Volume#1 / Issue #3Greetings... This month's featured article focuses on the power of beliefs. Are you tired of struggling with your business everyday? Do you sometimes get to the end of your day and wonder if you did anything to move your business forward? These are common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs every day. I help them eliminate the struggle. I work with them to take control and run their business - instead of letting the business run them. If you are tired of the struggle and not reaching your potential - I invite you to call me for a FREE, no-obligation sample session. The sample session will NOT be a sales pitch - it will be an active coaching session working on your goals.
Understand the Incredible Power of Beliefs! What are beliefs? It is our beliefs that create our experiences,
and most of our beliefs have been programmed into us by others or without
us ever consciously choosing them. What’s up with that? Resistance shows up as feedback to let
me know If you are serious about making real, lasting improvements in your business or life, a great place to start is with examining your beliefs. There are many types of beliefs: Limiting Beliefs: These are beliefs we have about ourselves. Perhaps you’ve said one or all of these things to yourself: “I can’t, I’m not smart enough, I'm not good enough, I never will, that’s just how I am.” These are beliefs we have that build imaginary, artificial boundaries that limit us. Here’s an example of a Limiting Belief one that I personally struggle with: I am disorganized. When I focus on that belief, guess what my results are? Blocker Beliefs or Judgments: These are beliefs we hold about others: “He’s such a jerk, My boss is an idiot, she thinks she’s better than me, My kid just doesn’t care.” These beliefs keep us blocked or disconnected in our relationships. They build walls between us and the people we care about. Here's an example of a Blocker Belief that I held: If I honestly shared what was on my mind, my wife just wouldn’t understand. I made the assumption that she’d judge me negatively. After some encouragement by my coach I was able to share my truth with my wife. To my surprise, nothing I expected happened! I was extremely well received and our discussion was helpful to both of us. I was blocking the very result I sought by holding onto that belief. Survival Beliefs: These beliefs have us living from a place of fear, doubt, insecurity, anxiety and lack. The survival belief whispers to us: “There’s not enough to go around, you must look out for Number One, I don’t deserve that, I know what’s right and what’s wrong, bad people have money, good people are (the noble) poor.” Here's an example of a Survivor Belief is: A client of mine, who I'll call Ryan, secretly believed if tried to grow his business, he’d lose the FREEDOM that was his core desire. He believed he’d have to give up much of his free time and work more to boost sales. Therefore he’d have less time for his core desire - freedom to pursue personal pleasures. Ryan had set up a lose-lose situation for himself. Until he was willing and able to uncover then challenge this limiting belief he wasn’t going to get the outcome he desired. Armed with new beliefs, Ryan's business was able to grow and he was able to make generous amounts of money without sacrificing his free time. Why Should You Question Old Beliefs You Say? Because they are Old Beliefs! I recall my frustration with resistance I’ve encountered…at times it felt like I was attempting to climb a mountain of sheer rock. I would seek out handholds and footholds only to get partway up and realize I couldn’t find anything else to grab onto to continue to what I believed was my ultimate goal. Once I uncovered the conflicting belief that was unconsciously blocking me from attaining my goal I was able to make the climb to the top. With my limiting beliefs out in the open, I discovered I didn't need to struggle up this sheer rock face after all - there was actually a much gentler pathway to my goal. It is very difficult to identify your limiting beliefs by yourself. With the help of a coach, I was able to uncover what it was I really wanted, and what was holding me back. This allowed me to stride forward in my life at a remarkable pace. Remember what I said before…. Resistance showed up to let me know that I had a belief that was in conflict with what I wanted. What beliefs do you want to take a look at? Most of what we believe is not on the conscious level, that is why it is sometimes difficult to identify. In order to change beliefs that are not serving us we must first bring them into our conscious awareness. Here's another example of limiting beliefs at work: When I started out 25 years ago in my own business I held a limiting belief. My limiting belief was: “I’m not a good manager of people.” Every time I set out to grow my business I would self-sabotage. A coach invited me to challenge that belief with this scenario: “If I was a good people manager, what would that be like?” (New belief) I began to list the attributes effective people managers have. Then, I wrote down what the people working for those managers acted like. Almost immediately I was able to see an entirely different picture. I was able to focus on the solution and not the problem. I made changes in my actions and reactions with my employees, and saw tremendous results, right away! Once I truly accepted this new empowering belief, (That I could be a good manager) my business's annual sales soared from $350,000 per year to one million in a matter of just 3 months. Limiting beliefs keep us from reaching our true potential. What is your TRUE potential? What limiting beliefs are holding you back? If you want help uncovering your limiting beliefs and making lasting change - I can help - click here to get more information. If you want to learn more here are some great resources: ....coming next issue: The Power of Perseverance "Our beliefs, accumulated over a lifetime, often get in the way of our possibilities." Bobbie R. Stevens, PhD "We dont' see things as they are we see them as we are ." Anais Nin "We don't live in a world of reality. We live in a world of perceptions." Gerald J. Simmons "Most folks don't know what they want, but their pretty sure they don't have it." Alfred E. Newman When Sales Drop - Don't React, Respond Instead!When you own a small business your cause and effect cycle is short. The effects of a drop in sales can be devastating in very short order. What is your initial response when you loose an account or when sales dip? I know what mine used to be! "Oh no, we need to get more sales quick!" My knee jerk response was to attempt to replace the sales ASAP. Fortunately, I learned a much better solution to keep your company in the green. I learned you need to examine your bottom line first. For example, let's say you are in a 10% margin business. That means that for every dollar you make in sales you keep 10 cents. When you loose a client whose gross sales are $100,000 the contribution that account makes to your bottom line is $10,000. The flip side, and most often overlooked, part of the equation is -- for every dollar you save in your cost of doing business - 100% goes directly to your bottom line. That's right - 100% of every dollar saved goes directly to your bottom line profit! Armed with that valuable information - if you find a way to cut $10,000 from your costs - you WILL survive and have time to find profitable new business. You will be out of a place of desperation, which often results in accepting bad business, and you will have the time to close on profitable new business. I don’t know about you but 100% return on my money is the kind of return I like to see. What is really more valuable to your business, 10 cents or the whole dollar? Cause & Effect... with Your Desired Results People or businesses that fail to achieve their desired results fail because they consciously or unconsciously intend to fail. What did you say? You read it correctly - they fail because they consciously or unconsciously intend to! Their point of focus is on what they don’t want instead of on what they do want. Here's an example: have you ever seen a sporting event or game where one team clearly looks like they are going to win the game? Then they begin to play not to loose - and ultimately loose the game. The reason is because they switched their focus to what they didn't want (to loose) instead of what they did want (to win) and they lost the game as a result. In business, and in life for that matter, when we focus on what it is that we don't want, instead of what we do want, guess what shows up? Free Resources Check out my Free Resources page for the latest tools, tips and articles from Winning the Game of Business. About Steve Steve Kennedy
is a personal coach specializing in working with entrepreneurs. Copyright (c)
2005, all rights reserved. You may copy, forward or distribute Tools for
WINNING The Game Newsletter provided the copyright notice and full information
for contacting Steve Kennedy are included.
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