Mindset Tips From a Hypnotherapist: How to Stop Getting In Your Own Way
If you'd asked me a few days ago what hypnotherapy actually involves, I'd have described someone falling asleep on a stage and clucking like a chicken every time someone said a keyword. That's stage hypnosis — pure entertainment, and nothing like the work therapeutic hypnotherapists like Emma Norris of Coaching with Emma actually do.
I sat down with Emma on the podcast this week to talk about mindset, and honestly, I came away with more than I expected. Here are the tips that stuck with me — and that I think every woman running a business needs to hear.
1. Notice the story before you believe it
Emma's big question was this: why do we believe everything we think? Most of us treat our thoughts as facts. "I'm not ready." "I'll get this wrong." "I'm not like other people who make this look easy." Emma's own version of that story was "I'm different" — something she told herself for years after a childhood stroke, long before she ever questioned whether it was true.
This isn't to silence the thought. It's to notice it's a thought, not a fact, and ask where it actually came from before you act on it.
2. You are always in control — even when it doesn't feel like it
One of the biggest myths Emma dispels about hypnotherapy is that you lose control of your mind. You don't. You're aware, you can still make decisions, and you can choose whether to respond. The same is true of the moments in business that feel overwhelming — a big pitch, a launch, a scary conversation. Feeling nervous isn't the same as being out of control. You can feel the nerves and still be the one steering.
3. Build in deliberate quiet, on purpose
Emma uses hypnosis and guided relaxation to switch her brain off at night — the only thing that works for her. You don't need a hypnotherapist for this. A body scan, ten minutes of guided meditation, even sitting in silence with a cup of tea before you open your laptop — the principle is the same. Turning your attention inward, on purpose, for a few minutes a day gives your mind the space to actually process what it's carrying, instead of running on autopilot until it burns out.
4. Every light casts a shadow — and every shadow has a light
This was Emma's own belief, and it's stuck with me since we spoke. Bad weeks in business don't cancel out the good ones — they're often what makes the good ones possible. If you're in a shadow period right now — a launch that flopped, a month where the numbers didn't land, a day where you want to hide under the duvet — that's not proof you're failing. It's the rough that comes with the smooth. Expect it, and don't let it convince you of a story that isn't true.
5. Swap self-criticism for self-compassion
Emma still has doubt. She still has anxious days. The difference isn't that she's "fixed" herself — it's that she meets those feelings with compassion instead of judgement. If you catch yourself spiralling over a mistake, try asking what you'd say to a friend in your position, and say that to yourself instead.
6. Ask "what's the worst that can happen?" — then do it anyway
Emma is an introvert who still gets nervous before every single networking event, even now. Her strategy isn't to wait until the nerves go away — it's to go anyway, and have an exit plan if she needs one (hers is five minutes in the toilet to reset). Whatever the business equivalent of "networking" is for you — publishing the post, sending the pitch, putting the price up — the advice is the same: you don't have to feel ready. You just have to go and see what happens. If it's not for you, you've learned that. That's not failure, that's information.
None of this requires you to believe in hypnotherapy. But if this conversation has piqued your curiosity the way it did mine, Emma's the person to talk to.
About Emma
Emma Norris is a holistic mindset coach and hypnotherapist, and the founder of Coaching with Emma. She works with confidence, belief, and habit change, using hypnotherapy as one tool among many to help people move out of their own way.
🌐 Website: https://coachingwithemma.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachingwithemmauk/
👤 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachingwithemmauk
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