On April 13, 2014, I moved with my husband, Tim, and our six-month-old son, Lucca, back to my home state of Minnesota. For many years we lived in the question, “Should we move back to Minnesota and be close to family, or should we stay in California?” There was a story that we told ourselves for years that went something like, “I can’t keep my business in California if we move back to Minnesota, especially if we have kids. Tim will never find the kind of opportunities in Minnesota that he has in California.” And on and on the story went. Well, guess what? The story wasn’t true. A year after our move I can confidently tell you that we are living our most prosperous, joy-filled lives yet including lots of family time as well.
But we had to change our story and what we thought was possible. We had lived in that old story for so long that we weren’t even open to the possibilities anymore.
And then one day it hit me. We are so stuck in our limiting thoughts and beliefs and so focused on the negative aspects of what might happen that we haven’t even considered the flip side—the possibility that Minnesota is just waiting for us to create a new and powerful story.
Then we started to ask a new question: “What if living in Minnesota allows us to do everything we’ve been dreaming about and more?” We started to discuss the idea, dream a little bit, and we began to write a new story.
Now, when I say, “we wrote a new story,” I mean that we started to talk about all of the amazing potential possibilities that were waiting for us in Minnesota. As we did more research and spoke with family members, we realized there were lots of wonderful job opportunities for Tim. For Sales Coach Now and for me, Minnesota is the fourth most entrepreneurial state in the union. Who knew? We realized that the real estate opportunities were ripe with possibility. And, since we’d be living near family, we wouldn’t have to spend all of our holidays flying across the country. We could start to travel to all of the spots we’d been dreaming about. (Did I mention we LOVE to travel?)
And then the path unfolded in front of us–much faster than we had imagined it might. In fact, it unfolded so quickly that we shocked a lot of our dear friends and clients in California because we moved so quickly. But when you tell a new story and you start to get excited about it, I promise you, the doors WILL open and you have to be ready to go.
Was it a perfect or easy move? No. There were challenges along the way. And yet, there were so many parts of the year that flowed easily. Sometimes so easily that Tim and I just smiled at each other and wondered, “Why did we wait so long?” Why did we wait so long to move? To have Lucca? To trust in our new story?
I recently had the honor of delivering a keynote at the NAWBO-SB Bravo Awards. It was a powerful experience, listening to the stories of the awardees regarding how they had launched and grown their businesses. And that’s what they told–their stories. What was even more interesting was that as they told their stories, they also shared how they dreamed about their businesses. They spoke about how long they had thought about creating them. They had written their stories. And then they lived their stories.
So, what about you? What’s the story that you have been telling yourself over and over again about why you can’t grow your business? Create a new product or service? Sell your business? Or, _______? Your story is uniquely yours and it is also the reason why you are stuck exactly where you are.
The good news is that you can change your story and step into a new life. However, be prepared. Once you let go of your old story and begin to step into the new one, things can happen rapidly. So be prepared and make sure you are clear on what you REALLY want.
3 Simple Steps to Tell a New Story
1. Acknowledge the current story you’ve been telling yourself. Write it down. Go into detail and notice all of the beliefs that you hold within that story. Then tear that story up and put it into the garbage.
2. Write down three things that maybe aren’t true about that story. For example, maybe you think that your sales aren’t increasing fast enough because you are comparing yourself to someone else’s business. Perhaps what’s not true about that is you HAVE sales coming in AND you have amazing clients.
3. Write a new story. Be as detailed as possible and include everything that you REALLY want. What have you been dreaming about? Write it all down.
Once you’ve stepped into a new story, it’s possible that obstacles will pop up that might try to stop you from moving forward. It’s almost like you get tested to see how badly you really want something and what you will let stop you. Often, it’s those first steps right outside of your comfort zone that will be the scariest that you will need to push through.
Napoleon Hill, in Think and Grow Rich, talked about being three feet from gold and that most people stop when they are really close to their goal.
But that won’t be you. You can push through. I know you can. Just don’t ever stop. Just write your new story…
