Me: I'm done.... (to hubby after arriving home from Ali Brown's Online Success Blueprint Workshop)
Him: With what? (read: uh-oh...)
Me: I'm done with thinking, playing, being small. I know I've been saying this for awhile, but it really became clear to me at the workshop - I'm so done with the piddly stuff. No more...
...and on (and on..) the conversation went. Here are three of the main shifts in my thinking (and feeling and being) I've made from my experience at the workshop.
1. I'm not a joiner...
That may surprise you, if you know me at all. I love people, I love being a part of 'stuff', and my daughter definitely has my 'I'm afraid I'm going to miss something...' gene... ;-)
And I don't know if it's the fact that I've literally left my house on only 3 occasions in the last three years (while I focus on tending to two little ones) - and thus 'it's the hermit life for me' has become innate, but it became very clear to me how much an individual I am at this event - in a good way. Meaning that I've become very comfortable and confident in my own skin, in who I am as a person, both personally and professionally, without even realizing it.
Mindshift: My success is not based on the 5 people I surround myself with. It's based on me.
That being said...
2. I'm not a competitor...
If you've been reading this ezine for awhile, you may have read my 'Turn Your Competitors into Collaborators' article (maybe even more than once, as I keep reprinting it due to the amount of positive responses it always receives).
So, although this wasn't necessarily a new 'a-ha' for me, being at this event and meeting so many success-driven AND purposeful business owners validated my belief in abundance, that there is more than enough for everyone - and then some.
Here's something that Ali said that summed up how I feel very succinctly:
Mindshift: I don't compete. I don't compare. I just am.
Yup. Take that one to heart, please - it's incredibly freeing.
3. I'm not your average mompreneur
Ok, this one wasn't a huge relevation, but what was was that I got to meet a bunch of other 'not your average mompreneurs' at Ali's event, like Alexis Martin Neely, Sheri McConnell, MaryPat Kavanagh, Sarah Robinson, Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, and several others. (Google these amazing women to find out what they're up to...)
I'm grateful to be in such amazing company, and to know that this special group of women I've had a passion for supporting when I first started out in 2004 with www.EntreMoms.com is finally coming into its own. Amen!
Mindshift: I'm not the only one who is building an empire while raising a family.
So what do these mean? For me, it means that the vision I had for my business when I started out was too small. It means that there's an opportunity for me to make a much bigger impact that I ever conceived possible before. It means that I'll be making bigger and better decisions about 'what next' going forward.
It means I'm done playing small. What about you?
Alicia - It was great to connect with you in person at Shine! I very much had similar realizations. For a while now I have been putting certain entrepreneurs / mompreneurs on this pedastal of where I want to be ... at Shine I realized I am already there.
Happy to have found your blog and look forward to your posts!
Posted by: Jennifer Bourn | Nov 12, 2009 at 07:23 PM
Alicia,
Can I just say with a big smile, that your new picture expresses everything you just stated. I love it! How beautiful! Finally, your true beauty is shining through. Wow....if other entrepreneurs could do the same!
Me not playing small anymore is speaking out about just that: what we say we are, and what we appear to be. People don't want to hear that, but our audience sees it, and sometimes they get confused by our messages.
We say we're successful, our drive, our commitment, our "authenticity" has given us success. What do we look like on stage? Tired. Worn down. So "yesterday." No personal discipline. Are we not worth more than the money we make, the success we have?
Nope...I'm not playing small either. I'm shouting this one out loud and strong in my business!
Blessings,
Deni
Deni
Posted by: Deni Carruth | Nov 11, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Alicia, one of the reasons I keep coming back and learning from you is the way you crystallize things (hello, alchemist!) into these gorgeous nuggets of wisdom.
And this might sound like the craziest oxymoron but when I was reading about your embracing your individualistic self, I thought "me too, me too" lol! Here's to simply being who we are and bringing our unique gifts to the table.
Thank you for doing all that you do!
Posted by: jamie | Nov 11, 2009 at 09:20 AM
Just so impressed with you Alicia. Feel like the universe is pulling me towards you but not sure in what capacity our paths will cross yet! I'm going to incubate and see what my intuition tells. All I know is that you are a DYNAMO!
Cheers to being big,
Sarah
Posted by: Sarah Novak | Nov 11, 2009 at 12:07 AM
I too am tired of playing small, but my "small" is where you are NOW. Just goes to show everyone's definition of small is different. But I definitely plan on making it way big someday...sooner rather than later.
I look forward to seeing both you and your business grow and GO BIG, and on a personal level I'm so honored to be able to call you a friend, colleague, and woman who just flat out inspires me :)
Posted by: twitter.com/Dinneen | Nov 10, 2009 at 06:36 PM
Hi Alicia,
Saw you on stage at Kendall's event. We didn't official meet. Like your three aha's. I most relate to #2. We lift ourselves up when we lift up others.
It's important to do what you like to do despite what anyone else is doing. To me, playing small means playing by someone else's rules, still being the obedient little boy or girl. For some people, playing big is big and for others playing big is small. Some folks want an empire and others want a single hill-town and it's all o.k.
Playing big to me, means being honest with yourself, figuring out what you really want & going for that. Thx! G.
Posted by: giulietta | Nov 10, 2009 at 05:02 PM
LOL ! My first reaction was Amen sister and then I saw Lani already said it!
It was so great meeting you at Kendall's event and talking about families and business and how we can be successful at both!
Thanks for sharing your AHA's!
Stacey
Posted by: Stacey Hylen | Nov 10, 2009 at 02:45 PM
This really hits home. I'm always feeling guilty for not doing what others do. I just do what feels right for me. If we don't, we're constantly living outside our own skin. Thank you for sharing your incite in this article. I'm still playing small compared to others, but I'm okay with me.
Posted by: Bea | Nov 10, 2009 at 02:33 PM
Amen, sistah!
Let's step into our strengths and power once and for all, and be done with all nonsense, yes?
As I see and feel and hear more genuine laughter in my everyday life, I know I'm on the right track. You, Alicia, reminded me of that when we laughed together at Ali's event. Even with the flying hormones, infinite chaos, and radical shifts that all fold into being a mompreneur.
You are AMAZING, and the world is lucky to have you in it, doin' your thang. :)
xoxo,
Lani
Posted by: Lani Voivod, "Content Lover" of Epiphanies, Inc. | Jan 28, 2009 at 10:53 PM