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Starting 2012 Right: Clearing Your Head

Part 1 of a series on refreshing your approach to business success.

Happy New Year! I’m still having trouble writing 2012 on my paperwork, how about you?

I know it’s already near the end of the first month of our new year, but I’m still working on making the changes I wanted to make in my business for 2012. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to change, and I’m guessing many of you have been also.

When we take time to stop, think about and plan our businesses, we are doing the best things we can do to improve them. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day emergencies, customer service issues and critical tasks that taking a step back and re-evaluating your goals can be very hard to do, but this is so very important to the growth of your business.

What’s holding you back?

The first thing I wanted to talk about for this topic is getting your head right for 2012. My friend Janelle Elms of OSI RockStars shared a great You Tube video clip with me the other day. It’s from one of my husband’s favorite shows, “The Big Bang Theory.” In this clip, the “hero” (Sheldon) runs into someone he considers his “nemesis” (Wil), and the banter between the two contains a beautiful kernel of deep thought!

Starting in our childhoods, we’ve been hearing others speak their truths about us into our heads

The hero is telling his nemesis how much he hates him. He says, “I now own wilstinks.com, wilstinks.org and wilstinks.net.” He then asks Wil, “What does this tell you?” Wil responds, “It tells me I’m living rent-free right here,” and points to Sherman’s head. Beautiful kernel of truth!

We all come to e-commerce with a lifetime of experience. Starting in our childhoods, we’ve been hearing others speak their truths about us into our heads. Our mothers, fathers, siblings and others spoke their beliefs about our personality and character and these were not always—or even mostly, in some cases—positive thoughts. Our school classmates, significant others, previous bosses, even that crazy guy at the local department store may have told us we were dumb, incapable of success, stupid, weird, “different” and many other negative terms.

Even though intellectually we all can say that these things are untrue, they are still there, in the tiny little recorder that is our brain. When things get tough in business, or when we run up against a deadline and don’t think we can make it, these sound clips can play over and over into our consciousness, making minor events seem like major tragedies, and making us question if we really can do this online business thing.

Change your mindset

So for 2012, our first task is to clear out all those negative people living up there in our heads! If there is someone who you give way too much “thought time” to, it’s time to give them their eviction notice. I don’t care if it was your father or dear Uncle Joe; they’ve got to go! Even if it’s a fellow Internet businessperson who has gotten under your skin, they’ve gotta move out, too.

So for 2012, resolve with me that when these little voices start replaying negative messages from the past, and you find yourself dwelling on them, you will stop, take a deep breath, maybe even a short walk outside, and talk to yourself to replace them. Tell yourself you are brave, you are capable and you will be successful in 2012.

Then let’s take the steps together to make it true.

Next time, I’ll discuss how to make a clean sweep to start the year right. I’d love to hear your thoughts, so drop me a line anytime.


5 Comments

  1. It’s never too late to resolve to make these changes but January is a great time to do it BUT you are right, Kat, it’s hard to throw out a lifetime of learned experiences that hold you back Sometimes having lived longer in the non-internet business world makes it harder to do it! Thanks for highlighting this

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  2. Kat Simpson says:

    Thank you Andrew, I think it is a universal thing for us all – those little doubts.

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  3. Thanks for the reminder, I do think this is good advice for not just business but life in general. Let nobody live rent free in your head!

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  4. Kat Simpson says:

    Thank you Merkaba – I appreciate your comment.

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  5. Cheri says:

    Kat!

     Another stellar article!  You RockStars have really got it going on with Janelle’s unique approach to the biz. Holistic, probably. Advantageous, no doubt! No wonder you all ROCK!
    their interference in our lives. Their interfere with our business, specifically, is a super way to address those issues which hold us back.  But they can only hinder IF we allow them to do so.
     Addressing the issues that hold us back can be painful, but working through them can set us free.I use the three A process: Acknowledgement, Acceptance, and Action.  One really can’t take action to change that which hinders without first Acknowledging the issue. Then Accepting the fact that that the  issue is ‘real’ & claiming it as your own.The next part is easy, take Action to change that which you’ve just acknowledged & claimed as yours.The Action step is the time to get down to the nitty gritty & work through that which is probably a painful process.

    Usually, once one issue has been  addressed &  resolved,  more will surface. Taking the same steps will improve one’s entire life & clear the head for more positive & productive activities.. The benefits of working through the pain in this manner & journaling the process is an amazingly refreshing way to experience freedom. The benefits are amazing and journaling will be difficult becuse the light bulb moments will be popping up so quickly one might need to pull out the handy dandy recorder & start dictating. But putting it down in words & being able to refer to it is mandatory in order to benefit fully using this tripl”e A process.

    I am not saying that this method will work for everybody, or even that everybody has issues buried so deeply that working through them is a painful process. All I’m saying is that this method was taught to me about 15 years ago & I am blessed every time I have the opportunity to try it out again. It hasn’t failed me yet! 

    Thanks,Kat for the reminder  – &  Never, ever give up!!
    Cheri’

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