Just Keep Going!

Keeping to your vision is quite a feat of courage and resolve.

Maybe it's me but there are times when so many opinions come at me about what I should do...how I should do it...why I'm not a sales person...don't have the "killer" instinct to close...maybe I should get a government job...the list goes on and on.  All intentions are good intentions but over time and when there's a lull in productivity...I get to wondering myself.  Just what the heck am I doing?

No one really knows what it is that is driving you but you!  People who know you 'think' they know what's going on in your head but in fact they only have their opinions and experiences of you.  Even those folks who are very successful sometimes can make comments that really have no basis for you to move forward.  These comments are based on their path to success and no two people are alike...right?  So what do you do when you're on overload and feeling a bit confused about what you're doing and where you're going?

JUST KEEP GOING...know that these periods of questioning are just part of the journey.  Things come our way to challenge our resolve.  Do we have what it takes to build a business that will take care of our financial needs and allow us to have a life that is comfortable?  One thing you can do is get out and change your daily pattern.  Get out into the world and observe what's going on.  Interact in areas totally unrelated to your business and feed your head with pleasant and enjoyable experiences that will re-generate and relieve any anxiety or tension.  Take a yoga class ... walk in the park ... if you golf, go out and hit balls or play 9 holes.  Give yourself an opportunity to re-charge your batteries.  Stop the rumination over work and provide yourself with input that will feed your sense of doing what is right for you...what feels good and what you know is all you can do right now.

We live in challenging times and society applies pressure on everyone to get educated...work hard...put in long hours...sacrifice so you get ahead....don't give up...work work work....make sure you buy all the symbols that signify success...on and on and on.  DON'T GET TRAPPED...be clear on who you are...what you want...and where YOU want to go - stay on track...and just keep going!  One step at a time.  Don't give up the idea that you can have your own business.  The opportunities are there...just rest your mind and unconscious and allow solutions to bubble up.   You'll be surprised what might just 'pop' into your head!

How's your week been?

One thing I always do at the end of the week is make sure I review how it's been, identify what I did towards my goal of building my business and also make sure I continue to encourage myself to continue moving forward.  Being my own cheerleader is a challenge but what can us self-employed people do?  If we can't cheer ourselves on who will?

I look for little victories...not those big successes; why?  Because in my business, that is mostly what I am accomplishing.  Acquiring small accounts that will add up to a bigger number which will amount to being able to take care of my expenses, put some in savings and provide me with the ability to enjoy my life in different ways.  A trip to NYC to attend The New Yorker Festival would be a great reward for my hard work.  But all of you need to be reminded to look back and see what you did that worked and identify what you did that needs tweaking.  It's critical to building momentum and not using the same tactics that really aren't getting you where you want to go.

If any of you out there have seen the movie "What the Bleep do we know?" you will remember how they talked about the pathways we create in our brain through repeated behaviors.  This ties into how we get so addicted to behaviors...they give us something that we think we need.  But to change those neural pathways we really have to work hard.  Wow!  I don't know about you but I'm already tired from working hard doing what I do...now I have to work on something else?  YES!

Continuing to repeat patterns that don't work is just plain insanity...why?  Because you already know the outcome and that outcome didn't pay off.  However, if you find you are repeating these patterns then you need to ask yourself why?  It's another part of the review, evaluate and reward process.  To reach your goals you must be willing to be critical of your behaviors and patterns so you can learn, regroup and continue evolving as an individual and a business person.  More work???  Of course but that's what it takes to build a successful business and if you are balking at the idea that you need to evaluate if you are meant for this kind of work?

This morning I read an interesting article  The Effort is the Prize and this research suggests that there are two mindsets; "a fixed mindset, which occurs when someone believes that personal qualities like intelligence are immutable, and a growth mindset, which occurs when someone believes that skills and characteristics can be cultivated through effort."    I know I'm the latter because academics were a challenge for me when I was young and so I never believed that I had the ability to excel in that way...however, I knew and believed that if I worked hard and researched information in my own way...I could become accomplished in that which was important to me.  Maybe in my case the key is "important".

Mindset, attitude and the importance of the thing(s) we want are all key factors in how we move forward [and sometimes backwards] and I believe and will always say, that they can be used to our advantage or not.  We can change them and be flexible in them in order to make it to our respective destinies...yet, they can also become walls that keep us stuck in old patterns. This is why the ability to look at ourselves and evaluate own mindsets and attitudes is critical.

Review, evaluate and reward...try it and see how you do...and while your at it, check out the movie.  It's very interesting and should at least get you to thinking about things in a different way. 

Have a great weekend!!!!!