The 6 Steps to Success: Step 3- Affirm

In my last entry, I talked about the It's Not Enough to Dream Women's Circle and how I felt inspired by meeting other women of faith who own their own businesses. It's funny how the keys to success that were mentioned were things that I had already talked about before. But, I decided to revisit them because sometimes I don't truly "get it" until the second time around. It's affirmation time.

I've talked about affirmations before. I believe they work hand in hand with visualization. An affirmation is basically a statement about yourself that you start with "I am" or "I have". It's a way of having positive reinforcement. Here are the ones I wrote from my previous post.

- I am confident.
- I am smart.
- I am beautiful.
- I am determined.
- I have healthy skin and hair.
- I have big beautiful eyes.
- I have a good sense of humor.
- I am giving.
- I am fun.
- I have joy in my heart.

Those were easy because when it comes to myself, I exude confidence. My business sometimes, not so much. Ever since I had to close my Royal Oak location I have been walking a thin line between "I'm going to be alright" and "I'm a failure." I guess I was secretly waiting on validation from people to tell me I was great at what I do. I felt like because I'm not name dropping that I was somehow lacking. What I had to realize is that what I may lack in the want to name drop, I make up for in talent and determination. Plus, I understand the importance of paying my dues. Like they say, slow and steady wins the race.

It gets frustrating sometimes, but it all has to start with me. So we were encouraged to write some affirmations about our business at the It's Not Enough to Dream seminar. And although it took me a couple of days to come up with some really good ones that I truly stand behind, I am proud of them and will always keep them in mind when the road to success gets tough.

- I am mastering my craft.
- I am breaking though my own self-imposed limits to build a profitable business.
- My clients get tremendous value from doing business with me and appreciate my spirit.
- My vision for my business is minuscule in comparison to what God has planned.
- The more I trust my skill, the better my business becomes.
- I am not afraid to ask for help.
- I am not afraid that I will regret saying "no" to a project. What's for me is for me.
- I am a woman of power, purpose and praise.
- I am blessed, talented and committed to my craft.
- I am divinely protected and only great things happen to me.

I don't know about you, but just reading those affirmations makes me feel good. What affirmations have you made lately?

Wishing you love, peace and Soul Deep Beauty,
                  Rhonda

The 6 steps to success: Step 2- Visualize

In one of  my last entries, I talked about the It's Not Enough to Dream Women's Circle and how I felt inspired by meeting other women of faith who own their own businesses. It's funny how the keys to success that were mentioned were things that I had already talked about before. But, I decided to revisit them because sometimes I don't truly "get it" until the second time around. Let's focus on how to visualize.

This has to be one of my favorite steps because I 'm a visual person anyway. I have visualized so many things in my head that have come to pass that I am a firm believer that what you put out into the universe comes back to you. I visualized graduating from college and that happened in a blink of an eye. I visualized a smooth delivery for the birth of my second child and after 5 hours of labor I was done (the first one was a little traumatic). And the thing that I put on my vision board that I thought was 5 years down the line happened in just a few months- I am a published make-up artist and writer for a local magazine and it was nothing but the grace of God that got me there. When it comes to the purpose of vision boards, motivational speaker Christine Kane said it best, "Vision boards add clarity to your desires and feelings to your visions."

About a week before going to the It's Not Enough to Dream Women's Circle launch, I was working on updating my vision board. There were few things I wanted to take off and a few I wanted to add. But, the women there had given me a few other ideas that I may be trying. Instead of a vision board, one of the ladies recommended a vision letter. You write a letter to yourself dated a year from now and you read it every week or so. You put in it things that you want to achieve but in present tense as if it has already been done. It not only holds you accountable, but reading it so often helps you to keep your eyes and ears open to that goal.

Other ideas that were mentioned were a dream box and a God box. The dream box is just like a vision board, just in a box. You take images and quotes or whatever inspires you or is representative of your goal and you put it in a box. The only thing about that is that you have to make time to sit down and look through it so that those goals are kept in the forefront of your mind. The God box is a little different because you put things that are representative of your problems or issues and it's a physical representation of "giving it to God in prayer." I really like that one and am currently creating my box.

Whether you decide to do a board, box or letter, being visual is a good idea and an important step in achieving success. Go out and be the visionary that God made you to be.

Wishing you love, peace and Soul Deep Beauty,
                                 Rhonda