Wonderful Women: Journal 1

TheWomen: Wonderful Minding Our Own #wwmoob Business Journal Number 1

By ReeRee Rockette

Contents 1. Starting at the Start 2. Not Getting Lost – Knowing where you want to go 3. Take Control of Your Thoughts 4. Challenges 5. Make An Effort

Message from ReeRee: Wonderful Women: Minding Our Own Business (#wwmoob) started life when I became self employed. I wanted to create a group of like-minded business women, who could support, encourage and develop together.

The #wwmoob group meets twice a month in London, as well as a newer group in Norwich, and it has been awesome sharing the journey with so many fabulous women.

I get asked a lot about expanding to other locations, and until that is possible, I thought I would create these journals to share some of our #wwmoob love!

I wrote this as a 'normal' girl giving advice that works for me. I'm not a millionaire (yet!) but hope that my point of view can still prove motivating to some!

Starting at the Start What do you love? What would you allow to happily fill most of your waking hours? If you are looking to find your own business idea, wouldn't it be awesome if it could be something you love doing? Why not?!

Questions you could ask yourself: 1. If you won the lottery how would you choose to spend your time?

2. What sort of lifestyle do you dream of having?

3. What would success mean to you?

4. What skills do you already have?

5. What problems could you help solve for people?

''Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the things that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.''

Mark Twain, 1835-1910 Still Not Sure? * Surround yourself with role models and success stories – read books, follow people you admire on Twitter, read blogs, listen to audio books. * Attend business events (many are free). You may hear a speaker who inspires you, or meet someone who gives you 'your idea'. * Make friends with other people who run their own businesses. * Visit the library. They have trade magazines, journals, career advice guides that may just help you find your eureka moment. * Don't panic. Your idea will come.

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Don't be surprised if you get lost if you don't know where you want to be.

Don't be embarrassed by your goals. Talk about them, write about them, visualise them and embrace them.

Your dream life won't creep up behind you and surprise you with its appearance. You will have to know what it looks like, how you'll get there, and what you need to put in to make the journey.

Your goals may well be a mixture of big and small ones – nurture and define both! Do you want to be able to work from home? Do you want to be challenged creatively? Do you want to be able to work around childcare? Do you want staff and a swimming pool?

You can work backwards or forwards to a goal. Backwards will mean starting at the destination and working out the steps you would need to make to get there. If you look forward towards your goal, what is the next step you could achieve today to move you closer to it?

You may not know exactly how you will get there, but you should at least know where you want to get.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

Epictetus, 55-135

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''We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.''

Aristotle, 384-322 BCE

Thoughts become Words become Actions How friendly is your inner voice? Does that running dialogue tend to say positive or negative things about what you can achieve and who you are?

Our subconscious tends to absorb and believe the words that it hears. If your inner voice tends to say that something is too hard, or that you are no good at something, your subconscious will believe it to be true.

It may feel uncomfortable or weird at first, but you can start to change your inner voices. It really is possible (if you say it is).

1. Be aware of your internal dialogue. Listen out for those negative thoughts, and answer back. You may feel silly, but it is surprisingly powerful if you stick with it.

2. Decide to work towards being the person you would like to be. If you want to be a person who is confident when meeting new people, just mimic the behaviours of someone who is.

3. Fill your mind with positive things that support your goals. The books you choose, the friends you keep and the sentences you choose to speak all contribute to what your inner voice focuses on.

4. Prove your demons wrong. More often than not, those mean thoughts aren't based on fact, and sometimes you need to get rational with yourself. For example, if your inner voice says you will fail, remind yourself of times you have succeeded.

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Are you up for a challenge?

1.

Watch no television for the next 5 days.

2.

Switch off your music (if you usually have it on) when you're walking/commuting/travelling/exercising.

3.

Get up 30 minutes earlier for 5 days. Either read a book or do some stretching (or both!)

4.

Ask people who know you what they think you're good at.

5.

Find three people who motivate and inspire you and research their lives.

You don't have to see the whole staircase.

Just take the first step.

Martin Luther King JR. 1929-1968

Sit down with a coffee (or other beverage) and a note pad. If you haven't already written any goals down, do this first.

Write 10 next steps that you will get ticked off over the next 10 days. They must be actions that are very precise and measurable. For example, saying you want to improve your website is too vague. The actionable step may be to ask 5 people what they would improve, or it may be to design a new header.

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Make an effort With Yourself: I really believe this can have an instant and powerful impact on your general state of mind. It doesn't take much longer to put on a nice dress rather than jeans or more 'casual' clothes. Or a slick of red lipstick, or making the effort with some nice jewellery. Wear your best clothes more often. Life really is too short to feel drab.

With Your Business Idea: If it were easy, everybody would be doing it. But the rewards really can be worth it (if you stay focused on your goals). It may mean staying up late, being tired, going out less, networking till you forget your own name and all of the other many challenges you will face along the way. But it may well just be worth it. Every time there is an obstacle, it is another hurdle where your competitor will give up. Be the last (wo)man standing.

''An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he'll quickly learn how to chew it.''

Roy Ash, 1918-

If you want a different path, you will have to make different choices.

Different choices can be difficult choices.

You may have to be a little brave.

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Book List The One Minute Millionaire by R. Allen and Mark Hansen Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite by Paul Arden A Book About Innocent by Innocent Drinks Conversations With Millionaires by Jason Oman and Mike Litman Unlimited Success by Napoleon Hill Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz All Time Essentials For Entrepreneurs by Jonathan Yates

Contact me – I love to hear from you! reeree@wonderfulwomen.co.uk @ReeReeRockette

www.rockalily.com/wonderful-women