Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Why your mental game is infinitely more important for your business success than you think.

Uchechi

There’s no denying it, business success is 80-90% about your mental game. This is something I see every day because I’ve worked with people and coached them through the mechanics of building a successful business. They know what to do, however, they’re either not doing it, or they’re not getting the results they really want.

Take an example of someone who wants to expand her reach and start blogging for her business. However, 6 months later she’s stuck on having the ‘right’ thing to post. This is not about lack of topic ideas or even about knowing how or why to blog, but really about committing to the process and pushing past the fear of judgment and criticism from family, friends and colleagues.

Another example is someone who just launched a great product or service, but is afraid to reach out to others and share it. They are so consumed with fear of appearing pushy, ‘salesy’ or intrusive. As a result, they sit on their great offering and do very little with it.

This is why I believe 100% in working on the mental game with my clients, because without that, no matter how much I teach them about marketing, business financials etc., they will not get the results they’re looking for. Maximum results occur when they’re able to break through blocks and resistance that holds them back!

Another side of the coin is seeing business owners pushing really hard to make things happen. Sometimes, yes, this is needed, but there’s also another side of ‘allowing’ for guidance. We often don’t speak about this in business, but this has been the foundation for all the success I’ve personally experienced.

It’s very common for me to send my clients links to EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique aka Tapping) videos and ask them to tap when I know they’re overcome with fear, anxiety and overwhelm. Sometimes, when I see they’re stuck financially, even though they’re doing the work, I send them forgiveness exercises to do, because I know there’s a huge correlation between resentment, grievances and anger to financial struggles. This is something we don’t discuss in most business training and education, but it’s vital for the success of your business.

I like to think of it like striking a right balance of taking action, and also turning inward, and getting connected. You need to identify how your subconscious mind is keeping you from your dreams. When you’re able to do this, your work will flow better and easier and you’ll begin to see opportunities and resources to help you achieve your goals.

You also need to be conscious on how you feel about your business. Are you in a constant state of doubt, worry, and fear? These feelings will repel the success and financial abundance you want. Focus on feeling positive, confident, and expect positive results. This feeling is more powerful and important than any activity you’ll ever do for your business!

So, I challenge you to focus and add in mental activities to your business strategy. Start cultivating a success mindset that will give you the results you truly want for your business!

Uchechi Ezurike-Bosse is a Business & Lifestyle Strategist, Creator of the 4-Week Business Success Bootcamp and Mind Money Miracles. Uchechi helps passionate entrepreneurs (+aspiring entrepreneurs) master their mindsets to increase their wealth, confidence, and sweet, sweet freedom!  Visit Uchechi at www.myempoweredliving.com and sign up for her FREE video training series The 4 Keys to your Business Success! This free 4-day business training reveals her 4 key strategies needed to build a profitable and successful business, and how to put them to work for you!

Planning for the Unexpected

Tamara high res 1 

One of the central themes I think all entrepreneurs can agree on, (no matter what the industry) is that the ‘unexpected’ is inevitable.  Change happens whether it is a slight interruption of your day, (“Can we change our appointment to Tuesday?”), or a money draining, time consuming printing error.

As an entrepreneur who talks about (and advocates) for planning, people often ask me why they should bother planning when it is just going to change anyways. For those of you who may ask the same question or could use a little planning inspiration, the following is how (and why) I think you should do it anyways.

Planning creates momentum. When you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), you are taking an action step – even if it is just getting an idea out of your mind. This momentum is often the thing that you need when those unexpected things arise. To use an analogy, it would be like a long distance runner who just pulled a muscle at the last mile of a race. Having all of that hard work, training and road behind him – a pulled muscle is not going to prevent him from crossing the finish line.  He (or she) has momentum and that counts for something.

Planning naturally reveals priorities. Looking at your current calendar/day timer – even a stranger could tell what you are putting your most time and energy towards. Priorities, whether family, work or your physical well-being will always ‘rise to the top’ and can handle a some unexpected circumstances because they matter that much to you. Have some confidence that if the unexpected happens, the things that matter the most to you will still get done.

Lastly, you can plan for the unexpected by giving yourself pre-determined flex time. No, you can’t say for sure what will end up taking that time. But, if your priorities are set and you still give time for things that you don’t expect, it does not have to be a stressor in your life. Even the great Tony Robbins is famously quoted saying “ …if you schedule it, it’s real”. That is why I suggest not packing your schedule so tight that one thing ‘not going right’, could negatively affect the rest of your day – and maybe even your week.

Having a mindset that ‘expects the unexpected’, as well as having the principles we have talked about in this article built in to your entrepreneurial habits will certainly help along your journey. So remember: Get your ideas out, plan for flex time and keep your priorities non-negotiable. Then plan on success.

Tamara is the owner and designer at ‘Your Pretty Pages’ where she provides templates, planners, guides and resources for creative entrepreneurs to get organized and plan productively and purposefully. To see her newest Essentials Pack of planning pages visit here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/yourprettypages

 

Do you Mastermind? Should you be?

Samantha King

I constantly see images and hear things from other successful business owners about Masterminding, and why I should be doing it.  In fact, this morning I was listening to Michael Stelzner’s podcast, and he and his guest, Jeff Korhan, were talking about the importance of small business owners taking the time to co-operate and collaborate with other small business owners.

When you’re a one man show 90% of the time like me (okay…maybe you have a virtual team member or two), it’s hard to really strategize and set goals because…well…there’s only you.  Gone are the days when you can meet up with your team of co-workers to sit down and hash ideas out…I bet your office doesn’t look like this anymore:

And, so many other things come up, right? You just don’t have time, right? And when it’s just you, it’s easier to not hold yourself as accountable as you do when you know there will be someone else checking up on you.  Sound familiar? I know it does for me.

But the more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I see that this is something I need to make time to do.  Why? Here’s 3 reasons:

  1. I plan and think through things best when I talk through them….to do that I need more than myself.
  2. ACCOUNTABILITY!! I think we all make things a priority when there is someone else in the mix…we just don’t want to let them down.
  3. Fresh ideas…plain and simple.  A fresh set of eyes could be exactly what you need to get out of a rut, bring together a great new campaign/product, or solve a customer problem you’ve been having.

As you can see, the process of collaboration has some very obvious, simple benefits (for me anyway), and I’ll be making it a big part of my business planning and strategizing in 2015.

(Now I’ve just got to find places to meet fellow masterminders…any tips?)

So….do you Mastermind? Why? Why not? If you do, what benefits have you seen? Let us know in the comments!

Samantha King has a passion for working with female entrepreneurs to build the business of their dreams.  Specializing in Branding, Marketing, & Event Planning, she uses her experience in event and marketing co-ordination to work with small business owners on the conceptualization, coordination and execution of their marketing and event projects.  She works with her clients to understand their brand, current marketing strategy, and (most importantly) their dream to help them complete the marketing tasks on their to-do lists that they know they need to do, but don’t have the time to do…and don’t have the budget to hire a full-time inside person to do.
You can reach Samantha directly via email at: iamsamanthaking@gmail.com or connect with her on LinkedIn at: ca.linkedin.com/in/samanthajking