Most solopreneurs I've talked to over the years have VERY LOW expectations of what they can actually make in self-employment. Believe me, it's so much more than you think, but you've got to wrap your mind around it. One easy way to stretch your thinking about what's possible for you is to begin THINKING and LIVING like a Billionaire. Do you have what it takes? Let's see!
Copyright (c) 2008 Fabienne Fredrickson
In sifting through emails from a recent R&D survey I launched, I read the responses, and honestly, I wanted to cry. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I haven't been aware that most solopreneurs have very low expectations of what could be made in self-employment (I've been at this for almost 9 years after all!), but I just didn't know how LOW. Until I got the responses to the following question: "What is the most amount of money you see yourself making as a self-employed person?" Not just this year, but EVER.
Close to 200 solopreneurs (mostly female) wrote in and shared with me their "Most-I'll-ever-make-in-a-year" numbers. What shocked me was that the number itself was really LOW and the majority of people wrote in numbers within a short range: between $50,000 and $75,000. Sure, a couple of them wrote in $150,000, but even THAT seemed like a far cry from what I *know* is possible, when you shift the way you work, get good marketing in place, create systems for everything, outsource, and set up leveraged and passive streams of income.
But what really got me choked up was they didn't BELIEVE it was possible and worse, some didn't feel they deserved it. Their MINDSET wasn't accustomed to thinking BIG, and truthfully that made me very sad, almost depressed. So I went about adding it to my Client Attraction coaching curriculum.
I had to find a way for them to stretch their thinking of what might be possible for them. Then I thought of an assignment I'd gotten years ago from my very first coach, Talane Meidaner, author of Coach Yourself To Success. Back when $3,000 a month seemed like a BIG goal for me to reach in my private practice, she asked me to pretend I was an instant billionaire. The goal was to expand what I believed was possible for me and to do it in just 5 minutes' time.
Essentially, this Billionaire Game was about tapping into my every wish, desire, dream, and hope I've ever thought about. Where I wanted to travel, what I wanted life to look like, what I wanted to have, how I wanted to set up my business. What I liked about this exercise is the 5 minute limit didn't allow me to think too much and instead to just do it.
So, I set my timer and frantically wrote down all the things I wanted for my life, and my business. It was a LONG list, and when I was done, it felt actually freeing to see what I'd written down. What I realized is many of the things on the list weren't that far of a stretch, and I could live many of them NOW, if I made a few changes. But it also got me to start dreaming and imagining BIGGER things for my life.
The coolest part is it helped me expand what was possible for me. Things aren't THAT out of reach and you can live a billionaire lifestyle now, which then feeds your mindset even more that you DESERVE to make mo.re.
When I look back at the list I wrote back then, it's really cool to see I'm pretty much living that exact life now. (Although I still don't have a live-in spa chef and haven't traveled to India and Vietnam for a month each yet, but those will come.) :)
Your Assignment:
Give it a try. This game will help you get past your restrictions around money. Grab a paper and pen. Imagine you've just become the billion-dollar lottery winner. Not just a million. You now have more money than you'll ever be able to spend.
The condition of winning; however, is you must write down 100 different things, whatever you want to be, do, or have on a piece of paper, and you have only 5 minutes to do so. So write fast, without over-thinking. Remember to write down every wish, desire, dream, and hope you can possibly think of.
Set the kitchen timer and see if you can come up with 100 different things. Don't worry about any practical considerations of your list. Don't let anything limit or stop you. You can do, be, or have anything you want. This is about expanding possibilities. Most of us start out way too small.
I promise you one thing. This will not only affect your mindset about what's possible for you, it will also affect your Client Attraction. The more you begin to LIVE like a billionaire (on whatever your budget is), the more Client Attractive you will become. Try it and let me know how it goes, OK?
Having trouble staying in the Success Mindset and believing you CAN make a whole lot more being self-employed? You're not the only one. The good news is, once you're shown how, it all becomes easy to implement, especially when all the tools, scripts, templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver platter.
Attract more clients by authentically living your message
How is your client attraction work going: if you are struggling to bring in new clients, you’ll find this topic helpful.
How to extend client relationships with a maintenance package
Do you offer coaching or a service that you know your clients would benefit from once their first package has been completed - maintenance sessions can offer the support that makes the difference between continued success and falling back on old ways.
Two simple strategies to creating packages that attract more clients
Creating session packages for some business owners is easy and it’s very obvious how things should work, but, for other owners, they prefer packages that offer more flexibility to attract more clients.
