beliefs

Are you a Gun for Hire or An Expert in your Field?

October 11, 2017

What does it mean to ask: Are you a Gun for Hire or An Expert in your Field? It means are you doing the work you want to be doing and working with the people you want to be working with? Many entrepreneurs end up taking on clients that they may not want to do or take on work that is not in their area of expertise. Why? For money.

Entrepreneurs often have a scarcity mentality – they think there is not enough work out there or not enough of their ideal clients, so instead of working on getting the right work and clients; they instead take on the wrong kind of clients or projects. They end up doing work that they really don’t want to do.

Are you clear on your genius?

Like anything you don’t want to do – you need to have an awareness of what you want to do. You need to be aware of what makes you happy and what makes you unhappy. You need this awareness for all projects that come your way. Make a list of the clients and projects that you enjoy working with – the work that you truly love to do.

Where do you excel? Where can you show your genius to the world? If you’re not clear on your genius you will end up being a gun for hire. What does that mean? The end result of being a gun for hire is that you will end up hating what you’re doing. You will question why you are self-employed in the first place. You will end up with the worst types of clients and won’t give your best self to any of your work.

What is holding you back?

Once you are clear on your ideal client and the work you want to do, ask yourself if you value yourself. Are there confidence issues behind why you’re not recognizing your genius? What is holding you back?

If you’re not sure what is blocking you from being an expert in your field, set up a time to chat. I also invite you to join my free Facebook community: Core Beliefs for Business where I constantly engage with business owners on what is preventing their business from moving forward.

As well, if there is a topic you would like to learn more about, let me know! I enjoy supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs do what they love.

Are you holding yourself back to avoid fame?

September 26, 2017

Are you holding yourself back to Do you ever stop yourself from moving forward in your business to avoid fame? This is coming up with many of my clients as well as friends. Even my husband and I were discussing this not too long ago. My husband wants to put a blog together, but he is stuck and not taking action on it. A blog is something he has wanted to do for a while as an extension of his 9-5 job and as an exercise in learning to express himself and step out of his comfort zone.

My husband is hesitating because he has a fear of becoming famous. He does not want to be put on a pedestal because of the expectations to keep it up, which could lead to a lot of overwhelming work.

The fear of becoming famous is not as uncommon as you may think. Many people have deep beliefs about this subject because we have seen many negative examples and results of being famous; take for example, childhood stars. However, we have also seen some really good examples of fame, such as Oprah, who worked her way up to being one of the most famous people in the world.

When it comes to our thoughts around fame, we need to think: What did Oprah have to do to work through her fears surrounding fame? What did she do that enabled her to take herself and her business to the next level?

If you strive to be the number one expert in whatever it is you do and want to become an authority, then you need to work through your fears around fame. You need to work through feeling like an imposter.

I work with my clients to determine what is behind their fears of being famous. For me it was privacy. I was afraid that I would lose my anonymity, which was to do with my fear of being judged. This was my mindset block.

It is often a mindset block that causes someone to not take action and therefore sends out negative messages to the universe, holding a person back.

When it comes to taking action or not taking action consider this:

What does the world lose as a result of you not putting yourself out there?

For my husband, he has a lot to say and share with the world that people will otherwise never know about unless he launches his blog.

I encourage you to think about what is holding you back in regards to fame. Why are you not creating to share, improve and serve the world? Dig deeper and see how you can break through the blocks preventing you from putting yourself out there.

If you need help to uncover what your mindset blocks are, schedule a free consultation and let’s chat, or join me and other like-minded business owners in my Core Beliefs for Business Facebook Group.

Is overthinking sabotaging your business?

September 12, 2017

One of the biggest mindset blocks I have worked with over the years is over analyzing and over thinking. Do you overthink things to the point that it’s ad nauseam? Is overthinking sabotaging your business?

If you’re an entrepreneur you have to make decisions.

There is no one there to tell you what to do – you are the boss. You may have a business coach guiding you, but ultimately, in the end YOU need to make the decisions that matter in your business.

Making decisions on your own can be frightening, which is why we often get stuck in the over analysis part of the brain and it paralyzes us from going anywhere.

People tend to feel more powerful when they analyze.

We were taught from the moment we entered school to look at our intellect when making decisions. I am not telling you to avoid this, but you should also look at the other side of it – the side that realizes you are overthinking things.

When you need to move ahead and stop thinking about something, take the analyzer side of yourself and ask it to step aside and let the answers come up when you ask yourself a question.

What automatically comes up when you don’t think about your decision too much?

Then ask yourself what lies underneath: What are the benefits of overthinking or over analyzing? Is it to do with your fear of failure? If you think a lot about something will you avoid making a mistake? Most of the time thinking about a decision for too long won’t prevent a mistake. Instead it prevents you from making a decision that can move your business forward. It may also result in you sabotaging your business.

What is your fear around making a decision? If you want to discuss this more, book a free consultation or join my free Core Beliefs for Business Facebook Group and join the discussion about what holds many business owners back from making big decisions.

Will I lose clients over my appearance: Blocking Beliefs Around Appearance.

July 26, 2017

Blocking beliefs around appearance Is your appearance blocking your business? Do you fear you will lose clients over your appearance? I often hear people talk about their weight, smile, etc. as a reason they avoid the camera, whether that be Facebook Live, recorded video, or photos. People’s beliefs around appearance often hold them back from achieving both personal and professional goals.

What are you afraid of?

I myself have wrestled with feelings of insecurity when it comes to my appearance. Recently, I was supposed to go to my colourist about my grey hair, but she got sick. I made the appointment because I wanted to discuss incorporating my grey hair into my current colour, but when the appointment was cancelled an alarm went off. I am afraid of my hair going grey because: I am afraid people will reject me if my hair is grey. I am afraid they will think I am old.

From a personal perspective, I have a 13- and a 10-year old and I did not want to be perceived as an old mom, but truth be told, chronologically and biologically speaking, some may consider me an old mom. I had my last child at the age of 38, which is old to some people.

Professionally speaking, I started to imagine and fear that people would not want to work with me if I had grey hair because they would think I am too old. Interestingly enough, I recently had a client who was also afraid she looked too old to take her business to the next level.

When it comes to your appearance, what fears and beliefs do you have around appearance? Do you have a block around doing videos or photos? Why is that? What excuses are you using?

How to get past your appearance

Think about what is holding you back from putting yourself out there. Then look around for someone you admire who has some of the things you are struggling with. Perhaps they have grey hair or are overweight. If you’re an aging entrepreneur worried about people thinking you are old then think about someone like Martha Stewart, who didn’t start building her empire until she was in her forties.

When it comes to weight, look for someone such as Denise Duffield-Thomas, who talks openly about her weight. It’s a nonissue for her, so she makes a great mindset role model, especially if you are self-conscious about your weight.

Think about your role models and what their beliefs are around their appearance.

In the end, people will want to work with you based on what you have inside: skills, knowledge, experience, etc. This is why people are hiring you and want to work with you. If you are letting something as simple as the colour of your hair stop you from putting yourself out there and getting those long-overdue professional photos, then now is the time to de-clutter some of those old beliefs and work to accept your appearance.

If you struggle with beliefs around appearance, book a free call and let’s chat about how we can work together to break through those beliefs that are blocking you. I also encourage you to join my Core Beliefs for Business Facebook Group. It’s a group filled with encouraging entrepreneurs always looking to support and help one another.

Do you become a green-eyed monster when you see your competition?

June 16, 2017

Recently in my mastermind group, we had a discussion about becoming a green-eyed monster (also known as jealous) when we see our competition or what we perceive to be our competition.

This can happen at a networking event or when they are tagged in a job on Facebook that you feel you could do better. When this comes up it might be easy to feel you are not good enough and start to feel self-doubt.

Dig Deep & Get Clear

When this happens dig deep and think about when this happened in your life before. If you have felt threatened or jealous before it usually goes back to your childhood – in particular in grade six, seven or eight when maybe you were chosen last for a sports team, or were picked on by classmates.

Get clear on what is going on within yourself so you can be more practical. Then grab a pen and paper and write down or share with your best friend or someone you trust about what makes you unique at what you do. Your life experience makes you unique – and makes you good at what you do.

You need to really think about what you bring to the table for your clients and then focus on the end result you bring your clients.

Practice

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, he talks about modern phenomenon, such as Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods, and reminds us of how much practice these “best in their fields” had to get to the top of their sport.

With that in mind, think about how many hours you have put into your business and your expertise, and then practice how you can communicate your experience to people.

If you want to talk more about how the green-eyed monster may be affecting you, connect with me and let me share my expertise with you. You can also join my private Facebook Group for entrepreneurs and business owners by clicking here.

3 Money Mindset Practices Learned From Rich Money Mentors

May 18, 2017

3 Money Mindset Practices Learned From Rich Money Mentors Money Mindset is a topic I am talking a lot about this week, especially as I start to lead my mindset group program.

In the past, I worked with my own money mindset because I was constantly making financial decisions based on fear. I made some pretty bad decisions in the past based on my money mindset, so eventually I recognized that I needed to do some work on it.

Why you need to work on your money mindset

Money mindset can cause you problems in taking your business to the next level, as well as cause problems in your personal life.

Money Mindset in business

In business, this could mean not charging your worth or not charging at all for your time. Also, you may not want to take risks or invest in something that may actually help grow your business. This could mean having fear around hiring a virtual assistant, outsourcing or even hiring a business coach—even if your know you should be doing these things, you won’t because of your money mindset. So, instead of growing you will stay at a certain level of income and never grow—even though you want to.

I overcame this by working on my money mindset by taking a course on it, then hiring a business coach and then starting to outsource some of my business tasks. This was a big mindset shift for me surrounding my business.

Money Mindset in your personal life

In personal life, your relationship with money can demonstrate how you treat yourself. For example, I had the same pair of inexpensive jeans from the time my daughter was born until just a few days ago–my daughter is now 13. That’s 13 years wearing the same pair of inexpensive jeans. I never wanted to spend the money on my own clothes. I would spend it on my kids, but not on myself—even though I could have used a new pair.

So, how can you start to shift your money mindset? A part of shifting my mindset was investing in the knowledge of money mentors such as Denise Suffield-Thomas and Barbara Stanny. Here is what I learned:

Track all incoming money, whatever form it comes in

From Denise Suffield-Thomas I learned to track all my incoming money, whatever form it comes in–every single cent is on a spreadsheet. The philosophy behind this is the sense of abundance you can get by realizing you have more than you think.

Educate yourself about money

Barbara Stanny believes that anyone intimidated by money should start educating himself or herself on it, whether that be by reading the Wall Street Journal or reading an investment book. Learning about money can make you feel more powerful around money.

Look at your money beliefs

Lastly, I believe you need to look at your money beliefs. If you don’t buy something because you believe you cannot afford it – why is that? Think about what prevents you from investing in your business or buying those new pair of jeans even though you could use them.

Look at your money mindset practices and work on what you need to do to take your business (and your personal life) to the next level. For more information on breaking through your money blocking beliefs, let’s set up a free time to chat and see if I can help.

And if you haven’t done so already, make sure to join my private, Core Beliefs for Business, Facebook Group. A group solely focused on mindset for entrepreneurs and business owners.