When I worked in the banking world (seems like a lifetime ago!) everything was pretty much decided for me. I had a boss who told me when to come in, how long I needed to be there, what to do when I was there, what my deadlines and goals were and overall what was expected of me. I also had colleagues who not only had certain expectations of me, but who also supported me and had my back. There was a team of support all around me and every supply I could ever want was normally always at hand.
Once Brian and I started our own business, we were our own bosses!
Ahhhh….FREEDOM! We got to make your own schedule, do things during the day we couldn’t when we worked for someone else, no one telling us what to do, how much to do and when to do it. We were the “master of our fate”.
Riggghhht!
That was great for a little while, but soon we realized we REALLY are the masters of our own fate. We were all set to do our “purposeful work”, our passion – but who was going to do all that other stuff that I was used to having departments of people to do for me?
Who was going to do the marketing, the sales, the printing, the scheduling, the website, the event planning? Who was going to keep us accountable, create the deadlines and challenge us to grow and expand and stretch?
That’s when we recognized that we had a little too much “freedom” and not a lot of structure and we needed to make a big shift into an “Entrepreneur Mindset”. We
realized if we didn’t create our own support and accountability, our business wasn’t going to be around for very long and I would be heading straight back to the bank… to work… not to deposit lots of money! :)
Shifting into the Entrepreneurial Mindset can make a huge difference in your business and create the groundwork for a solid, profitable foundation.
So here are some ways that you can start moving into this new way of thinking for yourself and make sure you are creating an environment you and your business can thrive in.
1 – Give Yourself a Schedule – Get a calendar and map out your business hours. Not only that, but get specific – when will you work with clients, when will you network, when will you work on marketing, track your finances, reach out to prospects and do your follow-up?
These hours can still be the hours you want to work, but you do need to schedule them and be very clear about your boundaries around them.
2 – Find the Right Administrative & Technical Support – Once you start mapping out your calendar, you will probably start seeing that you don’t really have time to do ALL of these things, nor will you want to! We all need to be joyfully working in our own brilliance! Start looking at these tasks and figuring out which ones you really have to do yourself and which ones you can start getting support around.
Find someone (or several people) who know what they are doing and are able to take the work load off your plate (remember it’s about making it easier for you , not more difficult). Then schedule the time on your calendar to find your new Virtual Assistant or other support.
3 – Find the Right Mentorship – As much as you need support in the more administrative and technical areas, finding someone to help you with building your business and supporting your mindset is absolutely crucial! We are all too close to our own businesses to truly see what the next right steps are (or even where to start), to be accountable for those steps and to stretch ourselves into our own greatness.
The right mentor will support you not only in the structure, strategies and processes, but also help you keep a positive perspective, to have faith in yourself and stay on t rack with your goals and intentions for your business and your life. It’s also important that your mentor is farther down the path (that you want to travel) so they can show you the way toward your success.
Paige Stapleton, Lead Coach and Director of Client Development
Call to Action
Do you have an entrepreneurial mindset? I invite you to check in and make sure you are creating a business environment that sets you up for success. Look over these three areas and make sure you are giving yourself and your business the kind of support you need – by stepping into the Entrepreneurial Mindset!
For, as Henley says in his stunning poem “Invictus”, you truly are the master of your fate and the captain of your soul!
