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Emotional Endurance Development |
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Empowerment for Entrepreneurs is currently being published and will be available in the Spring, 2008. Highlights of Empowerment for Entrepreneurs: A 90 Day Guide are below.
For more information contact Suzanne Mulvehill, MBA, Executive Director of the Emotional
Endurance Institute at (561) 202-9051 or email suzanne@emotionalendurance.com. |
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Introduction |
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Empowerment for Entrepreneurs: A 90-Day Guide is for people who choose to experience the upper limits of entrepreneurial living. It is for those who are willing to go beyond financial success, beyond the experience and the dream, and make a contribution to the universe through their lifework™. This is a new term I coined, lifework™. I was on a 1.5 year sabbatical from my business after my father’s death in 2005. In the summer of 2007, I was infused with new energy following a breakup with my boyfriend. I realized rather quickly that I have a contribution to make to this world. My gift, my lifework™, is helping people transition into entrepreneurship in mind, body and spirit and discovering their gift – their lifework™ - their contribution to the world. All of you who read this, if you don’t already know, are discovering your lifework™, your gift to the world. Welcome to your journey!
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How to Use this Book |
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Empowerment for Entrepreneurs can be read like my first book, Employee to Entrepreneur. You may read whatever you need to read, whenever you need to read it. There is no rule that you have to read each day chronologically. When you don’t know what to read or what you need, close your eyes, ask for spiritual guidance and just open the book. Typically what we need will be right in front of us. Or you can open the book to that day’s reading or flip to the index and read whatever jumps out at you. What is important is that you continue to seek fulfillment because it is in seeking it that we find it.
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Day 1 - Step into the New You |
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So often our hopeful feelings are overshadowed by fear and doubt. We wonder, will we ever really have what we desire? Will we ever truly find and experience what we are searching for? We have struggled in our mind, body and spirit. We vacillate between hope and fear, wondering if what we desire is really possible for us.
Take a few minutes now and feel your hopeful feelings. Picture in your mind what this hope looks like and feels like. Connect to this feeling, to this picture. Breathe into it. Fill yourself with hope. Remember this hopeful feeling and return to it when you need to. Make a commitment to yourself to feel hopeful and to trust your hopeful feelings. Become comfortable with feeling hopeful. Believe that feeling hopeful will guide you to the New You.
Today I am making a commitment to live my life to the fullest, to feel hopeful and excited about my business and my life. I am willing to go beyond my fears and doubts.
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Day 2 - Stretch Yourself |
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You’ve been here before – this point that you can’t seem to get beyond. Whether it is fear of running out of money or being rejected by a customer, or not being successful, you are familiar with this uncomfortable feeling. You just can’t seem to get past it. You’ve felt it, faced it, gone around it and ignored it. You’ve tried everything you know to make it go away.
Start stretching yourself today. Do something different. Call a client you’ve been meaning to call. Complete a project you’ve been putting off. You will know when you are stretching yourself because at first you may be excited about a new change but when the opportunity to make a change comes up, you feel intimidated or uncomfortable. Do it anyway. Get comfortable with change and begin to trust the process of stretching yourself.
Today I will stretch myself. I will do something different and become committed to stretching myself everyday. I trust that my uncomfortable feelings are temporary and are a part of change and growth.
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Day 3 - Welcome the Unknown |
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Dealing with the unknown can feel scary, especially when things are not working out the way you wanted or planned. You may not be making the kind of money you hoped to make or things just aren’t working out as you planned. You may have lost a customer or don’t know where your next customer will come from. You just don’t know. In this scary place, all you want is to know. You want to feel secure. You just want to feel safe again.
Welcome the unknown. Trust that you are right where you need to be. Know that everything you need is right in front of you exactly when you need it. Next, take a step in the unknown. Any step. Feel the discomfort of whatever action you take and know that the unknown is safe and will guide you to your potential.
Today I welcome the unknown. I trust that everything is being worked out for my highest good. I release the known and familiar and trust that the unknown is full of opportunity. I realize that the unknown will help me experience the success I desire and fulfill my dreams.
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Day 4 - Give up your Plan |
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You’ve planned it and know the plan. You’ve taken time to put the plan together. You thought it was going to work. But now, for some reason, your plan isn’t working. You’re baffled, lost in not knowing what to do without your plan, without the security of knowing what you were planning to do. Your plan felt secure – you thought it was going to show you the way. Instead, it left you feeling like you don’t know what to do next.
Give up your plan and go with the flow. Trust what you know and feel and focus on what is working. Take time to be still and quiet and let answers come to you. You don’t need to force a solution. Things are being worked out.
Today I will go with the flow and give up my idea of the way I thought things were supposed to work out. I will open myself to what is best for me and allow life to take care of me. I trust that all is well.
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Day 5 - Say No to Something You Don’t Want To Do |
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So often we become accustomed to doing things we don’t want to do. Inside we know we don’t like doing whatever it is but we do it anyway. For so long I worked in jobs where I did things I didn’t like. Ironically, I was still good at doing these things, even though I didn’t like them. I discovered that the more I did things I didn’t like, the further I got away from myself. The more disconnected I became from myself.
Take your power back and, just for today, say no to something you don’t really want to do. Connect with your power and say no and mean it. Saying “no” is not rude. You can politely say, “no thank you.” without offering apologies or explanations. Saying no helps define who you are.
Today I will say no to something I don’t really want to do. I will take my power back by politely saying no.
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Day 6 - Say Yes to Something You Really Want to Do |
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It is important to give yourself permission to say yes to something you really want to do. It doesn’t feel good when you want to do something and don’t do it. Often we hold back because of fears or insecurities. When we hold back, we limit ourselves in discovering more of who we are. Sometimes holding back is appropriate, such as when we are changing addictive patterns. However, there are times when holding back actually limits our progress.
While it was socially acceptable to save money, I used to hoard money. One of the ways I hoarded money was by not saying yes to the things that were good for me, that would fulfill me. I lived in self-deprivation because of my fear of running out of money. I was holding myself back from living a fuller life.
Say yes to something you really want to do and do it. It doesn’t matter if you think it sounds stupid or if people will think what you are doing is strange. Sometimes saying yes means taking a risk, such as when you purchase something and need to trust that you will be financially replenished. Just say yes!
Today I will say yes and follow through with something I really want to do. I will allow myself the freedom of self-discovery. If saying yes involves spending money, I will treat myself to something I can afford, even if I am afraid to spend the money.
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Day 7 - Suspend Yourself in Grace |
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As we step more and more into the unknown, we enter a new realm where we begin to operate on universal time rather than daytime or nighttime. Know and trust that the more you step into the unknown, the more universal laws and forces guide you. The more uncomfortable you may become because as you make changes to better yourself, to fulfill yourself, the more you are suspended in grace. Grace is the “oil” that makes living with the unknown tolerable. Grace allows us to function freely without limits. When you trust this divine guidance, you enter another state of being – a state of grace. Grace is what allows us to function without truly knowing exactly what we are doing or where we are going. Grace is what you receive when you trust and feel your feelings, have faith and stay present. Grace is our guiding light. It is what keeps us going and helps us to have faith. Grace is unlimited.
Stay suspended in grace. Go to this space by trusting, feeling and believing that you’re exactly where you need to be.
Today I allow myself to experience grace, the security of the unknown. I trust that the more I step into the unknown, the more life takes care of me.
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Day 8 - Know You’re Going to Want to Quit Sometimes |
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Sometimes you are going to want to give up. You’ll want to forget about all that you are working on and say, “Forget it! It’s just too much work!” or “I’m just not making enough money.” You will question yourself and say, “What am I doing?” “What was I thinking when I started this business?” When you are thinking thoughts like these, it is this very moment that you need to take action and change your thinking.
Do something for someone else. Do something fun. Do something you don’t want to do that you know will be good for you. Take a break. Take some time to nurture yourself. Go for a walk. You won’t feel like being thankful. Be thankful anyway. You won’t feel like moving forward. Move forward anyway. You won’t feel like doing much of anything. Do something positive anyway. Take action – change your behavior, change your thinking. Don’t allow yourself to drown in negativity. Accept that you are in a negative space and get out of it as soon as possible.
Today I accept that some days are going to be difficult. I remember that even though I don’t feel like being committed, I am committed to my journey. I will take time to nurture myself and know that this too shall pass.
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Day 9 - Its’ OK to be Scared |
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Sometimes you are going to be scared to death, feel like crawling into a hole. Know that it’s ok to be scared. Being scared helps us to know we are growing and changing. Being scared is an opportunity for growth. When you are most scared is when you are experiencing the most opportunity for growth.
Once I was planning to facilitate my first strategic planning session for a client. I was excited about this new opportunity until the night before. I couldn’t sleep and tossed and turned all night. Everything I was ever afraid of scared me that night. I used to have panic attacks and I thought, “How am I going to be able to stand up there all day?” “What if I pass out?” I let these fears and many more like them just express themselves to me. My fears passed over me, like a storm passes overhead. I accepted that what I needed to share was what others needed to hear. I trusted that I was on the right path, even though it didn’t feel like it. By the morning I was fine. I went on that day to facilitate my first planning session. And I did it again the following year and for several years thereafter. I went beyond the fear, and so can you.
Today I trust that feeling scared actually helps me grow. I can feel scared and gently do what I know I need to do anyway. Moving through the fear empowers me to become more of who I am.
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Day 10 - Take a Nap |
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It’s okay and normal to take a nap when you need one. There is no right time to take a nap. I’ve taken naps at 10 in the morning and at 7 at night. A 30-40 minute nap will restore you without upsetting your nighttime sleep. When we resist the opportunity to take a nap, especially when our bodies need one and our schedule allows for one, we can end up feeling groggy and unproductive. A nap refreshes and renews. It gives us energy and restores us to function at our potential.
Listen to your body. It you are tired, rest. Take a nap. It will refresh your mind, body and spirit.
Today I trust my body’s needs. If I need a nap I will take one. I am learning to become more in tune with my body and respect my body’s needs. |
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