A new lesson every day!

Lesson learned 2020… being self-employed without work equals being unemployed. Many of us have seen our job opportunities—and our clients–fade away.  Overall, there’s been a significant loss of business in 2020!

Being self-employed, I get it. For me, it’s easy to see. The phones aren’t ringing, and clients aren’t reaching out.

Here’s the thing…if you’re self-employed, a small business owner, or perhaps you just lost your job and are looking to start over, you have to focus on your mindset.

No matter what is happening, remember this—and I say this often–So What, Now What.

During challenging times, that phrase has put me back where I belong. So what now what puts everything into perspective for me. I see what’s going on, but more importantly, what will I do about it? That comes down to having the right mindset.

You have to eliminate the Stinkin’ Thinkin’ that’s going on in your head, when fear, doubt, and uncertainty take over. That’s when things get tough.

 Of course, it may be quite tough right now to not let your circumstances define you. It does beat up your self-esteem and makes you feel less than you are. (Not the right place to be.)

But in reality, now is the time to step up and be more potent than ever. This is when courage comes in! Is it time to be courageous and face exactly what is going on in your life?

My mentor Zig Ziglar loved to say, “the day you take full responsibility for your life is the day your life will change forever.” We need to do certain things when things get challenging to keep ourselves motivated.

We must keep moving, keep the faith, and always have hope. Remember, with hope in the future, there’s power in the present. Keep in mind that this is all going to work out. Maybe not in my time, perhaps not in your time, but certainly, this will work out.

And now for the big question: How do we hang in there? Great question!

The first thing we need to do is to hang in there as a group and surround ourselves with positive people looking to create and grow. I learned this years ago from my business partner Bob Proctor. Bob turned me on to Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, a great book that I still pick up today whenever I need to focus on my mindset.

This book reminds me to focus on my strengths and manage my weaknesses. What happens to many people during times of challenging times is that we do the exact opposite. We start to focus on our weaknesses and the poor me’s kick in.

The answer is for us to take our strengths and apply them anywhere we can. We all have tremendous skills and talents; we must keep working to make them fit into the workforce.

You know you are thinking wrong if you’re afraid, if you’re scared…whatever words you want to put in there. As a kid, we called it being a “Fraidy Cat.”

The trick is to clear out the fear, doubt, and uncertainty if we want to move forward. Now more than ever, we need to take a good look at our self-esteem. Yes, these are challenging times, but let’s keep that phrase in mind, So What Now What.

Here are some of my thoughts on self-esteem. It’s a little checklist that will allow you to measure where you might be at.

Q – What Is Self-Esteem, and how does it affect your mindset?

A – Self-esteem means having a reasonable opinion of yourself and feeling good about yourself as a person.

People with self-esteem: (Free)

• Feel valued and accepted by others
• Feel worthy of being treated with fairness and respect
• Accept and respect themselves, even when they make mistakes
• Believe in themselves, even when they don’t succeed at first
• See their good qualities, such as being kind, capable, or fun to be around
• Take pride in the things they do, like passing through challenging times when others stay stuck
• Consistently think positively about themselves

People with low self-esteem: (Stuck)

• Have a lower opinion of themselves and feel inadequate, inferior, or not deserving of good things. (All that I call “Stinkin’ Thinkin’)
• Focus on the times they fail rather than the times they succeed
• Feel self-critical and are hard on themselves
• Feel insecure or inferior
• Think of themselves as defective
• Expect other people won’t accept them and may allow themselves to be poorly treated by others
• Doubt their ability to do well or succeed at things
• Think negatively about themselves

Having self-esteem matters. It can affect almost everything we do. Self-esteem helps us have good relationships with others, gives us the confidence to try new things, and to succeed.

Low self-esteem holds us back and interferes with our relationships, success, and happiness.

How’s Your self-image? Does it need a boost? What does it take to change?

Many of us have become set in our ways. It is not going to work this time! It is time to take your skills and talents and apply them in a whole new way.

Reach out if you would like to connect with a group of like-minded people in our next Mastermind group!

Here are the details – JOIN THE MASTERMIND

Keep rocking,

Tommy