You'll Know When You Are Ready

Many women who dream about opening their own business immediately come up with twenty five reasons it will not work. From a practical stand point, I encourage my clients to come up with at least fifty reasons an idea may not work and then problem solve through them. Take a proactive approach to all things negative so that nothing can surprise you. But for women still dreaming these mental road blocks are the first tests to your entrepreneurial spirit. How you respond to the test may tell you whether or not you are ready to pursue your dream.

I remember the first phone call to my mother, a self employed business owner herself, telling her that I was making plans to open a retail shop. There was a long silence and then a litany of questions about my rationale, my mental and emotional well being (read: ARE YOU CRAZY?), my financial state of affairs (read: YOU’LL GO BROKE). Like a tennis match, she’d send it sharp and straight over the net and I’d lob it back to her. My mother was a no nonsense kind of woman, who had no desire to bail out- financially or otherwise- her youngest child after a foray into entrepreneurial retail. She didn’t pull a single punch or hold anything back. After forty five minutes, a definitive rise in blood pressure (on both sides), again, there was silence. “Well?” I asked. “It sounds like you’ve planned for as much as you can plan for, keep me posted.”

When you start to dream outside the box, even the most loving, well meaning people in your life will barrage you with all the reasons you should stop, turn on your heels and run, back to the safety and security of the known and familiar. When you are ready to really move forward, this type of reaction will not wound you, phase you, anger you or dissuade you. When you are ready, nothing will be able to hold you back any longer…you will soar.
~Steph