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Summary: You can do, be and have, anything you want. As long as
you get started. Take baby steps: one tiny step after another,
even when you have no real idea of how you're going to get to
your destination, beyond the next step.
Category: Small Business
Words: 950
Baby Steps To Business Success
Copyright © 2003 by Angela Booth
You can do, be and have, anything you want. As long as you get
started. Take baby steps: one tiny step after another, even when
you have no real idea of how you're going to get to your
destination, beyond the next step.
Taking baby steps involves faith, but faith isn't something you
have. It's something you do. Meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg
says: "faith is about realizing that we don't have to be defined
by the circumstances we find ourselves in. It's seeing that our
lives are a lot bigger, filled with far more potential than we
usually imagine… we can step into the unknown and make a new
beginning." (From the article "Finding the Connection" in The
Oprah Magazine, September 2002.)
So how do you do this?
==> One: Decide on your destination
If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,
you need to decide where you're headed.
Where are you going? What do you want? If you want to own your
own business, decide that that's your destination. If you want
to write a book, decide that that's what you want to do.
Sometimes we're so scared of failing, that we don’t make that
initial commitment, that decision. We never say: "This is what I
want".
Decide. Right now. And write down your decision. Buy a small
notebook, or open a new computer file. When you write it down,
both left and right parts of your brain take notice.
If you feel nervous, reassure yourself that all you're going to
do is take baby steps. One teeny step at a time, just whatever
feels right for you in the moment. You won't ever ask yourself
to do anything you are not capable of doing in the next moment.
==> Two: Wait for your intuition to guide you to the next step
Remember that still small voice within you?
That still small voice isn't the Spoiler. The Spoiler is a
negative demon. It says: "you can't; you shouldn't; you won't;
it's too hard; you'll never get there; who do you think you are?"
The knack to handling the Spoiler is recognizing it when it
chirps up. Here's a cute imaginative exercise to muffle the
Spoiler.
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine the Spoiler. What does
it look like? Is it big, with a bulging head and massive
eyebrows, and --- what's your image of the Spoiler?
When you can see the Spoiler in your mind's eye, imagine it
shrinking. It's shrinking until it's tiny. It fits in the palm
of your hand. Now pick it up and pop it into a jar, or a box.
Something with a lid. Screw the lid onto the jar, or close the
lid and lock it.
Now the Spoiler's gone. You can't hear it any more.
With the Spoiler gone (you may need to repeat the disposal
exercise each day, or several times a day for a while), you can
hear your intuition. Let's call your intuition your Director.
You can picture your Director in your mind's eye if you wish. Or
you can listen for him, or her. Your Director pushes. Sometimes
I ignore my Director, but she's persistent. She nags. She nagged
me into creating a blog (Web log). I've still got no idea why
having a blog is A Good Thing according to my Director, but at
least she's stopped nagging about it.
If you're thinking that all this imaginative stuff is a mite
weird, remember that your right brain thinks in images. Always.
Whether you know it or not, and whether you care or not. If you
can become aware of these images, you can get your left and
right brain to work together more harmoniously. (If you're
interested in images, Carl Jung called them Archetypes. To learn
more, read popularized books on Jungian psychology. Fascinating
stuff.)
==> Three: Remember that everything's changing, all of the time
Change is frightening. However, everything's changing. Nothing
stays the same. So you might as well go with the flow.
Change doesn't have to be bad news. It's excellent news. It
means that your business will NOT stay the same. It will change,
and all the myriad tiny things you do each day do make a
difference. They're cumulative.
Take action to steer your business in the direction you want it
to go. If you want more sales, do more marketing. Follow up with
your contacts. Follow up with past clients. Do at least five
marketing tasks a day.
When it seems that nothing's happening, remember that it is,
because everything's changing.
You especially need to remember that everything's changing when
everything is going well in your business. You can't stand
still. So if everything's going well, keep paddling in the
direction you want to go. If you don’t, you may find yourself
sliding over a waterfall.
==> Four: Listen to your resistance, it has meaning
When you resist something – say marketing – your resistance
means something. Don't just assume that you're a lazy so-and-so
and dump a heap of negative thoughts onto yourself.
Take a pen and some paper, find a quiet spot, and ask yourself
some questions.
Ask:
* why aren't I (doing whatever it is that you're resisting)?
* what am I afraid of?
* what do I really want?
* what should I do next?
Answers will come.
That's all it takes to take baby steps to business success. So
go ahead. DO faith, and take baby steps.
***Resource box: if using, please include***
Veteran multi-published author and copywriter Angela Booth
crafts words for your business --- words to sell, educate or
persuade. E-books and e-courses on Web site. FREE ezines for
writers and small biz: http://www.digital-e.biz/
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