5 Things Women Entrepreneurs Should Know
Guys don’t let the title scare you off, if you have an entrepreneurial woman in your life, understanding the 5 things women entrepreneurs should know can help you be even more supportive! Helping them live a richer, fuller, and more rewarding life makes you an awesome person!
I am so grateful to the women who have gone before us making it possible for us to run our businesses and live our lives exactly the way we want to. Their lessons guide us and their experiences have paved the way, but there are 5 things I really wish I’d known sooner as both an entrepreneur and a woman…
1.You Can’t Please Everyone
The sooner you realize that you cannot possibly please every single person who is affected by a decision that you make, the better off you will be. When faced with a choice of Option A or Option B, and you choose Option A; you will be faced with people who think you should have chosen Option B. You’ll also hear from some who think you shouldn’t have chosen either option, but rather blazed your own trail with a newly created Option C that hadn’t even occurred to you.
You cannot please everyone, so focus on figuring out how to please yourself when it comes to the choices you make in life and business.
This is a serious lesson to learn. If I had lived my life trying to please other people I would probably be divorced with children and living in the small town that I grew up in.
If I had chosen to listen to what other people thought, I never would have quit my great corporate job and become a successful entrepreneur. My very well intentioned mother, who I love, thought I was crazy for making that choice. If I’d given in to please her, I’d still be in that job. I really enjoyed that job and loved the people that I worked with, but it was not going to fulfill my dreams.
I wouldn’t be living the life that I live today if I succumbed to the disease to please. I wouldn’t be splitting my time between a home in sunny Naples, Florida and a home on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. It just would not be possible.
Acknowledge that you cannot please everyone, and stop trying. Not everyone will be happy with the choices you make, and that’s okay. Your choice and your feelings about that choice are what matter the most.
2.Self-Confidence Starts by Having the Courage to Take Care of You
You need to take care of you first and foremost! I’ve known thousands of women in my lifetime. They all have self-confidence challenges — they might think they’re not smart enough, or not skinny enough, or pretty enough, or maybe even not capable enough. We all have this itty-bitty shitty committee in our head that loves to tell us what’s wrong. What I have learned is that when I have the courage to put myself first, and take care of myself, then all of a sudden I have the capacity to help others as well!
Self-confidence goes up when you feed your soul — nurturing yourself creates the strength to share your gifts with the world.
They are so many things that matter when it comes to taking care of you.
What you eat matters.
The people you associate with matters.
The amount of time you spend exercising your body and your mind matters.
Most people are not born with self-confidence — it’s nurtured. When you have the courage to invest in yourself and take care of you; self-confidence grows. Eventually we learn that, “Hey, if I do this, I feel more confident about that.” We can start to replicate the things that we know that are going to make us feel better.
I decided to learn how to run this year using the Couch to 5K method. Since January I have been walking and/or walk-running 5k almost every single day, and I feel awesome. My mind is clearer. I feel good about myself. And, although I’m not trying to lose weight, I can feel my body toning up and I’m getting more physically fit. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel confident.
Figure out what you can do to make yourself feel confident and then have the courage to actually do those things.
People often think that once you have confidence, you’ll be brave, or you’ll have courage. That’s not true. It happens the other way around! You’ve got to find the courage to put yourself first and do things that are going to make you feel good about you. That makes your self-confidence blossom, and our self-esteem grows along with our self-confidence. I wish I had known that a lot earlier in my life.
3.Yes, You Can Learn Math!
You can learn math, and how to manage money, and how to be financially successful. Just because you grew up hearing, “Girls are not good at math,” does not mean you have to believe it. You do not need a man to solve your money worries. You can be the breadwinner in your family. You can learn the math that it takes to run a business. You can be financially successful. You can have lots of money and spend money on things that you want. You can be responsible with money. You can be healthy, wealthy, and happy, and be okay with having and making money for you. A man is not a plan!
Many women have told me over the years, “I’m just not good with numbers. I’m just not good with math.” I begin working with them and transforming their mindset and they blossom like flowers — bursting open with possibility when they realize how much power they have once they start to understand the finances in their life and business.
It’s never too late to learn. I wish that more women knew how much power they have over money in their life and stop using, “I’m not good with numbers,” as a cop out. I wish I had known in my 20s how much more power I would have in my life once I understood money and numbers. When I was in my 20s I spent a lot of money on things that didn’t matter. Today, I’m a lot more discerning about what I spend, how I invest, how much I pay myself, and what I do to generate profits and sales in my business. I’ve had a complete mindset shift when it comes to money. I want that for other women too!
4.No Permission Required
This is a biggie…you do not need permission or approval to start. Stop asking others, “What do you think? Should I do this? Can I do this?”
Stop looking for approval and permission. Just start.
Give yourself permission to try.
Give yourself permission to fail.
Give yourself permission to do things that you’ve always wanted to do.
Stop waiting for somebody else to tell you that it’s okay, or that you can do it. The people, who told me that I couldn’t do things, were often wrong. Women tend to wait for somebody to tell them that it’s okay to proceed, that it’s okay for them to open a business, that it’s okay for them to invest in a website, that it’s okay for them to write a book — it’s okay when you decide it’s okay!
Start doing whatever it is that you really want to do with your life, because wishing is not a business strategy!
For a long time I was looking for approval from my husband, and not because he thought I should. Let me be really clear, it was only me and the itty-bitty-shitty committee in my head that wanted external validation of the choices that I was making in my business. I learned a lot about permission and approval from buying an $800 office chair. It shocked me into realizing how crazy it was to put the burden of approval on my husband. I was looking for his approval to buy my own office furniture with my own money! I wish I had learned earlier that I do not need permission or approval to start anything — and neither do you.
5.You Are Way More Capable Than You Think You Are
I didn’t think I could run 20 minutes straight. I didn’t think I could learn how to swim in my 40s. I didn’t think I could build a business that generates over half a million dollars in sales year after year. I didn’t think that I would amount to anything after I quit high school.
We all underestimate our capabilities.
Start thinking about all of the things that you’ve done in life that you thought were impossible. Remind yourself that you are more capable of doing things than you give yourself credit for.
It’s never too early to think about your bucket list. Pick one of those items and just start! Do something. Strengthen your confidence and believe in yourself by just trying.
I’m learning to run and, guess what? I’m not great at it. I’m getting great at it, but I wasn’t great to start.
I remember looking at my Couch to 5k app and thinking, “Oh my god, we have to run 5 minutes in a row twice today! There’s no way I can do that.” But I did it, and I just kept doing it.
Far too often we don’t even try.
We don’t even start because we think we’re not capable. One of the first lessons every little girl in the world should be taught is that you are so much more capable than you think — you really can be your own Super Hero. Don’t let people make you think that you can’t do things. Always believe in your ability to do whatever it is you want to do.
Let’s recap…
You cannot please everyone, so stop trying.
You need to have self-confidence, and self-confidence starts by having the courage to take care of you.
You can learn math, money, finances, and become financially free. I promise you, you can do it!
You don’t need permission or approval to start anything — ever.
You are far more capable than you give yourself credit for.
When you know these 5 things deep down in your soul, you can be the kind of woman who lifts other women up. When women actually start to appreciate the women who have gone before us, and reach out a hand to help up the women who are coming after us, we can change the landscape for women all over the world.
