Letting Go of the Past is the Key to a Breakthrough in Life

Let me ask you a question: How successful do you think you would be at driving forward while looking in the rearview mirror? If you’re being honest, your answer is most likely, not at all. No one would be.

That’s what trying to build the future you desire while dwelling in and on the past is like. You’re trying to complete an almost impossible feat. Marianne Williamson famously said, “we do not heal the past by dwelling there. We heal the past by living fully in the present.” 

Wrapped up in those powerful words are the great truth that we cannot change the past. No matter how much we scratch, claw, or complain, there’s no changing it. All we can do is focus on the present and building for the future.

Well, you can’t start building the future you desire if your hands are full of the baggage from your past. You have to let go of the past to free yourself up to construct your future. And in particular, there are three things from the past that weigh people down the most. To learn the three things you need to let go of from your past so you can break through, keep reading.

1. Let go of wrongdoings

If you’ve been around long enough, chances are you’ve been screwed over or wronged in some way. Sadly, it tends to just be part of life. And when someone wrongs us in some way, it becomes very easy to hold on to grudges. 

The problem with holding grudges is that they are some of the heaviest baggage you can possibly carry around. Grudges stay at the forefront of your mind and heart. They break you down mentally and emotionally, which eventually takes a physical toll. 

Grudges keep you stuck in the past and in a vicious cycle of reliving the wrong that was done to you. You’re essentially chained there. In order to move forward, you have to release and let go of those wrongdoings from the past. When you do, you set yourself free.

I love how Lewis Smedes described it when he said, “to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” You deserve the ability to create the life that you want. So go ahead and unchain yourself from your past by letting go of any wrongdoings that happened to you.

“You’ve got to make a conscious choice every day to shed the old – whatever “the old” means for you.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach

2. Let go of your limiting stories

I come from nothing, so I’m meant to be nothing. My parent’s relationship fell apart, so finding true love must be really hard. Only lucky people get rich. 

What do all of those statements have in common? If you guessed that they are all crippling limiting beliefs that people struggle with every single day, you’d be right. One of the biggest reasons people struggle to break through and create the life they want is that they’re being held back by limiting beliefs from their past.

The saddest part about it is that the vast majority of those beliefs were given to them without any say on their part. They were like terrible gifts that couldn’t be given back. 

What I mean by that, is that most of the stories we grow up believing about ourselves and life in general are ingrained into us prior to the age of seven, which is about the time that our conscious mind comes online. Prior to that, we are like a sponge, soaking up any and everything we experience in our world.

Our perception of what reality is gets created with little to no choice on our part. So if you grew up in a poor family, where money was talked about as something that’s extremely hard to make or something that corrupts people, then you likely grew up with many of those same beliefs. Same thing if you grew up with parents who had a dysfunctional marriage, you likely grew up with a certain set of beliefs about how hard having a happy, healthy relationship is.

That’s the unfortunate part of life, is that so many children are being handicapped with life altering limiting beliefs without even having a choice of whether or not they want them. They’re like the elephant who grew up attached to the rope. 

At first, the elephant fought to break the rope and run free, but wasn’t strong enough to do so. But after failing long enough, the elephant eventually gave up trying to break it. That’s how you end up with a full grown elephant attached by a measly to a tiny stake in the ground, not even trying to break free. The limiting stories of that elephant’s adolescent experiences forever shaped and limited the possibilities for it’s life. 

The good news is though, as adults with the conscious ability to choose what we hold on to, we get to decide whether we want to hold on to those beliefs any longer. If you truly want to break through and create a great life for yourself, you’ve got to be willing to snap the rope tying you to those limiting beliefs.

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” – Oprah Winfrey

3. Let go of your victim mindset

The last thing you must let go of from your past in order to create an abundant future is your victim mindset. Piggybacking off of the last point about limiting beliefs, so many people have been conditioned to believe that they are a victim in life. That life is happening to them, and that they just can’t catch a break.

The problem is, if someone has a victim mindset, they are giving away their power to create the life they want. They are saying that they are not strong enough to actually achieve their goals or desired outcomes in life. If you didn’t have any say in this terrible life being created for you, why would you have any say in changing it and making it any better?

No one who has ever created anything great in their life did so with a victim mindset. Victims throw their hands up and give in when things get tough. That’s if they even get started in the first place. Those who win, on the other hand, take one hundred percent responsibility for their lives, and believe that they have the power to create anything they want.

Just like your limiting beliefs, your victim mindset was most likely given to you. You learned it from those closest to you at a young age. But, just like a bad gift, you can choose to throw it away anytime you want. And you’re going to have to if you want to break through in your life.

Like Steve Maraboli said, “Stop validating your victim mentality. Shake off your self-defeating drama and embrace your innate ability to recover and achieve.” If you can do that, you’ll be able to create the life you want.

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/letting-go-of-the-past-is-the-key-to-a-breakthrough-in-life/

What Top Performers Really Do For Motivation

“Ugh, I gotta get up,” I said to myself as another episode started within three seconds of the last one ending…without my permission. “Alright, I’m gonna go get some work done after this episode.” Of course, the episode ends on a cliffhanger that leaves me more motivated to find out what happens rather than go send emails. “Alright, when I figure out what happens, I’m gonna turn the TV off.” Geez, why am I still on the couch three hours later?

The Decision Train

There are going to be days when you really don’t feel motivated to do anything. Motivation sucks because we rely on it too much to get things done, which means when we don’t feel motivated, we don’t get anything done. Or, we need help to do it. On days when you feel like doing nothing, you can actually bypass your brain’s “need” for motivation so you can get things done regardless of how you feel. 

It all starts with a concept referenced as The Decision Train. The Decision Train goes like this:

Feelings → Decision → Action

People who have trouble getting things done because they lack the motivation, follow this train the way that you see it above. They wait until they feel like getting the task done, which leads them to (eventually) decide to do it and, finally, take action. 

Top performers instead, skip the feeling part of the train and go straight to deciding to get the task done. By doing so, they take action faster and, as a result, get things done faster. Now, this is more than a roundabout way of saying “just do it”. 

“Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” – Socrates

Another way of looking at this process is by using another variation of The Decision Train:

Inspiration → Motivation → Decision → Action

Inspiration is described as, “The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something.” Motivation is described as, “The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.” So, in this decision train, the “Feelings” part is inspiration and motivation. People will wait until they feel mentally stimulated to get something done, which leads to motivation. The motivation serves as a reminder of why they wanted to get the task done in the first place or, in other words, the incentive(s) they would gain from completing the task. This leads them to, by the end of this long train, decide to take action and eventually take it.

By cutting out the feeling—the “need” for inspiration and motivation—you can decide to take action first. After having completed the task, the sense of pride you feel from having followed through on the decision—the mental commitment—that you made to yourself builds motivation to complete another task. To say this another way, taking action builds momentum that leads to the motivation to take more action.

Start Getting (Really) Motivated Today

That being said, no one is born a top performer, which means that you may need inspiration and motivation (the Feelings part of the train) to serve as a nudge every now and then until you can fully adopt this approach to productivity. So, for starters, inspiration is your WHY. It’s your purpose—your mission. By discovering and getting clarity on the mission that you’re on, you can more easily inspire yourself (as well as others on the same mission) to action.

As far as motivation, these are referenced as the Four Areas That Drive People: Advancement, Individual, Madness, and Purpose. People motivated by Advancement are motivated by reaching new heights (getting that next promotion, reaching goals as a team, and so on). People motivated by Individual, view and utilize their personal goals as their most effective source of motivation (achieving a certain lifestyle, gaining recognition, reaching full life security). People driven by Madness are driven by factors like opposition, competition, proving others wrong, and other unconventional elements. Lastly, people driven by Purpose are motivated by making an impact, helping others, being apart of creating change, and other drivers of that nature. 

You can leverage both of the elements of inspiration and motivation to become more productive, more focused, and a step closer to becoming a top performer. When I was struggling to stay motivated, I started by recognizing my WHY and all of the incentives I would gain from the achievement of my goals. 

“If something is important enough, even if the odds are stacked against you, you should still do it.” – Elon Musk

When I would come across any task that I didn’t really feel like doing, I would ask myself if they would help me achieve my mission—my purpose—or not. I would ask myself if getting that task done would help me get the motivating incentives I was working toward. If the answer was no, I would cut it out of my to-do list. If the answer was yes, I would make the decision to go do it and start working before I could talk myself out of it. Make that same decision to go and achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself and you’ll be scratching off your goals in no time.

from
https://addicted2success.com/motivation/what-top-performers-really-do-for-motivation/

10 Powerful Life Lessons You Can Learn From The Last Dance

The Last Dance of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s is a documentary that chronicles the life of Michael Jordan. It narrates the story of his final season with the Chicago Bulls and where it all started. Michael Jordan is considered to be one of the greatest basketball players ever and the documentary shares a glimpse into his greatness.

Here are 10 of the most powerful lessons from the last dance:

1. Coaching/Mentorship maximizes potential

The Last Dance documentary points out all the people that helped Michael Jordan on his journey to greatness. These include his parents James and Deloris Jordan, college coach Dean Smith, personal trainer Tim Grover and Phil Jackson the Chicago Bulls coach. Without those key relationships he may not have been as successful as he was.

I remember former players like Grant Hill saying in a post Last Dance interview how they wished they could have seen the documentary at the start of their career. They realized that they could have achieved more by learning from the best in the profession. Seeking out coaches and mentors can make a difference in your life as well.

2. Faith is essential

It’s a common pattern in life that in order to achieve anything significant you must first believe that you can do it. Faith comes from understanding what you’re capable of doing and honing your skills to achieve excellence. Michael Jordan’s game throughout his career evidently showed how much faith he had in himself.

There were many stand out moments where he did the spectacular, including multiple game winning shots in big moments. His belief was evident in the first episode when asked about his prospects with the Chicago Bulls.

This is what he had to say, “I just want the franchise and the Chicago Bulls to be respected as a team; like the Lakers, or the Philadelphia 76ers, or the Boston Celtics. It’s very hard for something like that to happen but it’s not impossible. But hopefully this team and this organization can build a program like that.”

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

3. One person can start a movement

Prior to Michael Jordan’s arrival, the Chicago Bulls were known as a traveling cocaine circus. The team wasn’t popular at the time with most Chicago citizens preferring to watch other sports. Game attendance for the Chicago Bulls games was about a third of the total capacity.

When Michael Jordan got drafted in the 1984 NBA draft, the narrative of the Chicago Bulls team suddenly changed. He brought a new energy to not just the team but the city of Chicago as a whole. Game tickets started to sell out from that season as the franchise realized they had one of the best talents.

4. It takes a team to win big

In spite of the shot in the arm Jordan brought to Chicago, his effort alone wasn’t enough to win championships. Talentwise, Michael Jordan was the best in the league as he won all individual accolades early in his career. His less talented counterparts like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were winning titles in the process.

It took Michael time to realize he had to trust his teammates and management to become a championship caliber team. General Manager Jerry Krause played a key part by getting the right players and ultimately the right coach in Phil Jackson. Some of the key players in the dynasty were Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Horace Grant, John Paxson and Bill Cartwright.

5. Document your life

The documentary itself is a powerful illustration of documenting life and lessons learned along the way. Your life story is worth recording for future generations to learn from both your positive and negative experiences. This is how life lessons are commonly passed on from generation to generation to ensure continuity of a standard of excellence.

The documentary chronicles his life from the time he was a teenager in high school. We learned about his family, friends, agent, and coaches that made a contribution to his life. In the same way you must record life events and the lessons learned along the way for future generations.

6. Let your skills do the talking

Unlike average performers who talk more than they do, Michael Jordan did the opposite. He focused on developing his skills to earn his respect instead of just talking a big game. “From the first day in practice, my mentality was whoever is the team leader on that team, I’m going after him. And I’m not going to do it with my voice because I had no voice, I had no status. I had to do it with the way that I play,” said Michael in Episode 1 of the documentary.

In whatever you do in life, focus more on doing and less on talking. It’s the results you produce that speak loudest after all is said and done.

7. Explore your passions

Michael Jordan enjoyed all kinds of sports as a young kid. He tried them all and narrowed down to basketball and baseball which his father loved. During his first retirement from basketball after his father’s death, he went to play baseball for the Chicago White Sox.

Though he played for about eighteen months, he improved so much that he could have gone on to be a pro. In the same way, try out all the things you’re passionate about until you zero in on what you’ll be most successful at.

8. Practice like it’s game time

One of the things that separated those Bulls’ teams from other teams in the league was their dedication. For Michael Jordan and his teammates, practice sessions were more intense than actual games. Their reasoning was that by the time you got to the game, you would know instinctively what to do.

Practicing like they were in a real game put them way ahead of their counterparts. This is one of the most valuable lessons you can grasp from this team. Whatever you do in life, give it your best as though you were doing work for a client.

“I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it is an illusion to me. Failure always made me try harder the next time.” – Michael Jordan

9. Winning has a price

In the documentary Michael Jordan said, “Winning has a price!” For him that meant learning to trust his teammates instead of doing it all by himself among other things. Part of the price he had to pay was being misunderstood as a person.

By his standards, he wanted everyone on his team to win which meant pushing them hard. Some people saw him as a tyrant as a result because they didn’t understand what it took to win. The more successful you become, the more people will misunderstand you. It’s a price you have to pay.

10. Adversity can lead to breaking records

Jordan faced many obstacles in his career but most of them led to record breaking results. His team was the first to win three straight championships in 27 years and they did it twice in a decade. He set numerous other records throughout his career. Adversity has the capacity to influence that if you allow it to.

Which of the lessons resonate with you the most? Let us know in the comments below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/10-powerful-life-lessons-you-can-learn-from-the-last-dance/

How to Turn Your Failed Customer Pitches Into a Breakthrough Success

What if there was a way to turn 100% of prospect meetings into raving successes? What if you no longer dreaded them, but looked forward to them every time?

Imagine you are standing in front of your next perfect client. You have spent weeks preparing to get in front of them. You have put your heart and soul into this pitch. You know this customer better than they know themselves. You have even mentally prepared yourself by visioning this experience in your mind.

You give the best pitch of your life and you are waiting for the mental applause that you expect to come next. After a moment of silence, the prospect opens their mouth and a single word delivers the biggest gut-punch to your ego. Your dream client says “No.” The next step is the most important one to take, but the hardest to master. You need to understand why the customer said no. Beginner entrepreneurs and salespeople say, “thank you for your time” and then leave. This is your biggest learning opportunity left untapped.

Most people consider the word “No” to be a negative one. Entrepreneurs and salespeople starting out feel like their customers are rejecting them, not their offer. They blur the lines of the thing they sell and who they are. I fell victim to this in my sales career. Every time I heard anything less than an emphatic yes, I automatically considered it was my performance or my ability that was being questioned.

The reality is that they are saying no to themselves, not you. This simple mind trick takes away the pain while also refocusing you on the next step, which is unearthing the limiting belief or internal challenge of your prospect. Let me take you through the example above with this lens.

You know your customer well. You deliver the same pitch and they say no. Rather than taking it personally, you say, “I can appreciate and respect that, but do you mind if I ask a few questions to understand a bit more about why?” In most cases, the customer knows you have spent a lot of time researching their issue due to the depth of your presentation.

“You can achieve virtually anything you want–if you’re willing to hear ‘no’ often enough,” – Andrea Waltz

Now is the fun part, no pressure. They are not a client or prospect, but simply a willing research participant. So get curious and ask the next few questions:

1. You had stated that your goals are to achieve x,y,z, can you elaborate on that?

The goal here is to unearth their ultimate motivation. You may have focused on one goal that suited you, but leaving this open-ended will unearth some hidden motivations and gold. 

Don’t use this as a weapon against them or it backfires. Simply listen and then organically ask further questions. Be sure to read the room. The last thing you want is to trap an unwilling participant in an interrogation room while you suck the life out of them. Be sure to be curious and open. See all their challenges, not just the selective ones your company solves.

2. What priorities are competition with this project?

This can largely be the killer for corporate clients. There is always a tug of war between resources vs focus. If they don’t have the people, time, or money, you want to understand that. It will be invaluable once you begin to see trends from your customers.

3. What elements of the proposal resonated and which were a challenge for you?

Be sure to make this about them helping you rather than trying to re-sell them. Always ask why each piece did or didn’t hit the mark. This is where the gold is.

4. Could I get your advice? Based on what you saw/heard, do you have any suggestions for how I could improve the offering/pitch?

The key here is to shift into treating them like an advisor or friend. Using the word “advice” is a trigger word. This makes them feel valued and knowledgeable while also making them your advocate. If you can get them to guide you then they will be invested in your success in the future.

“Success Comes from listening to your customer.” – Richard Branson

5. Are there any specific folks that you think would get value from what we do or could help me refine our offering?

This is a question that gets omitted too often. People are afraid to ask it because it seems like the old question of asking for referrals. I challenge you to find the wording that works best for you. People will rack their brains to find someone that they think you should connect with and then you have a warm way to connect with that person. Be sure to make it a no-pressure situation and only at the end of the conversation.

After the meeting, be sure to follow up with a note thanking them for the meeting and their candid perspective. This is a relationship builder that is refreshing for folks who spend their days being pitched. Some of the best companies that did this with me are some of my biggest service providers. 

It is easy to stand out when the majority of your market is automated and robotic. Being a good human can go a long way and bring in more of your ideal customers. 

What do you do when you hear ‘no’ from your customers? Do you have any strategies or techniques to change their mind? Share your advice with us below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/how-to-turn-your-failed-customer-pitches-into-a-breakthrough-success/

How the Use of Certain Words Can Determine Your Business Success

Words are very compelling. I recently saw an advertising campaign for a makeup company which used only words. You would think that a company that sells makeup would add pictures of beautiful faces, lipsticks and eye-shadows to their billboards. Not at all. Their campaign used a combination of words which intended to get a strong reaction from the reader.

I was one of the readers, and I can genuinely say that I will remember those words for many years to come, and of course, the name of the makeup company. Some of the words used were these: “They say you are too much, maybe they are not enough.”

Women are often judged for being too soft, vulnerable, extra, and indeed too much. Reading this sentence is very powerful because it almost permits them to be what people have been telling them not to be. Those words give hope and pride.

The right words can indeed determine the success or failure of a marketing campaign and any piece of content you may use for your advertising online and offline.

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” – Mother Teresa

Let me give you some examples of powerful words and concepts to use to make your content well received by your audience.

First of all, you must use many positive words. Many entrepreneurs focus on the pain points of their clients too much. You must balance the negative or pain point with an optimistic scenario of what life and business could look like for your ideal client. Remember, people buy when they feel good or to feel good, so you must show them all the positive possibilities they could achieve when purchasing your products and services.

Avoid using words like “struggle” or “pain” as they are overused. You could replace the word “struggle” with “challenge” because it’s a more positive and encouraging word.

As odd as it may sound try to avoid the word “buy” when you want to invite your reader to buy from you. Make them see that your products and services are not just another purchase but an actual investment from which they will benefit in the long term. Replace the word “buy” with “invest.’

When you invite people to buy from you, be firm and assertive, avoid using words like “if” or “please.” Use words that show you strongly believe in what you are selling and that give a direct invite to the reader, such as “are you ready?” or “ It is time to…”

Use the word “you” more often than the word “I” to make sure the focus is on your reader more than yourself. Using the word “you” creates a sense of presence in your reader, like a tick the teacher makes while reading the classroom register. Your readers will feel that you are talking to them, which will help them be more involved and pay more attention. 

Do not use the word “should” too much. If you must use it, please do so, but only if necessary. Replace “should” with more gentle words which do not sound like a command, such as “ It is vital/paramount that you do x,y, z.” This sounds more like a piece of friendly advice than a bossy command.

I often see entrepreneurs using “fear of missing out” words too much combined with the idea that if they do not buy their products and services, they will not succeed or move forward. Using this type of language can sound desperate and does not give the reader the idea they are in control of the decision.

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” – Robin Williams

For instance, saying “if you do not invest now, you will… (negative consequences) is not a genuine way to persuade your audience to buy from you. Instead you can use the fear of missing out focused at positive consequences, and you may add a bit of humour to bring some lightness. Let me give you an example…” This is your last chance to invest in x,y, z, and create the business you desire.”

Finally, make sure to use words of motivation and encouragement. Make the reader see and feel that they can do whatever it is you’re asking so they can create the changes they desire and dream of making. You could use words such as “you were born to do it” or “you are capable of creating this” to give you some ideas. I call this type of encouragement the “chest building” words. Imagine how proud and confident someone can feel when listening to motivating words of praise. Their chest starts to lift, their head is high, and their look is more empowered and fiercer. Precisely the kind of feeling you want your reader to experience while reading your content.

In the end, always write with the highest intention, knowing that your words are ready to change someone’s life for the better.

How do you use certain words in your life to get what you’re looking for? Share your stories & advice with readers below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/how-the-use-of-certain-words-can-determine-your-business-success/

11 of the Best Podcasts to Help Women Entrepreneurs Grow Their Businesses

Being a woman entrepreneur can be lonely in this traditionally male-dominated field. While the overall business knowledge is the same, the specific struggles that women entrepreneurs face is different than their male-counterparts.

Finding a mentor is a great way to get business advice but it can be hard to find someone whose advice you trust. Thankfully, living in the age of the internet removes location-specific boundaries. Many successful female entrepreneurs have started up podcasts to share their business knowledge. 

The following podcasts give the best business advice for women entrepreneurs making it easy to learn the skills you need to succeed:  

1. Goal Digger

The Goal Digger Podcast is hosted by Jenna Kutcher.  Not only does she cover ways to build your dream job from scratch, she also is an expert at growing social media. If you’re looking to expand your business using Instagram or other social media, you’ll find lots of actionable tips that work for growing these platforms.

2. ZenFounder

ZenFounder is hosted by Dr. Sherry Walling, a licensed clinical psychologist who works with her entrepreneur husband. This podcast helps entrepreneurs with the things no one talks about: being lonely and feeling stressed since it all rides on you. This is a different type of business podcast since it addresses the mental aspects of the entrepreneur’s life.  

3. Girlboss Radio

Girlboss Radio is led by Sophia Amoruso who sits down with a new trailblazing woman entrepreneur every week. During the interviews, they discuss the personal and professional issues that women face when running a business. The podcast is laid back and feels more like two women chatting over coffee rather than a formal interview which makes the episodes easy to breeze through.  

“You don’t get taken seriously by asking someone to take you seriously. You’ve got to show up and own it. If this is a man’s world, who cares? I’m still really glad to be a girl in it.” – Sophia Amoruso

4. So Money

The host Faroosh Torabi is a financial strategist who brings financial strategies, successes, and failures from some of the top business founders. While the So Money podcast doesn’t solely focus on entrepreneurship, many of the money topics covered affect both the personal and professional lives of business owners.  

5. The Marie Forleo Podcast

At this point, most female entrepreneurs have heard of Marie Forleo. Her business is built around helping women create businesses. One wing of her empire is her namesake podcast. Marie shares her own business savvy as well as bringing on guests to share their best tips for success, motivation, productivity, and happiness as a business owner.  

6. Biz Chix

Biz Chix host and founder Natalie Eckdahl has an MBA and is a successful “mompreneur.” She’s running her business with kids at home and is a successful business strategist and coach. Her podcast focuses on ways to scale your business through outsourcing and other effective business growth hacks. 

7. She Did It Her Way

Amanda Boleyn hosts the She Did It Her Way Podcast and focuses more on beginner entrepreneurs. If you have questions about starting your businesses or how to decide when to quit your old job and go full-time, this podcast is for you. Many of the podcast guests are successful women who have built their businesses solely online and are thriving.  

8. The Strategy Hour Podcast

The Strategy Hour Podcast helps women grow their creative business to a well-paying empire.  Instead of staying stuck in the mindset of “side hustle,” expand your business into a full-fledged 6-figure business. While not all of the guests are strictly women, the ideas for business growth and expansion hold true. If you want to learn how to diversify and build various income streams, then this podcast will show you how.  

9. Glambition Radio

Glambition Radio is an award-winning podcast hosted by successful entrepreneur Ali Brown. Ali interviews multi-million dollar business owners to find out their unique tips on leadership, productivity, making money, and building company structure. Glambition Radio also talks to entrepreneurs whose mission is to create positive lasting change in the world.  

“You’re going to often find that to step into your biggest opportunity, you’ll be asked to move through your biggest fear of insecurity.” – Ali Brown

10. Women Taking The Lead

Jodi Flynn hosts the Women Taking The Lead Podcast. She is an executive leadership coach who helps women leaders with relationship building, mindset, self-leadership, and communication.  If you’re having trouble with the people skills part of running a business or are filled with self-doubt, then this podcast will help you learn effective techniques to address those.

11. Being Boss

The Being Boss podcast is founded by two successful women business owners.  The focus is on creative entrepreneurs and covers many of the mental aspects of entrepreneurship and personal growth. The topics of mindset and intuition are not traditionally covered in other business podcasts but are here.  

Conclusion

No matter where you are in your business journey, there’s always more to learn and places you as a leader can grow. Many entrepreneur-focused mentorships are male-dominated, leaving women business owners unsure of where to turn to find advice.

With these women-led business podcasts, you’ll learn from successful female entrepreneurs and delve into the lesser talked about issues that face women business owners. By following even a few of the tips in these podcasts, you’ll be on your way to growing and expanding your business in a meaningful way.  

What’s your favorite podcast to listen to and why? Share it with us below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/11-of-the-best-podcasts-to-help-women-entrepreneurs-grow-their-businesses/

5 Reasons Why Starting Small is the Key to Success

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” This is one of the famous quotes from Confucius. And the success principle within this line explains how anyone can achieve anything they want if they are willing to put in small and consistent effort. 

You may have heard of the best-selling book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” written by Dale Carnegie. But do you know that the book started as a set of rules printed on a card no larger than a postcard?

Carnegie prepared a short talk where he called it ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’ The short talk was well-received and was then evolved into a course. And he needed teaching materials for the course. And so, Carnegie wrote down the rules for his course on a card and delivered it to his fellow students.

And in the next season, he printed the rules on a larger card, then a leaflet, then a series of booklets, with each version expanding in size and scope.

After 15 years of teaching, research, and experimentation, he compiled his rules for his course and became the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. That was how the best-selling book was written. One step at a time.

Remember how Apple started? It began with Steve Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak launching their tech giant in Job’s garage. The same went for Amazon. Jeff Bezos and his team started Amazon selling only books. But Bezos had a big dream and today, Amazon is a multi billion-dollar company.

As you can see, everything started small. Every big success you have heard of started as a series of small steps.

Therefore, the key to success is to start small. Below are the 5 reasons why you want to commit to taking baby steps:

1. It takes less time and energy

It is always easier to start small. Think about it, do you think it is easier to write a 300-page book or it is easier to write just 1,000 words a day? Of course, the answer is obvious. And because it is easier to start small, your resistance to doing the work will be lowered. You don’t need too much motivation or willpower to get small things done.

This is why it is so vital to focus on small victories. If you do only 5 small things a day, you will have accomplished 5 small wins. In a week, you will have produced 35 little wins. In a month, you will have 150 small wins. And within a year, you will have accomplished 1,825 small victories.

Do you think these small victories will accumulate and make a huge impact on your life? You better they will. 

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” – John Wooden

2. It prevents overwhelming

Another key reason you want to start small is that it prevents overwhelm. You see, one of the main reasons people procrastinate and put things off until a later time is because of the pain of doing the work.

They feel overwhelmed to do the work. They feel the pain. And hence, they choose to procrastinate and delay the work. However, when things are easy to do, you won’t feel overwhelmed by them. Again, it is easier to commit to writing just 1,000 words a day than to complete an entire 300 page book.

It is your psychology that is in play. When you look at the entire project, you feel like you need to spend a lot of time and energy to do it. But when you break down the project into small actionable steps, you can tackle one small step at a time.

You have to understand that every big thing once started small. When you try to do everything all at once, you feel powerless and overwhelmed by the scale of the work involved.

3. It grows your confidence and motivation

Imagine you have goals to pursue and you know what you need to do today to make progress, but you don’t do anything. By the end of the day, how will you feel? Guilty and not good, right?

But if you stick to your plan, take action, and make progress, how would you feel at the end of the day? You’d likely feel satisfied and motivated, right? Because you have done something, made progress, and are slowly moving towards your goals.

That’s what taking small steps will do for you. When you make progress, you feel good. It boosts your confidence and motivation level.

Here’s a great quote from Tony Robbins, “People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

This is why you want to make sure you are building upward momentum. Take small actions and make progress to build your momentum. The more momentum you gain, the more powerful you become.

4. It gives you the ability to pivot

There is another essential reason to start small – it allows you to pivot. Let me give you an example. Imagine you want to write a weight loss book, but you have no idea what title to write. And so, you start with writing short articles with various titles across the same industry.

And then you notice that one particular article received the most engagements. People share the article, leave comments, and say how much they love it. And you decide to write a book based on the article.

That’s the pivot. You use feedback you get from the small actions you make and then grow it into something bigger. In business, it is called MVP, Minimum Viable Product. You want to quickly test to see if an idea works before you put in your time and money to develop the complete product. When you start small, it allows you to pivot by getting immediate feedback from your actions. 

“Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” – Chinese Proverb 

5. It simply is the first step

Yes, no matter how big or small your goals or the success you want, you simply have to take one small step at a time. You can’t skip steps.

Just like if you want to lose weight through exercise, there is no way you can skip the exercise and get to the result directly. Taking small steps are necessary because there are no shortcuts to success.

Therefore, dream big, and start small. You don’t have to commit to taking big and bold steps, because all you need to do is take one baby step at a time. Be consistent, and eventually, you will arrive at your destination.

Do you believe starting small is the key to success? Share your thoughts with us below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-reasons-why-starting-small-is-the-key-to-success/