Do you ever feel like you are working a mile a minute, but you’ll never reach your goals?
I’ve been there. When I start to have those kinds of thoughts, I recognize it and I must do some reframing. Over time, I’ve learned to stop being a perfectionist and stop being so disappointed and hard on myself when things don’t go perfectly because perfection is not a thing.
That’s not the goal. It doesn’t really exist. I recognize that perfectionism can be a self-sabotaging characteristic. So instead of doing that, I base my actions and my goals on reality, real things, and practicality. I’m very, very committed to doing that.
Instead of allowing my mind to wander and being super hard on myself, I ask myself, “what are the facts? What can I control? How are we going to get this done and put a smile on?”
Journaling has helped me silence these self-sabotaging thoughts and focus on what’s important.
Here are a few journal Prompts as you reflect on the year and plan the year ahead?
- What did I learn in business this year as an entrepreneur?
- What was the greatest accomplishment?
- How did you celebrate this year?
- How do you want to love on – this year?
- What do you want to do in your personal, professional, and business life?
When those feelings of self-doubt kick in, I want you to take the worries that you have and reframe them as these journal prompts. Confronting these worries head on will help you see them in a positive light.
You may worry that … I am still working for someone else while growing my business and it has been 3 years of running my business and I’m still working for someone else.
Instead of having this negative mindset, think about this … What did I learn in my business this year?
When I journaled about this, I realized, in 2022 and in 2023, I made a profit in my business. Some folks know, some folks don’t know, I pay people. I hire contractors, I had interns the last two years, I have a photographer and videographer that I work with. I also have someone who develops and designs my website, along with all the other expenses that I pay for like Zoom, LinkedIn, Canva, my mailing system, my PO box, all of these things. And many businesses don’t even make it to the point where they are turning a profit, let alone to three years of existence. So shout out to me. Clap, clap, clap, round of applause. I made it and I made a profit.
Another real moment to celebrate, I also hosted an event in both of those years and featured celebrity speakers. Those speakers and our conversation impacted the lives of so many women. So, yeah, I’m still working for somebody else, but is the business growing? Am I having the impact that I want to have that I know I am on this earth to do? A hundred percent.
And my biggest proud moment – I learned the power of follow through and execution. I’m not a detailed person. I’m big picture, visionary, strategy, but getting into the weeds of the details, that’s not me. And this year I told myself, I got to do that. I have to work smarter, more meticulously if I want to execute on certain projects. And at the time in 2023, I’m the only person that can do that. So I did that.
So even if I’m not where I thought I would be after three years of being in business, I’m growing every single year.
The next time you feel that scarcity mindset creeping in, I want you to pause and re-program your thoughts. I’m sure there is a lesson to learn and effort to celebrate.
I share more examples of how to do this on Season 4, Episode 4 of my podcast, Serve It & Own It: Leadership Lifestyle. You can listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify or wherever you stream podcasts.
