I really appreciate your great responses to my blog on “time vampires” recently, so I want share with you some more ideas.

Rather than specific tips this time, I’m focusing more on the root causes of “time vampires”. If you can identify your own mindset issues that lead to the “time vampires”, then you can make better decisions to help you to get the important things done. Here are some of them:

• Lack of direction. If you don’t have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish in life and business you can waste so much time aimlessly pecking away at this or that project without really getting anything done.

• Limiting Beliefs. Here’s a doozy: "To be a good wife and mom I have to keep a spotless house and make gourmet meals." Perfectionism isn’t only a problem in business. It can manifest itself in all areas of life.

• Lack of organization. Do you feel like you’re so overwhelmed and tired trying to keep up with everything? You can have so many great things you want to accomplish and by trying to do them all today you can burn out.

How can you readjust your mindset?

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What does it take to be an expert? Or at least to feel like you’re an expert?

I’ve been reflecting on this question a lot lately as I see people holding themselves from moving forward because they think they don’t know enough to do that thing they want to do.

I have had many coaches and mentors throughout my career. I have read many books. I have taken many classes. I have purchased and used the content from many information products. Needless to say there’s a lot of stuff in my brain.

Over the years, key nuggets from all that learning have really stuck with me. They’ve gone through my “Kim-Filter”, gotten swirled around, and come out with my stamp on it.

When I was newer in business, I always gave credit to where I’d learned the nugget, whether it was from a book or a mentor. Then, something shifted for me. I can’t say exactly when, but I began to own what it was that I knew. I realized that if it had resonated with me, and I was speaking it naturally, and new ideas were sprouting  from those nuggets, then that “stuff” was now mine. I was the expert in what I spoke about.

Truth is there are not a lot of original ideas out there. It’s how we package those ideas and infuse them with their own experience and personal spin that matters. We are all an amalgam of the information that we have taken in through mentors,  books and study.

What doesn’t matter is how you know it.

What matters is THAT you know it and that you do something with it.

I’ve seen many sit with the limiting belief of when I know more then I can do/teach that thing want to do.

I emphatically say, do it TODAY. You know enough right now, as you are, to share your expertise with those who care. And, there definitely are those who care.

I’d really love to hear what your experience has been with stepping into your own expertise, what’s either held you back or given you the strength to move forward.

Entrepreneurs – especially women – get into business to provide value, make money and have fun in the process. And everything we read, hear and see convinces us that we made the right choice. But the part that’s rarely discussed is the “dark side” of entrepreneurship.

What I mean by that is the isolation we feel, or spending too much time looking at what others are doing and losing yourself in the process, and the stress of external voices questioning when you are finally going to make it.

You can’t ignore the dark side, however, there are much healthier ways to address these issues so you can move forward.

My business girlfriend Laura West, founder of Center for Joyful Business shares tools that I just love for creating awareness and shifting your energy quickly. The following suggestions come from an article she wrote on this topic:

• Morning and Evening Journaling – This doesn’t have to involve pages of witty writing. A simple list of what’s happening and how you feel will do. This reminds you to check in with your mindset, thoughts and emotions. Creating awareness of what’s going on for you twice a day will reinforce the importance of checking in with yourself. The awareness alone will create shifts in your energy and ability to shift into a more life-enhancing place if you need to.

• Conscious Breathing – Whenever you notice that you feel anxious and the gremlin is having a chat party inside, just the simple act of breathing consciously can help shift your energy. Consciously and in a relaxed way (not forced) – breathe in to receive, and breathe out to release.

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Most women begin as entrepreneurs because of a passion and a desire for a certain lifestyle.  We know we have something of value to share with our communities, so we pour our hearts into getting our wisdom out there and using our gifts to generate the revenue that we want and need.

However, haven’t you had times when you’re doing all the right things (the marketing, the writing, the speaking etc.) and you still feel stuck?  You feel like you’re not getting where you want to go?

I know I have.

And, what I’ve found to be the issue is rarely the external circumstances but something deep inside.  Something that’s keeping me smaller than I know I want to be.

Limiting beliefs are what you believe to be true about yourself but really aren’t true at all.  Maybe you’ve got beliefs that that you’re the fat girl, or that other people make money, not you, or that to make X happen you have to do Y,

Your thinking gets in your way. It stops you from taking the next step. It’s the limiting beliefs that we think about ourselves, that we rarely share, and may not even know consciously know, that keep us small.

Truth is, if you’re not getting where you want to go, the best place to look is in the mirror.  This is a challenge that we as entrepreneurs face since the growth of our business is dependent on how we’re being and presenting ourselves to others.

How can you shift your thinking from the negative to the positive so that your energies and efforts are lined up to grow your business and connect with more people?

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Guest post by Frederique Murphy

Your success is all about you having the right mindset. Before you can get to work on developing the right mindset, though, you have to understand what it is. Only when you clearly understand it can you become fully aware of your own.

Think of your mindset as your philosophy of life. It drives every single thing that you do in your life and in your business. Your current mindset is derived from a combination of factors – your background, culture, education, upbringing, religious beliefs – everything that has gone into creating the way you view life is part of yours.

Notice that I mentioned your current mindset. I’ve used that word deliberately, to show that it is something you can change. And in order to change something, you first need to know exactly where it is, so that you can shift it to where you want it to be.

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Growing up I couldn’t throw a ball very well. My dad went as far as to say I threw like a chicken. He was a die-hard Yankee fan, and when we went to games I had more fun watching the fans and noticing what people were wearing.

Fast forward to me as an adult with a 10-year old baseball-playing boy and my experience of the game has really changed.  It’s the one time of the day when I let the rest of my world go and enjoy the experience of his game, my spring baseball friends, and an opportunity to be present to what’s going on. I also realize that the lessons he’s learning on the field are very similar to the ones I’m learning in business.

Beck and I recently had a conversation about what makes a player good versus great. Assuming two players have equivalents skill sets, I believe the great player has the tools to shift his mindset and to visualize what he wants for himself. It’s the great player who when faced with adversity (pitching a bad game, going into the last inning losing or being injured) has to rally from somewhere deep inside to pull it together, know they want to win, and do whatever it takes.

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As I was picking up pizza last week for my kids I had a very interesting conversation with the owner about his business. It illustrates what fear of selling can do to an entrepreneur.

With some stores in the shopping plaza closing he shared that his business was slow. He said people weren’t even calling for deliveries. As a regular customer I had no idea he even offered delivery. Clearly he was not communicating this information.

“Why not put it in a big sign in your window to capture the traffic from plaza?” I asked.

“Oh, they should know that I deliver. All pizza places deliver.”

The fact is it’s very easy for an entrepreneur to blame the economy but the truth is no one will buy if they don’t know what you’re selling.

Here’s another example…

One of my favorite clients called me to say that she was discouraged that she hadn’t made any money from an information product she’d created. She felt frustrated that she wasn’t getting it done.

As we backtracked a bit, I asked her what she’d done to spread the word about her product. “Nothing,” she said, “I was scared that if I told them I was selling something they’d think I was being salesy and get off my list.”

Now the plot thickens…

The interesting thing about this woman is that she (like most of us) has something REALLY helpful that she’s created and would like to share with her community and sell it. She’s got a product that can help a lot of people.

The question then is “what’s getting in her way of putting it out there?”

Fear of selling. Fear of “someone” thinking she’s selling something. Fear of people dropping off her list because she’s doing more than just sending out nice content newsletters. Fear that she’ll be perceived a certain way.

Remember the Value of What You’re Offering

The good news in her case was I knew the prescription. It’s clear (at least to me) that the “simple” action she needs to take to get it done and achieve her short term goal of bringing in more money is to write an email to her list sharing with them what she’s offering. She needs to overcome her fear of selling.

Simple task but overwhelming to her because that email feels scary and has lots of strings attached. But I reminded her, “You’re not selling heroin, or used cars, you’re selling a product that makes people feel better.”

She’s offering a valuable service. I’d even go as far as to say that if she doesn’t offer it, she’s being selfish with her gifts.

Will some people unsubscribe from her list because they think she’s being salesy? YES

Is that okay? YES

She’s in business and the definition of being in business means that you make money by providing value to people. The more people you, the entrepreneur, help, the more money you make.

You can’t make money if you don’t let people know what you have to offer. Having the fear of selling is a mistake that a lot of entrepreneurs (especially women) make over and over again.

If you’re ready to move forward, but are still struggling with the fear of selling, check out my next blog. I’ll share with you 3 tips on how you can get the right mindset to sell so that you can attract more clients, make more money and have more fun!

The beauty of an entrepreneurial business is that there is a direct connection between your personal growth and your business growth. Watch your business grow exponentially as you personally develop and grow. I want to share some suggestions with you on how to invest in your own personal growth so you can achieve dramatic results in your business growth.

 

  Women Entrepreneurs – Your Best Business Investment is You [Metromom Podcast] [5:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This summer, my husband and I went to a camp called Enlightened Warrior Training Camp, one of the many personal development classes that Harv Eker has hosted. One specific idea from this camp that really stuck with me is “either commit 100%, or commit 0%.” That means if you know you can’t commit fully to something, just say no, rather than do it half-heartedly. And, when you say yes, go full throttle. I want to share with you some ideas on how to focus on the commitments that will get “it” done.

 

 Entrepreneurial Moms Committing 100% Benefits Your Business and Your Kids [Metromom Podcast] [4:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week I took a huge leap by launching a brand-new program called The Get it Done Challenge and in so doing so conquered some pretty big personal baggage.

First, I put myself out there in front of very public large audience, which I’ve often avoided. Second, in the past I would have let myself believe that a program of this caliber is something “other people” do but certainly not me. Now, I say “WHY NOT ME?”

When I find myself going through my own internal junk, and having conversations with the protective voices in my head, I refer back to my favorite poem by Marianne Williamson called Our Deepest Fear. The specific passage that hits me every time is “Your playing small does not serve the world.” 

As women, for all our crazy reasons we don’t get out there as we should, we don’t share our brilliance as we are meant to, we don’t get paid what we’re worth and we don’t make the difference to those we know we can.

So much of what will support us to get done what we want to get done is a healthy mindset, a belief in ourselves and a trust in what we’re doing and how we’re being while we’re doing it.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves…who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?

For me and many of the women I know it’s rarely just making money that drives us. It’s about doing what you’re meant to do and serving who you’re meant to serve. The key to remember is that:

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

I’d love to hear what inspires you to take action! Is there a quote or some advice that you look to when you know it’s time to move forward? Please share!