Understand what’s holding you back — and where to start
The behaviour you notice is only part of the picture. Explore the psychological factors that may be contributing to it.
Do you procrastinate even when you know what needs doing? Overthink decisions? Struggle to put your work out into the world? Find yourself changing direction, comparing yourself with others or questioning whether you’re good enough?
These patterns can be frustrating, especially when you’re running a business and need to make decisions, take action and keep moving forward.
But the same behaviour can have different explanations.
You might be trying to make an uncertain outcome feel predictable. You might be protecting your sense of worth from the possibility of failure or criticism. Or you might be struggling to evaluate your options because you’re unclear about what matters to you.
Mindset Diagnostics helps you explore three psychological factors that may be relevant to your experience.
Three questionnaires. A clearer starting point. £10.
[Start Mindset Diagnostics — £10]
Why understanding the process matters
A behaviour doesn’t always tell you what needs to change.
For example, researching another option before making a decision might be useful information-gathering. But if you’re repeatedly searching because you can’t tolerate the possibility of getting the decision wrong, more research may not resolve the underlying difficulty.
Similarly, changing direction after a setback might be a sensible response to new evidence. But if you abandon a goal because the setback feels like proof that you’re not capable, there may be another pattern worth exploring.
And if you struggle to choose between opportunities, the difficulty may lie partly in not having a sufficiently clear sense of your own priorities.
Understanding the possible process behind a behaviour can help you identify a more relevant starting point.
Explore three psychological factors
1. Intolerance of uncertainty
Can you act when you don’t know how things will turn out?
Business decisions rarely come with guarantees. If uncertainty feels particularly uncomfortable, you may find yourself seeking more information, second-guessing decisions or delaying action until you feel more certain.
The questionnaire explores your responses to uncertainty.
If this area feels relevant, How to Trust Yourself — Taking Action Without Certainty helps you recognise certainty-seeking patterns, understand what they are doing for you, make better decisions with the information available and practise acting under uncertainty.
The aim isn’t to eliminate uncertainty. It’s to develop your ability to deal with it.
2. Self-Esteem
What happens to your sense of worth when things don’t go to plan?
When self-esteem depends heavily on achievement, approval or particular standards, a setback can feel like more than a disappointing result. It can become a judgement about you as a person.
You may respond by trying harder to prove yourself, avoiding situations that could expose perceived inadequacy or following rules designed to protect your sense of worth.
The questionnaire explores your self-esteem.
If this area feels relevant, How to Love Yourself — Building Stable Self-Esteem helps you examine what your self-worth depends upon, recognise the coping strategies and rules that keep the pattern going, and experiment with ways of evaluating yourself that aren’t determined by individual outcomes.
The aim is to build a more stable sense of worth, not to convince yourself that every decision or result will be successful.
3. Self-concept clarity
How clearly do you understand yourself and what matters to you?
You can have ambitions, skills and opportunities yet still find it difficult to decide which direction feels right. When your understanding of yourself or your priorities feels unclear or inconsistent, it can be harder to weigh up competing options or maintain a direction when external opinions pull you different ways.
The questionnaire explores how clearly and consistently you understand yourself.
If this area feels relevant, How to Know Yourself — Strengthening Self-Clarity helps you use your experiences as evidence, reflect on how they connect across your life, and develop a more coherent understanding of who you are and what matters to you.
The aim isn’t to create a fixed identity. It’s to develop an internal reference point that helps you evaluate new experiences and make choices.
What do you receive?
For £10, Mindset Diagnostics includes:
- Three questionnaires covering intolerance of uncertainty, self-esteem and self-concept clarity.
- Your scores across all three areas.
- Explanations to help you understand what each factor represents.
- Guidance on which area or areas may be useful to explore further.
- A suggested starting point from three practical, psychology-informed courses.
You may find one area particularly relevant, or more than one. These factors can overlap, and other influences may also contribute to the difficulties you’re experiencing.
The results are there to support reflection, not to define you or explain every aspect of your behaviour.
What happens next?
If a course looks relevant, you can check out its details and decide whether you want to take it.
Each course includes approximately 1.5–2.5 hours of video teaching and a practical workbook. You’ll work through the material at your own pace and apply the exercises to your own experience.
Mindset Diagnostics: £10
Individual Course: £100
You don’t need to buy all three courses. Start with the area that seems most relevant to the difficulty you want to address.
A psychology-informed approach
The programme draws on psychological concepts relating to intolerance of uncertainty, self-esteem and self-concept clarity. The courses translate these concepts into practical reflection and exercises designed for entrepreneurs.
This isn’t about assuming that every business problem comes from your mindset. Strategy, resources, market conditions and circumstances matter too.
It’s about exploring whether particular psychological patterns may be influencing how you approach the challenges in front of you.
Ready to find a useful starting point?
You don’t have to work out the explanation before you begin.
Explore the three factors, review your results and decide what might be worth working on next
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Start Mindset Diagnostics: £10
Mindset Diagnostics is an educational self-assessment, not a clinical diagnostic tool. The results do not establish the cause of a difficulty, predict business success or replace an individual professional assessment.