“This Girl…. She knows what she wants and she visualizes seeing it happen. Even though she doesn’t know every step she needs to take, she isn’t afraid to get started. She doses up on inspiration and positivity ever day and believes that she will reach her goals. Whenever she has doubts or worries, she surrenders them and trusts that everything will work out in the right way, at the right time. This girl is determined to make her dreams come true.”
-Carrie Green, This Girl Means Business
Wow. Now that’s a paragraph full of coaching prompts! I love every word in that quote! So much so, I decided to let it be the focus of this week’s article! Why? Because it’s THAT powerful!
In 2013, my intention was to live up to Carrie’s mantra (and magazine title): This Girl Means Business. As an entrepreneur, and someone who has a very creative mind, it can be dangerous and somewhat frustrating when you first enter the world of business. There is so much to learn and things change quickly! When I first began my coaching business, I found myself stuck for several years because I was too afraid to put myself out there before having everything figured out. Guess what! I won’t ever have it all figured out. So this became the year that I mustered up my courage and began my journey as a girl who means business! Let’s look at the wisdom underneath these words:
1. Visualize seeing it happen. Whether it’s natural to you or not, anyone can learn to visualize! When I first began coaching women to embrace their dreams, I was shocked to learn how many women had no idea what I was talking about! They had put their dreams to rest, or given up on them, or simply buried them underneath their busy lives. So visualizing their dreams coming true or visualizing something that they wanted wasn’t so natural for them anymore.
Whether you are visualizing a dream, a goal, or the business you want to create, think of it as if you are watching a movie. Imagine you are watching a movie titled, “Michelle Is Wildly Successful Doing What She Loves and Living the Life She Dreamed Of!” Now, just sit back and watch the movie in your mind. Where do you live? What does your home look like? What are you doing? Notice if you’re running around with sticky notes on your elbows and a frazzled look on your face! Probably not… you’re relaxed and energized! You’re on top of your game! Your business life is lucrative, but simple! You LOVE what you do so much that the time flies! You may be working in your beautiful home office! Notice who is there helping you! You have a team, virtual or actually present in your home office… or both! Notice what inspires you. Notice how you look… in my visualization, I’m thinner and my body is healthy and strong. Hmmm, for some reason as I share my vision with you, I notice th at I am actually looking younger!
Doing what you love and living the life you dreamed of is the best anti-aging remedy ever! Take a few minutes right now and visualize yourself experiencing the ultimate success in your business and notice how that impacts every aspect of your life! Do you have kids who have a happy mom? Do you have a home that is clean and organized and reflects who you are? Do you work from the best home-office space you can imagine? Are you successful in managing your money, your household, and your business? YES YOU ARE! You are the CEO of your own company so picture that! Okay, movie’s over… and now its time for Tip #2!
2. Don’t be afraid to get started! Building a business as an entrepreneur takes courage. It takes a lot of courage! I didn’t know if I would be able to send out an E-Zine every other week. I waited a year so that I could build up a library of articles to include each week, only I never wrote a single article! So a few months ago, I decided to just do it. Even though I didn’t know if I could stay on track, I committed. Even though I didn’t know what all I needed to include, I took the steps to get started. I believe this is the 7th E-Zine I’ve published? So far, it seems to be happening! And without a lot of drama! But here’s what I want you to know about this part: You have to have support on many levels! I surround myself with people who hold me as capable and courageous even when I don’t believe I am.
This group includes my mentors, mastermind buddies, colleagues, and professionals. I have a support team (virtual and in-person) that I’m quickly learning to delegate to. I started with baby steps and kept going. Think of yourself as the CEO of your company. What kinds of things do you need to be doing? Start there! If you get stuck, seek wise counsel! Join a mastermind group and share ways to get your business launched. Join a networking group that helps other entrepreneurs network and discover resources! READ! Give up the notion that it all has to be perfect. My last E-Zine article had a huge mistake in it! Not one but TWO! I caught it after it was published. If you noticed it too, let it be an example of how stuff happens and you survive the stuff. The important thing is to just keep moving forward.
As a self-admitted perfectionist, seeing my mistakes is as unnerving as it gets for me. But I can’t let that stop me… because I’ll never be perfect, right? One thing I know for sure is that my need for perfection will not let me become lazy and casual and therefore build a mediocre business. But my need for perfection could also stop me from moving forward. Find your balance. Have courage. Take risks. You will survive anything that goes wrong, if you just keep moving toward your dream! Start today!
3. Stay inspired. I cannot tell you how shocked I’ve been to see who shows up empowering and encouraging me, and who shows up with a boatload of reasons why I should not try. There is no shortage of negativity out there! Connect to your dreams. Be intentional about filling yourself up with positive inspiration! There’s a lot of that too, but sometimes you have to search for it!
I’ll share two of my favorite ways to get inspired:
1) Pinterest! Nothing relaxes and inspires me faster than Pinterest! Who cares if you never use the recipe or next great idea! I do all kinds of dreaming and creative thinking when I cruise around in there! Just today, I was inspired to ride my bike in Montana, New England and Canada! And, I saw a great quote that I liked! Set the timer though, it can suck you in and quickly become a time-waster too! 10 minutes/day can put me in a good mood, taps into my creative mind, remind me of my dreams, and inspire me into action!
2) My Vision Board. I make one every year. I connect to it everyday. My vision board always has my WHY and my WHAT on it! It is filled with what I want to create in my life, and it always shows me why I want to create it! It’s personal. It’s powerful. And it’s full of passion! So those are two easy ways that get me inspired and brave and focused and connected to something greater than my little ‘ol fear!
4. Have a plan. You will inevitably come to a point when you will want to quit. You will question everything you’re doing. You will have that little voice in your head screaming at you! You need a plan for how to get through those moments when fear and doubt consume you. When we are excited and passionate about something and we have the courage to say, “Yes!” to an opportunity, we often think that if it feels right, it won’t be challenging.
Somehow, we’ve come to believe that it’s all fun and thrills if it’s what we’re supposed to be doing. The minute a challenge shows up, we’re often quick to bail out saying, “It just wasn’t meant to be.” What if you ARE supposed to be that successful, brave, savvy, business woman and you just missed your opportunity to grow into that? One thing I can guarantee is this: You WILL feel like quitting, more than once. You WILL think you cannot do it all, more than once. You WILL wonder what made you think you could be more than you are, way more than once. You WILL forget why you began your business and you WILL be tempted to give up, more than once. Have a plan for what to do before you decide to quit or give up! Who will you talk to? Someone who agrees with you or someone who listens closely and helps you remember your why? Get a perspective on what’s happening. Will it pass or have you outgrown your dream? Every single successful entrepreneur living a life of her dreams will tell you that there were multiple times when quitting was on their mind. But they took the ‘quit’ option off the table and had a plan for how to get over it and take the next best step forward in creating their businesses! What’s your plan?
5. Don’t give up on your dreams! Stay determined to make every single one of your dreams come true. There is no way you should ever give up on your dreams! Sometimes, we have to change the due date. But never stop dreaming! I teach an entire workshop on how to dream and how to pursue those dreams! And we talk about how important it is to always have a few dreams tucked in your hip pocket! And how to be spontaneous and allow your dreams to come true! And how much fun it is to learn about someone else’s dream and help make THEIR dreams come true.
Dreams are rocket fuel for a successful business! What dream will you focus on in the next 12 months? Stay determined and never give up yourself, or your ability to create a life you absolutely love while running a business that never feels like work!
Many thanks to Carrie Green and This Girl Means Business for this incredible inspiration! Here’s to a summer filled with business success, remarkable growth, being brave, and seeing big dreams come true!
Blessings,
Jenny
