Are you great at dreaming, but get stuck in a rut of fear when it comes to the action part of either looking for a job that reflects your values, or starting your own business?
Work takes up the majority of our time only second to the amount of time we spend asleep. If you are spending your valuable time going to a job you hate, and waiting for your day to be over, you are wishing your life away. Your life doesn’t begin on your way back home from work. Do you want to look back and see that you had a career, or that you had a life where your “occupation” was living and working at something you valued, something of which you can feel proud.
There are two distinctly different roads that you can take when embarking on the decision about work. Either you can find some job where another person will hire you, OR you can find out what you love to do, your passion if you will, and find someone who will pay you to do it!
No two people have the identical viewpoint and beliefs. We each have our own unique contribution to make that can potentially improve the world in some way, be it large or small. You may not have thought of this before, but that is your life’s mission, purpose or destination. When you understand your values and live them in your daily life, and your work, you are in alignment. In some ways, it might be helpful to think of living in integrity at work on in your own business as your responsibility to yourself and to the world!
“Whether you think you can,
or your think you can’t your are right”
or your think you can’t your are right”
Henry Ford
Many people have a great idea about what kind of business they want to have. The best business ideas are ones that come from your past experiences. As you were growing up, and perhaps in the early part of your life, you had interests that pursued. You learned about these because they excited you. This can become your conscious business, where you are living your values. This is the most important part of the formula: A GOAL.
However, if you are blocked by insecurities and fear of not truly believing in your own worth, talent, or ability, it’s unlikely you’ll ever make your potential dream come true. It’s like giving up the journey before you have really made much headway on your path. It’s time to stop listening to other people who don’t believe in their own gifts and desires, and don’t want YOU to succeed. It’s important to focus on the excitement you feel when talking about your inner passion. Remind yourself of other accomplishments, no matter how small, where you have achieved your goal. Everyone has to start somewhere, so start slowly, recognize your growth along the way and realize it’s all about one step at a time to reach your goal.
You can’t get to home plate
if you won’t take your foot off first base!
if you won’t take your foot off first base!
Self-fulfilling prophecies are a fact of life. We are only limited by what we believe ourselves to be capable of achieving. Our thoughts and memories are filled by the messages we’ve received from our parents, friends and our life experiences. However, even the most horrific upbringing has not limited the achievement of individuals who believes in themselves. There are so many unknown resilient people who just seem to be able to see any roadblock as a mere detour, an opportunity to take another trail or go “off road” that may end up being a short-cut or an even better route to their destination.
What would you attempt
if you knew you couldn’t possibly fail?
if you knew you couldn’t possibly fail?
Only when you are clear of what your goal is, will you have a much chance of attaining it! Making a detailed plan of action will help give you the confidence to follow your dream. If you do what other successful people do in your field, you will succeed. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
It’s important to have a support system. Perhaps you have a friend or relative who believes in you. If you don’t have people presently in your life to fulfill this role, it’s time to search out new networks. There are many groups of entrepreneurs, classes, meet-up groups, and so many places where you can connect with like-minded people with whom you can form an alliance of support. It’s also great to schedule meetings to make sure you are doing the action necessary so that you don’t just get together to have “wish” sessions!
Learn about the power of positive self-talk and affirmations. So much of what we say to ourselves is self-sabotaging. Who needs negative friends and relatives when you do that job for yourself!
Remember affirmations must be said in the POSITIVE, present tense WITH EMOTIONAL feeling. You can’t say you’re “not going to”, because that leaves a vacuum. What are you going to do with that time instead of “not”.
Keep a journal that shows your progress. What you put your attention to grows in strength. As you get emotionally stronger, so do your thoughts to support your feelings. It is an actual feedback loop. If you are not feeling confident, ACT like you do, and you will become confident. This is what the research shows.
Keep motivational quotes and pictures around you, and move them frequently so they don’t become habitual and you don’t “see them” anymore. If you can write a quote and remember it specifically with an accomplishment, it has tremendous power to inspire you and keep you in action.
If you fall off your horse, get back on again! We learn much better from our failures than our successes. Furthermore, when it was difficult to attain a goal, it gives you so much more self-confidence because it was something you truly earned!
Don’t expect that this is going to be accomplished overnight. It took you a long time to develop get where you are now. Why would you assume you can change these set behaviors over night? Developing patience, and earning a new pattern that serves you better is the first understanding you must believe.
How Do You Eat An Elephant?
One Bite At A Time!
One Bite At A Time!
If you have worked hard to achieve a goal, that attainment means a lot more to you than some thing that comes easy. You will then be able to focus on YOUR responsibility in achieving that goal, know that YOU have done this through hard work and commitment. It increases your self-esteem, WHEN you pay attention to what you have accomplished, and take credit for the hard work.
Dreaming is only wishing until you put it into action. Creating the life of your dreams can only be done by one person: YOU. Don’t waste your life living someone else’s dream!
For tips about how to have a conscious business read my tips along with 39 co-authors in our upcoming book: Align, Expand and Succeed. It will be released in Fall of 2010.
