If you read my last article “IF YOU’RE NOT CHARGING WHAT YOU’RE WORTH, YOU’RE UNBALANCED – YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!”, you’ll realise that I do like provocative titles. So please do not be offended with this one – there is a valid reason for it, which I will be revealing shortly and this will be to your advantage.
Work on the business
All the business gurus and coaches will tell you to work “on the business” and not just “in the business” and that of course is sound advice. If you don’t know where you want to take the business, how on earth will you get there?
But how do you know where you want to take your business if you don’t really know yourself? And, if you don’t really know yourself, how do you know that where you’re taking the business is really where you want to go? The answer is categorically – you don’t!
Work on yourself
So it’s vital that you also “work on yourself.” Yet how many business owners actually do that? No doubt, they will invest in business processes, marketing, even training in business skills and so on, yet they wouldn’t consider investing in themselves per se. So why is that? It’s either because they simply don’t know how important this is or because the idea of it is just too darn scary.
They might have to face up to parts of themselves that they consider unacceptable that they would rather keep hidden. And yet, working on yourself can be an amazing journey of discovery of your true worth and value while eliminating false beliefs you may have about yourself along the way. I’d be the first to admit that it’s not all a bed of roses and yet nothing worth achieving is done without blood, sweat and tears.
So often, I hear professionals saying, “well, that’s just the way I am”. I can’t possibly change. It indicates to me that they don’t have much of a clue – and I say that with compassion and humility. The truth is that is not the way they are, that’s the way they think they are and there is a huge difference.
So working on yourself is about learning how your mind works both the conscious and unconscious and eliminating negative and or limiting beliefs which hinder or hamper progress. It’s also about gaining true clarity of who you are, what’s really important to you and where you want to go. You can consciously reflect on your business and your life, take inspired action with confidence and without the baggage dictating what you do. The value of such work is immeasurable because the positive effects will extend beyond your business into your personal life. In essence, it’s life-transforming.
It takes foresight, intelligence and courage
One client (who is highly intelligent and competent at her particular profession) told me that she had worked with a marketing coach and his strategies and the overall structure of his marketing plan made a lot of sense to her. She also said that although she understood a lot of the theory, putting everything into practice was difficult for her because she kept coming up against limiting beliefs which stopped her taking the right action.
However, she had the foresight, intelligence and courage to recognise and understand the need to work on herself and took a leap of faith. In just 3 months, she has made huge strides and this is positively impacting not only on her business but also on her life.
The challenge is many people think they know themselves when in reality what they know is their patterns of behaviour (their conditioning and their habits) and the two are worlds apart. In truth, you don’t know what you don’t know about yourself.
Personally, I have invested huge amounts of time and money into my own personal development and will continue to do this til the day I die. My desire is to become the best version of me I can be, both for me and my clients.
Investing in yourself means you will flourish; if you choose not to, you run the risk of withering like a flower that has not been tended.
The real question is: Are you worth investing in or as the title says, are you just not worth it?
If you have any questions in relation to this article, please contact me on 01202 743961 or 07957 672335 or visit my Contact Vanessa Page to book your complimentary True Worth Strategy Session.
