I was out for an early-morning run and this topic really sang to me. The birds were chirping, the beginnings of daylight were peeking through the skyline, and things seemed harmonic in that moment. For many of my students, they know I have been on a fast track to some incredibly exciting business results in the past few years, especially this year.
Of course, with much growth come hiccups–and with hiccups come many more opportunities to learn golden nuggets on how to track, test and tweak to make whatever happened an ultimate win for the growth of the organization and yourself.
Having said that, the headline,”Where Do You Go When You’re Blue?”‘ just popped into my mind on my morning run this as I reflected on some of the recent hiccups, changes and golden opportunities that have cropped up over at Vanessa Summers Companies in recent weeks.
I believe for us as business owners, we often have to walk through our worst fears in order to grow ourselves and our revenue. Sometimes, in the process of that journey, there are moments when the obstacles you are facing seem bigger than you are. Tony Robbins said it best: “When it seems impossible, victory is near!”
I have a short list of where I go when I am blue, and I thought I would share it with you. I think if we are to grow fantastically on all accounts with our business success, especially financially, we will have moments of feeling blue. “Blue” meaning off balance, extreme discomfort and fear, and even a little sad as we process through the changes we are walking through into our new desired results.
Having a good support system and positive ability to travel through these turbulent moments are essential to continue to leapfrog forward with your business. Here are some juicy support systems I definitely reach for when I am feeling blue:
- A notepad: Three simple questions get flushed out right away between me and the page. What is good about this? What is great about this? What could be better? I love this tool when I am”whacked out” about something or simply on overwhelm. I can get an instant perspective and regain my footing pretty quickly. Plus, it feels so pure. I kinda think it is just me and God hanging out, having a mini powwow!
- A trusted colleague or friend: I have a small but deceptively powerful network of very successful business owners who break it all down for me within minutes. These are entrepreneurs who have been ‘tested in the trenches and each has his or her specific area of expertise. A five-minute call can really make a huge impact on my mind-set and outlook. Plus, I just feel so darn supported by such fantastic individuals.I have learned that it takes courage to be vulnerable. At times, including when I’m a bit blue, I wear my vulnerability with humility and transparency. I not only know these trusted individuals have my best interests at heart, I also know they have a true knowledge of successful entrepreneurship, ‘cuz they are successful themselves.
I can’t emphasize enough: Take guidance, advice, feedback and support when you are blue from individuals who have been there and done that, and who have incredible results in business to show for it. It makes a phenomenal difference in how you travel through your hiccups to BIG BUSINESS RESULTS.
- Movement: I am the 10-year yoginni turned runner. Yeah, a runner. Which is not who I saw myself as a year ago. What I love about movement in general, and running in particular, is that it forces me in a fantastic way to consistently sweat it out to live outside of my comfort zone, knowing that that is where all the great amounts of love, money and happiness are–not in my small. limited comfort zone.I love pushing myself in an unconscious/conscious way with movement such as this. I feel invigorated, enthused, powerful and pumped to grow bigger than any obstacle that arises in my day.
- Call Mama: Yep, I have a great mom. She dishes out some pretty darn sage advice. She is a savvy biz lady who is whip smart and calls it as it is. Somehow, every once in a blue moon when I hit an unexpected big road bump with my biz, I call my mama. And wow, she can serve me up some sensational perspective and feedback that grounds me to my core.Perhaps my little girl just loves that worst case scenario. I’ve got Mama on my side. Who is on yours unconditionally?
- Have a shot: Uhhhh Haaaa. I really said that. Every now and again I will kick back a tequila shot (after a tough long day) of my favorite brand, Patron Silver. And you know what? It works. The key here is to do it only every once in a long while. When I was living in San Francisco during the dot.com boom, I accidentally fell into a very elite crowd of geniuses who all graduated from Stanford’s MBA program and went on to start companies such as eBay; Hotmail, the first free e-mail address on the internet, and bring companies public that made millions on their first day of listing.One of these gentlemen taught me that blowing off steam every once in a while is essential to operating at a peak performance level. Blowing off steam doesn’t always mean kicking back a shot of tequila, but sometimes it does–and I believe this works for me. What works for you?
- Clear, clean, complete and delete: I believe nature abhors a vacuum. The more I organize, de-clutter, let go of things, and upgrade my overall environment on every level possible–the more I magnetize achieving/receiving my new desired results in my biz and life. Hence, I love to do a clearing when I am blue. It is cleansing and, I believe, preps me to embrace change and reminds me that change is the law of life.When was the last time you deleted your e-mails? Cleaned out your computer files? Emptied your closet or kitchen cabinet of things you no longer use? Or how about shredding those old docs in your file folders that are obsolete? To name just a few.
- My family. My son Thor is 2 and my husband is my best friend in every sense of the word, along with my life partner and lover. These two beings are my everything. They are my home, my compass, my forever loving welcoming after a long day in my office. No matter what twists and turns may make me blue, I love my daily reminder of how lucky I am to have such great LOVE and JOY in my life with such a wonderful son and hubby!
- Prayer. This is so easy and so essential for me. For example, I awoke at 1 a.m. to a BlackBerry text. It was a piece of biz news that was unexpected and upset me greatly. Often, with so much growth in my biz, I am facing new challenges that I don’t always feel prepared for, and it at times causes anxiety. You know, the kind of anxiety where you can’t sleep. So sometimes I just lie in bed alarmingly awake and pray. I grew up Catholic, and although I don’t practice this particular religion today, I will recite the “Our Father” in my mind’ several times.You see, it takes great faith and trust to leapfrog forward with your business. Praying when I am that far out of my comfort zone is an enormous reminder that I am not alone–and that little reminder is a HUGE comfort. Do you ask for guidance beyond yourself?
Not sure where you go when you are blue? Hopefully these eight tips will inspire you to create a support system to help you leapfrog you and your business forward–no matter what new obstacle or opportunity the day brings.
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