In the last blog post we asked if the stress you were experiencing was real or just something you had created by allowing it to ‘take you down.’   In part 2 of the series, I’ll share the first of my five-part formula for how to take back control.

It takes a bit of work, but if done properly, you can manage your mindset and stay on top of the stressful elements in your business because managing your energy is your #1 job!  Here are the first two ideas for you to begin working with.

Come Clean – Be honest.  You can’t do anything about a problem if you don’t acknowledge it.  So what does stress mean to you?  How does it look?  And what are your unique ways of doing it?

• Overwhelm because you don’t know what to do next
• Lack of sleep because your mind is going over and over and over…..
• Self doubt which causes you to under charge
• Loss of productivity (cuz you are just doing mindless busy work all day)
• A dip in revenue because marketing stops or slows down
• Immobilization because at this point, shutting down feels like a good solution

Stop the Spinning – Good for you.  You have acknowledged that you may be a bit stressed.  And now it’s time to get off the merry-go-round for a bit.  In this phase you will consciously notice that you have slipped into stress and now make conscious decisions to do something different.  Notice a lot of emphasis on the word CONSCIOUS because for most of us, getting out of our zone and on the stress-train is usually unconscious.  No one chose that destination, but suddenly we wake up one day and its like, “Holy Cow….how did I get here?  The big red sign that says “STOP” is just what you need to do right now.

Here’s what you do – Pick a relatively short term goal like 3 to 6 months out.  Then you will list all the tasks that need to happen in order to get that done.  After you list all the tasks via a big brain dump, you will calendar it.  What happens most often when folks are stressed is that they don’t know what to work on next and they have VERY unrealistic time frames set up. This method will allow you to not only stay focused on the bigger picture goal, but will also solve the “what to do tomorrow” challenge as well.  And one more thing….make sure you have a visual reminder of that big goal.  It’s easy to get lost and stressed about the minutia, so having the tangible thing to focus on can keep you in the game a bit more.

In the next post I’ll cover a the last two steps designed to get you turned around and get a handle on the stress in your biz.  And in the meantime, focus on the good!

Blessings,

Therese

Surely the scariest place for a business owner is when the phone isn’t ringing, clients are leaving, and you get that dreaded feeling….

“Oh crap….no one is buying these days.  What am I going to do?”

We’ve all been there and it just sucks!  But there is a way out.  In this post I’ll talk about some inner game and mindset strategies and the next article I’ll go over my thoughts on pricing strategies.  So know you aren’t alone if you have felt this, and that there is a way through it!

And if you are in that space of fear about money, the first thing you must do is to watch you thoughts! Instead of looking at what you don’t have or what you have lost, flip it to notice just how much abundance is all around you. Perhaps you have an abundance of beauty in your yard, or like me feel tremendous wealth in personal relationships. This is where the expression, “What you think about, you bring about” comes in. The more you focus on lack and fear, the more you will see and experience it.

Your number one job during these sometimes scary times is to manage your energy. We’ve all had the experience of having the desperate person in the bar hitting on us or the pushy car sales person who needed your purchase to pay his rent. And that energy is quite repelling, so you must be vigilant about knowing that your good is right around the corner, and stay in the positive mode of what you have that’s working right now.

Whatever you do, STOP the conversation about what’s going wrong!   Last year when I was in this very scary place, I spent loads of time sharing with my friends how things weren’t working. (Yes, my inner drama queen was having a hey day over it all!) Finally one of my best friends said, “Look, your business is called Happy in Business. If you can’t figure out a way to be happy right here, you can’t own that brand.” Quite the kick in the pants, but so true. I began to shift right then and there.

So after you stop the negative conversations, the next piece is to look at the possible gifts in your life even if you can’t see them in the moment.  Think of the farmer who has to have faith and trust that the seeds he planted in the ground he so lovingly prepared…will soon take root.  That’s the task for you my friend.  Finding that level of faith.

So just to restate it, the mindset tricks when you get scared or they aren’t buying are these:

• Stay in the day – don’t project into the future with fear
• Focus on what’s working and expand that
• Find the gifts so you don’t feel like a victim
• Refuse to give in to negativity – shift your energy
• See the abundance all around you and amplify it
• Reach out and let people support/love you
• Know there are seasons to everything and this will change too

Try these tips and let me know how it works for you.  Mainly … don’t give up!  See ya next time with my pricing ideas.

Blessings!

By the way – if you see yourself in this article and would love a BIG breakthrough for your business, go to www.AcceleratingYourSuccess.com/vip and you can save $100 off of my Bold Business Breakthrough Session.  Just use the coupon code VIP and you’ll be on your way to making the big shifts!

Have any questions, feel free to email me at Therese@HappyinBusiness.com and I’d be happy to get back with you.