After a pause in our conversation I simply said to her “why not just eliminate your 1 month offer and let the entry into your program be a three month long offer?”  And this talented, go-get-it, savvy woman said to me, “Oh, I don’t think anyone would just jump into a three month program with me.”  There it was!  A mindset that created a huge stuck place in my client, making it harder for her to engage the type of woman she really wanted to work with the most.  Making it hard to think of her program as “worth” 3 months.  Making it hard for her to increase her income by cutting out a short program that wasn’t really profitable for her while raising her price for her 3 month program and justifying that with cleaner, more focused program descriptions and marketing.  Making it harder for her to attract the people who most need her service, only because she didn’t believe the worth of what she was offering.

Read that again…..you know….that part about “believe in the worth of what you are offering.”  That belief is the core of marketing that works.  For solo professionals and small business owners to have belief in their own products and services is 100% critical!  If your own mind is set to devalue and doubt what you most have to offer in service to others, you’re marketing with a strait jacket on.  Your mind wraps itself around false beliefs and your heart constricts.  Your “voice of unworthiness” starts screaming at the top of its lungs.  Nothing good comes from being in this state!

Your mind set can sabotage your dreams, even keeping you from fully allowing your dreams to become known to you.  That’s not only sad, it’s counterproductive for your life.  My advice…….listen to your dreams, no matter how outlandish they may seem at the time.  Just listen, give them space to be.  And monitor that your mind set doesn’t sabotage even the listening!

You might recall that this client decided to let self-sabotaging talk have free reign each morning after a quiet time of meditation, writing down each self-sabotaging thought and determining to let such thoughts go for the rest of the day. In the meditation itself, he began to ask for guidance about his life’s work. You also might remember that he is unemployed, having suddenly been laid off from a position due to funding cuts.

Stepping out, speaking your dreams, and taking concrete action will always lead to changes in circumstance and energy. Two months later, look at all that has happened!

• Freelance work (found by consistently talking to his contacts) has given him a small income of $2300 a month. It’s not enough, but it’s a solid start to beginning his own successful business. By acting in faith that he could create work rather than telling himself the economy is bad, he has manifested money.
  
• His meditation time has given him a certain knowledge that he wants to use the work experience and skills he has, but in his own business rather than working for others. He gets energy and passion from being around creative professionals, so his target market (which we are still narrowing down) is men who are established in the arts – painters, writers, silversmiths, independent filmmakers, and musicians. He feels completely enthused and passionate about serving this group.
  
• He is almost completely free of the self-sabotaging talk!   He reports, “I listen each morning for the voice, ready to write down what it says. I realized the other day that almost all the time now, nothing comes!”  He is both delighted and amazed.
  

Even more amazing things have come along.   He began to say that he wanted to attend a conference with other entrepreneurs, although he had no money to do so.   One of his friends offered him a ticket to a high -visibility event across the country, a ticket worth $2000.  The friend hooked him up with a roommate to cut hotel costs, and a family member heard of the opportunity and gave an early birthday gift of an airline ticket.  Off he went on a trip to somewhere he’d never been before (he wanted to travel, remember?).  As we talked about this trip and how it just opened up before him, I reminded him that speaking our desires always puts energy toward our desires into play.

The golden nugget he got from this event was believing that he could, in fact, create a six-figure business. With eyes glistening, he told me, “I was standing there talking to guys who were millionaires! And what I could not believe was that they were just like me!”   He got it that these men had all created their millions, not by being born rich but by actively working toward their dream.  He is so stoked up by seeing this!  His face is glowing, his energy is higher, even his dress and grooming are improved.

As for his dream of seeing Africa, he decided to search the Internet one night and found a volunteer program he that gives a week’s tour in South Africa in return for two weeks of volunteer work there.  His passport pictures are made, and he is applying for a spot. Instead of thinking it would be years or maybe never that he saw Africa, he may actually go within six months!

Stay tuned for more about this man and the amazing life he is creating – all because he was willing to open himself to guidance, coaching, and facing his fears.   To make a difference, BE different.  Even the smallest step will start you on your path.

(c) Sue Painter

• At the age of 42 he still lived with his mother, saying that he did so to help take care of her since she is slightly impaired.  When I asked him how he saw that fitting for him, he said “I am waiting for her to die so that I will be free.”
• He had remained in very low-paying work even though he has accomplished very high results in his work.
• His dream is to travel the world but he has never owned a passport.
• He is out of shape physically
• He admits that he “tries to restart himself but then begins to feel hopeless”
• He admits to an inner voice that is extremely self-sabotaging.

So, what to do?  I see this person as someone who is bright, capable, funny, talented, and aching to find his path in life.  He has very little money to spend on self-development right now.  As we talked, my strongest energetic sense was that he needs to address far more in his life than the loss of his job.  He needs help to dream, and to take steps toward his dreams, too!

Here is our plan:

• 15 minutes each morning in mediation or prayer, asking for insight and guidance about his perfect work
• Wait in the quiet of this time for the voice of the self-sabatoger to show up
• Write down every single thing the self-sabatoging voice says and thank it for every point it makes
• Walk 15 minutes each day
• Get pictures made and apply for a passport
• Check a book out of the library about the country he most would like to visit.

We plan to meet in a month, but a check after only 10 days revealed the following:

• “My biggest change has been the self-sabotaging talk.  I spend about 5 minutes in the morning writing down my limiting thoughts, then,  when they pop  up during the day, I gently say “nope, you had your chance to speak out this morning. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”  It has made a world of difference.  The first day I listened to my self-sabotaging thoughts, they were pretty tame.  The second day, the thoughts were mean and harsh.  Thursday and Friday, it was almost difficult getting those thoughts to come through.  Today, they were a bunch of “what ifs” and actually had some good points.  I write them down and say thank you for sharing.  It is awesome.”
• “I love the meditation time.”
• “I’m parking my car farther away from the grocery store and walking 10,000 steps in a day.”
• “I checked out a book on Africa and got passport pictures made.  I can’t believe how excited I am just to get a passport!”

These actions are small daily practices that take about half an hour a day.  But look at the big changes, in only 10 days!  It is so important to set our feet on the path of truth and freedom, which for each life is different.  I can hardly wait to see what has happened when the entire month has gone by!

Small actions, big results.  Amazing!

(c) Sue Painter

Teacher
Bearden Junior High School

Kiwanis Club

Jim Johnson
East Tennessee Meeting Planners Association

I just wanted to send you a note to tell you how you have changed my life. The Vision Board Workshop you did a few weeks ago was just the thing I needed at this point in my life.  My children have families of their own and now my grandchildren are getting married.  I was beginning to feel like I’d been put out to pasture……BUT you changed all that!

After going to your workshop, I saw myself and my opportunities differently.  I realized I was responsible for my own fate AND it’s never too late to make a change.  You have so much intuition and what I call “bedside manner”, you gave all the participants insight and something to focus on to build our lives in the right direction.

Thank you so much for your knowledge, your leadership, and most of all for your caring.

Margaret Dixon

Marcia Walker
www.stepbystepcoaching.biz