Guidance from a Business and Leadership Coach for the ambitious woman who is ready to take charge of her career and scale her business towards greatness.
Inspired by Chapter 3 of my Amazon Best-Selling book,
The Ambitious Woman: What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One,
LIVE AN ACTION LIFE!
By, Esther Spina, Business Coach for Ambitious Women Entrepreneurs
1. Write Your Goals Down to Focus Your Mind on Business Success
According to this article, you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. This will help you pare down what you want to achieve so you can prioritize.
What is your big picture plan? Start there and then break it down into smaller steps you will need to achieve the long-term goal.
We tend to be perfectionists as businesswomen. This process will help you stay focused on what you need to do in the short term, without losing sight of the end goal. Lower anxiety by getting all of those ideas out of your head and onto paper where you can see them clearly.
Once you do this you will be better able to make day-to-day decisions by making a schedule you can stick to. And this doesn’t have to be a boring process. Make it fun with a cute planner that keeps you motivated like one of these.
This will help you narrow your focus so you can level up and stay on track for your goals. It also grounds them in reality and allows you to see them as possible, not just abstract thoughts in your head.
2. There is No Such Thing As Failure – Only Lessons Learned and Times to Pivot
Some of what you may consider your biggest failures are just springboards to a better future. If you take the trying times as lessons and an opportunity to pivot your business instead of ruminating on what “went wrong,” it may open new doors of opportunity for you to an even better career than you could have imagined before.
I give an example of this in my book, The Ambitious Woman, from my personal experience as a businesswoman. When the recession hit in the ‘90s my once-booming construction business completely tanked.
I went from running one of the top 5 tile companies in San Diego and a successful upscale baby business, to completely bottoming out and having to start over.
I took my success for granted and it was a devastating time that shook my faith to its core. It felt like I had lost it all and I never expected I would have to start over from scratch after having two thriving businesses. I started selling solar pools to get by, which I had no experience with at all.
Little did I know that this early experience would prepare me to be a top earner in a B to B sales career, as well as in a direct sales company.
Everything happens for a reason, even if you can’t see that at the time. The trick is not to get stuck in feeling like you’ve failed or like it’s never going to get better when the unexpected happens. As a business coach for women, I know that every stage of our careers, even the scary ones, allows us to course-correct and get one step closer to a brighter future.
3. Release the Pressure of Perfectionism and Take Charge with Positive Thinking
As a business coach for women, I know we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. It’s important to stay in the present and not to overthink everything too much. Most female entrepreneurs or businesswomen I work with beat themselves up if they don’t get things right the first time.
But, as the example above shows, you can’t always control everything that affects your business success. The 90’s recession was not something I could have avoided even if I tried, and the pandemic has made us all aware that some pitfalls are just not avoidable.
The only thing you can control is how you choose to react and adapt to unexpected challenges.
So how do you stay successful in business no matter what happens?
By maintaining a positive mindset and staying flexible. You will always land on your feet when you release the pressure to get everything perfect the first go-round. Stay open to bending with the times, practice flexibility, and you will always prevail in the end.
Success isn’t always a straight line to the top. We learn the most from our mistakes, failures, and disappointments. Sometimes we have unexpected twists and turns on our path, that is to be expected. You just have to be open to adapting and refining as you go.
Our ability to adapt and change with the times often comes down to one simple thing —
Are you doing what you love?
Journal your wildest daydreams and take some time to visualize every day what you would feel like if you were living your dream life. Visualization is a very powerful tool to manifest business success. Many successful women entrepreneurs and female CEOs cite this as a tool they have used to dominate their industries.
Studies show that visualization has been proven to lead to success in business. According to this study, 76% of business owners who used a vision board eventually realized the dreams they put on their boards. How amazing is that?
This shows us that when we focus positively on the future and picture ourselves winning, we position ourselves to achieve all the business and life goals we dream of.
4. Make Short To-Do Lists to Limit Overwhelm
I recommend writing 2-3 things max on your to-do list. This is less overwhelming than a lengthy checklist, which can just stress you out more when you look at the seemingly endless list of tasks you need to accomplish.
This way when you finish each thing and check it off, you will have a sense of accomplishment. Then you can create another short to-do list until everything is completed.
It’s easy to panic when we focus on too many things at the same time. Breaking it down into smaller steps helps a lot to keep that feeling of being swamped to a minimum. Otherwise, you run the risk of being discouraged when it seems you aren’t getting to where you want to be fast enough.
5. Take Breaks to Save Your Sanity and Stay In It for the Long Haul as an Empowered Business Woman
Where is your happy place? You know that place where you just feel “awwww, I can relax now,” where you take a deep sigh of relief the second you get there. Take a moment to think of where that is for you. I love to go to the beach when I need to recharge and relax to get my mind off things.
Is there somewhere you are thinking of right now that heals your soul when you need a time out?
The next time you are starting to feel frazzled, put your work down and go to your special place to clear your head and get re-inspired. Nature has an amazing way of helping us to declutter our thoughts and gain a fresh perspective. Yoga or meditation can also help with this.
As ambitious businesswomen, we often work too hard and don’t give ourselves enough grace. We don’t acknowledge how far we’ve come enough and tend to over-focus on our “mistakes.” Perfectionism is something all overachieving businesswomen deal with when we are striving to reach the top, but we don’t want it to rule our lives and destroy our mental health.
When it all gets to be just too much, go to your happy place (even if it’s just in your mind) to recharge instead of giving up.
As a business leadership and mindset coach, I know how important it is to stay focused on action and to take responsibility for any challenges that come our way.
Grab a copy of my book to learn more about inspiring female entrepreneurs like Mary C. Crowley, founder of the multimillion-dollar home decorating company, Home Interiors & Gifts. You may be surprised to hear who her sons are and how she created such a successful national company despite many personal struggles.
Get empowered to take charge as an ambitious woman!
You can get your copy of
The Ambitious Woman, What It Takes and Why You Want to Be One,
1st edition, at a discounted rate for a limited time here:
I hope it inspires you to take action and take charge for the ultimate success in your career!
