pat, no, you're crazy, think about it this way." Oh, I've never thought about it that way. Thank you for letting me know, because I didn't even see it, even though it was right in front of me, whatever it might be. That could be hard if you are surrounded by for example, family members or friends who are doing it the traditional way, who like, if they're all together, you are the outsider now. And that could be hard because you took this different path and everybody tries to defend themselves, which only puts you down, which is why I try to surround myself around other people who are in the same world as me who have the same goals who have the same visions, but who have the same understanding of how hard it is, because it's not easy. And through togetherness we lift each other up.

Michelle Krieg: That's that's huge. That's some really good motivation to try to connect with other people doing this. I often just in conversations, meeting new people, what it is that you do? Well, I provide education for yoga teachers online. They're like, cool. I don't have a fancy title or I don't work for fancy company.

Pat Flynn: All kinds of reactions.

Michelle Krieg: Yeah, they saw stock options. I get all kinds of reactions. And so those can make me feel a little funny sometimes. But I think that's a really good point, to really surround myself with people who I can share my small to big wins with, that can help lift me up and understand what it is that I'm doing in the daily advantages and disadvantages and struggles, because I really don't have that. I know you've talked about it on your podcast a lot, the mastermind groups, but even just a peer group of anybody who's doing the online space thing. I mean, just listening to SPI always helps because you know, you're not alone and there's so many other people doing it too.

Pat Flynn: Well. I am sure there are people listening right now who would love to support you in what you do and whether that's in a direct connection or even just a supporting type of fashion, Michelle, I'd love for them to know how to get in contact with you or find out where you're doing your amazing work. Where might they go to find you?

Michelle Krieg: You can easily just go to markstephensyoga.com. My partner's the brand and face and the expert and I'm behind the scenes so if you just shoot us an email, that's going to go to me.

Pat Flynn: Awesome. And that's a Mark with a C or a K?

Michelle Krieg: It's a K. Thank you. Yeah. And Stephens with a ph.

Pat Flynn: Oh, there we go. Awesome. Well, Michelle, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure. I appreciate you being vulnerable and opening up because I'm a hundred percent sure. There are many people listening to this who are right in the same boat as you. I can't wait to see where you go with this. And so thank you again and I appreciate you for the time today.

Pat Flynn: All right. I hope you enjoyed that session with Michelle. Definitely a more therapeutic session, it feels like. And I mean that in the most respectful way, because sometimes that's exactly what we need. And as Michelle was saying at the end there, I mean, sometimes we just need to talk to other people who understand the language that we speak and to understand what it's like to go through the same things. And entrepreneurship can definitely feel very, very, very lonely.

Pat Flynn: And I'm so, so grateful that Michelle reached out and was vulnerable to share these things because I know many of you who are listening to this have felt or are feeling those same things. And I'm just so excited to see what she does to get more support in her community to let go of the past and to go full force into the future for her and her partner, Mark. Again, you can find her website and you can contact her over at markstephensyoga.com. And also if you're into yoga, I mean, you might as well explore that as well, because he's a big name. So I hope you enjoy that episode. Thank you so much for listening all the way through. I appreciate you so much. And for all the reviews that have been coming in this year, just wow, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Pat Flynn: Speaking of places to make contact with other entrepreneurs like you, I highly recommend you check out SPI Pro. You can go to spipro.com. You can see what it's all about. It's a safe space for entrepreneurs to connect, to not only get served, but also help each other out and also enjoy our event and challenges and other things that are there specifically for those who have businesses up and running already, no matter how big or small. However, there is an application process to see if it is the right fit for you and if we are the right fit for you. So if you'd like to go to check it out, spipro.com is the place and I look forward to seeing you there.

Pat Flynn: We also have some other fun things there for you, if that is not the right thing for you after you apply. So check it out, spipro.com and I hope to see you there. Thank you so much for listening all the way through. I appreciate you and I look forward to serving you next week. Peace out.

Pat Flynn: Thanks for listening to AskPat at askpat.com. I'm your host Pat Flynn. Our senior producer is Sara Jane Hess, our series producer is David Grabowski and our executive producer is Matt Gartland. Sound editing by Duncan Brown. AskPat is a production of SPI Media. We'll catch you in the next session.