Enough

In Health, Inspiration, My Story, Self-Help, Success by Stephanie Baker

We are all on a journey.   What is your desired destination? What fuels you to go to work every day? Bills? You’ve got to put food on the table? What about your daughter’s dance lessons? Your son’s college tuition? Ever stop to think about how much of your life is motivated by stress? You are traveling at high speed on Desperation Highway with scarcity as your fuel. You can’t travel very far on fumes and believe me, if this represents your life, your engine is beginning to sputter.

Trying to run a business on an empty tank leads to dead ends and ghost towns. If you don’t intend for your business to settle in Death Valley, you’re going to need to adjust your mindset. Some call it dispositional optimism. For simplicity, we’ll call it abundance. 

Ever wonder how that one gal in business always comes out on top?

I’ll tell you how. She believes she will always come out on top. And if she doesn’t, she accepts it as a learning opportunity, shakes it off and moves full steam ahead recognizing there was value in the fall.  

Being grateful for who you are and believing in yourself, is the ideal place to live a life of abundance. You are intelligent and proficient, and you bring a unique skill set to your profession every day.   You have capabilities you take for granted. This isn’t about hype. It’s about letting go of paradigms that affect your ability to prosper. Adjusting to this mindset will adjust your approach to life and specifically, your profession. This profound shift starts with an attitude of gratitude. 

Gratitude for where you are right now, and what you have right now, places you in the pole position for success. Remembering you are living the life you once dreamed about and reminding yourself to live gratefully, will always ensure you maintain that position. 

Once you adjust your personal mindset, adjusting your business mindset will inevitably follow. You need to make money. We all do. Approaching your workday out of desperation due to impending bills and looming deadlines, conveys desperation to your team, and more importantly, your customers. Pushing yourself or your team to produce because you are panicked over whether or not you can make payroll, sends an underlying message based on fear. 

Approach your day with confidence.  

Confidence is knowing assuredly you have the answer to your clients’ concerns and you are perfectly positioned to meet their needs. Resting in confidence means never allowing fear to write the script.   You have succeeded at surviving 100% of the difficulties life has thrown your way, and you won’t fail this time.   

Stand resolute in your pricing, protocols, and processes. There is no need to operate your business always thinking, “They’ll never pay $xxx.xx for THAT!” You’ve priced your services competitive to your market. Don’t be dissuaded because a business on the other side of town is offering its services at bargain-basement prices. Your skills are worth it! Your team provides excellent service and your care is exceptional. Why would your customer believe it, if you don’t?

Have a positive mindset

I have a friend who owns an RV service lot. Their fees are nearly double the price per hour than other local RV businesses. His wife & bookkeeper never flinched when he recently proposed another price increase. Why? She’s been on this roller coaster with him for years, and she’s learned the cream always rises to the top. He was resolute in his position. He stated, “I don’t care if we get less business. The business we get will be from those who want exceptional work done by the best team around.” He is rock-solid in his belief in himself, his team, and their work. Their business has boomed and the customers have noticed. 

The patrons are aware that they could drive across town for less expensive service. But they’ve noticed the activity and say, “They must be good; really good!” Why do they return? Its because the owners believe they are the best in town and the customers have adopted that mindset. 

There are people who pay $150,000 for a vehicle and several hundred dollars and beyond for a designer bag. These people recognize the value of quality craftsmanship. The consumer/patient motivation is not our concern. Louis Vuitton clearly isn’t concerned over the guy who thinks $2500 is too much to pay for a purse. They focus on producing a quality product, and the rest takes care of itself. Your value isn’t based on anything other than the value your customers take away from your product and exceptional customer service. Focus on quality every day, believe you’ve got the solution to their problem, and the rest will take care of itself. 

While we’re adjusting our mindset, let’s remove comparison from our thought processes.   Don’t obsess over your college roommate who seems to be making money hand-over-fist while you’re still paying off your college debts. Envy, comparison, and bitterness disguise themselves in the most cunning way.  Don’t stifle your growth with negativity. Let the toxicity go.  

Ever notice the most successful people are almost annoyingly positive?

They aren’t stressed about what happened in the past or the guy down the street.  Abundance says there is enough for everyone. Truly, there is enough money and business to go around. Believe it, and watch your business grow. See yourself making money and living comfortably. Imagine yourself living the life you’ve always envisioned.   Imagine your workplace is the business you’ve dreamt of having. Feeling even more emboldened? Write it down! Make it a written, tangible goal. Refer to it often. Before you know it, you will find it a reality. 

Adjust your social network to reflect a life of abundance. Wanna fly with eagles? Don’t hang around with buzzards. It’s that simple. Find a network of positive, prosperous people and learn what makes them tick. Success and abundance are infectious. Associating with people more successful than you will motivate you to dream bigger, push harder and reach further than you ever have. Get over the insecurities and be the little duck in the big pond. Iron sharpens iron. Break out your motivational sharpening stone and get to work. You’ve got greater things in you than you ever thought possible. Get to work on getting that greatness outside of you and sharing it with the rest of the world! 

Living out of a place of scarcity

Ever read stories of folks who won the lottery and are broke in a few years? Why is that? They live out of a place of scarcity. They blow their winnings on things that create no return. It’s all me, me, me! Sports cars and pretty things will leave you with rusted, broken-down reminders of depreciation and regret.  Plant seeds for your future and you will yield abundance in your golden years. You will harvest precisely what you plant. When you invest in goodness, you will yield goodness. Invest in yourself and others and watch the overwhelming return on your investment. Share in good things and people of value. 

Finally, walk in integrity. Do good business even when no one is watching. Ethics are invaluable. It’s the only way to conduct your life in such a way that it never brings regret.  There’s a saying, “Live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe it.” Unashamedly make this your mantra.  

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Plans and promises are futile until you map out a journey for success.   Create an intentionally grateful life and you will enjoy a joy-filled journey as you travel cross-country toward prosperity. Live your best life. Fuel your tank with abundance and you will never run out of fuel.