Tag: mindset

Thriving in the Midst of the Coronavirus

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coronavirus

The coronavirus has and continues to be a destructive force for small business owners and entrepreneurs. It’s scary and devastating what is happening all over the country and all over the world.

But through this I have learned it’s not time to shrink back. It’s time to double down and re-strategize and get yourself out there in new ways. It’s time to take advantage of the power of the Internet and think outside of the box.

You may be–and I don’t blame you–extremely stressed and depressed and even might be wanting to throw in the towel.

Before you do, consider these 15 questions:

 

  1. What is your life and business about? Living a great life or loving a great God? (From Freedom From Emotional Eating by Barb Raveling)
  2. Why did you get into business in the first place?
  3. Do you need to pull back and rebuild?
  4. What is working? What is not working?
  5. What is God trying to teach you through this difficult time?
  6. Where is He in the midst of it and what is He saying to you?
  7. Do you have a strategic marketing plan or are you just throwing promotions at the wall, hoping they will stick?
  8. Are you communicating your value to your target market?
  9. Do you even HAVE a target market?
  10. Do you need to gain more skills or knowledge?
  11. Is fear holding you back?
  12. Do you believe that what you have to offer has value? Is there a feeling that you do not have value so is this self-doubt sabotaging your efforts?
  13. Do you have clear branding?
  14. Do you need help? Are you trying to carry the load all by yourself?
  15. What is God calling you to do?
  16. What is the next action step that you can do?

 

So when you are in that lonely place as a business owner—of crushing defeat which leads you to want to give up—truly contemplate the answers to these questions. You might just find that taking action on some of these questions will be just the thing you need to get off that treadmill of hopelessness caused by little progress and this coronavirus situation.

 

Photo by Adobe Stock.

Building a Brand–It’s All About Mindset

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dreamstimefree_168262Let me be brutally honest here. I’ve been hiding under my covers all day, running from my responsibilities as a brand expert.

You see, sometimes I get scared. I have huge dreams, and they seem impossible.

Because after all, who am I to achieve these lofty ideas? How am I even remotely worthy?

These are the voices that coaxed me all day, to convince me that I can’t succeed. That if I did succeed, then what? It’s the little voice that tells me the big lie: “you are just a fat housewife. No one wants to listen to you.”

But then I hear my nephew, now my apprentice, talking to a friend on the phone. “God loves you, man,” he says. “no matter what you do.”

Even if I hide behind a novel all day long?

Yes! I know in a heartbeat that this message said for his desperate friend is also for me. It puts new life in me, a new determination.

You see, a few months ago, I received a blow. My world was shattered and it forced me to reevaluate everything about my life and business. I took a sabbatical from work so I could concentrate on my marriage and my husband’s business.

In many ways, this revelation was a relief to me. In all candor, I am not where I want to be. I am not, in life, where I expected myself to me. Something has always held me back. I kept circling down toward the answer, like peeling off the layer of an onion.

And at the bottom of it all, I found out it wasn’t really me. It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t even my mindset that held me back ultimately, although that was part of it.

But, looking back, I am not where I was. So much growth has taken place. I am not the same person. My marriage is stronger. I am stronger. My business will be stronger and because of what I went through, I will be able to help more people in more profound ways.

The challenges seem like I have to move mountains. Frankly, I didn’t have the energy for that today. I wanted a day of escape. I didn’t want to think of the multitude of mounting problems that face me.

Yet, as the challenges are daunting, the opportunities are vast. So much I have learned. I have come so far. Even so far as to be bold and speak about what I do in an atmosphere I once would have found intimidating.

I spoke about it with passion and ease, just explaining how I helped women launch their businesses through remote coaching.

As I described my programs and what I do, doors started opening before me I never thought possible. I found that I was wanted. I had something valuable and powerful that could not only build my business, but deeply touch the lives of many women all over the world.

I don’t know how this opportunity is going to turn out. I have shrunk today in my own little escapist world by reading an historical novel. But tomorrow I must get back in the fray, caught between the juxtaposition of reaching for a pinnacle of success and wading through a ton of irritating hurdles to get there. Caught between the juxtaposition of fear of failure and fear of success.

One thing I know as I finished my book tonight, disappointed in the ending, in the lack of growth in the main character–I want to meet these challenges with boldness, confidence, grace, and strength. I want this experience to grow me, my business, and help others grow in the process.

Because building a brand takes confidence. Not just in yourself. It takes faith. Faith to move a mustard seed. To move a mountain. And that takes faith in God.

Little Teddy