Taking the Leap into Entrepreneurship

In our last post we talked about the good, bad and ugly aspects of entrepreneurship and if you are anything like me that did not sway your decision to go for it.

As I sit here to write this post and prepare for the podcast I am inundated with all the other tasks I need to get done today, next week and even this month, my brain is flooded with "to do's". So if that is you also take a second to focus and make a list move distractions or whatever you need to do to focus on the task at hand, for me it is simply moving my notebook that I wrote all my tasks in for more space. Prepare yourself for a wild adventurous ride so buckle up.

The first and most important thing to remember and remind yourself of often is DO NOT take yourself so seriously that you miss out on ride. Don't take yourself too seriously, you are human you will make dumb mistakes that are worthy of being laughed at. Laugh at yourself often! I have seen a Facebook post floating around for a while now that says something to the effect of "if you see me talking to myself, don't interrupt. I'm self employed and having a staff meeting" (author unknown). I find myself thinking out loud a lot and I do get funny looks sometimes but I really don't care as long as I am getting things done. I talk to myself, make silly comments and forget things all the time, none of these things are worthy of getting angry, frustrated or embarrassed over I just laugh them off because I know to others I look or sound silly. So above all be able to laugh at yourself...often.

The second thing to do is to get yourself focused, I don't mean center yourself type of focus, although that is a good thing to do on a daily basis, I mean focus on a specific area of business. When I decided that I really wanted to take the years of helping people for free ant turn that into a business, I needed to think about what areas did I help, what did I do that made a difference. I really had to focus things down to areas that I know I was good at. So when I first started It was just life coaching, then I added leadership training and life skills, finally I added start-up and management consulting. I slowly added as I realized that I had valuable experience in these areas an I knew that I could give effective advice that could help people. I originally had a list of about eight services that I could do but I was unfocused and felt like I was only knowledgeable about some of them there was not an expertise that was confident in. So with some refocusing and advice from my business coach, I decided to focus on areas I had expertise in and life coaching became personal development in order to appeal to a wider audience. So get yourself focused, if you need a coach I am here and have made it really easy to schedule an appointment.

Other than not taking yourself so seriously reading books is at the top of my importance list. I read at least 1-2 books a month, well I may actually read one but I listen to them as well. I drive a lot so I utilize my time by using Audible (you can try it for free) and listening to many of my books. I have a list of favorites and you may see a pattern with some of the authors I like to listen to. You will find all of my favorite books on the "Recommendation" page. For now I will give you three books to start with that helped me tremendously not only change the way I was thinking (narrow minded) but also really enhance the skills and build my confidence. My absolute favorite is the 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins, she takes a scientific yet very practical approach to kicking yourself in the butt, she has helped me in so many areas. On a side note she has a show coming out in Sept, check your local listings for that one. The other hugely impacting book was Start with Why by Simon Sinek, he really helps you think about your specific why and how to relay that in order to impact people. I have changed the way I describe my business because of what I learned and I can see the difference in the way people respond to us since making the change, we make a bigger impact now. If you are planning any growth where you will need to lead others another favorite is 5 Levels of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. The principals he gives are practical and easy to imitate even if you are new to the leadership role. Because you are a business owner people will automatically look at you as a leader, embrace it. There are many other books I recommend to my clients but here is a great place to start and I will share more as we go through this series.

Now that you have made your decision to go for it and embark on the entrepreneurial journey I am here to answer your questions, encourage you and give you all the help I can in order to help you become the success you want to be. Over the next few weeks we will address other start up practicals such as your business plan, marketing and even your launch. Be sure to listen to the accompanying podcast and subscribe so you know when we release a new episodes. You can listen on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic and Breaker.

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