This morning I received a lovely e-mail from my friend Stacy and she shared  four ways to deal with her own personal challenges. These came from  Sally Conway.  I loved what she wrote and decided to share them with all of you. They can be used in any situation that challenges your sense of power and inner balance.

You’ve probably heard me say this before, “Owning a business is like a constant personal growth process.”

I remember attending an “est” training in the 1975. For those of you born later, it was an intense  personal transformation training offered by Werner H. Erhard,  It was all about learning personal empowerment in a very charged and challenged situation. It wasn’t fun, but growthful and I came out feeling I had been rung through a ringer.

Some weeks of being a business owner can feel just like this. Certainly, most of the time I love what I do and feel grateful for what I  have accomplished.

However, other times there are inner conflicts that come up and challenges that will stretch my own sense of inner power. There are times I want to just cry and other times I feel angry or hopeless as I have to stretch beyond my own comfort zone. One thing I learned way back in 1975 is that my comfort zone can transform if I allow it to.

Stacy’s 4 part Practice

1. Remain neutral (the space within you where emotion ceases).
2. Follow the thoughts that bring you peace.
3. Remain steadfast in your faith of the highest and best outcome.
4. Disregard any and all external distractions and fear based realities.

These 4 principles to follow can be a Practice all on their own. When things are going well, they are not really an issue, but when you are challenged it is a good time to practice these four ways and make them a part of your natural way of being. It is possible to overcome any obstacle as long as you have a plan, determination and support.

Last week I  talked with to two different solo business owners who said they had lost the passion for their business.

In both cases they had worked hard for many years, put in blood sweat and tears and in the end,  the poor  financial return had affected their motivation to keep going. It reminded me of the job putting a big garden, doing the hard physical work and then seeing the crop yield poor. Very discouraging!

What was similar about both of these women is that they had a home based business,  not enough support and  felt a sense of isolation.

Passion and life force is something that needs to be “tended,”  It needs good soil , sunshine and love. Here are a five essential supports to help grow your business garden.

1. Mentor
A mentor is someone who listens and supports you, is positive, encouraging and can help you sort out issues and make decisions. Successful business owners have many mentors throughout their business life.

2. Mastermind group
This is a small group of five-six business owners who meet regularly and support each other, share their goals, learn from each other and build on each person’s strengths.

3. Community
All business owners need community in their local area. This often comes in the form of networking groups that meet regularly. as that offers the ability to build strong relationships. Online is good but nothing is a substitute for face-to-face meeting.

4. Inspiration
Everyone needs inspiration and this can come in the form of books, tapes, classes, webinars, videos and anything that brings you inspiration.

5. Spirit
This will take a different form for each person but it includes meditation, yoga, church, chanting. It can also include  anything that lifts your spirit and makes you feel connected to a greater purpose.

These five supports are good for everyone, but especially important for people who are running their own business. They will help you to keep your passion intact and your business life force strong.

Running a business is hard work, with many challenges around all kinds of stuff, but the biggest challenge is with your own state of mind.

As a business owner, your mental and/or emotional state can have a huge effect on your productivity, your relationships and your business as a whole.

It could be that you wake up one Monday morning and just feel depressed. You don’t want to get out of bed, you don’t want to be creative, deal with employees or face the tasks that need to be done.

Owning a business is similar to being married. When things are sunny and happy, you love each other and it feels great,  you are energized and passionate. But sometimes things feel blah and the passion has gone out the window. Everything your partner does irritates you and you just want to be left alone. The choice you make at this moment is pivotal.

You can choose to stay in the dark place and be grumpy or you can choose to do whatever it takes to change your state of mind. The first step is to be aware of the fact that you have this choice.  You are not at the mercy of your emotions. You can choose what you want and how you want to be.

Here are a few tips that can help any business owner to move into a more empowered place and choose how to begin your day and how to relate to your business.

1. Remember your business vision. If you have done a vision board, take a few moments to look at it. It will remind you who you really are and what you are creating.  My own vision board has words like, “clear vision, lose yourself in the magic, be lifted to your higher self and we hear you”. When I read those words it reminds me of how I felt when I wrote them.

2. Energize your physical space. Clean your office, get fresh flowers, move furniture, light a candle, play uplifting music or anything that will help to change the energy on the physical level. Just the act of doing this will affect your state of mind and will help you to move out of a doldrum.

3. Contact your mentor or a close friend and share. Just talking to someone who is a good listener can make a huge difference. Depression lives inside and when you begin to talk,  it moves the energy outward and brings you back in touch with your life force.

4. Make a list of what you want to accomplish this week. Write it on a white board so you can easily erase things as you complete them. Creating your list is good because it is concrete and will get you thinking about what you need to do.  Right action is energizing and can get you moving.

5. Acknowledge all you are grateful for in your life and business. Give appreciation to people who have supported you and cared about you. Give thanks to everything good that has come your way.

Now breath, smile and move forward in your day and week with a positive state of mind.

One of my mentors, T. Harv Eker told me, “until you can manage a small amount of money, you won’t be able to handle a large amount.”

When I first heard this I felt like I wanted to crawl into a cave because my money management was atrocious. I never really knew how much I had (or didn’t have was more accurate). I just checked my bank balance every so often  and made sure I was still in the black.

My mental space was filled with creative and visionary ideas.  Money management seemed boring and a sure way to pop my helium balloon. Harv also said, “The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.” I woke up and I realized that ¨until I began to clear out the money cobwebs I would stay in a place of struggle.

Here are a few typical types of money clutter and how to clear them out permanently.

1. Fear of really looking at your accounts and knowing what’s going in and out. This is an irrational fear that once you know it will be horrible. Avoiders  want to steer clear of fear at all cost because it is uncomfortable.  As a result, bills stack up, mail is left unopened or not dealt with properly and you never have an accurate picture of your money.

Solution: Become an excellent money manager. Check your accounts regularly and deal with stuff immediately. Get a good bookkeeper and put systems in place.

2. Spending money on impulse. As soon as you get some money coming in you think of ways to spend it on “stuff.” Some of the stuff could be useful but mainly it’s fun to spend it and it makes you feel prosperous.

Solution: Create a special account for play money and put 5-10% of your earnings in there each month. Spend that on fun stuff. Before you buy something you need for your business ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”

3. Worry that the money flow will dry up. When you are in business you depend on a stream of new business and your customers to pay you on time. Worry can clutter your mind and stop your creative process.

Solution:  Substitute worry thoughts for positive thoughts and keep your attention focused on what you need to do to provide excellent customer service and good value. Develop a solid marketing plan.

4. Unrealistic money goals. You know you want to earn more money but you never have actually sat down and did a strategic plan of how to get there. There are holes in your plan and you keep doing the same mistakes over and over.

Solution: Develop a business plan that gives you a clear map to how to reach your money goals. Get help if you don’t know how to do this.

5. Poverty consciousness. You feel unworthy and disabled. Maybe you are uncomfortable asking for money and receiving it. You don’t know how to close sales. Your clients sense your discomfort and don’t want to be around you. You feel small and make decisions from that place.

Solution:  Begin to hang around prosperous people and change your behaviors. Let go of staying small. Stretch out of your comfort zone as this is the only way you will grow.

Follow these five things are you will begin to  eliminate your money clutter and open the space for prosperity.

The term, “Burning Desire,” can describe that powerful energy that will propel you forward against all odds. It’s made up of passion and it  can get you to move yourself out of your usual way of life and into a foreign territory .

This intense desire is what allows you to break out of  your strictly structured pattern  in order to reach a new goal.

It’s this quality that is present when you initiate a new direction in your life, a new business. It’s exciting and passionate and will over-ride your fears and self-doubt. Many solo-business owners begin their business from this place. Without the burning desire it would be way too scary.

However, sometime down the road, things can feel too hard and you forget the intensity of your original desire. When you are off guard, the fears and self-doubts can begin to creep in and sabotage your energy. It can feel like you are crashing head-on into a wall.

At this point, your attitude becomes paramount in importance. When faced with this kind of crisis, small business owners have three choices.

1. Avoid  Stay in bed and under the covers. Although this might feel safe temporarily, it is deadly to do this more than a day, as the longer you hide away, the stronger becomes your fears.

2. Run away.  Decide to quit. You feel like a small child and you just want to go back to your old life where it felt predictable and there is less chance of failure. It is never a good idea to make a decision to quit when you are in the middle of a crisis.

3. Do whatever it takes. Take action. Get off your behind and get help. Make yourself remember your original desire and make decisions from that place. All successful entrepreneurs make this choice. They choose life over death.

Which of the three choices do you want to make? Don’t wait until you are in a crisis. Nurture the attitude of number three all the time, everyday. Make that your mantra and part of your operating manual. Once that attitude takes hold, it will be a guiding star in the face of any crisis.