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.

It’s  about  impossible to run a business without regularly experiencing mental blocks. It’s just part of the deal.

A mental block is like it sounds; a blocked mind. You know you need to do something but your mind says, no and you feel tangled or stuck.  Sometimes you can feel just like a frustrated child who feels unable to do whatever needs to be done.

Other times you just feel unequipped, stupid, afraid, out of your depth or blocked. This happens regularly for me in my business. If something feels hard I just want to ignore it and do something else. Why not? Who wants to struggle if you  don’t have to?

Some typical mental blocks business people experience:

Can’t think of how to write my web content.
Don’t know how to organize my files.
Quickbooks seems too hard.
How to tell people about a new product.
Schedule is a mess and am forgetting things.
Need to write a good sales page
Computer isn’t working right.
Software won’t install correctly.

The list goes on but I think you get the idea. It’s important to know how to overcome obstacles and mental blocks so you can keep moving forward in spite of  being challenged.  Here are a few things to help.

1. Get up and move.  Go for a walk or change your environment. This will shift your energy and break up the ice berg.

2. Start the process even if you  think you don’t know how. Sometimes just beginning will open the floodgates and new inspiration will float in.

3. Talk to someone you trust and share how you are feeling.  If someone can just listen, just the process of talking can move you through feeling stuck.

4. Play baroque music in that it helps your mind to let go and feel energized and more open and creative.

5. Get help. Sometimes it’s good to ask someone to do it for you. A good business person knows when to hire a professional to help.

So, the issues aren’t the problem. All business people experience these challenges. The important thing is to not get upset, know what to do and be willing to do whatever it takes.

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.

Do you  wonder sometimes why you seem to work so hard and not get the results you want? It’s hard work running a solo-business and it requires focus to learn how to have a fully orchestrated company.

I am reminded of my son’s Suzuki violin teacher when he was five. The very first thing she taught him was how to hold the violin and bow correctly and how to put his fingers on the strings the right way. She said, “If you learn the wrong way, then you will keep doing it the wrong way, and  no matter how diligently you practice,  your music won’t sound sweet and pure.”

Similar with running a business, it’s easy to just dive in and and begin focusing really hard, just like learning a new piece of complicated music.  However,  if you are doing things incorrectly, your business won’t hum and purr. Instead of being harmonized, you’ll feel struggle and frustration. You will just practice bad habits.

Take the time to learn how to do things with a business mind-set. If you don’t have enough clients, it could be that you are doing heaps of marketing but you are “holding the bow” wrong. Once you learn how, what a difference it will make. You’ll be able to feel the vibration shift and the music of your business will be melodic and powerful.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What areas in my business are not in harmony?

2. How might I be operating my business violin incorrectly?

3. What would it take for me to learn how to make sweet music?

What is holding you back from getting help or learning what you need to learn?  That’s the place to start.

You probably get tons of offers for amazing seminars, workshops and other cool learning opportunities. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend the day just leaning great new stuff, if you had the time and money.

If you’re running a business there are two kinds of  workshops you could take. One type is aimed at work-life balance,  like a yoga or art class. It’s fun, healthy and gives you a break from work.

The second type is focused on offering you help for your business. This kind of seminar is essential if it will help you to overcome obstacles or learn something new that will help your business to be more successful. These kinds of seminars are investments in your business.

You may feel like you don’t have the time or money but you know you need it and the benefits make it worth doing. It should pay for itself with results.

Solo-business owners are usually overly busy and it’s important to make good choices in regards to what you commit to. When is a seminar not the right thing to do? When is it a waste of time or money?

1.  When you sense it isn’t the right time. Maybe later. For example, I want to take a workshop on book promotion but right now I need to focus on completing the writing. Once that’s done, I’ll have the ability to focus on promotional tools.

2. When your  self-doubt says you need more credentials. In fact you have plenty of experience in this area and you could teach the class yourself. Self-doubt can  sabotage you and pull your energy away from where it needs to be. For example, I’ve been tempted to take a seminar on office organizing but in fact I am doing ok with it now. Being organizationally disabled is my old story.

3. When you are intrigued with the seminar topic and want to learn about it, but in fact, it would take a lot of energy and it would be a better investment to hire a professional. For example, I have resisted taking a seminar in website optimization for just this reason. I could learn it, but I’d rather hire someone to optimize my website for me.

4. When you just can’t be bothered to learn one more thing. You know you need it, it would be good for you but you just don’t feel like it.  Sometimes your attitude is more important than the benefits. It’s fun being a teenager again.:)

5.  When you hear about a good seminar but decide you don’t need it. For example, I’m offering a really stellar seminar on marketing and how to get more clients. It could be an excellent seminar but you already have heaps of clients coming your way so you don’t need these amazing tools.

Only take a seminar if:

•  You know it’s  the right time.

• You know you need the help.

• You want to learn these skills.

•  You have an attitude that says, “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

•  You know you would benefit.

If all these things are true, the seminar would be an investment in yourself, your business and it would pay for itself over and over.