Able (Find Your Voice) helps individuals find their diamond within to grow beyond the ego in order to find peace with themselves & others.
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In your business or personal life, the mindsets of abundance versus lack are fighting for prominence. When we get what we want, we tend to feel abundant, and when we don't, most will feel lack. A scarcity mindset is conspicuous in many of the dealings I have with my clients, colleagues, acquaintances, friends, the less fortunate and also within myself.
As the world of entrepreneurship grows, more and more women are becoming more and more independent. This article is written for you, the female entrepreneur.
Let's go back 30 years to my time in Hong Kong, the City of Lights, where I grew up. Years before that, my great-grandparents were quite wealthy, being owners of a firecracker factory with over 30 staff. Their children, my grandparents, lost everything during World War II. After the war, my grandparents fled to Hong Kong and had to start their life all over with nothing. This was where the seed of lack grew and was passed down to my parents and also to me.
I grew up not knowing I was poor but subconsciously being reminded of how little I had. My parent's perception that money is bigger than God was also very prominent; I remember disliking money because it was seen as a curse due to the lack of it.
In reality, my parents were no longer living in poverty after we moved to a high-rise condo when I was six years old. Rather than the change in environment making them feel more abundant, their mindset of lack kept them feeling and acting poor.
Being in the lower spectrum of society didn't bother me as a kid; it only started to affect me when I became a mother. The feeling of lack was not constant but it always came back to haunt me and remind me of how little I had. Having kids to spend money on also didn't help with my wanting to start my own business, which requires money to start.
I started my first business at 28—and I closed it after eight months. I started many more businesses after that until, now in my forties, I have finally become more and more successful.
To the many women who want to become independent and successful or have more freedom, here are some life stories of fellow women that I wish to share with you. They are examples of a mentality that doesn't lead to abundance:
1. My yoga business was doing well at the beginning, but then the number of clients went from five to one. It was not working, so I stopped (less than a year after starting).
2. I have never failed in my life; it's hard for me to start even though my husband supports me. I don't have thick skin like other people (and I still don't have a business).
3. I want to do this and this and this, and I have so many ideas! But I don't know where to concentrate my time. There is just too much I want to do!
If they were to ask for my business advice, here are my replies to these women:
The first example requires the person to adjust her yoga style, widen the market or start to partner up with others to grow her business. Business is a live animal that requires constant molding and change; it's not a cookie-cutter-type thing where you start once and expect it to be profitable after less than a year. Many first-year businesses fail, often because of a failure to adapt, change and keep up with the market demands.
The second example requires you to grow out of your mindset of always needing to be a success in life. Just the fact that you are not trying already leads to your failure to do so. If you wish to obtain freedom and independence in life, you must try to earn your own money by starting your business. Depending on a partner or a salary is always heading for more dependence and the illusion of stability.
The third example requires you to focus on one idea that is good for the market, not just based on what you like to do. What is needed by the public that you can provide? Too many people want, want and want but are never able to create a successful business because of their unwillingness to do market research or understand their customer's needs—or their own ability to concentrate.
Abundance comes solely from how we perceive what we do have, not what we don't have.
Success comes after consistently trying and failing and adjusting and trying again. It's about grit and passion and also understanding the gap between your services and the needs of the public.
Mindset growth leads to your ability to learn from your past life experience, take those lessons and turn them into wisdom. With wisdom (knowledge plus learned experience), you will be able to make better choices.
Abundance is freedom from mind-made problems. It's not about the possessions of things, money, titles or levels of affluence. Now that I understand this concept, I wish to gift it to you.
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