Overcoming Three Obstacles that Stop Your Dreams

There are a few things you should be aware of when you begin to embrace your dreams. The first thing is the DOUBT. "Who am I to do THAT?" "There are so many people already doing that, is there room for me?"

The answer to that first phase of questioning is - yes, there is plenty of room for you - because there are literally billions of people. Not everyone "resonates" with everyone. There are people that will "resonate" better with you than they will with others, because no matter how many people deliver the same 'goods', no one will do it in the same way you will.

The next phase is INTIMIDATION. The greatest way to defeat this impulse is to cover your self in grace. Everyone experiences a learning curve - even that person sitting across the room who has all the answers. They didn't learn all they know overnight. They have dealt with intimidation too.

Just take your time and allow yourself to explore your options, learn the language of your trade, ask questions and devour information and enjoy the experiences that support you in your passion.

The next phase is the LEARNING CURVE. Make friends with this one - because it never ends. If you had all the answers up front, you may not be able to personally handle all that those answers would attract. (orders, customers, media attention, whatever) A learning curve doesn't just give you information; it builds character and experiences, supply and resources, relationships and networking. You will need all of that, not just answers, when you step into your future.

All along the way you will be challenged with decisions that will carry risk with them. The risk that comes with new relationships which are misunderstandings, emotional ties, commitment, etc. Then there is the risk of finances - loosing and gaining, prepare yourself to experience both, but make every effort to control how much you loose - and how much you gain.

Do your homework . . . and build a team.

What? You're Trying to Build Your Business Alone?

Congratulations on making the decision to either begin or build your own business! Because of people like you, our country will continue to be one of the greatest on the Earth, providing resources and jobs for generations to come.

May I strongly encourage you to not do everything on your own? Like most people you might be working on your own for two common reasons. 1. You are on a learning curve and are exploring your options 2. You want to maintain control.

Did you know that by failing to access outside resource, consultation and support that you are actually out of control, and not in control. Sure, you may be doing everything and know exactly what's going on in your business, but you are not growing like you can, and if you are not growing, you are falling behind. Falling behind in energy, finances, ideas and rest - not to mention time for family and friends.

A life or business that is not growing, but is dying, or barely surviving is actually spinning out of control. You are just too close to notice the tail spin.

The greatest gift that you can give your business, yourself and your family, is education. Learn what your options are. Learn where your resources are. Learn your legal rights. Learn where your capital comes from. Learn how to manage your time...etc.

Okay, a bit overwhelmed? Here's another gift - take it one step at a time. What do you need NEXT? Not what do you need a year from now - what do you need NEXT?

A tremedous resource that is available to you is IBI (Income Builders International). A healthy organization of entreprenuers, investors, consultants and creatives who there to educate you and support you in ways you can only begin to imagine. This amazing organization has been the greatest gift I've ever given to myself and my family.

If you are in Colorado, go to the http://ibicolorado.com website and tell them Shannon sent you. Chances are, I'll be there and would love to meet you. If you aren't in Colorado, click on the link in the title of this posting or go to http://ibiglobal.com and find a club close to you.

If you are still exploring your options, IBI will present a plethora of options that you can pick and chose from that will match your passion and value system, or help you to discover the same. IBI is a safe place to explore your options and learn while eliminating serious and costly mistakes!

If you want to maintain control - IBI will help you to not maintain control by learning how to do more intelligently while continuing to expand your business and profitablity.

Anxious for more informatin and education now?

Go to http://ibisuccesschannel.com and receive streaming educational classes that will immediately benefit the building of your business. These classes are from previous CEO Retreats. These will give you just a taste of what is available to you at one of these forums. (The most important investment I've ever made) Hope to see you at one of them!

Make Life Easier - Do the Obvious

Have you ever seen a small child try to lift a heavy object? Believe as he may, the child will struggle and strain, moan and groan, totally convinced that he can lift the heavy object.

Dad comes along and easily lifts the item and puts it where the child was trying to move it. For the child, no matter how convinced he was that he could do it, he just couldn't. For Dad, it was a piece of cake.

We don't change much as we grow older. Especially if we are entrepreneurs. It takes nerve to go against the grain and begin a business or work from home. Money is tight, so it makes sense that you will just have to do everything... even lifting the heavy objects.

Smart entrepreneurs have figured out a way around doing everything themselves. Its called networking. Many moan that they just don't have time to meet new people. Time is money! The fact is, that how you spend that time is money. Not time itself. You can spend hours trying to lift something heavy, or ... you could find someone who knows how to lift it and trade services. Not everything has a price tag - to other entrepreneurs, your services are like gold, and visa versa.

An accountant might want to build a web site and a web designer might need an accountant for instance.

Give yourself a gift ... lean to your strengths and never lean to your weaknesses. Let someone else do it!

Remember - "If its not your genius - its not your job."

Where Does All the Time Go?

Where has the time gone? Ever ask yourself that question? I know I have!

In an entrepreneurial world, time management is a necessary skill one must cultivate in order to not only achieve goals, but to maintain sanity!

This year I've heard some really great advice from fellow entrepreneurs. My favorite?

"If its not your genius, its not your job!"

This summer provided a great opportunity for some serious house cleaning. There's nothing like moving out of a large house and into a much smaller house to identify all the junk we unconsciously hang onto. Boxes that hadn't been opened in years appeared to continually burp out of the bowels of our home . . . much like the stacks of papers that plague many a self employed person's desk.

Having so much clutter in one's life, short circuits creativity and the ability to focus on short term goals, not to mention the long term ones!

Making the decision to refocus my life and business, family and relationships has been the best gift I could have ever given to myself. Not only does it simplify life, it reveals strengths and weaknesses and allows for the opportunity to seek answers in specific areas.

Visual clutter feeds emotional and mental clutter. Give yourself a gift - by giving away what you don't use or need, or throw it away! Re-focus on what is important and productive - and make more room for the important things like, family and friends, relaxation and play.

Seasonal Gifts, Unexpected Moments in Time

WOOSH! The Holiday season has come and gone ...

Gifts have been exchanged and ... well, some have been returned. Others might have been shoved into a closet for future 'white elephant' gifts and still others will be cherished for a time and then forgotten.

When I look back on all of the Christmases I've enjoyed, only one moment in time rises above all of the rest when it comes to a special gift.

I must have been very young. Maybe five or six. Tearing the colorful wrapping paper away from the box I sucked in my breath as my eyes fell on a pink plastic purse filled with sparkling pretend jewels and jewelry parts. It was a kids craft kit. Simple. Plastic. Gawdy. I never played with it.

As a very young child, I had no clue what to do with it. I didn't know how to put the jewelry pieces together, no matter how much I wanted to. It all just seemed so complicated. Beyond the moment of unwrapping that present, I can't remember ever looking at the gift again and I have no clue of what happened to it.

Why then, if I never played with it, does this gift rise to the surface of favorite gifts?

After years of periodically recalling that moment in time, I believe that what I received that Christmas morning was not a pink plastic purse with fake jewels, but a kiss of confirmation and acknowlegement of my creativity and girlhood. The gift was a promise. A promise of beautiful things, of being a pretty girl, of creating beautiful things.

It was a seed.

Don't get discouraged when someone doesn't respond like you thought they would when you give them a gift. They may have received something very different than the item itself.

And ... when you invite someone to be a part of something, and they turn you down, remember that it might have been the asking that was needed, and not the actual event that you invited them to.

Small moments in time. Cherish each one of them and celebrate them. Seeds are being planted - and by our celebrations and thankfulness, they grow into miraculous moments in time.

Gift ideas

Most people think that a gift idea is something that you give to another person in the form of a wrapped present.

What happens if we turn that around and look at this term from a different perspective? Add a little word like "of" and you have the Gift of Ideas.

From the time we are little children attending school to the time we enter the work force we are given two very different and conflicting messages. As children there is no limit to our imagination and creative ideas! But once school begins, our behavior is trained to suppress those ideas so that we can learn other ideas. Granted, some of those ideas are actually important - but a good many of those ideas are outdated and stale and in fact, have nothing to do with our world today.

Its a rare adult who can still think imaginatively and freely. Even creative geniuses have old stale tapes running in their hearts and minds to "sit down, behave, obey the rules".

Corporations hire professional speakers to motivate and inspire employees to "think outside of the box". How sad that the gift of imagination that every child possesses must be re-trained in adults.

My thought for today is to give your self a powerful gift. The Gift of Permission. Permission to play, permission to imagine, permission to create and to think out of the box. Permission to be yourself and to rediscover who that is.

Give yourself the permission to what ever it is that you need or wish that you had.