The Ms. CEO Show

Felicia Joy’s column appears every Tuesday.  Post your thoughts or questions to her as a comment.

The number one problem facing women entrepreneurs is we think too small.  Just as technology and medical sciences have advanced, the study of the mind and its vast abilities (performance psychology) has advanced and there is at least one thing that every expert agrees on: What you think is what you are and what you will have.  I have seen evidence of this in my own life.  There have been times when I literally doubled my income overnight because of one choice to go against the grain of traditional thinking, which often smacks of what you cannot do.

If what you think about is what you will eventually create in physical form then you know that itty bitty, small potato thoughts will get you small fry results.

Whether a part-time or full-time entrepreneur, every day when we get up and go out into the world to make it happen for ourselves and our families we are using valuable resources and time, and those hours, minutes and days can never be recouped.  So at the end of our life, when it is all said and done, whether we achieved a big dream, a little dream or no dream at all, we will have paid the same price—our life.

So, is your life worth small fries?  I think not!

Your big dream may be to create a business that will enable you to travel where ever you would like to, when ever you would like to at the drop of a hat.  Or to create a business that will provide your family with the financial resources and time to actually hang out together daily as a family.  Those are tall orders when in today’s world, many people don’t have the time or finances to venture off on a trip at any time—and when both parents often work outside of the home for 40 or more hours per week.

Building a business that will set you free is absolutely possible—but only if you believe it is.  Other women entrepreneurs have done it and so can you.

Resolve now to start thinking big to achieve bigger dreams.  Start with these three tips:

1. Use inspiration as fuel. Once per week read a magazine article or book or watch a program about an entrepreneur who has achieved exactly what you would like to achieve or something so notable that it serves as inspiration.  The very act of seeing stories on a weekly basis about people just like you who dared to think bigger and achieve success will build your belief in what is possible for your life.  You can check out the Ms.CEO of the Week stories we post here every Wednesday to be inspired and The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch offers inspirational stories directly from successful entrepreneurs every weeknight on CNBC at 10pm ET.
2. Make that one power move you’ve been putting off—waiting for the day that your website, or whatever, is better! I’ve done it and we all do it.  It’s natural.  We all have that one lead for our business or that one big contact we need to make or that one big idea we need to put into action, that we say we will get to when we have a better website, better cards, more connections, more money in the bank…better this or more that.  Let it go!  Don’t hold back.  Do that very thing that you have tucked away like fine china for a special occassion now.  Do it now.  Today.  Right now.  All those other things are just distractions.  We always think we need more before we make a really big move.  No, you just need belief in yourself and faith that things will work to your advantage.  A better website and other things won’t get you there if you don’t push yourself beyond the obvious.  Warren Buffett is the first or second richest man in the U.S. at any given moment and one share of his company’s stock (Berkshire Hathaway NYSE: BRK-A) currently trades for $94,500.  And his website looks like a Word document.  Need I say more?  Do it right now.  You don’t need anything else.  Boldness makes things happen.
3. Speak your bigness into existence through daily gratitude. Begin today to give verbal thanks everyday for what you have achieved already and what you would like to achieve but say everything in present-tense.  So say, “I give thanks for my health and a wonderful business.  And I am so thankful that I am earning $150,000 in revenue in my company.”  Or, “I give thanks for my healthy family and a booming business.  And I am so thankful that our company is earning $2,000,000 in revenue.”  Giving thanks is a powerful force.  Speaking words of thanks aloud is even more powerful.  And speaking in the present-tense about what you want to happen and then taking action to bring it to fruition is the most powerful formula of all.  Do this everyday.  Give thanks.  Out loud.  Speak your dream as though it already exists.  And you will see.  It will.

So, think BIG now, and take action now and everyday using these three tips for stretching your mind and beliefs about what is possible and be amazed by the bigness that unfolds in your life!

Be Encouraged,
Felicia Joy