The Social Media Takeaway - Louise McDonnell

Reprogramming Our Subconscious for Business Success

• Louise McDonnell • Season 1 • Episode 13

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In this episode of the Social Media Takeaway, Alina Nikishina and I dive into detail of personal and professional transformation. We discuss the barriers to success and how to overcome them through conscious action and self-awareness.

Alina Nikishina, a transformational coach and mentor for service-based entrepreneurs, shares her personal journey from her early life in Russia to becoming a certified public accountant in the United States, and finally to her transformation into a coaching role. Alina explains the principles of core transformation and hypnosis as tools for addressing subconscious self-sabotage patterns, enabling individuals to align their actions with their deepest desires. The conversation covers how subconscious beliefs formed in childhood can impact adult behavior and decisions. Alina also offers insights into recognizing and transforming self-sabotaging behaviors through subconscious work, ultimately leading to greater personal and professional fulfillment.

If you need further help reprogramming your subconscious for business success, head over to Alina and get 20% OFF your first session and mention this podcast when you reach out!

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Louise McDonnell:

welcome to the Social Media Takeaway. I'm your host Louise McDonnell and today I'm joined by Alina Nikishina, a transformational coach and mentor for service based entrepreneurs. And she helps people break the self-sabotage patterns that holds them back from the success and impact they desire in their businesses. So you're very welcome to the show, Alina.

Alina Nikishima:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to chat with you and your audience.

Louise McDonnell:

Oh, thank you. So maybe you want to start and tell us a little bit about your journey. So how did you come to be a transformational coach and mentor?

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah. So I'm going to start my journey by saying I was born in Russia and we won't talk too much about that, but It's really only important because those were my formative years. And as we'll kind of get into about the subconscious, you know, our subconscious really forms with these beliefs and ideas of who we are when in our formative years between, you know, ages zero, seven, eight, depending on who you ask, right? So that's where I was born. And I lived there till I was nine and then moved to the States with my parents and really pursued kind of a traditional life path. You know, I was from the Russian kind of upbringing, I was a really good student. I really valued safety, you know, predictability, independence. My parents were like, you need to go to college. I went to go get my accounting business degree, got my master's, and then got my certified public accountant license, and I started working as an accountant. I thought I will always have a job. This is safe. And you know, I was good at these things and it all worked out. So I did that for about a decade. I worked with various sizes of businesses and individuals of various worth doing taxes, bookkeeping, this kind of stuff. And then, 2018, everything kind of changed. I went on vacation and I came back from vacation and it turned out that the firm I was working for was sold to or it was going to be sold to a new person. And at that time I had decided to leave the firm and actually started a brand new business, a startup with some people. And we were building educational materials for entrepreneurs online, and we were going to connect them with accountants. So that we can we can foster more advisory in the accounting profession. That was the goal because I think that's where the profession is headed. So I learned a lot of new skills. you know, at the firm I was working for before I was already kind of gaining new skills of not just being an accountant. I wasn't just doing taxes and books. I was actually like, you know, helping develop the team and You know, going out and networking, having sales conversations with clients, marketing, like doing CFO work. So I was already kind of expanding my skillset and then the startup just completely. You know, it was like, Oh my God, I have a creative side and I'm able to do design work and I'm able to write and record my voice. And yeah, because we pretty much came up with a comprehensive educational system for entrepreneurs. So it took me 18 months to create it. So I learned a lot. And at the end of this, I decided to actually go off on my own, kind of had that like, okay, well had that journey. Do I go back to accounting? Do I start something else? And I had already kind of gotten my toe dipped in this world of online business. I'm like, Oh, this exists. And my people are. You know, doing coaching stuff and helping people with businesses. I'm like, well, maybe this is something I could try. And I started by being more of a business coach, right. And I was sharing more of my like skills that I've developed from being an accountant and doing all these things. Right. And then I enrolled in life coach school. A lot happened that year. There was like, it was 2020. I mean, it was COVID. I, I left the partnership that had been going on for the last two years. I enrolled in life coach school. I got married my mom passed away, like, there was, there was a lot of stuff that happened, so, oh, and then I moved to Pacific Northwest, like, five months later, because we just, we, we got married on the coast here in Oregon, and we were like, we're just gonna move.

Louise McDonnell:

Massive change, oh, people, wow.

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah, a lot of change, career change, all the things, all the changes, and, You know, when I went out on my own, it was interesting, right? Cause when I was in the partnership, maybe it kind of still felt like I had a role. They were like, no, we know what we're doing. We're going to build this program and you are going to help make it happen. So like, I knew what I was doing. I had a task every day, right? Like, so in a way I was still kind of living from that employee mindset. Right. Even though I was technically, like, not an employee anymore. And, when I went out on my own, I'm like, oh, so now I don't have a team, right, to kind of debrief the day with, it's just me. And there was a lot that started to come up. So I would say that like the subconscious work I got really involved in when I'm like, Oh my God, I need help transitioning from the way that I was being before the identity that I've developed as this like person that prioritized safety and predictability. and good education and being a good employee. I, I need help. And you know, I started getting into a lot of self help as a coach, of course, And I was doing a lot of this like cognitive based coaching. And what I mean by that is like, somebody would say, okay, well, how are you feeling right now? And I would say, well, I don't, I don't think I'm, I don't feel good enough to talk about this. Like, I don't, I don't feel good enough to pitch myself to this podcast or something like that. Right. And they would say, Was that true? Are you not good enough? And I would say, well, no, I mean, I, I do have all this experience and I do have, and they're like, yeah, see, write it down. And then you can kind of look at it and go, yeah, I am good enough. And just remind yourself of that every day, maybe like start repeating an affirmation that you are enough. And I'm like, okay, that makes total sense. My logical brain likes this. I'm going to start doing this. And of course I got involved in activities like. Journaling, you know, every day of dumping my thoughts, these kinds of things. I really wanted to understand my problems, right? Which I later found out actually kept me stuck, but didn't know that at the time. Did that for a long time. And I think a lot of people do this because this is like stuff that is easy to grab, right? Like someone's like, just journal. Cool. I can do that. I could pick up a notebook and start writing. Just do an affirmation. Okay. I know what I'm doing. But really changes within. Of course I saw some change. I'm not saying it doesn't work at all, but like the changes that I saw that were profound, Like one day I just woke up and was like, no, I, I, I am worthy. Like I am enough to go and pitch myself and it naturally felt that way. And I'm like, what is going on? And it was because I was using these methods that were actually working with the subconscious mind. So I started with hypnosis and now I do something called core transformation, which we'll get into. But like, that's really what, you know, prodded me to go into this. And now, I mean, I see it as. helpful in so many different ways, like I see it as a vehicle for my soul and spiritual growth as a way for me to help the collective heal. I mean, there's a much greater purpose to this, not just like, oh, I want to, you know, change my limiting beliefs, which is nice too, but.

Louise McDonnell:

I just want to ask you, Like the subconscious, we talk about it all the time, you know, and even to refer back to how you started your story. So, you know, I was born in Russia and I lived there to what you were nine. And so, so, so tell us what is the subconscious and how do you believe that, you know, the first nine years of your life affected your subconscious?

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah, so the easiest way I could describe it, I'm not a neuroscientist, of course, however, the conscious mind is everything that we are consciously aware of, right? So, I'm consciously aware that I'm talking to you right now, right? We can really only consciously, hold about, you know, seven plus or minus a couple things in our conscious mind at all times, right? But we have billions of bits of information around us, right? Like there's stuff happening that I just I cannot possibly be aware of. Like, for example, stuff from the outside, right? Like there's noises. There's all this stuff in my room. There's, you know, my husband upstairs doing something. My, my conscious mind cannot possibly process all of that right now and be aware of it. So, but my subconscious mind is aware of it, and it's processing it, so it's kind of like, you know, in a way a filter too it's also helping me do things like beat my heart and make my lungs work, right? That's all done by the subconscious mind. All of these processes are naturally happening inside my mind that I'm not like, okay, heart, go ahead and beat, right? I'm not making that happen. That is an automatic process, so it's everything really we're not aware of, we're not consciously aware of, and, you know, you might have heard some statistics that we're really only using five, you know, three to five percent of our actual mind brain consciously, and the rest is unconscious, meaning it's happening automatically outside your awareness. And that's, you know, that's really where like everything is stored. So All of our cultural beliefs, our societal beliefs, right, who we are habits, right? Our, our brains are pattern making machines, so we don't like to work very hard, right? Like imagine if you had to relearn how to walk every day or, Relearn how to brush your teeth or how to speak. Right? That would be really challenging. So the more that we repeat something, the, the way we form habits and these habits basically reside in our subconscious and we can just kind of access them.

Louise McDonnell:

So the messages then as a child that we are, exposed to, they're going to form a lot, I suppose of the way we think, the way our outlook I remember I was speaking at a conference once in, in Bulgaria and I was asked to go speak to these children, there was there were girls and they had been picked out as being really bright and they were on a particular program to help them to become coders and programmers. And they asked me to go speak to them because I was a female entrepreneur. And I, and I couldn't understand at the time, I was like, I wonder why, why I have to do this. But I didn't mind, I went and I spoke to them. And it's only when I spoke to them that I realized that all they wanted to do. Yes, they were in this program, but really all they anticipated they were going to do was get married and have children and they wouldn't work. And I was like, but what? You know, and I came away and I was like, Oh my God, okay, I could just see how totally different outlook that they had. And that's what the conference was trying to do is trying to change, you know, the outlook to kind of create this. It is possible. You can be creative. You can do other things. So very interesting. So that, that's what our subconscious is. So obviously, Part of what you do is you help people as you said to, to break the sabotage patterns that holds them back. How would somebody recognize if it was their subconscious that was actually holding them back?

Alina Nikishima:

Hmm. It just more than likely is if something is happening automatically, right? Like let's, let's talk about some of these sabotage patterns that I mean, right? Like, What is, what is one that you might think of when it comes to marketing, let's just say.

Louise McDonnell:

Oh my goodness. A sabotage pattern for somebody. I would say if somebody is, is going to launch something, let's say it's a coach or a consultant. It's generally one of the biggest mistakes, okay, or if they're setting themselves up for failure, is that if they don't give themselves enough time, that they decide they're doing it and they're doing it in, so I'll get, I can get a panic call from somebody saying I'm launching next week. Can you help me? And you're like, no, it's too late, you know, if you're coming to me now. I don't know, is that a sabotage pattern that they, that they want to succeed, but that they don't set themselves up for success. They don't give it the time or they don't even get the help that they need. You know, I think half the time, even to recognize this is what I'm doing in my business. These are the parts that I'm not really good at and I need somebody to, to do those bits for me.

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah, I would say that's a sabotage pattern in one way, right? I mean, it's not like they decided two months ago. Okay, what I'm going to do is I'm going to wait till the very last minute, and then I'm gonna call Panicking, so that I can be in stress. I'm gonna plan to be in stress because I like that, and then I'm gonna fail in my launch, and that's gonna be great. I don't know that anyone really does it like that, but I think they probably have really best intentions to be successful and something comes up, right? and sometimes we make good excuses for those things, right? It's like, Oh, well, I couldn't have because my friend needed my help. And I, I spent a week helping my friends. So I just couldn't, I didn't have time. Yeah, life happens. Sometimes that happens. And generally it doesn't happen all the time. And if it is, then also considering like, what are we committed to, first of all, right? And then, second of all what are the many events that are happening that are kind of preventing that action, right? maybe we're sitting there, and we're feeling kind of tired. Right. Maybe it's 3 p. m. or something like that afternoon. And you're thinking to yourself like, okay, I have the next two hours to myself. I could really work on my plan and get this rolling, my marketing plan. Right. And then you're like, you know what? No, I'm just going to watch TV or eat a snack. And then before you know it, the phone comes out and then you're stuck in a doom scroll for two hours. Then you're like, well, the time has run out. Right. So Yes, it was a conscious decision, I guess you could say, you consciously made that choice, and it was an automatic process that kicked off that said, no, you, relax. Right.

Louise McDonnell:

Procrastination.

Alina Nikishima:

Right. Yeah, it happened automatically. It's the best way I can say.

Louise McDonnell:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I would think about people who come to me who always seem to be getting ready to launch something, but they never actually do. So something always gets in the way.

Alina Nikishima:

Yes, yes. Whether it's some kind of self talk, right? Like, Oh, I can't do that because when I do that,

Louise McDonnell:

I'm too busy.

Alina Nikishima:

I'm too busy. Or I'd rather do this or they start on something else and before they know it, it's unfortunately five hours later and they don't know where the time went. So when, when things like that start happening, you gotta be like, Hmm, what, what is actually happening here? Right.

Louise McDonnell:

is my subconscious getting in the way?

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah, or rather, you know, are the programs in my subconscious getting in the way? Because really our subconscious is not our enemy. I mean, I like being alive. I like my heart beating and my lungs expanding. And it's really helpful. And I love not having to relearn how to brush my teeth every day. So I think it's just a matter of like, how do we recognize what programs may be running in the background that we're not even aware of? And how can we begin to create new programs and new habits because in the same way that we formed the old ones, we can form the new ones,

Louise McDonnell:

so that's where core transformation comes in.

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah, core transformation, hypnosis, these kinds of things. Core transformation is my current favorite.

Louise McDonnell:

Tell us a little bit more about that.

Alina Nikishima:

So this is a gentle process that allows us to work with different patterns of behavior, thinking and feeling that we don't like, and we can transform these things. So it works on the subconscious level, and it involves working with different aspects of ourselves, the different parts of ourselves. You know, a lot of people even use this in their language, they might say like, a part of me wants to build my successful business, a part of me wants to launch, and another part of me is afraid, or another part of me apparently wants to procrastinate, you know? And so it becomes easier to kind of separate these things, right? That it's not all of you that's creating self sabotage or whatever, it's only a part of you. Because there's also a part of you that wants amazing things for yourself, right? And so what we can do in this method is we pick a part to work with. And by the way, any behavior, feeling or thought is technically a part. And there could be many parts that have a similar behavior and things, things like that. So it's not like you work with one and it's done. But sometimes it is. And we basically start working with this part as if like, you know, there's a little character or energy or something that's either living inside or kind of somewhere out outside your body and then we just ask it questions and you know you've gotten to experience it so you kind of know right we just ask the part you know we thank the part for being there because we know it actually has a positive purpose that's something that I want to talk about the positive purpose is like we have these behaviors that we don't maybe see as positive right we're like ah I don't want to sabotage my success. You know, that's annoying. Like, why do I keep doing that? Right? So we might not like these aspects of ourselves that like, I don't know, get lazy sometimes or like just want to rest when another part of us wants to keep going, right? Or like maybe the part of us that gets upset or stressed or angry, like most people don't like to be in these states. And so however, these, these parts. They always have a positive purpose that's deeper, that we don't maybe see, right? And that's subconscious to us, right? So that is why working with a subconscious method like core transformation can help us kind of unearth these deeper positive purposes of these parts. So when we ask the part, what do you want? It might say something like, I don't know. Let's say we're working with the part that wants to procrastinate when it comes to launch, right? So we ask the part, what do you want? It might say something like to be safe. It's like, okay, well, that's already kind of positive, right? I mean, thank you for keeping me safe from whatever perceived fear you might have out there. maybe you're want to be safe from judgment or safe from criticism or failure or something like that, right? And then when we learn what it wants that's positive or whatever, when we learn what it wants, we invite it to have, already have what it wants. So in your imagination, step into what it's like to already have this, so that the part can actually experience having it. And then we kind of ask, what do you want that's deeper than this, once you already have it? And generally, as we go deeper and deeper, the, the responses start getting a lot more positive. And at the very core of what each part wants, per this core transformation work, of course, is what's called the core state of being. And this core state of being is something that you can have regardless of your circumstances in your life. it's a state that just is. So you know, people have different names for these states, but some of the common ones are like wholeness or peace or oneness or love, but not love that like you receive or give. It's just like love that is so this may sound kind of spiritual or whatever, but it's also just anyone with a nervous system can experience these these states and You know, depending on how you process information, I'm, I'm not a super. visual person, meaning when I close my eyes, I'm not like, Oh my God, the swirly colors and the little horse with the bow tie. I don't, I don't see those kinds of things. I'm more of a, I'm more of a feeling person. So I generally just feel like it's a deep meditative state that I can get to fairly quickly. And it just feels extremely peaceful profoundly peaceful, And for some people, like, they start, like, like, they actually see yeah, just colors, energy moving, like, just really cool imagery. So

Louise McDonnell:

Brilliant. So I suppose it's, it's a route towards happiness and contentment and, and then, as you said, to reprogram your subconscious to help you as you said, to get to the success that you desire. For anyone listening in the business owners, let's say they wanted to use core transformation, this method to use social media more effectively. Could you talk us through how, they might do that?

Alina Nikishima:

Yes. So firstly, I would ask yourself. What prevents me from being even better in my marketing? Right? What prevents me from being really successful in social media? Or even more successful if you already are successful, right? Like what inner quality might I develop or transform what aspect of ourself could I, could I work with to help me be more successful, right? So I know that from experience and from clients and stuff like that some common ones may be like lack of consistency, right? I do really well for a week and then I drop off for a month and that's not, that's not fantastic. So the part of me that doesn't like to stay consistent or like maybe even noticing like what happens, the week goes and then, and then something happens. Like you say, Oh, no one's going to listen to me. you know, no one wants to hear this. So you have this little inner voice that's like, why are you even posting? No one's listening. That's a, that's a part of you that you could work with. Right. So it's like noticing where those behaviors pop up that then lead and spread out to your actions. Right. Cause usually, usually it's a thought or a feeling that leads to the action. So of course you could work with the action, but you could also work with the thought or feeling that's. basically generating the action.

Louise McDonnell:

Very good.

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah.

Louise McDonnell:

I must tell everyone, so I've actually gone through a session with Alina just so that I'd, I would have had the experience. So I suppose what I can tell you is that like I found that what was really beneficial about it was You know, we're talking here and if you're, if you're listening, you're listening, but you have to nearly go through the whole experience too, because it's, it's that time out, it's that, and you're leading the conversation. It's, it's that time where you actually really get to, to think and reflect and, You know, and a time, I suppose for me, it's just a time just to slow down and to, to recognize these things and they can have a huge impact. So can you tell us about some of the success stories that, that your clients have achieved by using this method?

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah, yeah. gosh, I've worked with a broad range of clients. So some of them were more entrepreneurial, right? Like I would say folks who maybe had a lack of clarity on direction. It's also a really good method for that. So like, I don't know whether to do this or to do that, right? Because there's a part of you that wants to do both or one or the other, right? So I've, I've been successful with helping people with get more clarity. There's also been folks who have had kind of like a creative dry spell, right? Or creative blocks. And we can help you know, unleash more creativity. Let's see. I have a client who they're kind of a superstar. They've been working with me for a while and they've been able to like ask for multiple raises at work and have gotten them both like in the last year. They're now doing a lot better with being on time, whereas before they were late for like, you know, 20 minutes to everything. Now they're, I mean, pretty much on time which is very cool to see. And just. Honestly, like seeing people when they do this work over time, come into their true nature, like just be more of themselves, right? So that they're not so weighed down by all of these things that we picked up when we were children, when we were in our, I mean, doesn't matter, even beyond our formative years, like these perceived fears that it's not safe somehow, or that you're going to get hurt. Or, I mean, of course there are dangerous situations that are very good to like be aware of. like, who are we when we're not afraid or when we're not doubting ourselves? Or when we're not putting ourselves down when someone gives us a compliment, or when we're not just stressed all the time because there's so many things to do and accomplish, and we don't have the money we want, or whatever, like, is that who we really are inside, or are we like creatures of connection, and love and being and yeah, I think that's the coolest part. It's just like watching people come alive to who they really are inside and then taking action from that place. Because I feel like life just flows easier when you're able to act from that space and you're not trying to force anything to happen, right? Or going for goals that you don't actually really want but you think will get you something, right? Like once I have that money, then I can feel successful, then I can feel enough and that I've proved myself to the world. And like, you know, that once you get the money, I mean, we hear it time and time again, that you get the money and then you still feel that way in one way or another, you find a different thing, right? Now you're afraid of losing the money. I mean, there's, there's so many different things. So I could tell you many examples of like, Practical, you know, I used to think this way, right? I used to have this thought that I'm not, you know, worthy of having a successful book. And now I don't feel that way. Now I'm like, yeah, I want to write that book. And I'm I am worthy of that success, right? there's a lot of stories like that. And in essence, or in encompassing is like this coming home to you.

Louise McDonnell:

I'm thinking of Maslow hierarchy and the self actualization is what everybody is ultimately seeking, isn't it? Yeah. So tell us, you have a gift for us and you have a special offer. Do you want to tell us about both?

Alina Nikishima:

Yes, so I offer single sessions of Core Transformation for people who want, who are interested and then I, you know, get into packages after that, but I'm happy to offer the listeners 20 percent off their first session if they just mention the podcast when they reach out and I also have a Subconscious Success Sunday newsletter, that I produce every week and I share just little tips on how to work with your subconscious mind, with your body you know, it's, it's geared towards entrepreneurs, but honestly, like anyone could read it and find benefit because we use those tools in everyday life. So,

Louise McDonnell:

and actually I was as part of my research for this show, I was reading down to them. They're lovely. Yeah.

Alina Nikishima:

Thank you.

Louise McDonnell:

I love the quotes at the beginning. It's like, Oh my God. It really made me think. Yeah. It was really, really good. So I, I highly recommend checking that out. So those links will be in the show notes. So for anybody who's tuning in so yeah, so, and how can people find you then Alina?

Alina Nikishima:

Yeah, so, on social media, I'm primarily on Instagram, at heyalinaN, and then my website would be another place, at alinanikishina. com, yeah, those are the two places, feel free to DM me, email me from the website, contact info, all that stuff.

Louise McDonnell:

Brilliant. And the newsletter then is Alina Nikishina at com forward slash newsletter. And that's where you'll pick up the subconscious success on date newsletter. Love it.

Alina Nikishima:

Yes. Correct.

Louise McDonnell:

Thanks very much for coming on and for sharing that. I know it's something that people might not have thought about, but again, like just as you're going through your week, as you're going through your months, your quarter and your year. And if you feel that you're not. Just getting where you want to be in your life. Maybe just ask yourself, do you need to reprogram your subconscious? And if you do, check out Alina.

Alina Nikishima:

Thank you so much for having me.

Louise McDonnell:

You're welcome.