“Believe in what you want so much that is has no choice but to materialise.” This quote by Karen Salmansohn, best-selling self-help author, is so poignant when it comes to women in business that it inspires me on a daily basis, especially with my own business.
This begs the question then, can you manifest, through your thoughts and deeds, the business of your dreams? Well, there is much evidence to suggest that you can.
I could list a string of successful names here but a few should illustrate my argument. Oprah Winfrey one of the most famous, wealthiest business women in the world, is a rags to riches story that has a strong Law of Attraction foundation. Oprah is a big advocate of The Secret and manifestation, promoting it and associated authors on her show for years. She says: “Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.”
Andrew Carnegie, industrialist and philanthropist, a captain of industry that amassed a fortune and then gave most of it away, endowing thousands of public libraries and multiple universities. Total charitable spending: the equivalent of today’s $78.6 billion said: “I am no longer cursed by poverty because I took possession of my own mind and that mind has yielded me every material thing I want, and much more than I need. But this power of mind is a universal one, available to the humblest person as it is to the greatest.”
So how can you apply this to your business? Well Michael Goldberg of StartupNation states that you can use the Law of Attraction to achieve anything you desire, including your goals for your business, in 5 simple steps.
The first, he says, is to acknowledge that you can in fact manifest success. You must believe it; and then activate your thoughts, beliefs and visualizations, as our dominant thoughts are incredibly powerful and help to create our reality.
Next, you need to write down your plan. Write down what you want and what you desire. Be specific and write down the steps you’re going to take to achieve it. Come up with the best plan you can, then start “doing”. You can tweak your plan as you go along, but getting it out of your head and down on paper is a major first step!
The third step is to “know that you have the power to shape your life” or in other words don’t blame others and instead take responsibility for your own life. Know that you have the ultimate power to control what you do, where you go, how you react and so on; and then follow up this belief in mind with actual deeds.
Next he says you need to expect some bumps in the road, learn from them, and when you fall, dust yourself off and get back up. He quotes Thomas Edison at this point who famously said “Many of life’s failures are men who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.”
And lastly, the fifth step is to use life events to your advantage and he says here… “Think of events as your personal curriculum for manifesting your destiny.”
So it would seem that in business too, if you believe in what you want, really believe, and then put the practices in place to back up your belief, if may actually have no choice but to materialise.
As Albert Einstein famously said: “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
Written by Violet Erdil, CEO Bright Small Business Solutions & Co-Founder Business Success for Women Program | Monday December 18th, 2017
It would seem that as we get older we have a lot to look forward to as women, especially within the world of business. We gain a better understanding of who we are and what we want, and what we’re willing to do to get it. This goes for all aspects of our lives, including our relationships, our careers and our goals. It’s no great surprise then, that according to Inside Small Business, Australian women over 35 are showing the greatest start-up and SME potential.
Sarah Miller of Business, Business, Business reports that “…more and more female entrepreneurs are making and breaking ground throughout the world. Attitudes towards typical gender roles are changing, and this spells hope for the future and a more diverse and thriving marketplace for women…”
So, even though Australia slipped to 46th out of 144 countries in the ranking of gender equality in the World Economic Forum report this year,
it would seem that we are still managing to close the gender gap when it comes to business.
This of course is not completely due to women over 35 as many younger women are moving into leadership roles, starting successful businesses and contributing greatly to the overall success of women in business. However, the dominant trend at the moment shows older women taking the business “bull” by the horns.
Jane Caro’s delightful article “Business needs to start recognising the worth of older women” argues that older women should be credited for much business success – both as business leaders and owners and consumers. Not to mention that we are often great “protectors of younger women” when it comes to business.
Caro points out that women in their 50’s are really the first generation in history to have earned their own money for most of their lives. And says that older women “…have real economic clout”.
Analysis has been conducted recently pointing to the fact that the biggest wealth transfer in history is about to happen, and most of it will go to older women. Their parents are dying and leaving them money. Their husbands generally die before they do leaving them money, or, he has to split his assets as part of the divorce settlement. Add their own earnings to that and Caro says that “…cashed-up older women are not just a force of nature but a force business needs to reckon with.”
So, it could be argued that women over 35 and beyond, are better equipped… physically, emotionally, and financially for business. We’re showing more potential, have more opportunities and therefore possibilities. So all that’s left to be done ladies, is to hold on to the horns of that business “bull” tightly, and ride it all the way to success!
Written by Violet Erdil, CEO Bright Small Business Solutions & Co-Founder Business Success for Women Program | Monday December 18th, 2017
Does self-worth equal net-worth? And particularly where women are concerned? Well according to Suze Orman (U.S. Personal Finance Guru) it most certainly does.
Self-worth is defined as “the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person; self-esteem; self-respect and self-confidence”.
Whereas net-worth is defined as “the total assets of a business (or individual) minus their total liabilities.”
So where is the correlation? Well for women in particular we seem to be very good at devaluing both ourselves and what we have to offer. The reasons we do this vary, but the outcome is usually the same.
When we devalue ourselves this mantra gets syphoned down into our businesses where we then devalue what we do or what we offer. As a result, this directly effects what we charge and how we price. We become “on sale” and discount our prices, we over-deliver, or we hesitate to chase up payment. This means our businesses aren’t as successful and we make less money, all the while making us feel worse about ourselves. And so the vicious cycle continues.
So why do we do this? Well Sylvia Chierchia from Money Made Beautiful discusses how women constantly question… “Am I good enough? Do I know enough? Can I charge that much? Should I offer more?” Couple these feelings with the “uncomfortableness” many of us suffer when it comes to having the “money conversation” and it all becomes a recipe for our own disaster.
So how should we combat this? Well, there’s a few ways. Firstly we need to look internally and challenge ourselves to question our inner critic. Sylvia Chiechia says… “That voice in your head that says mean things to you… come to realise that none of these thoughts are true. AT ALL! The only thing it does, if you let it, is limit your happiness, your drive, your tenacity and ultimately your income. These thoughts don’t serve you, so let them go.”
Suze Overman suggests there are 3 simple ways to boost your self-worth and says these are:
- Do it the hard way
Instead of avoiding tough tasks and challenges, meet them head on. Even when you’re not 100 per cent sure as to what the outcome will be. Remember the last time you learnt a new skill, or beat your personal best at the gym? This is similar – broadly, it’s called task-based learning. This particular strategy can also have direct financial impacts.
- Break down long term goals and celebrate the milestones
Many life goals, including financial ones, can seem impossible at the outset. Many people feel down when they can’t see the end in sight. That’s why it’s important to break long term goals down and allow yourself to feel good about achieving the smaller goals. Always remember, a big victory is made up of many smaller wins.
- Learn to accept compliments
As children, we’re taught to be modest and humble about our achievements. Unfortunately, as adults, this means some people are particularly bad at accepting compliments. They brush them off, or try to direct the attention elsewhere. Subconsciously though, this means they’re not giving themselves due credit. Which is an important building block of self-worth.
The chances are you’re already doing great things, you just haven’t allowed yourself to acknowledge them. If you start being conscious of these three simple ways to boost your self-worth you will be on your way to increasing your net worth. Always plan and invest wisely in yourself and remember, people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.
On that last note then, planning for yourself and your business is a key concept that women are inherently good at, yet don’t do nearly as often as we should. Ever found yourself thinking “do as I say not as I do?”
If you have a plan, a system, a strategy, then failing becomes less likely and the confidence in what you want, will grow.
So if we can follow these steps, challenge our inner critic, and seek a plan and a strategy for what we want to achieve, we should be well on our way to not only greater self-worth, but in turn, greater net-worth!
Written by Violet Erdil, CEO Bright Small Business Solutions & Co-Founder Business Success for Women Program | Monday December 18th, 2017
