My entrepreneurial journey has been… well, a rollercoaster.

I think most of us who decide to walk off of the beaten path experience a lot we never expected. If you feel stuck, or wondering what the heck is going on, because your vision isn’t matching your reality, take a deep breath. I’m going to tell you about my story, my odd-ball journey to success, and hopefully, it will give you some insights into your own journey.

Mostly, it will remind you that success is NOT a straight line!

I went to college for Acting for film and TV and Creative Writing. My dream was to be a massively famous Hollywood actor (despite how introverted I am!). I graduated into the 2008 recession. Canadian film depends on American production companies, but in 2008 the Canadian dollar was stronger than the US dollar and film opportunities were nil.

Despite the fact that all my life I’d been an ‘A’ student, and that I’d graduated college with the Governor General’s Award, I couldn’t even get a job flipping burgers during the recession. I spent an entire year twiddling my thumbs and being floated by my very generous parents. Though I didn’t know it at the time, it wasn’t because of the recession, it was because I bought into the ‘broke artist’ mentality.

When I finally did get a job, it was door-to-door sales. From there I migrated into a minimum wage job which was soul-crushing. Nearly a year later I was hired by a company that only hired actors – it was a sales job but we had to learn 30+ minute monologues plus a series of blocking to display the products. I loved that job and, I thrived at it! I got introduced to commissioned living at this stage. It was terrifying but liberating. I began to understand that money and time didn’t have to correlate.

By 2013 I was burnt out from the sales job; management had shifted and my heart wasn’t in it. I couldn’t face a regular job anymore. My artistic heart felt like it had been buried under life’s responsibilities. With just a few months’ worths of savings in the bank, I quit my job with no idea what I was going to do next. I ended up joining an MLM (though I had no idea what an MLM was). I’d been a customer of the company for 10 years at that point and had lost 138lbs with their products so I figured I could sell it.

It was a massive learning curb going from in-person sales to online sales. Learning social media, how to connect, build relationships, etc. through me for a loop. I worked my butt off and I only made about $40 or $50 my first month, but in that first sale, I just KNEW I could make things work. I failed, a lot. Over and over, but with every failure, I asked, “Why didn’t this work?” and I learned from every mistake. Eventually, I ran out of things to fail at and I got really good at my job, and my team was growing quickly.

Despite being good at online sales, my mindset needed a lot of help. I was constantly told by my upline team to dive into personal development but I was ‘too cool for school’ about it and avoided it. But, as with most things, the Universe had other plans. A few years into my business my husband lost his job, and I wasn’t making enough to cover our mortgage, car payments, and all the other expenses of life, all by myself. It was in that moment that I knew I needed to turn inward.

I went book after book on mindset, specifically on money. I came to understand how my limiting beliefs were hindering my success and how I was pushing money away. I rewired my brain, and it was insane – within 6 months we manifested 6 figures!

My husband and I moved to a new city, I began to pay forward what I was learning with the law of attraction and mindset by coaching others, and I made my life-long dream of becoming an author a reality. From there I began to get invited to be a motivational speaker… it was mind-boggling how fast our lives changed.

While yes, sales and marketing skills are necessary, the secret sauce in making massive change lies within your mind…

 

 

Mindset

You’ve probably heard about manifesting and the law of attraction. The number one thing I hear from people on this topic is, “I can’t manifest.” That’s simply not true. We are all manifesting 24/7 from our births until our deaths. So, why when you try the mindset and manifesting methods do you “fail”? Because no one took the time to teach you HOW you manifest.

Your conscious thoughts aren’t what manifest your reality, it’s your subconscious thoughts that man the wheel. Manifesting works like this…

 

Beliefs > Thoughts > Feelings > Actions > Results

Your beliefs are where everything stems. Your beliefs create your thoughts, your thoughts are what cause you to feel the way you do, and your feelings or emotions are what fuel you to take action, and ultimately our actions dictate our results. It all starts with your beliefs.

 

Where Do Beliefs Come From?

Your beliefs are formed primarily when you’re a child. You are born a blank slate, and from then on out everything you learn from what you see, hear, and the experience gets filed away in your brain as a reference. The problem is as a child your brain is still forming – in fact, your prefrontal cortex (responsible for rational thought) doesn’t fully develop until you are 25!

 

Let’s say for example when you were a child your parents had a big fight about money that you witnessed. Their raised voices and angry tones scared you. Your child-mind would then try to make sense of the situation – but in simplest terms. This could lead to money = scary = if I have money I’ll be in danger. That belief then stays with you forever, unless you go back to reprogram your beliefs.

Exercise:

• What area of your life are you struggling in?
• What did you hear repeatedly about this topic growing up?
• What did you see repeatedly about this topic growing up?
• What did you experience around this topic growing up?

 

Once you understand where the belief was formed, ask yourself, ‘Is this an absolute truth in the Universe?”

Your brain will seek out evidence. The easiest way to dissolve a belief is to see someone who is living the life you desire who isn’t hindered by the limiting belief you have. If your belief is, “Relationships are doomed to fail,” look around you at all of the lasting relationships – prove that belief wrong!

 

Next, rewrite the belief in its positive opposite

Example:

• Limiting belief, “I can have fun or I can be rich.”
• New Belief, “I can have fun and be rich.”

 

Here’s your takeaway: 

Your beliefs are a self-fulfilling prophecy, so make sure your beliefs support who you want to become, where you want to go, and what you want to do!