Last post I reminded you about my last blog series that outlined the “Five Mindset Traps of an Entrepreneur”.  In this new series, I’m going to share some strategies to break free of these pesky little patterns that can be standing between you and your success.

If you are a business owner who has not yet delegated or still struggles with figuring out how to better leverage your time by having a team, you may be suffering from mindset block #1 which is the I have to do it all myself syndrome. How would you know if this is you? See if you related to any of these statements –

“No one could do it as good as I can”
“I’m not comfortable asking for help”
“I couldn’t trust someone”
“I should be able to handle it all”

Many of us struggle with this concept and the cost is really high. The first thing I do with a business owner is to look at where they are wasting their precious time by doing things that would be better outsourced. There is the tactical piece of “How do I do this” but mostly, the place it breaks down for people is when they have the mindset block of having to do it all themselves. Very often this comes from family messages and early training about not giving permission to be vulnerable or receive support.

The first step is to make an assessment about where you are in this area. If you haven’t yet mastered delegating and outsourcing (or just reaching out for support/encouragement), is it that you don’t know how or could it be a mindset block?

If you push past the first sentences and find what’s on the other side, you’ll discover the golden nugget. For example, if you relate to the sentence, “I’m not comfortable asking for help” take it the next step further and ask yourself why. Would you feel stupid? Would you lose credibility? People think you are less than or too needy? What’s the story under that? If you unravel the story that’s usually unconscious or not quite in your reach, you can finally ask the magical question…Is It True? Once you look at it from this perspective, you can begin to chip away at the old belief/block so you have freedom to make a new choice. To further this questioning process, look into the work of Byron Katie at www.thework.com. She’s got a quick way to turn your erroneous thinking around. On her site got to the Do the Work section and get started taking back your power.

Next post, we’ll journey together into how to blast through Trap 2.  You’ll be surprised how some simple shifts can really make a big difference.

Blessings,
Therese

I bet you started your business to make a profit, right? Or maybe to make a difference or create a lifestyle. But did you go into business to grow yourself? Were you sitting around a job one day saying, “Hey…I think I’ll take on one of the biggest personal growth transformation experiences there is…I’ll start a business!” More than likely you probably never had that conversation with yourself. And if you are like most of us, by now you have bumped into more than your fair share of the ‘stuff’ or what I call mindset traps.

In my last newsletter I covered the Five Mindset Traps of an Entrepreneur. You can click on the following links to refresh your memory of those posts:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.  That will give you an overview of what they look like and what the cost is.

In this series of blog posts, I’m going to share some strategies to break free of these pesky little patterns that can be standing between you and your success.

The Five Traps are:
• I have to do it all myself
• People won’t pay higher fees
• Everyone already knows this
• It needs to be perfect
• I don’t have enough _______

Ok, and as a reminder – if you see yourself in some of these traps, be gentle. No judgment, no shame….just awareness and action. So as you read this stuff, the best thing to do is to commit to doing something different. Sort of like that old Seinfeld show where George did “Opposite Day.” ?

With that bit of context, I’m excited to dive into strategies that will address Trap #1 in my next blog post. Definitely keep an eye out because these are simple things you can do that will have an immediate impact on your happiness and bottom line.

Blessings,
Therese

I’ve been sharing with you some common Mindset Traps that keep entrepreneurs from having a business that makes them happy and profitable.  Trap #1 was “I have to do it all myself” and Trap #2 was “People won’t pay higher fees.”  Let’s look a little deeper and finish off our list…

#3 – Everyone already knows this
Oh, the dreaded, “What makes me so special” mindset trap. Just because things come easy to us or we do it naturally, we can’t believe that people would value it, or even need it. The key trap here is that you are undervaluing what you bring, thinking that since it’s so easy or natural for you, or maybe Tony Robbins talked about it on a tape years ago that what you offer is old news! Not true my friend…..But believing this will cause you to pull back, dim your light and not stand in the place of being the rock star that you are.

#4 –It needs to be perfect
Guess what…the folks who struggle with #1 almost always struggle with this one as well. I had a coach once who said these three magical words: DONE IS GOOD! Meaning, just get it done and out and refine later. But the mindset trap that we sometimes fall in is those little places where we don’t quite feel good enough on the inside, so if our stuff on the outside is perfect, then maybe no one will know. This isn’t to say that you should do schlocky work, but the trap here is that I see too many entrepreneurs holding their ideas back and refining, refining, and refining because secretly they are afraid it’s not good enough. The trap is that they think they are working on something, but the reality is that they are scared to get it out in the world. Next issue we’ll talk about what criteria to use to blast thru this monkey in your mind problem.

#5 – I don’t have enough _______ to make this a successful business
Oh, if I had a dollar for every time a client tried to justify their not being able to grow more because they didn’t have enough education, training, money, help, etc……

Mostly this trap comes from the underlying (and often unconscious belief) that we aren’t quite enough. This looks like the person who says, “If I just go to one more work shop, or read one more book, or follow so and so’s new blueprint, THEN I’ll be ok.” See the trap?

It’s like we are running on the hamster wheel, always going, but not getting anywhere because that bugger of “who I am isn’t good enough, so something outside of me will fix this.” I was shocked to hear that Ted Turner (the gazillionaire) never felt like his accomplishments were good enough. So he did more and more, purchased more and more, and then realized that inside this mogul was a scared little boy who really just wanted to please his dad, and he never could. By realizing that, he was able to stop the ‘chase’ of this feeing and finally just be content with what he had.

There ya go. Five mindset traps. And in the next weeks I’ll give you the solutions. In the meantime, feel free to post on my blog (http://www.happyinbusiness.com/blogfree-articles/) your comments and any additional traps you see.

Blessings,

Therese.

Last post I described an all-too-common scenario. A fellow business owner spent a fortune on the “necessities” of building her business (website, branding, top-level coaching, etc.) only to be frustrated because she had not dealt with the mindset issues that were holding her back.

Here are 2 of 5 Entrepreneurial Mindset Traps you must overcome to enjoy the success you’re looking for in your business.

#1 – I have to do it all myself
Raise your hand if you are a first born child. For most of us (me included) the role of being first born makes us the natural choice to be at risk for this mindset trap. If you have ever refused help, hated to ask for support, or just were frozen at the idea of you not being in charge of everything, you qualify. It’s pretty standard in the entrepreneurial psyche by now, but Michael Gerber in his classic book EMyth Revisited tells of the three roles that a business has to have in order to run – the technician, the manager, and the entrepreneur. Often in start up phase we are all things because there is no cash flow. But if you are a few years into your business and still doing your own books, we have to talk!

Let me give you an example. I was at an event where the keynote speaker sat next to me and shared that on Sundays she always did her bookkeeping. Here she was positioning herself as a rock star in her area, but had huge trust and delegation issues, so took the whole day on Sunday to do something that she could have outsourced easily. On stage she was selling $25,000 programs, but I could see huge reasons why her business didn’t work (nor her sales) because of this pattern of having to do it all herself. For me her presentation was an integrity disconnect because she was teaching people how to be powerful in one area, but in her own business she was defaulting to some old patterns. (And again, no judgment here because we all have some of this.)

#2 – People won’t pay higher fees

This is a revenue killer. It happens when a business owner is well meaning and tends to look at a prospective clients financial situation and decides for them what they can do and cannot do. Part of it is from a place of compassion, but it may come from poor boundaries, care-taking, or even the reality that YOU wouldn’t pay higher fees. It also could come by not having a clearly defined niche because if you are working right, your people will pay for what you offer. Good marketing, clarity on your value and who you serve best are the key here, but until you get this, the cost of this mindset trap is that you are under charging, under earning, or possibly working with people who aren’t your idea market because of the fee structure. The truth is that while the economy is sluggish, there are lots of people still spending lots of money! In a few weeks, I’ll show you how to shift your mindset to start getting more comfortable asking for your slice of the pie.

Do these sound familiar?  Keep an eye out for my next post where I’ll share the final 3 Traps.

Blessings,

Therese

As I described in my previous post, mindset can play a huge role in the money business owners generate.  Another place to look for some money leaks is your pricing model.

Since my main market is the service provider, I’ll address that in this article.

Usually for service providers, we start by looking at either the fees per session, or what kind of packages/programs they are offering their clients. Too many people are still stuck charging hourly. I know this one well, having been a psychotherapist for decades! The problem here though is that you have to constantly be selling. One of my sub-niches is holistic practitioners, so let’s use an acupuncturist as an example. If you have a fee-per-session model, at the end of the treatment, you have to get your book out and ask them if they want to reschedule. Hopefully your client is “blissed out” because of the amazing treatment you just did, but what if they are in a rush and have to pick up their son from school. You will likely hear….”Oh, let me call you soon.” Then they get busy, or sick, or short of cash, and you lose the business.

Compare that with the holistic practitioner who has a six month PROGRAM. I like to structure this where some of the money is paid up front or there can be payments made, but folks know that they are paying for a longer term commitment and seem to have more “skin in the game” because they are paying even if they aren’t coming. (Of course we’d prefer that they come!) It works for them because the understand that you are holding a bigger vision that just a one time fix, and it works for you because it levels out your cash flow because you don’t have to constantly be selling and getting new people in the door.

Now let’s look at your model. Where do you see that you could make some tweaks?

And the final place we will talk about here is you owning your value. Have you done that yet? What is your time and expertise worth? The way to understand this is to look at the results your service gets for people. These are some questions that will help you get what you do in a bigger way:
What results to people get after working with you?
What problems do you help solve?
What did those problems cost them?
What intangibles (like confidence) do you provide?
What’s that worth to get?
What’s the lifetime value of the work you do?
What has not working with you cost them?

I guarantee that if you would take 20 minutes and just do some journaling on those questions, you will never again devalue yourself! Make time for this ever important foundational piece so both you and your clients have a better experience.

Blessings,

Therese

Part two – Finding the Tools to Prevent the Freak Out!

I’ll tell you the business application in tomorrow’s post, but I want you to hear the story of how this all came to be, because it’s pretty funny. Pathetic perhaps, but funny.

A friend and I decided to take our kids to the water park.  To tell you the truth, I was really cranky because it was about a hundred million degrees and I’d rather be anywhere but outside. But I said yes because the boys were super excited to go.

When we got there, we first went to more of the ‘kid-friendly’ area where there were a few teenagers, but mostly people under four feet tall. It was here that I finally decided to just go for it, so I think I did one 20 feet high open slide.  That open piece is the key because being in an enclosed tube in the black was more than my little psyche could handle. Me and the toddlers were content to stay on the baby-ish slides, but my boys wanted to head over to where the real action was.

Now that my kids were on the big slides, my only choice was to stand at the bottom, realizing what I was missing, mad at myself for having these stupid fears, and feeling pretty ridiculous that at age 50, I have this huge limiting thing. That’s where I began to make the decision that I was not leaving until I conquered my fear and did one of the slides, because I just knew that if I could do it, it would lead to a breakthrough somehow.

I found my boys and told them that I needed their help in getting over this fear. Having done most of the slides by now, they decided that I’d do the tubes that were only half way enclosed, but not pitch black. Let the journey begin!  Once decided on the slide, we began to scale what felt like five stories, and the closer I got, the more anxious I became. So anxious in fact, that I was almost hyperventilating! (But thankfully having done the Inner Guru Experience with Molly Luffy, I learned how to use EFT for just those situations!) It actually worked, and I was able to calm myself down enough to get up the stairs.

My ten year old was the one really leading the charge to get me to do this, and his famous coaching command to me (as I was doing EFT tapping like a fool and praying) was to say, “Come on mom, sack up!” Guess that’s boy love or something. Between that, the prayers, the tapping, and mostly my decision that I would not turn back, I did it!

One slide down! I did it and it was absolutely exhilarating. I had been able to conquer all my thoughts and calm myself down.

Now the boys decided to throw me into the black tube of death. (OK, it wasn’t really called that, but felt like it at the time!)

This slide was completely enclosed and totally black except for the last third. There was about a ten foot open space, and then it was enclosed again.

Being in this tube was where it all came clear to me. As I popped onto the inner tube and pushed myself into the water, it was pitch black. And the water was in control. Not me. Then and there I had the ‘a ha’ that this is the very place that business owners fear. Very often we hit places in our businesses where it almost exactly mirrors my experience here.

Tomorrow’s article will share with you the connection with the water slide, business breakthrough’s, and how to set yourself up to have one in any environment.

or “How my 10 year old coached me into getting over my fears and getting with the game of living bigger”

This is a story that I just kept writing and writing and writing, so we’ll break it up into three parts….

What if you could have a breakthrough in the most unlikely of places? What if doing one wild and crazy thing changed the way you experienced your business?

Because we are in some wacky times and almost every business owner I know has been faced with having to figure out how to get and keep clients, and how to best put forward their marketing messages. Since I’m in the middle of yet another rebranding, I’ve been experiencing some of that frustration myself. But it was all about to change….

There I was, finally facing my fears, barreling down one of those enclosed tube-style water slides, when it happened. CLARITY! It’s as if something Divine got revealed to me as I realized what a metaphor this was for not only my business, but for most business owners. Who would have thought that leaning into my HUGE fear of water slides would reveal something so symbolic and profound to me.

In that moment of surrendering to the water and where it was taking me through the black tube – I saw why so many business owners are struggling. Speeding down the tube, I even was able to see a solution! (Sort of like your life flashing before you…except I wasn’t going to the pearly gates, but to the big splash pool at the end.

Tune in tomorrow to hear how I went from a freaked out water-slide phobic mom, to a solid and grounded business owner who ‘got it’ in terms of the flow of life and business.

OK – Contest time!  And doesn’t everyone love a contest?

So here it is —

In July I will be rolling out my Happy in Business Mastermind groups.  What are these you ask?  Small, six person groups that will meet for six months and get lots of coaching/mastermind support.  How’s this different from all the other mastermind groups out there?  Well, let’s start with the number – SIX!  You won’t be stuck in a group with 24 other people and only get to share one time in a year.  Every meeting, you’ll get coaching.  Hey….if you want more details, check out the website, because here I just want to talk about the contest.

I’m going to give away one spot in the group for free.  That’s right.  FREE!  That means you will get access to all the coaching, all the business building/revenue generating magic that happens.

There’s just one catch though……..you have to send me a video explaining these two things:

Why your business should be selected and how you will pay this gift forward.

Paying it forward?  Yeah…what that means is that in six months when you have made much more money, are happier than you have been in your business, and are on track for even more success…what will you do to share some of that good with someone else?

And finally, make your video be something with BOLD Self Expression.  Sing, dance, get creative – but just make it fun and show up fully because that’s the key to having a business you will love.

How?  Send it via email (you can use www.YouSendIt.com) to therese@acceleratingyoursuccess.com.

These need to be in by June 20, so get on it!!!

And be sure to go to the next page – Coming events – to find my latest free teleclass.

Five words -

That’s all it took to turn her around.  One sentence.  Five well chosen words.  Here’s the story.

I was doing a group coaching call the other night when one of the women asked a question.  Now truthfully, this woman is amazing at what she does, but tends to ’spin around’ in her head a lot, so gets herself overwhelmed.

She’s a consultant and she asked me about how she should handle a proposal.  Now normally, I’d jump in and coach her on the how…but not today.

See, my intuition told me to go in a different direction.  So instead of answering her, I simply said:

“You know what to do.”

She missed it at first, so tried to get me again to tell her how to handle the proposal, but I wouldn’t budge.

“You know what to do.”

What happened next was amazing.  She stopped, got back into remember who she was, and immediately had a solution.

The reason I share this, my dear readers, is that the breakthrough for her occurred when someone who knew and respected her, “called her out” to be more in the strong, brilliant and resourceful person she was.

My coaching challenge for you this time is to make sure you have the people in your life who can give you this kind of feedback.  The folks who don’t let you spin around in confusion or overwhelm, but stop and remind you of your magnificence.

It’s all good!

And by the way, in June I’ll be opening up my Happy In Business Mastermind Coaching groups.  Stay tuned….

Oh, I feel like one proud mama!  Why, because my friend and client Mary Pat Kavanagh just today is launching her Savvy Mompreneur Telesummit.  Designed for the busy moms who have to balance family life, and a bit of self care, all while striving to be great business women at the same time.  Click on the link after you read this because she has an extraordinary line up of mompreneurs (including me!) who will be sharing our secrets of success.

So why am I sitting here with my heart full as I watch Mary Pat ‘birth’ this dream of hers?  Why?  Because I got to ‘midwife’ it into existence you could say.

I remember the day so clearly, about four months ago when we were working on a strategy for which direction she’d take her business in.  As her coach, I saw her getting stuck.  See, she started out as a marketing strategist, is now known as the Queen of Social Media/Networking, and is very good at both of these things.  But her heart is all about connecting with Savvy Mompreneurs to give them the tools they need to really have success in both their businesses and in their homes.

The problem though is that like many of us, Mary Pat wasn’t owning it.  She had the same litany of thoughts many people get into when their soul’s direction takes them on a new path.  It sounded something like this:
“But everyone knows me for Social Media, what will they think if I go into another new direction?”
And this:  “Do you think there really is a need for this?  Can I really be a voice in this community and help lots of women?”

Being the good coach I am, I gave her a gentle ‘butt kicking’ to help her take ownership of this passion.  It’s so funny that we very often know exactly where we want to be and what our next steps are, but allow our ’stuff’ to get in the way.  On that call, on that day, four months ago – Mary Pat finally said YES.

Fast forward a few months, and the ‘baby’ has been birthed.  Mary Pat started asking for some experts to share their stories.  She thought she’d get 5 or 6, but was blown away when 22 mompreneur experts stepped up and practically begged her to be a part of the telesummit.

In fact, Kristi Frank of season #1 of the Apprentice (who is also one of the special guest experts) wrote Mary Pat this note:

By the way – the talk I’m presenting for the telesummit is on February 19 at 10am Pacific.  It’s called:

Saying Goodbye to the Super Woman Complex: Ways to Take Care of Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business Without Losing Your Mind.  I’d love to ‘hear’ you on the call.

To your success!