Rethink: The Entrepreneur's Ultimate Guide to Mindset, Self-Leadership, and Subconscious Success

You’ve done all the things. You’ve built the funnels, written the emails, posted the content, and networked until your head spun. You’ve followed the blueprints and bought the courses. You have the business strategy down to a science.

So why does it still feel so hard?

Why does the revenue dial seem stuck? Why does every launch feel like pushing a boulder uphill? Why do you find yourself procrastinating on the very tasks you know will move the needle?

If you’re a woman entrepreneur standing at a crossroads, feeling stuck, scattered, or on the verge of burnout, I want you to hear this: It’s not your strategy. It’s not your work ethic. And it’s not you.

You’re simply looking for the solution in the wrong place.

For years, we’ve been sold a lie: that business success is purely a game of external tactics. Better marketing. Slicker sales funnels. More followers. But this is like trying to build a skyscraper on a foundation of sand. It’s unsustainable, exhausting, and ultimately, it will crumble.

Welcome to lesleychristie.com, your digital playground for building a business that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. Here, we fuse deep mindset work with veteran business strategy because we know the truth: sustainable, joyful, and wildly profitable success is an inside-out job.

Your business is a direct reflection of your internal world. Your revenue is a reflection of your self-worth. Your visibility is a reflection of your self-trust. Your impact is a reflection of your self-leadership.

This guide is your new foundation. It’s the starting point for a radical rethink of how you approach your business and your life. We will explore the three pillars that separate the entrepreneurs who merely survive from those who truly thrive:

1. The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Moving beyond fluffy affirmations to build a resilient, strategic mind using proven cognitive tools.
2. The Art of Self-Leadership: Becoming the CEO your business has been waiting for by mastering your emotional state and internal drive.
3. Unlocking Subconscious Success: Rewiring the deep-seated, invisible scripts that are really running your business behind the scenes.

It’s time to stop tweaking the strategy and start transforming the strategist. Let’s begin.

Section 1: The Entrepreneurial Mindset - Beyond Positive Thinking

We need to talk about "positive thinking."

In the world of entrepreneurship, we’re often bombarded with the advice to “just be positive,” “vibrate higher,” or “good vibes only.” While the intention is good, this surface-level advice often does more harm than good for a high-functioning business owner.

Why? Because when you’re facing a potential cash-flow crisis, a difficult client, or a launch that isn’t converting, simply slapping a positive thought on top of genuine fear or anxiety is like putting a floral band-aid on a deep wound. It’s ineffective, and worse, it can lead to a sense of failure and self-blame when you can't just "think" your way out of a real-world problem.

This is what’s known as toxic positivity. It invalidates real human emotion and ignores the root cause of our unhelpful patterns.

The true work of building a powerful mindset for entrepreneurs isn’t about ignoring the negative; it’s about engaging with it skillfully. It’s about becoming a mental architect, capable of examining your thought patterns, deconstructing the ones that don't serve you, and consciously building new, more supportive neural pathways.

And one of the most powerful, evidence-based toolkits for this construction project is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

A CEO's Framework: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Business

At its core, CBT is a practical framework based on a simple premise: our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are interconnected. A thought creates a feeling, which in turn drives an action (or inaction).

• Thought: "No one is signing up for my new masterclass. I’m probably a fraud."
• Feeling: Anxiety, shame, deflation.
• Action/Behaviour: Avoid promoting the masterclass, scroll endlessly on social media comparing yourself to others, decide to cancel it altogether.

See how a single thought can derail an entire project? The goal isn't to pretend the thought doesn't exist. The goal is to catch it, question it, and choose a more resourceful response.

In CBT, we call these intrusive, unhelpful thoughts Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs). For entrepreneurs, they are rampant and often hide in plain sight:

• The Imposter: "Who am I to charge this much? So-and-so is way more qualified."
• The Catastrophizer: "If this launch fails, my entire business will collapse."
• The Perfectionist: "I can't put this website live until every single pixel is perfect."
• The Mind-Reader: "That potential client was quiet on the call. They must have thought my pitch was terrible."

These ANTs are the source of procrastination, perfectionism, self-doubt, and burnout. They are the invisible ceilings you keep hitting. But once you can see them, you can start to dismantle them.

Actionable Exercise: Your First Thought Record

Let’s move this from theory to practice. The Thought Record is a classic CBT exercise for gaining clarity and control over your ANTs. Don’t just read this - grab a notebook or open a document and do it.

Think of a recent business situation that triggered a strong negative emotion (e.g., anxiety, frustration, disappointment). Maybe you got an unhappy email from a customer, or you had to do a discovery call you were nervous about.

Now, create five columns and fill them out:

By practicing this simple exercise, you interrupt the automatic cycle of thought -> feeling -> action. You create a crucial pause that allows you to shift from a reactive state to a responsive one. This is the foundation of a resilient entrepreneurial mindset—not the absence of negative thoughts, but the refusal to let them be in the driver's seat.

Section 2: The Art of Self-Leadership - Your Biggest Business Asset

If mindset is the internal operating system, then self-leadership is the user who directs it.

As an entrepreneur, you are the CEO, the Head of Sales, the Creative Director, and the Chief Visionary Officer. You wear all the hats. But the most important role you will ever play is that of your own leader.

Self-leadership is the ability to consciously influence your own thoughts, emotions, and behaviours to achieve your objectives. It's about being the steady hand at the helm of your own ship, especially when the entrepreneurial seas get stormy.

Without strong self-leadership, even the best mindset can crumble under pressure. This is where we see some of the most common entrepreneurial struggles emerge:

• Decision Fatigue: The constant stream of choices - from what to post on Instagram to which tech platform to invest in - drains your mental energy, leading to poor decisions or total paralysis.
• Emotional Dysregulation: A single critical comment can ruin your day. The high of a big sale is followed by the low of a client cancellation. You feel like you're on an emotional rollercoaster, and it's exhausting.
• Burnout: The "hustle" culture tells you to push harder, but your body and mind are screaming for a break. You lose your passion and drive, and your business starts to feel like a cage you built for yourself.

To navigate these challenges, you need more than just good intentions. You need practical tools to manage your own state at will. This is where another powerful methodology comes in: Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Your Brain's User Manual: Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) for Leadership

If CBT helps you understand and reframe your thoughts, NLP gives you the tools to change your state in an instant. Think of it as the user manual for your brain, teaching you how to run your own mind instead of letting it run you.

One of the most immediate and powerful NLP techniques for self-leadership is called Anchoring.

An anchor is a neurological stimulus that is paired with a specific psychological state. It's a mental shortcut. Just as the smell of baking cookies might instantly transport you back to your grandmother's kitchen (an unintentional anchor), you can consciously create anchors to access powerful, resourceful states on demand.

Imagine being able to access a state of unshakable confidence right before a sales call. Or a state of laser focus when you sit down to write. Or a state of calm and groundedness when you open a difficult email.

This is not wishful thinking; it's a trainable skill. By creating an anchor, you are intentionally linking a physical trigger (like touching your thumb and forefinger together) with a peak emotional state. With a few repetitions, the trigger alone will be enough to fire off that state whenever you need it.

Actionable Exercise: Create Your First NLP Anchor

Let's create a "Confidence" anchor. This will become your go-to tool before any performance situation - a webinar, a client negotiation, a networking event.

Step 1: Identify the State. Decide on the specific state you want to anchor. Be precise. Not just "confidence," but what kind of confidence? Is it the calm, grounded confidence of a seasoned expert? The bold, charismatic confidence of a keynote speaker? Get a clear feeling for it.

Step 2: Access a Peak Memory. Close your eyes and go back in time to a moment when you felt this exact flavour of confidence, powerfully and completely. It could be from any part of your life - a time you nailed a presentation, aced a test, learned a new skill, or simply felt amazing in your own skin.

Step 3: Amplify the State (The V.A.K. Method). Relive that memory as if you are there right now. Turn up the sensory details:

• Visual: What did you see? Make the colours brighter, the images sharper. See it through your own eyes.
• Auditory: What did you hear? The applause? Someone's praise? Your own steady voice? Make the sounds clearer and louder.
• Kinesthetic: Most importantly, what did you feel in your body? Where is that feeling of confidence located? Is it a warmth in your chest? A solidity in your stomach? A lightness in your shoulders? Amplify that physical sensation. Let it grow and spread throughout your body.

Step 4: Set the Anchor. As the feeling reaches its absolute peak, apply your unique physical trigger. It must be something distinct and easy to replicate. A great one is to press your thumb and forefinger firmly together on your non-dominant hand. Hold it for 5-10 seconds while you are at the absolute pinnacle of that confident feeling.

Step 5: Break State & Test. Release the trigger. Open your eyes. Shake your body a little bit. To clear your mind, think about something completely different, like what you had for breakfast yesterday.

Now, test it. Press your thumb and forefinger together in the exact same way. Notice what happens. You should feel a rush of that confident state returning.

Repeat this process 3-5 times, using the same memory or different ones, to strengthen the neurological link. The more you reinforce it, the more powerful and instantaneous it will become.

This is self-leadership in action. It's about taking ownership of your state and refusing to be a victim of circumstance. Your feelings are no longer random; they are a resource you can call upon at will.

Section 3: Unlocking Subconscious Success - Rewiring Your Inner CEO

We’ve worked on your conscious thoughts with CBT and your emotional state with NLP. Now, we go deeper.

We go to the level where the real game is played: the subconscious mind.

Think of your mind as an iceberg. The 10% that’s above the water is your conscious mind. It’s the part that sets goals, makes to-do lists, and uses logic. The massive 90% that lies beneath the surface is your subconscious mind. It runs your habits, stores your memories, houses your deepest beliefs, and ultimately, controls your life.

Your subconscious is your inner CEO. It executes the programs it has been given without question. The problem is, most of these programs were installed in childhood, long before you ever thought of starting a business.

These programs are your deep-seated beliefs about money, worthiness, visibility, safety, and what’s possible for you. And if your conscious goals are in conflict with your subconscious programming, the subconscious will win. Every. Single. Time.

This is why you can have the world's best business strategy and still find yourself self-sabotaging. It’s your subconscious trying to "protect" you based on old, outdated rules.

Common Subconscious Blocks in Business

These internal conflicts show up as persistent, frustrating patterns in our businesses:

• The Fear of Visibility: You consciously want to be seen as an expert, but you subconsciously believe "It's not safe to stand out" or "If I'm seen, I'll be criticized." This leads to hiding, playing small, and never truly sharing your gifts.
• The Upper Limit Problem: Every time your income reaches a certain level, a crisis happens. A big expense comes up, you get sick, or a client unexpectedly leaves. This is your subconscious, which may hold a belief like "I don't deserve more than this" or "Making a lot of money is greedy," pulling the emergency brake to keep you in your financial comfort zone.
• The Fear of Success: Consciously, you want to scale. But subconsciously, you might believe "Success means more responsibility, more stress, and less freedom" or "If I become more successful than my friends/partner, they will leave me." This leads to an unconscious avoidance of the very opportunities that would lead to growth.

Trying to overcome these blocks with conscious effort alone is like trying to change the document on your computer screen without saving it to the hard drive. You need to access the source code.

Becoming the Person: The Power of Identity Reprogramming

The most profound way to rewrite this subconscious code is to shift your very identity. It’s not about doing things to get success; it’s about becoming the person who already has it.

This isn’t "fake it 'til you make it." It’s "be it 'til you see it." You start to think, feel, and act from the identity of the next-level version of yourself right now. This sends a powerful new set of instructions to your subconscious mind, telling it, "This is who we are now. These are the new rules."

Two of the most accessible ways to begin this identity-level work are through targeted affirmations and visualization.

1. Affirmations That Actually Work

Most affirmations fail because they create cognitive dissonance. If you're earning $2k a month and you repeat "I am a millionaire," your subconscious mind immediately calls bullsh*t. It rejects the statement, and you just feel worse.

Effective affirmations are framed in a way that bypasses the conscious critic. Try these formats:

• The Permission Slip: "I am allowed to earn money with ease." "It is safe for me to be seen and celebrated."
• The Bridge Statement: "I am in the process of becoming a confident and sought-after expert." "I am learning to manage my money wisely as I build my wealth."
• The "I'm the type of person who..." Statement: "I am the type of person who consistently signs high-ticket clients." "I am the type of person who takes bold, aligned action every day."

Write them down. Say them out loud while looking in the mirror. Feel the emotion behind them. Repetition and emotion are the languages of the subconscious.

2. Embodied Visualization

Visualization is not just daydreaming. It’s a mental rehearsal that primes your brain for a future reality. The brain often has trouble distinguishing between a vividly imagined experience and a real one. When you visualize your success, you are creating the neural pathways that will make that success feel familiar and inevitable.

The key is to make it a full-body, sensory experience:

• Sit quietly for 5-10 minutes.
• Imagine a future scene where you have achieved a specific goal (e.g., you’ve just finished a wildly successful webinar).
• Don’t just watch it like a movie; step into the scene. See what you see through your own eyes. Hear the sounds around you.
• Most importantly, feel the emotions in your body. Feel the pride, the joy, the gratitude, the sense of accomplishment. Anchor this feeling. Where do you feel it? Let it expand.
• This practice, done consistently, rewires your subconscious to accept this new reality as your "normal."

By working at this deep, subconscious level, you stop fighting against yourself. You align your inner CEO with your conscious goals, and suddenly, the path to success becomes one of flow and momentum instead of force and friction.

Featured Collection: A Deep Dive into Rewriting the Rules

For a practical guide to dismantling the specific patriarchal lies and outdated beliefs holding you back, explore our signature series, 'Create Your Own Rules.' This collection of over 35 articles is your playbook for building a business on your own terms.

Explore the 'Create Your Own Rules' Series Here

Your Business Is an Inside Job: The Path Forward

If you have read this far, you know a fundamental truth that most entrepreneurs miss: your strategy will only ever take you as far as your mindset will allow.

True, sustainable growth is not found in another marketing course. It’s found in the quiet, courageous work of excavating your limiting thoughts, mastering your emotional state, and rewriting the subconscious stories that dictate your reality.

• You’ve learned that you can challenge your Automatic Negative Thoughts using simple CBT tools, shifting from reaction to response.
• You’ve discovered that you can become a powerful Self-Leader by using NLP techniques like Anchoring to command your emotional state at will.
• You now understand that your Subconscious Beliefs are the true drivers of your success and that you have the power to reprogram them through identity-level work.

These tools are powerful. They can create significant shifts when applied consistently. But let’s be honest - the deepest, most transformative work is incredibly difficult to do alone. Our biggest blocks are, by their nature, invisible to us. They are the water we swim in.

Sometimes, you need a guide. Someone who can stand outside your frame of reference, hold a mirror up to your blind spots, and give you the precise tools and strategy to create a breakthrough, not just a bandage.

If you are ready to stop patching the leaks and finally rebuild your foundation for exponential growth, I invite you to take the next step.

Ready to Get Unstuck?

Ready to uncover the specific subconscious block that's holding your business back? In a 90-minute Aligned Strategy Session, we’ll go beyond the surface-level symptoms and diagnose the root cause of what’s keeping you stuck. Together, we'll create a clear, actionable plan that fuses deep mindset shifts with potent business strategy to get you out of overwhelm and back into unstoppable momentum.

This isn’t just another coaching call. It’s a turning point.

Book Your Aligned Strategy Session