For the past three months, I have been allowing incredible new doors to open for me, as I work to build Cloud Coach and connect with people that I can share my expertise with. For me, allowing it to happen has made all the difference. I finally decided to follow my passion and ask for the help I needed to get my business off the ground.
Since I started to allow my business to take root, I’ve realized that the tools are out there to help you succeed and complete whatever it is you want to do. Most constraints that I saw were merely perceived, and not actual barriers.
In short, the biggest obstacle to my own success was me.
For you, this may mean allowing your business to grow. To go from an offline business that just gets by on word of mouth to a business with an online presence. An online presence that will put your business in position to engage with your customers.
It’s easy to say “I have faith in myself”, but harder to take action based on that faith. Since starting Cloud Coach, I’ve worked with a lot of small business owners and I’ve seen some patterns emerge. Here are some common examples of people who aren’t allowing their faith in themselves to shine through, and it’s preventing them from moving forward in their business.
“I want to quit but I don’t know how”
Symptoms:
You know what you like and what you don’t, and working for someone else isn’t in the first category. You’ve been considering launching a business around something you’re passionate about, and are budding with ideas. That’s fantastic. But are you hesitating on taking action?
Allow it to happen:
-Take a look in the Armory and use the Limit Erasing Technique to blow through your negative barriers.
-Learn how to hang up your shingle and take the first step towards doing so, today.
“I have a business but don’t have a website”
Symptoms: You’ve been hesitating on building a website because you cant afford to pay a web designer, and you don’t think you have the skills to maintain it. Worse, there are one thousand and one free website tools but you’re not sure which one works. How will you ever have time to maintain it when you already have clients for your business?
Allow it to happen:
-Choose one of these recommended DIY website platforms. There’s one that will match your skill level even if you don’t know where to start.
-Pick a template that resonates with you and start adding content.
-Most importantly, hit publish and get yourself out there. You can continue to make improvements once the site is launched.
Your customers will thank you for creating a space online where they can find your contact info, services, prices, etc. Plus, they will have something they can share with their friends.
“I have a website but no business”
Symptoms: So, you have a website and you’re updating it with great content. Everything looks just so, but there’s one problem. No business. Why haven’t your customers found you on the web?
Allow it to happen:
-You know that a website is just a starting point, and that you need to use other channels to promote it. The single most powerful channel is email.
-Start to build a profitable and responsive email list of customers that return to your website.
We are bombarded with generic self-help tools that tell us to think positively about the outcomes we want. This is so much easier said than done, and when you’re in the throws of a big challenge, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Remembering the little saying that “faith is finally allowing it to happen” takes the onus off of you. It acknowledges that even though you may be thinking negatively, you are allowing the future you desire to take root. When your negativity rears its ugly head, remind it that you are finally allowing it to happen.
Visualization
I want you to imagine the not-so-distant future… Say 3 months from now, when you have finally allowed it to happen. You have an email list of hungry customers who are eager to buy. You’ve given your old clients a reason to talk about you and you’re seeing fresh new faces walk through the door.
And you made it all possible by having a little faith.
What dreams are you allowing to happen? What are some barriers that you thought existed that really were just in your mind? Share your story in the comments.
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About the Author: Ethan Waldman helps offline business owners create an online presence to get more customers. Right now, many people are using his free 4-day course, Pre-Sold & Hooked, to build a profitable and responsive email list for their businesses.
Great post, Ethan! I’ve been experiencing the exact same thing. I know what I want and I even know how to get it! It’s just a matter of doing it :D
@MaaikeQuinn That’s great Maaike! The key for me has been to keep the “what I want” in mind even when I’m thinking or feeling negatively. Allowing it to happen allows for those times when you may not believe in your own success, but you still keep in mind what you’re working toward!
Thanks for the great guest post and sharing your story with us Ethan. I’m sure you’re going to inspire others to make their dreams happen.
Really good format – with the “symptoms:…” and all.
I am in the process of creating an ebook, trying not to look at the end result or get worried about how much there is to do and what can go wrong. I have made a plan and am taking it one step at a time!
If you open your own doors things happen.I have seen people change their lives in the most amazing ways after just asking the question “What can I do about this problem?” and then doing something abou tit.
Hi Ethan and Jonathan
Great post – isn’t it alway the lack of self belief that stops up in our tracks like a deer in headlights? Nothing is ever achieved unless we belief we can do it first.
I love the way you word this as “allowing it to happen” – second only to lack of self-belief is beating ourselves up about it :-) Allowing seems to be simply letting things unfold in the way they will – lovely!
Thanks
Kate
@1thousandamonth That’s a great way of looking at it! You have faith in your plan and can therefore focus on following it, rather than worrying about the outcome.
@JonathanMead Thank you, Jonathan. I’m thrilled to have been able to contribute.
@DanielMWood Great comment, Daniel. Thanks for stopping by.
@KateBacon Kate- I think another thing that was really profound for me was that it was a friend who told me that I was allowing it to happen. It all just clicked when he told me. Thanks for the commen!
Hi Ethan, great post.
I am allowing myself to be put out in FRONT more, when it comes to my online business. I have always been a behind-the-scenes, back office, type of individual, – no attention, no spotlight, no camera photos, and no shine….was definitely ok with me, as I luvvved making things happen from behind the scenes.
(not a shy individual….just don’t like a lot of attention)
But I am learning, especially, with blogging, that you have to put a face to your business…and that everything can’t happen from sitting behind a computer (believe me…I tried). Over the past year and a half, I’ve really learned to get out and connect with people face to face, and show them my contributions to this world….as I’ve learned that everything can’t be accomplished by emails.
Again….great post Ethan
and Jonathan….great blog overall
@donna dorrane Great comment! I agree that you have to allow yourself to leave your comfort zone if you want to achieve success. Especially if your comfort zone hasn’t been bringing you success!
A wonderful, practical piece Jonathan; something folks can really take to the bank and use. Thank you!
Didn’t immediately realize it was a guest post. Really enjoyed it!
@WaltHampton :D
I’ve been relying on and falling back on my old source of income to get by (poker) instead of going balls to the wall with my new identity. This has mainly been due to lacking faith in “allowing it to happen”. Over the last week or so I’ve released a lot of limiting beliefs & fears and have just been trusting in the Universe. Little bread crumbs of success have been coming into my reality. I’ve also been slacking on visualization and will incorporate more of that into my daily routine, thanks for the reminder and post!
@Kevin_Velasco Your welcome Kevin. Don’t forget to be appreciative of what you already have, too! My “fallback” is an 8-5 office job, so poker doesn’t sound so bad to me ;)
Visualization is the key that unlocks the door of the mind. Its one of the only ways to OWN your mind and influence your own thought process. OWN ur MIND n YOU OWN this WORLD!
Yesterday I had a breakthrough, I realised that I wasnt putting in the effort to make more money because fundamentally, I didnt believe I could make the money I wanted to make. Im so glad I figured this out because I work for myself and I am my business. I have to now have faith that I am worth all the money that I want and act accordingly to receive it.
My dream is to be a pro blogger in personal development; I have a huge knowledge and love to share it. My barrier is that I have a very limited knowledge of business itself. However, I allow myself it happens and let the passion grow together with the blog and allow the business to become newborn:-
So true. I am constantly blown away by the level of information and support that is available in the world. I’m based in West Africa at the moment and have limited resources on the ground for all the things I do (write / publish / homeschool etc). It’s amazing what doors start opening though when you start taking the steps in the direction you want to go. The world is an incredibly generous and supportive place (if you choose to look at it that way…
Great point! I feel like now more than ever, technology enables us to do things that would have been impossible just 10 years ago. @Fiona Leonard
Thanks for this Ethan. It was as though I was reading about me!!
I think self-belief, or the lack of it, has been a massive hurdle for me when setting out on my own.
I had a business & no site & was so afraid to put myself out there. It took me ages to create a free site & I kept hiding behind the ‘tweaking’ of it until I took the courage to hit the publish button.
Then I realised I had a shiny new site & a business but I had no audience. No-one knew where I was. I had to completely re-think my business & approach it from a different angle.
I love the part about ‘allowing it to happen’. With some of my clients, I get them to ‘give themselves permission’ to do something as often they’re holding themselves back by not giving themselves permission.
Thanks for sharing.
until you belief in yourself nothing happen. faith is not giving fear.
This is just wonderful to know, I’m going to give it a trial and I believe it will work. Thank you.