You know You’re Playing Small When….

So, what happens when you dim your light? 

In the infamous words of Marianne Williamson:

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

When you let your light shine, you unconsciously give others permission to do the same.

Real Truth:   you never reach your true potential and you seldom change the lives of others. You wander  from one thing to the next, never really settling on what you should be doing to leave a legacy because you’ve decided that being who you were created to be isn’t really all that great, and that somehow if you downplay who you are, you will help more people.

Am I describing you?

Here’s My Question;  Why did you become an entrepreneur and start your own business if you weren’t going to shine?

Real Talk: entrepreneurship takes guts.  Guts to move when everyone else is saying stay. Guts to invest when others are holding on tightly to their wallets. Guts to lead when everyone else is falling into the crowd. You have to be willing to lose when others are winning.

So, why do so many entrepreneurs play small? Doing just enough to get by instead of going big?

It’s because they are fearful of what others will think of them when they win. Or, it’s for fear of what they will think of themselves.

I know  you’re saying, “No, that’s not me,” but isn’t it?

You hold back on your gifting and don’t figure out how to make it work by investing in yourself because the thought of winning, of succeeding, scares the bejesus out of you!

Then there are those of you who believe that you are playing big, doing everything you know to do so that you can grow your business yet it’s not happening.

What’s your problem?

You see, abundance flows freely in situations and circumstances when we are transparent and open to receiving all the gifts that God and His abundant universe have for us.

DO YOU DO THIS:

(Pay attention to the list to see where you are downplaying your God inspired gifts and worth because it’s time for a Stiletto Step Up as, as we call it in the society)

1. When someone gives you a compliment, you say, “Oh, that, that was nothing.” Instead of taking a bow and just saying thank you.

How do I know?

Because I use to do the same thing. The thought that someone wouldn’t like me if they knew how good I was at whatever it was made me want to appear less great. You do realize that it’s very easy to just say thank you. It makes the giver of the compliment feel good because they were able to give you something that was received.

2. Not charging what you’re worth or not charging at all. You don’t charge what you know you should for fear that they will not pay you and you have come to the conclusion that some income is better than none so you charge less and feel horrible about it.

Whenever you don’t get paid what you’re worth, you are not able to give freely unto others. You perform the task they underpaid you for with disdain and that shows.

3. Not investing in yourself or your business. When you don’t invest it’s for one of two reasons:

one, you’re fearful about the financial commitment or two, you believe you know it all and don’t need help.

We all need help. There is no such thing as a self-made millionaire. We all need others to achieve our goals and dreams.  If you could do it by yourself, it would already be done.

I dare you to ask a millionaire if he became one all by himself. Ask one and I bet you he will name the countless people who aided in his journey.

4. Not accepting gifts. By not taking a gift that someone is giving you, you are bringing more strife into your life. The flow of abundance stagnates as soon as you don’t accept it. Remember giving and receiving are spiritual foundations.

5. Not accepting an opportunity. When given an opportunity based on something you’ve asked for but you don’t take it for fear of failure or success, you are downplaying your God Inspired gifts and you magnificence which means that you really want to remain the way you’ve been. Change or growth is really not your desire, which means you are lying to yourself and more importantly to God.

6. Withholding. This is the big one. Examples of withholding include not tipping your waiter or waitress accordingly when out to eat or my favorite: not being your best at all times – a true downplay. Holding back who you are and what you are capable of because you fear that others will judge you.

So how do you stop downplaying who you really are, Stiletto Step Up,  and start experiencing true abundance?

Own it. As they say, “ownership is 9/10th of the law.”

When you completely, fully own who you are and what you were created to do by taking personal responsibility, you get to enjoy the law of circulation and all of its fruits in your life consistently.

Ownership is serious. In fact, it’s mandatory if you desire to play big and help others to experience transformation through you.

Ownership is about developing, mastering and implementing the mindset shifts and beliefs that exhibit power in all areas of your life.

When you develop the confidence and poise to trust what you’ve been given to share with the world, by saying an unequivocal yes, you start to experience the benefits of ownership. And I, for one, believe that ownership has its privileges.

TAKE ACTION:

1. List all of the ways you have been downplaying your God inspired gifts and worth.

2. Get clear on the reasons why you have chosen those self-sabotaging behaviors.

3. Ask yourself if there is any evidence to support why you have been behaving this way?

4. Now that you are aware of the ways you have been downplaying, create a plan of how you will stop downplaying immediately going forward.

5. When you are allowing abundance to flow into your life and business, what will your life and business look like? Describe what you want instead.

6. How does this vision make you feel?

GOT QUESTIONS?

OR

NEED SUPPORT FINDING YOUR FLOW FACTOR?

BEGIN HERE!

 

Would you like to reprint this article? 
All we ask is that you use this byline:

Shameca Tankerson is Founder of Stiletto Wealth Society, a global community Dedicated to Empowering Women Entrepreneurs To  Get Bold and use Breakthrough Business Strategies to Uncover their Flow Factor™, Gain Confidence they can Cash In,  and leverage it to Build an Amazing Life and Business.

She is passionate about empowering women who find themselves playing small and are deeply and secretly scared of showing up as POWERFUL, DYNAMIC,  and CONFIDENT to courageously own “who they be” and leverage it!

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Use Your God Inspired Gifts To Unleash Financial F.L.O.W

Here’s the simple truth – God has assigned a portion of His abundance to you. You can tap into God’s sufficiency by using your natural strengths – and not your weaknesses – to increase your income, impact, and influence.

But you can’t do so with the same thinking that created the money drama you’re in today. So, how do you make a significant shift in what you do, how you think and what you say so you can Unleash Financial F.L.O.W. in your life and business?

The fastest way for you to find your F.L.O.W.  as an entrepreneur is to focus on your strengths.

Successful entrepreneurs focus only where they are strong and unsuccessful entrepreneurs try and do it all themselves.

Stop ‘Trying’ so hard…

“If you are doing anything that feels like hard work, you are already doing the wrong thing”

Creating an amazing business isn’t about fighting yourself and trying to suppress your natural behavior. If that were true, the wealthiest people on the planet would have quit when they first became millionaires rather than still playing the game their whole life.

The real trick is to maximize your natural strengths, talents, and gifts. That way you will always have the energy and the drive to stick through the challenges (and EVERY business building strategy throws up challenges that are designed to weed out the people who are just chasing the money).

Take Action….

HERE ARE 4 STEPS TO UNLEASHING FINANCIAL F.L.O.W. IN YOUR LIFE AND BUSINESS….

STEP 1 – Find Your Gift…  Discover your true worth and God inspired purpose, the mess in your message, your unique brilliance, & ideal client ( your Flow Factor™) and brand it.

STEP 2 –  Let Go … Eliminate the Beliefs, Obstacles, Lies,  and Doubts  that are placing limits on your income, release emotional baggage around past mistakes & decisions,  and break free of behaviors and habits that sabotage financial success.

STEP 3 –  Own It … Get Bold!  Position yourself as the authority and the only obvious solution to your client’s problem. Engage in activities that Increase your confidence and eliminate the fear that’s holding you back so you can benefit from your Flow Factor™,  cash in on your confidence and shift the way you grow your business.

STEP 4 –  Work It ….  Leverage your Flow Factor™. Transform you God inspired gifts, talents, and strengths into Powerful new ways to package, price,  and position your services so you can make more money with less effort.

GOT QUESTIONS?

OR

NEED SUPPORT FINDING YOUR FLOW FACTOR™?

BEGIN HERE!

 

Would you like to reprint this article? 

All we ask is that you use this byline:

Shameca Tankerson is Founder of Stiletto Wealth Society, a global community Dedicated to Empowering Women Entrepreneurs To  Get Bold and use Breakthrough Business Strategies to Uncover their Flow Factor™, Gain Confidence they can Cash In,  and leverage it to Build an Amazing Life and Business.

She is passionate about empowering women who find themselves playing small and are deeply and secretly scared of showing up as POWERFUL, DYNAMIC,  and CONFIDENT to courageously own “who they be” and leverage it!

Unlimited Funding This Coming Wednesday

This Wednesday is going to change how you look at funding your business forever.

http://cashflowandcapitalsecretsmichelle.simplelander.com/

Hint:  It has nothing to do with lists, nothing to do with business plans, having a big business, or perfect credit;  and nothing to do with you walking into a bank at all.

In fact, you are about to learn how to get the money you need to do what you do best and take your business to the next level.

Meaning? Your Funding Problems are FINALLY REALLY OVER!

You need to be at on this call if you:

1)   Are short on cash and can’t find money to start or grow your business quickly

2)  Don’t know where or how to get the cash

3)  Feel sick because you lost out on a great opportunity to sponsor and event and watched as other business owners took the opportunity and put profits in their pockets

4)  Lack the confidence to raise money

5)  Are frustrated and feel stuck

Wednesday April 18th at

6 p.m. PST

7 p.m. MST

8 p.m. CST

9 p.m. EST

Get Your Spot Here:

http://cashflowandcapitalsecretsmichelle.simplelander.com/

In this 90 minute call, I’ll open the door for you to receive an unlimited amount of money for your business – so you can finally kiss these problems goodbye:

1) No Cash

2) Losing out on lucrative business opportunities

3)  Maxing out and Paying high interest rates on personal credit cards

4) Using Up Your Savings and Retirement Accounts

Were going to show you how to get in under the normal business lending radars and get exclusive, fast-pass access to funding for all your business needs (without ever having to walk into a bank).

Looking forward to it,

Shameca

P.S. This strategy has made all the difference in the world in my clients’ business.  Now you can do the same.  Get registered and we’ll see you Wednesday night:

http://cashflowandcapitalsecretsmichelle.simplelander.com/

 

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine?

No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:

Shameca Tankerson, is a Speaker, Trainer, Author, and Cash Flow Success Mentor to entrepreneurs and service professionals. Using a proven system, she opens a candid dialogue about money that teaches her clients how to access unlimited business capital,  breakthrough to their next income level and expand into a cash flowing business with a new collaborative business model that is liberating, Inspiring and Powerful.  To Get your F.R.E.E. “Spark Your Cash Flow Financial Success Kit”  – Making Room For Money: 5 Financial Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make That Sabotage Their Cash Flow (And How To Avoid Them). Visit: http://www.MakingRoomForMoney.com

3 Simple Ways To Fatten Your Bank Account

MONEY.  Sometimes it might as well be a four letter word.  Have you ever felt if you ignore the topic it will go away? Did That increase your income?  I Here it all the time…Shameca ” how do you do day to day management and monthly management of money in your business”  and that statements if oftern followed by I’m not a financial persona like you.  Shhhh…I’ll let you in on a secret.  I’m not a financial person either.  I had spreadsheets and all that jazz.  And thats why i’ve created simple system that make the money part of business easier.   Let me share a secret with you about money, It loves attention!  I have three ways that will make tracking your money simple and doable.

So, how does a business owner manage money?

Why should you even pay attention to your money? Well, one of the attributes of money that I teach is “Money Loves Attention”.  Just like most relationships, the more love and attention you give money the more of it you will make.  This is true for everyone.  From the person who avoids looking at your bank accounts and bills = a classic avoider.  No worries – you’re not alone,  I used to reside in that camp.

To the person who feels as though you don’t need any money to do what you love – you’re a classic martyr.  Or maybe you just spend every dollar that comes into the door – you’re a spender.  Or finally, you might hoard your money so close to you that you deny yourself pleasure and you aren’t growing – you’re a saver.  No matter where you fall – tracking how much money is going in and out – is going to help you create a better relationship with money.  And that will translate to more green stuff in your bank account and more massages and tasty restaurant meals (whoo hoo – I’m in!)   Here are three ways to start receiving more money today:

ATTENTION: These three tracking mechanisms are not for your accountant.  They are more for you to keep an eye on your money.  What you do for your accountant may or may not be different.

1.  Daily: Track Cash Flow: Create a Cash Flow Tracking Sheet:  Here’s a simple system.  Take out a piece of paper….YEAH  I said a sheet of paper.  Number it from 1-31 on the left – these numbers stand for the days of the month.  On the top, write an inspirational quote for yourself.  For example: “I am a money attracting genius and people eagerly pay me for the transformation I provide.”  Also write down how much money you would like to attract over the next 30-60 days.

For example:  60 Day Goal: May 15th – $8,500.  Now next to each of those numbers you will write down all the money that comes to you from ALL the sources in your life.  It doesn’t matter whether it is business-oriented or not -all means all.  If you find a $20 bill on the street, write it down.  If your grandmother sends you a card with a check, write it down. For those of you that use a shopping-cart, Paypal or merchant account, write down the number that comes in from the day’s total.   Every time you write your daily number down – celebrate, cheer, have a praise party.  Show gratitude.  Create and inviting atmosphere for the flow even more towards you.  Remember, “money loves attention” .

OKAY.  So I know some of you are thinking, “Shameca, I don’t make money every day.  My sheet is going to be totally blank.”  I want to encourage you that this process is almost magical.  By month 5, you’ll be attracting more money than you ever did before.  Why? Because you’ll be giving it attention of course.  And we all know we get what we focus on.  But don’t be misguided. You can’t just sit in your home and wish for the money.  What you’ll find is that you start to get creative about how to attract money here, there and everywhere, namely bec ause there is a part of you that wants to fill your sheet. It’s not that different from the gold star tracking system that our elementary school teachers used.  I mean who doesn’t want more gold stars?

2.  Monthly or Weekly: Track Expenses: Ok, this one isn’t as much fun, but it is necessary.  As a business owner, you also have to be aware of what is going out.  The way that I do this is in excel.  I set up a spreadsheet that has all the categories of my expenses for both business and personal in the first column.  The second column is titled personal and the third column is titled business.  Then I save every receipt everywhere I go – business or personal.  At the end of each week or each month, enter the receipts into the business or personal column.    If you don’t like the data entry of receipts there’s a cool tool called neat receipts that will input it all for you.  That way you can get a sense of your spending for the month in various areas.  You can also hire a bookkeeper to do thi s for you either in Excel, Quicken or Quickbooks.  You can also learn to do it yourself in the software.  It’s up to you.

3. Quarterly:  Evaluate Cash Flow- Income and Expenses and Evaluate Your Money Making Strategy: First, evaluate your expenses: Have you ever looked at your credit card bill and noticed that you are being charged for a club that you totally forgot that you joined?  Or that you haven’t used a software you purchased in three months even though you’ve been paying dues?  It’s good to evaluate your expenses each month and make sure that you are still paying for what is important to you.  You should also do a check on how much you’ve been paying for certain categories.  I noticed once that my restaurant bill had more than doubled and it came with 10 extra pounds!  You can bet I did some more home-cooking after that! It’s not uncommon for me to help my client’s  find $25,000-$50,000 a year in fees and expenses that could have been eliminated.  What could you do with an extra $25,000 – $35,000.

Second evaluate your Money Making Strategy:  What launches worked well?  Which ones brought you less money then you had liked?  For example, I often see practitioners offering retreats where they either break even or make very little money on each client.  When they work with me we figure out a service that takes less time and brings in a higher return on the investment.  Decide what could you do differently over the next 3 months? Then change your Cash Flow Strategy accordingly so that you are doing activities that bring in the most amount of money and give you the greatest amount of pleasure.

In terms of making room for money and increasing cash flow, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but these activities alone can double your Cash Flow if you do them consistently.  Good luck with it all and do let me know how it works for you.  And feel free to tell me how you manage your money in the comments on my Facebook Page.  I’m always open for new ideas

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine?

No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:

Shameca Tankerson, is a Speaker, Trainer, Author, and Cash Flow Success Mentor to entrepreneurs and service professionals. Using a proven system, she opens a candid dialogue about money that teaches her clients how to breakthrough to their next income level and expand into a cash flowing business with a new collaborative business model that is liberating, Inspiring and Powerful.  To Get your F.R.E.E. “Spark Your Cash Flow Financial Success Kit”  – Making Room For Money: 5 Financial Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make That Sabotage Their Cash Flow (And How To Avoid Them). Visit: http://www.MakingRoomForMoney.com

I’m Off Vitamins Forever

Just the other day I attended a training call with one of my mentors Adam Urbanski.  I had the most profound AHA after adam made one statement.  He said the problem that most entreprenuers have will selling their products and services is focusing on the process or the details of how they  will deliver to their clients instead of focusing on the benefits. 

Now I’ve heard that before and have implemented focusing on the benefis to my services.  But then he says:

People don’t buy because what you are presenting is something they can do without.  They could wait a couple of weeks, 6 months, or even years.  They feel like they can keep going in their current state with or without your help.  The reason:  YOU ARE SELLING VITAMINS

I thought: He’s absolutely right.  How many people take vitamins everyday even though they know the vitamins are good for them and the vitamins will make their body’s feel better and function more efficiently.

But what If the doctor diagnosed you with a terminal illness and told you that there was a plant in a remote bush town that when broken down and put in an easy to swallow capsule would cure your disease in a matter of months or even weeks..guaranteed. You’d move hell and high water to get that plant.  You know that you can not live without it…right?  You know that without it you would eventually cease to exist.

You’ve all heard me say that the number one reason businesses fail is lack of capital. In fact almost 90% fail withing the first 5 years.  So its definitely inevitable without cash flow, cash, mulah, money, You business will not make it.  BUT what I realized is explaining that to people is in fact just a vitamin because the hope is that somehow the company will make enough money to sustain its self.  Even though the odds are against them, many entreprenuers take that gamble every day.

They would rather struggle on the cash flow roller coaster or Play russion rouletter with the retirement accounts.

The Pill:

How would you like to double your cash flow in 30 days or less.

Here’s what I mean: 

What if your bank account could go from this

 

to this

 

In 30 days or less.  Well that’s what I do for my clients.

 

No more vitamins…Let’s be real…you need a pill!

Apply this principle to your own business and see if you create your own AHA moments.  Remeber how you get theire is virtually irrelevant….the client is asking What’s In It For Me?

3 Easy Ways To Eliminate Your Competition

Eliminating your competition is the easiest way to increase your chances of business success.  When I say eliminate, I mean … take them out of your prospect’s consideration, so your prospects ONLY think of your business, product or service when they are contemplating making a purchase. 

This is pretty easy to do if your business is not in a competitive industry.  But let’s suppose you are in an industry where there’s a slew of compitition, like coaching, consulting, or speaking.
 
How can you make sure your prospects ONLY think of you — and therefore only BUY from you — and not all those other coaches, consultants, and speakers?

Here are 3 easy ways to elimate your competition.

(1)  Find a position in the category  that none of your competitors focus on that you can own (a Niche).

This will separate you from all the other businesses and will make you uniquely qualified in the eyes of your prospect to fill their specific need.  It puts you in a class of your own and virtually eliminates the competition.

(2)  By joining forces with your competitors

What the heck? Yep you heard me right!  You can turn your competitors into a partners and prosper.  Are there businesses or individuals with whom you could partner, with the idea of referring business to each other?

For example, a wellness coach could partner with a weight watchers clinic or a health club or a massage therapist. All of these practitioners are selling improved health and well being, but they can also be positioned as complementary services.

Or, let’s say you are a web site designer and you decide to focus primarily on working with small businesses (a market niche). You could create a partnership with another web site designer who has decided to focus on large corporations.

If you both agree to only take on business that fits your identified niche, and to refer business outside your niche to the partner, you both win.

(3) Being YOU

Remember this: No one does exactly what you do. Or in the quite the way you do it.  When you are your authentic self…You will attract those who naturally connect with your personality and stye of doing business. Develop your own signature system and process.  Name it and Rock It!

Check out this quote from a well known superstar that rocked his own style:

“My mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general; if you become a monk you’ll end up as the Pope.” Instead I became a painter, and wound up as Picasso.”~ Pablo Picasso. Just be you, and share your Light with the world. You really are more than enough.

There is not a business out there that cannot effectively use one of these two strategies to significantly reduce their competition.  So figure out which strategy fits your business best, and make it a priority to eliminate your competition this year.