Hi gorgeous, I'm Denise Duffield-Thomas, money mindset mentor, author and founder of The Money Bootcamp.

Today I’m sharing one of my key Chillpreneur Millionaire mindset lessons.

Becoming a millionaire doesn’t really make you special or clever, but the truth is that my biggest secret for becoming one is focusing on some very specific mindset upgrades.

So here’s one lesson to think about…
Know Thyself And Prosper

People are always surprised when I tell them I’m an introvert. They say:

“But you film so many videos!”
“But you’re so bubbly and confident!”
“But you have a big business!”

Yes, but I make those videos alone in my home.

No human interaction needed.

Yes, I can be bubbly on stage, because I’ve learned how to protect my energy between speaking gigs (and take days to recover from them.)

Yes, I have a big business, because it’s set up to enhance my strengths.

I’ve outsourced and delegated my weaknesses and embraced the Chillpreneur philosophy of “there are easier ways to make money.”

The internet is a perfect business vehicle for introverts.

You can run a global business without having to interact directly with other people.

In fact, you can work in your pajamas every day if you want to (and I do, a lot).

But this chapter isn’t about being an introvert (that’s a whole other book).

It’s about uncovering your unique superpowers and using them to create your ideal life and business.

That’s the third mindset lesson to master. There is a path of least resistance for you, and your job is to find it.

When people ask me what the secret to my success is, the answer is simple: Know thyself.

Know what makes you tick.
Know exactly how you sabotage yourself.
Know your path of least resistance.
Know what’s fun and easy for you.
Know your warning signs of burnout.

The Chillpreneur way is to know yourself so profoundly that work doesn’t feel like work; it feels like a natural extension of your personal preferences.

The Chillpreneur way is to find the logical path (for you) and reduce any unnecessary friction in your life and business. That doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing every minute of the day.

I still get scared to go out of my comfort zone, but I’m mindful of doing things that work with my personality and not against it.

In their book, The Astonishing Power of Emotions: Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide, Esther and Jerry Hicks expand this into an upstream/downstream analogy.

“...feel for a moment the sensation of relief that you would experience if you had been paddling against the current in an upstream direction and then suddenly just stopped paddling, in an attitude of giving in to the stream and letting it just turn you and take you downstream.”

Going with the flow doesn’t mean you’ll never work.

I work a lot, and when I’m not working, I’m often thinking about my work.

But it doesn’t feel stressful to me (most of the time). Occasionally, I get out of balance, but it doesn’t take long to switch directions, make some tweaks and float downstream again.

The first step is to know who you are.

The second step is to accept it lovingly, knowing that your personality is perfect for you and your business.

We’re all different for a reason.

Thank God there are people who have figured out how bridges hold up and planes fly because that isn’t my bag.

For me, the internet works by “magic.”

But the world would be a little boring if it was full of only engineers. It needs creative people, too.

It needs dreamers and organizers and listeners and artists and visionaries of all types.

There’s a spot in the world that’s exactly your size and shape, so there’s no point wishing you were different.

The idea behind personal development isn’t to change everything about yourself, it’s about polishing your true, inherent beauty. Self-acceptance is way more profitable than self-help.

Knowing more about your real personality—mainly how it expresses around money and business—will help you:

Make or save more money naturally, without feeling like you have to work harder than necessary or sell out.

Feel like you’re “enough” and won’t have to prove yourself continuously.

Attract clients who naturally want what you’re giving.

You’ll stop twisting yourself into knots trying to please everyone, which is a sure recipe for failure and dissatisfaction.

Experience less friction in your life and business.

You’ll feel like you’re in the flow and won’t have to “force” yourself to do anything.

Trust your own decisions and not follow the herd or be tempted to try the latest marketing fad.

You’re enough. Exactly as you are.

I honestly spend zero time these days working on my weaknesses.

It’s so much easier to maximize my strengths and not try to change my fundamental personality.

That’s way too hard and a waste of energy.

I know this goes against the grain of personal development, but I see too many entrepreneurs wasting time on overcoming their weaknesses for marginal returns.

They do this by taking course after course or pursuing yet another certification (procrasti-learning!)

You’re way better off outsourcing, delegating, or eliminating the impact of weaknesses altogether than you are changing your behavior (pursue the path of least resistance, remember?)

Yes, you can adapt, but you really can’t escape your natural personality type. Chill out and accept it.

That doesn’t mean you can’t change habits or beliefs.

That’s something entirely different.

I’ve been able to change my mindset to be more optimistic and positive, but I always fall back into certain personality traits, and that’s been true no matter which job or industry I’ve tried.

This theme will come up again and again.

I’m going to encourage you to find the business model that feels easy to you, the clients that are the most pleasurable to deal with, and the marketing techniques that feel the most natural, regardless of what other people are doing.

That’s the Chillpreneur way.

It’s not about being lazy, it’s just going with the flow for maximum results.

And guess what? You might resist it because it feels too easy or obvious.

Or because your business guru told you it had to be a certain way.

But their way might not be the best for you—and you need to do some self-exploration to figure out what works better for yourself.

The path to Chillpreneurship begins by giving yourself permission to be exactly the way you are.

Knowing yourself is an ongoing process, and you’ll start to see nuances when you apply your self-knowledge to your business.

It doesn’t mean you have to start your business again from scratch or throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I just keep carving and carving away to create even more pleasure and less friction in my business. Sometimes the tweaks are incredibly subtle, but they can make a world of difference.

You could use new-found self-awareness to make micro-shifts in your business, for example, in the types of clients you work with, the products and services you offer, the branding you use, the team you hire, and the processes you run your whole business around.

Tweaks could make all the difference.

What Feels Good?

A really simple question to ask yourself is “What feels good?”

“What kind of clients do I enjoy working with most?”
“What work feels best to me?”
“What did I like about my last project?”

When things feel bad, you have to learn from it too. For example, as a favor to a friend, I gave a keynote at her conference, an entirely different audience than usual and not even close to my target market.

Although the speech went well and was well-received, I came off-stage feeling horrible and used up. As if I had pimped myself out for someone else’s gratification. I vowed never to do it again because it felt yucky.

Each time something feels good or bad, you can adjust your business in big and small ways.

You can re-evaluate your target audience (and change up your marketing accordingly).

You can put boundaries in place (for example, I now have a speaking request form that spells out the type of audience I’m right for), or you can eliminate product or service offerings. You have permission to make things easier or more pleasurable for yourself!

There are loads of tips and resources on how to know yourself better and prosper in my book Chillpreneur.

Pick up a copy today in all of the usual places or at denisedt.com/books

It’s your time! You’re ready for the next step!

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