As much as you may want to experience and enjoy the freedoms that come with being a business owner, there’s one thing that might be stopping you: perhaps you haven’t fully stepped into your entrepreneur “spotlight” yet. What do I mean by the entrepreneur spotlight? Being in the entrepreneur spotlight is about two things:
1-seeing yourself as a successful entrepreneur (mindset), and
2-acting as a successful entrepreneur (business-building activities)
Let’s examine these ingredients for stepping into your entrepreneur spotlight a bit more, and see how you can start owning your brilliance as a business owner.
SEE YOURSELF AS A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR.
Often, your beliefs and self-image may be to blame for not recognizing how amazingly talented you already are. You may already own a business, but you’re not yet believing that you can be successful at it. This is all about the negative messaging going on in your mind. You’ve probably heard the saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it”, and perhaps this is something that you have come to accept as well. Are you waiting for the results to show up BEFORE you believe that your business will be a success? If so, I’d like to stretch your thinking a bit, and challenge you to begin affirming, “I’ll see it when I believe it”. In other words, when you actually BELIEVE that you can be a successful entrepreneur, new ideas and opportunities will start presenting themselves to you. The resources and connections are already in your life, waiting for you to be energetically aligned with them. See yourself as a successful entrepreneur first, and then watch what starts to happen. You’ll amaze yourself!
ACT AS A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR.
Believing, affirming and visualizing are super important, but a positive mindset must work alongside specific business-building activities that will move you forward. This is about taking ACTION. There may be specific actions that are unique to your particular business, but generally-speaking, there are certain things that can definitely help an entrepreneur to succeed:
• Finding a mentor/coach to work with that shares your beliefs, as well as the results that you want in your business
• Regularly look for opportunities to connect with new people (ex-networking events)
• Learn how to describe what you do, clearly and effectively
• Be persistent; don’t be afraid to try new things
• Stay consistent by doing something each day to build your business
Sometimes, entrepreneurs trip themselves up by focusing too much on one of these areas, while avoiding the other. Mindset and business-building (aka “marketing”) must work hand-in-hand. Thinking of yourself as successful without consistently doing the necessary work to get there probably means that there are some fears present that are preventing you from doing what you know you need to be doing in your business. On the other hand, burning the midnight oil and toiling away at your business (almost obsessively!) without doing the necessary mindset work will leave you feeling out of balance, frustrated and resentful. When you bring both of these elements together, however, the wheels will start turning in your business, and you’ll not only step into your entrepreneur spot light… you’ll OWN it!