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In working on a daily basis with women in business, I am reminded how easy it is to be overwhelmed with the "fear of success." Yes, fear of success is more of an obstacle placed upon a woman's shoulders than actual failure. If a woman opens the door of her new business with limited funding, hectic family schedules, child care issues, etc., and she fails, the average person looking into her life is sympathetic and understanding when she throws in the towel and closes shop. However, if a woman overcomes obstacles to succeed and begins to reap the benefits of her efforts, she becomes somewhat of a threat to those who tried to convince her it is "selfish to live your dream!"
Be careful to plan for your success from the minute you decide to live your dream. Never absorb negative input from anyone who does not believe or support your vision. Those who tell a visionary what to see, suggest she stay in her 8-5 dead-end job or to be sensible, are those who rely on security in their lives and are terrified to take a leap of faith. These type of people do not see through the eyes of a business owner and you will never be able to convince them otherwise.
Initially, you might find it hard to approach your business with positive affirmation as we are all only human and rely upon voices from the past as guides to how we approach things. However, when you were a child, you thought as a child. Today, as a responsible business owner, you must think with the wisdom of a woman. You must believe in this basic key to success. Begin joining women in business networking groups and surround yourself with like minds. Feed off the energy of women who do not accept no for an answer. Like fuel is to a car, a positive mind is to a growing business venture. Begin exercising your mind by setting goals for yourself and your business simultaneously. For example, meet a new business woman every week. Share your vision with new business associates in order to increase your personal abilities and rejuvenate hope on a daily basis. Visualize yourself surrounded by successful women in business. Imagine meeting women in business who find you and your business interesting and successful. These are the people who will help you turn a dream into reality.
One way I am able to continually push forward is to write down every single success I have during the day in a journal. At the end of the week I review the journal to proclaim success and congratulate myself on how much further ahead I am since I started my week. Appreciate when you find a mistake has been made. Life is a mess full of mistakes in the first place but as long as you learn from your mistake, you are a success. The only way to have your dream fail is to completely give up. Even if you started a small business, and later decided to "throw in the towel," you are a success. How? Well, simply in making a decision to close shop is knowledge. Knowledge enables a person to make business decisions based on educated decision making. That one success enables you to remove ignorance as an excuse for not succeeding in your vision. As long as you tell yourself you can't do something because you do not have the knowledge necessary to reach the goal, you are using ignorance as an excuse ...and that ignorance is a negative way for you to never run out of excuses.
So, this is where you are right now: You are what you think you are. Your only obstacle is your own self-image. You have the potential. You can succeed, and, there is "No Such Thing as Failure"
To your success,
Deb Nyberg
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