Dealing with Worry
Have you ever had one of those days as a business owner where you got so worried about making enough money that you were ready to give up and get a job? That happened to me recently. And really, I have NO desire to work for someone else, it was just a very challenging day. But the most wonderful thing happened. Sugata (my husband) and I had a call with his business coach (KC Hildreth) and ended up realizing what a great lesson had come my way.
You see one of the things that has most killed my business growth from the beginning was worry. Can you even count the number of times that you started worrying – if your service or product was good enough, if you were ever going to thrive as a business owner, if you were not cut out for this, if you had too many blocks to success, etc.? Well I have had those thoughts in the past myself and they took up an inordinate amount of time and energy! So often when we get into a worry mode, our fear rises and we then spend all our time trying to cope with our feelings rather than moving forward. I’m sure if you’ve been there you’ll know how true this is.
So KC was coaching us on business development and he said when it comes to sales success, a tiny percent of sales people account for the vast majority of sales in any industry. Why? Because those few people have figured out how to deal with worry. They recognize that it is there, and then get back to what they can control… which is to call the next customer or take the next action. Imagine if you only gave worry 1 hour of space in an entire month and the rest of the time you remembered to just move forward and take the next step, having faith that your energy was best spent there.
When he said it, I knew it was true. I swear it is that simple.
PS – and if you are so in worry that you can’t function. Just take the first action needed to calm yourself down – call a friend, cry until you are done, write out your worries and then let them go, take a walk, eat an ice cream cone… you get the picture. (Think how it is like not giving into a 3 year-old’s tantrum). Be loving, but no coddling!
Celebrating You!
It’s my birthday today and I wanted to share this hilarious picture of me at age 4. My birthday has got me thinking about a great book I read recently.
It is called Mutant Message Down Under and it is about this woman who is taken into an aborigine tribe in Australia for months and learns their ways. One of the differences they discover is how they celebrate their lives. She explained the concept of birthday parties and the tribe scratch their heads and say why do you celebrate just getting older when you don’t have to do anything to age? Why not celebrate your own growth?
So they shared that each person in the tribe decides when they have truly grown and have something to celebrate. The whole tribe then stops and prepares a full celebration to honor them.
I thought about this a lot and decided today to mix the two traditions. I sat in meditation this morning to recognize my personal growth since my last birthday and appreciate myself for the work I’ve done.
Sound egoistic at all to you? If it does consider that self-love and appreciation are one of the most powerful gifts we can give ourselves. By cultivating our own loving, we are more able to move offer all we have inside to the world. In my experience, celebrating is also one of the keys to building momentum and experiencing success. The simple willingness to shout WOO HOO when something great happens, is like fuel to the take off of our next stage of growth. In my book, gratitude seems is a key to unlocking more support from the universe. So cheer yourself on and enjoy all you’ve accomplished too!
Contest Winners for the Race to 500!
I’m so happy to report that although I did not win the race to 500 in the time frame that was set (a 2 week sprint), I did end up growing my list more than anyone after all and exceeded my goal because one very helpful friend shared a generous list with me! I’ll be featuring her in my next ezine, because she is a powerhouse and it’s only fair to share.
So I definitely have some contest winners to announce. The following people will be receiving a digital download of my class session on “Taking The Ugh out of Business Plans.”
Here are the winners: Cindy Keifer, Karen Anderson, Cindy Yantis, Diane Johnston, Alex Cary, Donna Ventura, Karen Karsten, Wendy Neuberger, Carrie Heinonen, Kate at ExecAssistLLC, Melissa Graces, Christiane Schull, Eve & Linda
Many thanks to everyone who participated and joined in to help me in my Race to 500!
Working with Distraction & Overwhelm.. How to Get Back On Track!
I’m constantly in discussion with other entrepreneurs and one of the most common things I’m hearing is that despite best intentions, they get sidetracked, distracted, confused or overwhelmed. I’ve been there many times myself too. The key question is how do you stay really focused on your goals and make forward, tangible progress every day?
I think there are 4 keys to this:
- Taking great care of yourself – so that you are not distracted by fatigue, emotional issues, burnout, etc.
- Setting an overall plan in place for your business – so that you have a guiding vision, anchor or pathway laid out
- Establishing daily intentions that support your plan
- Supporting these intentions with powerful action.
So let’s go a little deeper and see how you can use these steps to your advantage.
For self-care I actually guide my clients to establish specific, regular habits that support them and ask them to track their progress. I suggest they pick goals that support them physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally which provides balance and a sustained level of support. They don’t even have to be big… they can be as simple as taking a few minutes to appreciate yourself at the end of the day, taking time to exercise 3 times a week at a set time, spending time in the garden each weekend, listening to an inspiring audio class in the car regularly, and so on. The key is knowing that you are worth having this support and demonstrating it to yourself in action!
In terms of a plan, I cannot emphasize enough how useful it is to put on paper your company’s plan on paper.. write out the WHY - the guiding vision or purpose, the WHO – your target market, the WHAT – your product or service offerings, your USP (unique selling proposition), your specific goals, and the HOW - the specific marketing, operational, financial and personal development plan and the WHEN you are going to do it by – this includes your timeline and project plan details.
Then this fantastic plan needs to be broken down into smaller pieces (in your project plan) so that you can use it as a GUIDE to set your daily intentions. I highly recommend using daily meditation and /or prayer to get quiet to center yourself and get grounded and connected to your HIGHER SELF before launching into your intentions and actions for the day. This work to center yourself first, gives you the advantage of operating from the highest place or vibration you can. You can use it to find your highest priorities, ask for specific assistance, get clarity when confused, and simply to establish your own peace and calm before acting.
Then the last thing is to really be willing to act and take risks in the physical world. Some people are great at this and others are prone to meditate all day. You may benefit from looking at your pattern. The ideal is to create or ACT from a truly powerful place inside and not overdo on one side or the other. When we act without being in balance, our actions are limited and the energy they come out on is not that attractive to others. Others can simply feel where you are coming from… whether it be neediness, joy, frustration, heartfelt service, etc. Choose to ALIGN YOURSELF, tapping into that divine, creative, loving, empowered place inside first and then MOVE FORWARD!
Challenges of an Entrepreneur
Have you ever had one of those days being an entrepreneur when you were so overwhelmed, frustrated or discouraged, you were practically in the fetal position in your home office… or broke your personal pledge to stop drowning your sorrows in chocolate? Well I certainly have. One of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur is that you are the force and energy behind all you do. If you don’t believe in yourself every single day, it is just not going to happen like you dream it to be.
It has become one of my personal truths that the path of entrepreneurship is one of the best self-development programs around. It is relentless in offering me feedback on what I do really well, what I don’t do well, what I need to learn to succeed and much more.
Some of the challenges I’ve faced along the path are:
- learning to have faith in myself day after day
- trusting the universe to provide financial support as I pursue my life purpose
- letting go of the old model of competition I learned in corporate america in exchange for a more cooperative, inclusive, abundant one
- embracing the skill of delegation
- being willing to put on countless hats as a business owner and be a constant student
- learning where my target customers “live”
- understanding how to write good copy
I would love to hear what your biggest challenges, blocks or frustrations are. Just comment below to share!
Looking forward to hearing from you!
PS – Your comments on this blog will enter you to win my audio class “Taking the UGH out of creating a business plan” See my prior blog details here!
Also, if you post about my blog on yours, please notify me at laura@embracingyourpath.com and I’ll enter you again to win the contest!
