Women Entrepreneurs: Be Happy

"We are always creating, so create success!" ~ Michelle Christie

Happiness is a choice and your attitude is instrumental as to how you will attain happiness no matter what’s happening around you at the moment.  It is like a domino effect wherein the way you think affects the way you feel, the way you feel then affects your happiness and your happiness affects your performance, whether it be in your personal life or your business.  

As a business woman, this also means paying attention to and eliminating the following negative attitudes like:  

 Blaming other people for your failures or mistakes.  As a small business owner, you should be on top of everything.  You should know what is going on in your business especially with major decisions or situations that could affect your business performance.  A responsible female entrepreneur knows that she is accountable of her own actions and decisions.  So, if a staff presented you with a business plan and you gave your go signal for its implementation but it failed, it is not the fault of your staff.  Assess the situation by asking yourself the following: 

•  Did I scrutinize or study every pro and con or every side of the coin to ensure that the plan would be effective? 

• Did I make the necessary follow ups and monitoring that would have helped me ensure its success? 

• Did I give my staff enough support to make sure that the plans were carried out accordingly and smoothly? 

• Did you make your staff capable and well-equipped in terms of skills, know-how and even guts to implement the plan?

You can think of other questions to help you assess and you will be surprised to know that you lacked in certain aspects that led to the failure of your plan.  If you stop the habit of blaming others, you open yourself to learn from inevitable failures or mistakes.  So the next time you will implement another plan, you will be assured that you will reap success and happiness. 

Stop being superficial and materialistic. Being a consumer takes its toll on your attitude and the way you live your life.  To put it simply, some of us will want more and more material things to measure our success and happiness.  If you do this, do you think you will be truly happy?  Yes, it is absolutely true that you are ecstatic from buying the latest trends of a popular and elite brand.  You will get the attention and other will even like and admire your new things but not necessarily you.  Try developing a sense of gratitude even in the simplest of things and forms like nature, a smile, an interesting rock, vibrant colors, the aroma of a freshly brewed coffee, your family and close friends, then and only then you will find lasting happiness and fulfillment, which is priceless.  

Stop being insecure. If you are running your own small business, then there is no room for insecurity.  If you are living by it, then you won’t be able to complete devising a plan and pushing for its implementation.  A female entrepreneur must not be afraid to take risks and being insecure will definitely get you nowhere. 

Stop Whining.  If you are the type who is always find something to whine about, then it will be hard for you to develop a sense of appreciation.  You will feel badly for always finding something or someone to fault and whine about.  And actually, this could be irritating to some people and will not in any way help you create a good relationship with your staff or your clientele. 

Stop being a control freak. Being the small business owner does not mean that you should be a tyrant. Yes, we have seen the stereotypical female boss who is always bossing orders. You will only maximize the potential and talents of your staff if you let them think, brain storm and present ideas rather than feeding them every bit of detail based on what YOU conceptualized.  Remember that a good leader is a good follower too and this includes knowing how to listen and accept other people’s ideas.  I happily share: “Team Work, Makes the Dream Work!”. 

There are always areas of improvement to work on, whether they are being too critical, being too preachy, dwelling too much on the past or what happened, and living in fear.  If you happen to counter, conquer and bring to a stop at least one of these negative traits then you will not only be happier with your personal life but you could also find business success right at your doorstep.  Remember ladies, "We are always creating, so create success!"~ Michelle Christie