Surviving the Side Hustle

From Battling Emotional Eating to Fostering Wellness: Dominiece's Journey to Empowering Self-Care and Entrepreneurial Success

• Coach Rob • Season 1 • Episode 67

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How do you balance a successful career with personal well-being? Join us as we engage with Dominique Clifton, a purpose coach and entrepreneur whose journey from battling emotional eating to fostering wellness is nothing short of inspiring. Dominique opens up about overcoming childhood trauma and how it shaped her mission to help others prioritize self-care in their bustling professional lives. Her story is a testament to the profound impact of personal transformation, sparked by a 90-day commitment to holistic practices during the pandemic.

Dominique's journey didn't stop at self-discovery; it evolved into a dynamic career in coaching and led to the creation of Move and Still, her B2B initiative. Her approach to integrating mindfulness and stress management into organizations highlights the importance of well-being in professional settings. Discover how she navigated the challenges of entrepreneurship, from initial setbacks to finding a renewed sense of purpose through her passion for wellness. Dominique's insights emphasize the necessity of consistent self-care in avoiding burnout and achieving lasting success.

Consistency over perfection is the mantra that Dominique champions, especially vital for those juggling multiple responsibilities. Learn about her innovative 4% Formula, a tool designed to seamlessly integrate self-care into daily routines, ensuring sustainable growth for entrepreneurs. As we explore the balance between lifestyle flexibility and consistency, Dominique offers guidance on aligning personal energy with daily actions. Celebrate the power of coaching connections and the positive impacts of collaboration in both personal and professional realms, as shared during our enriching conversation with Dominique Clifton.

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Rob:

What's going on? Everybody Today on the show we've got Dominie Clifton. How are you doing today down in Baltimore?

Dominiece:

The weather is shifting here and I'm a summer girl, so I'm mourning the loss of summer. But overall, other than that you mentioned Baltimore I'm doing pretty good today. Rob, thanks for having me.

Rob:

Of course. Yeah, I'm the opposite. Actually. I'm excited for the cooler weather up here in Connecticut. I'm loving the crisp air and I'm embracing the fall myself.

Dominiece:

Yeah, I'm fascinated by people. I do a lot of like workshop facilitation, and so usually when the seasons are shifting, I'm asking questions about the seasons, and I'm fascinated by you humans that love the cold weather. When people are like winter is my favorite season, I'm like hmm so, but we're all different yeah, I don't know if necessarily winter is my favorite.

Rob:

I just get excited when the season does change because I get so comfortable, like the heat. I'm kind of over it.

Dominiece:

Now I'm ready for the fall, and then I love snow, and then when spring comes, around.

Rob:

I just get so pumped, yeah, yeah, but before we get too much into the seasons and such, could you share a little bit about who you are? You mentioned a little bit about workshops and things, but who it is that you are specifically and who do you help?

Dominiece:

Yeah, so I I always share that. I used to always struggle with the who am I question as an adult, because I feel like, starting at a very young age, people ask you like, what do you want to be when you grow up? And the expectation is that we just have this one thing and we know it. And there was a point in my life when I didn't know myself well and so I didn't really have that answer. But even now that I know myself and I figured that out, I am like multifaceted.

Dominiece:

I wear so many hats and so it depends on the conversation and kind of the day, I will say for today, I am showing up as a purpose coach, I'm a business strategist and I'm an entrepreneur.

Dominiece:

Entrepreneurship is something that I'm really passionate about and just really in love with being an entrepreneur because there's so much freedom there. So, yeah, that's who I'm showing up as for today's call, and I would say that my main mission, or like what really gets me excited, is really empowering other entrepreneurs and other working professionals to balance their professional lives, careers, businesses, with prioritizing themselves. I think that for a lot of us, we kind of grew up just thinking that it was an either or like either you get to be successful or you get to be healthy and have optimum wellbeing, and I unsubscribe from that, and I think that we can definitely have both, and so I'm really, again, just passionate about sharing with people what it looks like to live a busy life, to be a busy professional, to wear many hats but also really make time to take care of yourself in the process.

Rob:

Love it and I really love that you highlighted there about who you're showing up for today. I think that's very unique. I can't believe I haven't heard anybody else ever say that before. But I might steal that a little bit.

Dominiece:

Feel free to borrow it. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm a co-parenting mom. I'm sorry to cut you off. I'm a co-parenting mom and so, like this week I'm not in mommy mode, but next week I'll be in mommy mode. And so when you ask me next week, like who are you? I'm like, you know, I'm always a mom, but like my thought process is different on those days and so, yeah, it's like who am I today? That's the answer for today. It might shift and look a little bit different tomorrow and next week.

Rob:

Yeah, I love that. So could you share a little bit about how kind of going into, how'd you get to where you're?

Dominiece:

currently at with the coaching and empowering other entrepreneurs and such. Yeah, not really the path that I had set out for myself. My, I would say, introduction into the wellness industry was kind of something that I stumbled into after my own healing journey, my own wellness journey. For most of my life I struggled with my weight, starting at a very young age, so around eight years old, and I had a very unhealthy relationship with emotional eating and food for most of my life for over two decades and I just kind of had this pattern of like yo-yo dieting losing the weight, gaining the weight. I went on my first diet in middle school and so that was just how I existed and what I knew. I wasn't very happy with myself, very low self-esteem, very low self-confidence, but I did a really good job of masking how I was feeling internally and masking that unworthiness with overworking and high achieving. And so when I started opening up a couple of years ago and really sharing, like my mental health challenges and my insecurities, my family, the people that knew me for most of my life, was very surprised because I did a really good job of hiding those things for most of my life. But I just from unresolved childhood trauma I just like use unhealthy ways to cope. And I think there wasn't.

Dominiece:

I feel like sometimes, when I have conversations with people, there's this big, like life-changing catalyst that happens. It's like, you know, crazy car accident or, you know, divorce, or like something that just like abruptly wakes you up. It wasn't that for me. For me, it was just like this kind of underlying unhappiness that I had felt my entire life, from a very young age and just getting to the point of feeling tired of existing that way. For me, there was always this knowingness that there was more for my life. Like you know, even when I didn't know what that more was, there was always this calling. There was always like there's more for your life than this.

Dominiece:

And I got to a space where I was really unhappy with my life right around the time where COVID was starting in 2020. Externally, there was a lot going on in the world and we were all kind of unsure where things were, and in my household, there was a lot of like, turmoil and change. I was, you know, in the midst of, at that time, a very rocky marriage. I had a newborn and a toddler and you know all of the things that come with that transition. I was unemployed because I quit my job in December of 2019. And at the time I was like, oh, I'll quit my job for a couple of months and go back to work, and then, a couple of months later, covid happens and now everyone's getting laid off, and so I didn't really have a plan. It was just like, oh, this is bigger than something I feel like I can kind of find my way out of. And, to top it off, I had gone into business with a then friend and it was a natural hair salon, and so, of course, covid happens and it wasn't a great time to be starting a brick and mortar, so invested a lot financially, lost a lot financially there and was just like I have no idea what to do. So I have, for the last seven years, been pretty on a I would say pretty on a personal development journey.

Dominiece:

At that time I wasn't as deep as I am now, but I just meditated. All that I knew at that time, when I didn't have any answers, was just to be still started feeling called to meditate. And one day in March of 2020, I was meditating and this download came to me every day for 90 days focus on your mind, body, spirit, and so I did that consistently for three months and when I came out of that 90 days it was like everything in me had shifted. Like making time to be with myself every day, making time to honor and prioritize my body and my wellness every day for three months, like it changed me and that was really the introduction into all of the work that I'm doing now. I continue that daily practice today and it's just been so transformative for my life.

Dominiece:

The last thing I'll say here is that I always share that. You never know that. You're like sleepwalking or walking on autopilot until you come out of that fog or until you wake up from that. And so I had just existed like in this very unhappy kind of you know just blah state for most of my life, and then waking up from that was like oh my God, like looking around and just being like what the hell have I been doing for like 30 years, and so that's really what shifted me into the space that I'm in now. I felt so great that I wanted everyone else to experience that, and that's why I continue to show up and coach and empower other people today.

Rob:

Wow, yeah, I definitely know what you mean about that like autopilot mode. I talked about it on stage a couple of times about how I call it robot mode because so yeah work was getting done.

Rob:

But the downside of the robot mode is you lack that human awareness and you don't really get to see what's going on or falling apart around you until you hit a point where you suddenly don't recognize yourself or anything. So I totally can relate with that. So explain to me a little bit about your coaching practice. Who are the kind of people that you work with? I know you're empowering entrepreneurs, but you work with people at all different stages. What kind of work do you do with them? I know you mentioned to me a little bit about the 4% formula, so I'm dying to understand and figure out what that is, because that sounds interesting.

Rob:

So I'll let you kind of take it from there.

Dominiece:

Sure. So I started so after I had this, like you know, this, this, this 90 day challenge, shortly after that I actually, you know, hired my first coach at the time, my first business and mindset coach, and, just like, really committed to my entrepreneurial journey and it was really hard that's a nice way of saying it sucked real bad, even with no-transcript. Two years I just like burned out. I kept burning out, like in the process, and I just got, you know, tired of burning out and so I quit coaching after about two years and I started my B2B business, move and Still, which is still going today. And Move and Still is focused on working with businesses, schools and organizations and empowering them with stress management and mindfulness services. And so really taking the model of how can we again prioritize our well-being in the midst of our workdays and our very busy schedules, but reducing some of the barriers that oftentimes come with working a nine to five, whether it's time or, you know, whether it's finances, like really being able to work directly with organizations and offer these services. And so I was doing that and like enjoying that work and, you know, seeing success there, getting funding for that business. I think that the mission of that business like there was a lot of. There has been, I should say, a lot of organizations that you know have given me funding to funding to move forward and to grow that business because of the mission of just making wellness more accessible. So I had just walked away from coaching and was good in that lane.

Dominiece:

And then at the top of this year I started feeling again like this, calling to step back into coaching, and I'm a very spiritual person and so I had to sit and kind of just meditate on that intuitive nudge for a while because I never saw myself step stepping back into coaching Once I quit. It was just like I tried this before. It didn't work and I was always burned out and exhausted in that process. But I have literally for the last seven years, just been on my own personal development journey and like my own entrepreneurial journey and I've been just eating up information like Pac-Man. I was listening to a podcast episode with you and I think you know when you're like you were talking about your morning routine and how you have all these things that you want to get done and like if you don't do those things, sometimes it feels off Like once you commit to something and you have that drive in you. It's like you go all been on a journey for a long time and you soaked up a lot of information and now it's time to share this out with the world. And so I finally just decided to after you know, sitting with that that, uh, I guess guidance for a couple of months like decided to be obedient really and step back into coaching. And so today I my coaching practice looks different.

Dominiece:

When I was in coaching before, I was focused on nutrition and wellness and really trying to help people with weight loss after going through my own weight loss journey, and today I am focused on helping women to first go through a journey of self-discovery, because when it comes to making impact in the world, I think it's important for us to know who we are first, so that we can build businesses that are aligned to our gifts, our skills, our talents, the things that we're passionate about. And so I guide them through a journey of self-discovery and then from there we can take what they learn about themselves and really turn that into a viable business where they can generate profits. And so it's a business coaching program. Typically, I work with either aspiring women, entrepreneurs, so women who are working nine to fives and want to pivot into entrepreneurship, maybe as a side hustle to start out, or women that are early stage entrepreneurs, so within the first one to three years of their business, and they're doing something, but maybe it doesn't feel aligned for them or maybe they're not as excited about the work really helping them to pivot into something that feels more aligned.

Dominiece:

When I talked about continuing to burn out at the start of my coaching journey, looking back now it was such a good lesson for me, but I realized that so much of my burnout was not being in alignment and not necessarily on the right path, but trying to force that. And I think when we are not necessarily on the right track, we can overwork ourselves to make things work and to try to force things. And so that's what my coaching practice looks like today, and it's really amazing to be able to take all that I've learned over seven years about wellness and, you know, business and mindfulness and all of these things and like, really incorporate those, those elements into a business coaching program.

Rob:

Yeah, I like how you mentioned there about uh, about how, like, not living in alignment can suck a lot of energy and be very, make things worse or take a lot from you. It's kind of like. It's kind of like living a lie. It's like it's it's. It's just not with alignment and it's like you're going uphill instead. Once you really kind of navigate your understanding who you are and what you, what your values are, all those things, then it kind of navigate your understanding who you are and what you, what your values are, all those things, and it kind of feels like you're rolling downhill and that can be such a relief.

Rob:

So I'm glad that you, you found your your avenue and you, kind of, are selling into that uh can you please dive into this? Uh, four percent formula, though I'm dying to hear about it.

Dominiece:

I'm trying to keep. I'm trying to keep the suspense going.

Dominiece:

I'm just kidding okay so to you that the I would say catalyst for me getting on the journey that I'm on now was this 90-day challenge. And when I started that challenge I was such an inconsistent person I say that I was like the queen of inconsistency. Whenever I started, it was a guarantee that nine times out of 10, I was not getting done with it. Best of intentions, but I just didn't have like positive, you know daily habits and routines and so I just struggled with sticking through with things. So that was true when I got started with this challenge. Originally the goal was every day, 90 days, focus on mind, body, spirit, man. The first, like three weeks to a month, was like doing one thing, you know, maybe doing two, but I was really having a hard time with like hitting those targets and I struggled to, like you know, get myself to move my body every day and all that stuff. But I kept doing it Like I just kept saying, okay, why, you know, missed the mark a little bit today, but I'm going to keep showing up. And then finally, after about a month, something shifted and I started to feel the benefits of the work that I was putting in. It was like that first month I didn't really like notice much of a change, but I was doing these like intentional practices, these intentional like routines and habits, every single day, and I started to feel the benefits. And so mind, body, spirit what that looks like is every day for 15 minutes, I nourished my mind, and what I mean by that is I was very intentional about feeding myself inspirational and instructional content, so I would listen to podcasts like this or find videos on YouTube or listen to, you know, audible books about self-development, and I did that for at least 15 minutes every single day. Another 15 minutes was spent cultivating the relationship with myself, and this is where, like, the spiritual piece comes in, like really reconnecting with your soul and like getting guidance on what you are intended to do. And so that was meditation. That was maybe going out for a walk in nature, like anything that allowed journaling, anything that allowed for just stillness and you know me to hear clearly from my intuition and I did that for 15 minutes. And then the last 30 minutes was physical movement every single day. So you know this was COVID, so no gyms were open, so I was going out walking with my kids, maybe doing home workouts, yoga, like any sort of thing that feels good. It doesn't have to just be working out. So that adds up to one hour a day. I've been doing this practice for the last four and a half years.

Dominiece:

When I started getting called to step back into coaching, I felt spirit leading me to also start sharing this practice out. It's transformed my life in so many ways and I was like, man, how do I share this in an easy to understand way that people feel like they can actually do this thing? And I started doing the math and I was like all right, so what is one hour out of 24 hours? And when I did the math, it was 4%. And so I'm like surely most of us can find 4% to devote to ourselves every single day. When you think about a 24 hour period like, it literally sounds like such a small amount. It's 4%. So I'm asking you every single day to give yourself 4% of your day with this, this daily mind, body, spirit practice. The last thing I'll say here is that this doesn't have to be one consecutive hour, so recognizing that we're all really busy humans.

Dominiece:

I'm a mom, I am a you know serial entrepreneur, I have a podcast myself. I'm. This can be broken up into smaller chunks. So in the morning I wake up, I do my morning routine. That's 15 minutes of the spiritual practice. Usually, because I like working out early in the day, I'll do movement early in the day, but sometimes, like today, I miss it. So when we're done with this podcast, I'm going for a walk around my neighborhood. I was listening to, you know, a podcast in my car today, as opposed to listening to music, and so you can be very creative about how you get that time in.

Dominiece:

I always empower my clients with, like, if you're loading the dishwasher, you can be listening to a podcast.

Dominiece:

If you're in the shower, you could be playing something, if you're getting dressed in the morning, and so oftentimes again, we might hear one hour and immediately go, oh, I can't do that thing. But it's like, no, you can find 15 minutes in your day, you can find like a half hour to do some stretching, and so this is the premise of the 4% formula it's being very intentional every day about really pouring into all the parts of ourselves, because we are more than just our physical bodies. Like, we have the mental body, the spiritual body, and sometimes we do really well with one part of those cells. So you might meet that person that's like really physically fit, but then they're spiritually void right. Or you might meet that person that does the emotional piece, but then they don't necessarily take care of themselves physically, and so this is really bringing all the parts of ourselves together and there's this really magic, or this cohesion that happens when you start to prioritize all of those parts of yourself consistently.

Rob:

Wow, yeah, I love that. The intentionality is huge. And I w I was in a similar spot as you when you were sharing earlier, where I was in a point where I was just consuming so much. I was different coaching courses, I was in different books, podcasts, everything 24, seven. I'm just absorbed, absorbed, absorbed, absorbed. And then I was like, why is my business not growing? I'm like doing all this and that and, and then it like dawned on me that I'm not. I'm just absorbing all this stuff. I need to be more like, take more action. I need to be intentional with what I'm actually listening to, because I would listen to a book and then I'd almost forget everything that I just listened to because it was on autopilot and I wasn't dedicating time to paying attention.

Rob:

So now, when I am listening or if I'm going to an event or something like that, I have that intentionality behind it. So like, hey, if I'm going to listen to this book, I gotta, I gotta take something from it. I don't want to just listen to it. Otherwise then I'm just entertaining myself with what I'm disguising it as as like entertainment or professional development.

Dominiece:

Yeah, I think a lot of um entrepreneurs. But just well, I think you know, as entrepreneurs we're very driven people. I think a lot of people get stuck in that information consumption space and I was there also for many years, especially as a new entrepreneur. I think the challenge is that we can like trick ourselves almost into thinking that we are like moving the needle because we're like consuming information every day and so it's like, oh, I'm doing all of these things for my business, like I'm learning all of this stuff, you know, I'm investing in all these things and, just like you said, it's like, yeah, you're soaking up a ton of information, but then at some point your mind becomes like in a full sponge where it's like I literally can't take anything else. Like you got to just like take action.

Dominiece:

The 4% formula has actually helped me with that like space of inaction because consistently doing that I started to see my patterns, like that daily mindset. Practice started making me realize where I was like self-sabotaging or just getting stuck in perfectionism or fear often is like how it would show up for me. So I would like want to do something for my business, but then like fear would get in the way and I would, like you know, come up with some excuse as to why I couldn't do it. But this daily practice over time of really like pouring into my mindset started to make me self-aware, and so I started to become more mindful of like, where my thoughts, my beliefs, my patterns, like my outdated paradigms, were holding me back. And so when I talk about some of the benefits, it's like there's obviously physical benefits of moving your body every day, like physical movement is the number one or the most efficient stress reliever, and so there's that benefit. For anyone who's listening, who's like dealing with stress a lot, just moving your body consistently is going to help with mitigating that stress. But there's, like these other benefits that you don't see.

Dominiece:

Like I said, the mental clarity, the. When you do something consistently, you start to build this new habit. And so for me, someone who used to be super inconsistent, I built this habit in my personal life and then I was able to translate that into my business. And so when I was a new entrepreneur, I sucked at everything. I couldn't do anything consistently, whether it was client outreach or trying to get new clients on social media. I would do things for a couple of months and then, when it didn't work, I would quit, and it's like now I have the muscle of like daily repetition for four and a half years, and so it's like, if I can do this thing over here, I can take those same habits and translate them here in a way that makes sense for my business, and so it just helps you to be more consistent in all the parts of your life and it again helps to illuminate, like sometimes the behaviors that we have that are holding us back as opposed to helping us to move forward.

Rob:

I got to ask you a question, though, because you're talking a lot about consistency and with like routines and morning practices and stuff. I was in a spot where I was like I had the like a laundry list of like a morning routine, like I'd wake up.

Dominiece:

I'd practice my spanish.

Rob:

I would do my gratitude, I would do my goal setting, I would do this, do that. Then I'd work out and then I'd have this and that and uh, and it was great for a while and I thought I was doing awesome. It was like almost like a two-hour kind of thing then. Then if I had to travel or something popped up or something it would throw off my entire day.

Rob:

And it wasn't until a mentor of mine was like dude, it's good to have these routines, but you can't be a slave to your routines. You got to be able to move, you got to be able to be fluid with it. How do you, how do you teach or how do you help people who are kind of like how? I was like stuck in that spot where like, hey, if I don't don't get this done, it's all or nothing, because if I didn't get something done, then I'd crash and it'd be like a week or two before I get back into it.

Dominiece:

Oh, I love this question. I literally had a client like earlier this week, maybe Monday or Tuesday, who we check in and have like a daily accountability system, and she hadn't like checked in for a couple of days. And I'm like, like you know the first. She's a mom, she has three kids, she has a business, and so it's like I noticed it. But I kind of was just like we'll see. And after a few days I was like hey, what's going on? Like I haven't seen your daily movement, like you know what's going on. And she was like well, I haven't been able to make it to the gym. Then I can't do the things and I'm like, oh, you're thinking about this all wrong.

Dominiece:

So when it comes to a lifestyle, it should work for your life, right, and so it's nice to have, I would say, an outline or a structure about what you want to achieve. But then you also have to allow yourself to be flexible, because life doesn't look the same every day. So, as a mom, on the days where I do have my children, my morning routine is shorter, because I know that I got to start getting my girls ready. So I still make time to do something for myself every single day, but some days it just might be a 15 or 20 minute meditation and that's it, Whereas when I don't have my kids, I have more time so I can do my meditation. I can read, you know, affirmations journal, and you just have to get into a space where you allow yourself to ebb and flow journal, and you just have to get into a space where you allow yourself to ebb and flow. So, going back to this client, that's exactly what she said. It was like this all or nothing approach where she felt if she couldn't get to the gym first thing in the morning like if her kids woke up early or something, then it was just like we'll throw everything out because I haven't been able to do this thing. And I'm like man, if all you have is 10 or 15 minutes and you just get out and walk around the parking lot of your photography studio, that still counts, that is still movement.

Dominiece:

And so I think for a lot of us, especially in our society where folks are so driven, we have to unlearn this all or nothing mentality and realize that, yeah, you can set a goal or have a mark for what you're trying to achieve, but you also have to be realistic about your lifestyle, and if there is a day where maybe you wanted to do something let's just say a 30 minute movement practice and all you were able to do was get out for 10 minutes, like that still counts.

Dominiece:

It's about the consistency and the repetition and keeping your word to yourself which helps you to build confidence, because if you miss that thing too much, then you start to kind of feel down on yourself.

Dominiece:

Like you said, two weeks goes by and you're kind of stuck in this story and even if you're like well, all I got to do today and I don't even want you to think about is all I got to do, like today I did right, 10 minutes of stretching or 10 minutes of going for a walk, like that still counts as a part of your daily practice.

Dominiece:

And so it's definitely an unlearning, especially for it sounds like we're similar in like being high achievers. It's an unlearning of, you know, especially like growing up as kids, like kind of being taught that again this all or nothing kind of you know, perfectionist mentality. But in thinking about your lifestyle, every day doesn't look the same at all, and so every day you can't have the expectation that your workout routine or your business routine or whatever routine that you're trying to put together, is going to always stay the same, because life changes every day, and so I think, to answer the question, you just have to allow yourself to be a little bit more flexible and focus on the consistency of whatever practice you are trying to do versus the duration of the practice.

Rob:

Hmm, I got to ask you another question on that because, um, because the consistency, I totally believe it's so strong too. But I got to ask what's your take or feeling on deadlines with certain things? Because, say, I want to do something like, let's just say, social media, for example, and I'm like, okay, I'm going to post one picture per day and I do it, for, like, I just keep going, I keep going, and then maybe I'm not seeing the results that I want. To when do I know? Like, hey, maybe I should change this habit or change this routine, or maybe it's time to evolve it or make it harder or better or something. What are some of your guidelines for that?

Dominiece:

That's a great question and I feel like that was my experience as a new entrepreneur, where I was like pushing these routines and things that my business coaches were telling me and then they weren't working. But it was just like, well, they told me this, so I'm going to keep doing it. I think, in regards to what you're asking, you got to kind of go with what feels in alignment. So, to use myself as an example, I wasn't necessarily as in tuned as an early stage entrepreneur with myself and so I was just like, well, external, like you know, my coach told me to do this thing. So I'm going to do this thing, but every time I'm not a big today in my business. I'm not big on social media marketing because it actually drains energy from me, but back then I kept forcing myself to do it because everyone is telling me to do the DM strategies and to try to, you know, reach out to 100 people a day and all these crazy things. So I was doing it, but the energy behind it wasn't necessarily the right energy, which is a huge part of things Like if you are forcing yourself to do something every day just to check the box and say you did it. It's like is that the best intention, right? Like, are you approaching this thing with the right energy and intention? That makes a difference when you think about it. Like everything is energy, and so, yeah, I was showing up and checking the box off every day and saying, okay, did my DMs. But it's like if I'm cringing inside the entire time, I'm doing it like surely the person that's on the receiving end of this like whether they can name it or not is like feeling some of that.

Dominiece:

So I think in that case, you really have to. You can't listen to when it comes to coaches. We are just guides, right? Like? You have to decide what works best for you. No one is going to have all of the answers for your life, and if something doesn't feel in alignment, you don't keep forcing yourself to do it. You got to pause and think, okay, this doesn't feel good, what other strategies, techniques can I do? And hopefully you have a coach that's open to helping you to figure out a new way, and if not, maybe that's you, you know, trying to find a new way for yourself. But there's more than one way to get to any goal that we're trying to set, and so I do think it's important to like give something a good shot. But if you give it a shot for months and months, and months and it's not working, then it's like maybe it's time to pivot. So pay attention to how that thing is feeling for you.

Rob:

Yeah, yeah, I love that because you got to pay attention. I always say, pay attention to what works for you, and you can. You can only go for so long until you start doing doing worse for yourself and trying to build better. But yeah, so I love that a lot. Um, but I I do want to be courteous of our time and, uh, I know we covered a bunch and I feel like I still want to dive into so much so we'll have to hopefully have you back on the show into the future.

Rob:

But if people are interested in following, finding out more information about what you've got going on and different practices on how to introduce the 4% formula into their lives, where do they go to, kind of, find you and are you taking on new clients? If anybody's interested, how do they get in touch with you?

Dominiece:

Yeah, so my website. I'm taking new clients, always open to helping and supporting other people. My website is dom D-O-M-R. Cliftoncom and you can go there and get in contact with me, learn more about my coaching services and what I offer.

Dominiece:

If anyone who's listening today is like, hmm, I'm curious about this 4% formula and maybe wants to give it a try, what I didn't mention is that I although I kind of jumped all in with this thing like that's typically how I am I get an idea for something and I just like go into it, but I don't actually teach it that way, because for most people that is not sustainable, like just suddenly shocking your nervous system or your schedule with this new thing. So when I teach my clients this and incorporate this into their lives, we build. And so we start with the first week just doing the 15 minutes of mindset, and then the second week we add in 15 minutes of the spiritual practice, and then the third week we add in the physical movement, and so over three weeks you're, like you know, adding this thing into your life. Because what I've learned about the mind is that when you like stretch yourself out of your comfort zone too fast, too soon, your subconscious mind is going to resist that, and so you'll have resistance. But if you like, ease your way into it. Your subconscious mind kind of stretches like over time and it's not as drastic of a change and so you won't be up against that resistance. So I share all that to say that if anyone is listening who wants to dive into this one again, it's not an all or nothing approach, like start small and build the habit.

Dominiece:

But you can go to 4percentformulacom and there's actually a 30 day challenge where you can practice this. Practice over 30 days and just see how you feel. Right, like I am all about how things feel. So if you do this and it feels good, then you can keep going with it. But if you do it and you're like, oh, it's not for me, then that's fine. Like take what you need. Maybe a part of it felt good to you. But I also have like a daily accountability sheet that I offer, which is really helpful, because visual cues are like a very great way of reminding yourself to do something and then, when you get into the consistency of checking this thing off, it's like a small reward for your body and so you want to keep doing it and so again you can go to 4percentformulacom and get that download and challenge yourself for the next 30 days.

Rob:

Now is that the number four.

Dominiece:

Thank you for asking me F-O-U-R. Yeah, f-o-u-r percent, spelled out P-E-R-C-E-N-T and then formula. Thanks for that.

Rob:

Awesome? Yeah, of course no, I was just curious. I want to make sure that everyone gets it clear and again, thank you so much. I know it's been a busy week. It's crazy stuff all the time, all over the place, so it's hard to kind of carve out a little bit of time to hop on and share your insights and experiences. So I really appreciate it. Thank you, shared today and everything you've known and you share with your clients and friends. If you were to boil it down into one piece of advice that you could share with these younger entrepreneurs, these side hustlers out here, that would help them not only survive the side hustle but thrive it and move on to bigger and better things, what would be that number one piece of advice?

Dominiece:

That's a good question. I think the biggest thing that comes to me as I think about this question is oftentimes we are thinking about, like, how do we build a sustainable business? But I am such an advocate of you cannot build a sustainable business without sustaining yourself as an entrepreneur, right, like, without sustaining yourself, sustaining yourself. And so in the midst of trying to reach a goal and build a business and hit all the milestones that we set for ourselves, you also have to make sure that you're prioritizing yourself in the process, because I didn't know that going in, no coaches were telling me to focus on myself. They were just like, just do these strategies, and I was doing all the things and I kept burning out, and once you get to a space where you continue to burn out, eventually a a lot of people quit.

Dominiece:

Like this, this isn't working. You know what I mean. And so it's a long game. Like we live in a day and age where everything kind of appears to be microwave and you know it looks like things happen fast, but entrepreneurship is a long game and in order for you to sustain yourself for the long haul, you have to be prioritizing yourself consistently. And so, regardless of whether you do the 4% formula or you find something else that works for you. Even if it's just 10 minutes a day, make sure that you are doing something for yourself, because it makes such a difference in having the capacity to show up, to be the entrepreneur that you need to be for your business.

Rob:

Boom Damn. I love it. That was perfect. It lines perfectly with what I'm doing with all my clients. You're awesome. I love connecting with you this was a great time.

Dominiece:

Thank you so much for coming on, thanks for having me Rob, Awesome.

Rob:

All right guys, We'll talk later. Peace, peace, peace.