To make a HUGE success of your creative small business, you need to get good at marketing. And to get good at marketing, you must develop HIGH self-esteem. When you find yourself engaging in negative self-talk, or giving less than 100 per cent to marketing, it means you have self-esteem issues.
You need to develop high self-esteem, so that you can reach for your dreams. The ideas below will help.
1. LOVE WHAT YOU DO: TAKE THE TIME TO ENJOY YOUR WORK, AND REMIND YOURSELF THAT YOU LOVE IT DAILY
This is vital. If I find that I’m focusing on negatives like a looming deadline for a project that I won’t be able to meet, or a slow-paying client, it means I’m not focusing enough on how much I love my work. I sit quietly for a few minutes, and remind myself. I think about how much I enjoy playing with words and how grateful I am to be paid for what I love doing.
2. DEVELOP AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK
This is easier said than done for a natural-born pessimists. Try this. When you catch yourself with a negative thought, take a few moments to get * really * negative. Take a sheet of paper, and double-spacing each line, write down 20 negative thoughts. Then cross out each negative thought, and write an affirmation to replace it, just above it.
For example, if you wrote: “I know I won’t get the project I pitched for yesterday”, cross that out and write above it: “I will win several lucrative contracts this month”. Take a moment to feel how excited you’d be if you signed three big new contracts this week.
This technique sounds odd. But it works. It works because we usually don’t talk back to the negative voices in our head. Talking back to them shuts them up. Try it.
3. DON’T CATASTROPHIZE
If the toaster sets fire to your kitchen and your car breaks down on the freeway, it’s easy to fall into an “everything happens to poor me” mindset. From there it’s just a short step to: “The insurance company won’t pay” and “I won’t be able to pay the mortgage” etc.
Stop this negativity as soon as you catch yourself falling into it. You can take control of your mind, and choose the thoughts you’ll think. Think positive. Tell yourself that whatever happens, you can handle it. (You can. And you will.)
4. FIND YOUR HEROES/ HEROINES AND EMULATE THEM
My writing heroine is Barbara Cartland. I don’t subscribe to her particular world view, but I love her attitude to her work, and am in awe of her tremendous output. Find a hero or two. How would your hero deal with that problem you’re facing?
5. DROP CONTROL ISSUES
You can’t control life. Life just is. However, you can control what you choose to think about daily. If you find yourself obsessing, think “Let it go” and think about something else.
Take note of your self-esteem each day, and manage it. Managing your self-esteem will help you to make your creative small business a success.
Copyright 2003 by Angela Booth
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