Courage! What makes a King out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the Sphinx the Seventh Wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the ape in ape-ricot? What have they got that I ain’t got? (Courage) You can say that again! -”The Cowardly Lions Speech, Wizard of Oz”
The quote below got me thinking … the thing that stops most women from getting their dreams of entrepreneurship are themselves. They are afraid to put their heart and soul into something only to have it ridiculed or rejected. Often wishing and hoping it could and would be different but not knowing how. Women are asked often to be everything for everybody and asking for help seems to appear to be a weakness. Are you one of those women?
The best thing you can do for yourself and your self-esteem is to dig deep and find the courage to try new things. Maybe its asking someone really close to you that you trust to help you get over the hurdles you need to in order to bust out of your little bubble. Maybe its taking one small step at a time and getting feedback and then taking another and another until you have convinced yourself that you can do it. If you are just frozen in one place at the thought of doing something fabulous and becoming an entrepreneur, you may need professional help to get you over the hurdles. That is nothing to be ashamed of … it just is and trying to move forward and take care of the issue. That says courage! Look at you, you just took the first step in tapping into your courageous center and making those dreams happen.
I like the small step approach myself. Try something on for size and see how it feels. It usually feels amazing and I want to continue to do those things that make me feel like I can take on the world. It may be just a phone call. It may be filing some paperwork. Getting a website or a business name. Whatever it is just begin. Tell yourself every morning that you are courageous, beautiful and I can do anything I put my focus on. I had a wise woman tell me many years ago now, that what you put your attention on will flourish. Make sure its something positive! Food for thought. Every time I remember that saying I usually stop dead in my tracks and check and make sure I don’t need a course correction.
Women entrepreneurs are an impressive bunch. If you have ever been in a room full of women of purpose you know how true that is. Now go out and do what you were born to do and have some fun along the way!
Courage is in many ways the foundation of entrepreneurial success. It enables us to take a leap of faith, to believe in ourselves and to keep going when times are tough. For women entrepreneurs, finding courage and using it to dream big dreams and to follow those dreams will be the key to starting new businesses and to growing bigger and more vibrant businesses.
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