As an entrepreneurial-spirited woman, you have God-given talents you want to use, and making money doing that is the icing on the cake! Making money is good. You can’t be in business without it. But if making money is your only motivation, you will run out of steam fast, not be satisfied, and won’t be happy.
Many don’t think we’ll be satisfied when we make money in our businesses. We think about money. You want to be more satisfied with the work God has you doing, and let’s face it; you want to be happy. In this post, I want to share with you four mindset strategies that can help you reframe your entrepreneurial mindset and find more satisfaction in what God has called you to do.
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God has called you into business, and He promises that you will be satisfied with what we do when you follow His Calling. After working with hundreds of women who want a God-centered business, I have realized that changing your entrepreneurial mindset is key to staying in business for the long run. Reframing why you are in business will give you the energy, stamina, and satisfaction to do your work with excellence and find happiness.
Let’s get down to these four entrepreneurial mindset strategies. Maybe it’s better to say shift, a shift in your thinking, belief, or approach. I hope this will be a new way for you to understand how you can be satisfied and happy in your business.
Shift 1: Why you were created to work
The first entrepreneurial mindset shift is to understand that you were created to work. As I said, I call this the Eve Principle. God designed Eve, the first woman (and you and me), to be an Ezer, a helper. The only other person given this designation in scripture is God.
Psalm 30:10 says, Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord. And Psalm 54:4 says, But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive!
What does being a helper mean for your business? First, it means you are someone else’s solution. You have unique skills, talents, experiences, abilities, and gifts that make you the perfect person to help your ideal clients.
Right now, I want you to jot down five things you love doing and that you know how to do well. Start general and then think through how this could look or does look inside your business. Doing these things and ensuring you are doing these things are the beginning of being satisfied with your work.
You’ve heard, “if you do what you love, it will never feel like work.” It’s true to a certain extent. However, God created you to fulfill a specific part of His plan, and He has designed you specifically to do it and do it well.
If I were to write out my five, they would include:
- Teaching- specifically curriculum development
- Organization- breaking down goals into actionable steps
- Writing- explaining complex ideas in concrete ways
- Synthesizing-pulling information from various areas into overall themes
- Creativity- creating tools and materials that are useful for self-discovery
What did you write out? Are you using it in your business? How could you be more satisfied in your business if you were using these things you are really good at doing?
Shift 2: How to enjoy the internal and external growth process
The second entrepreneurial mindset shift is to know how to enjoy the process of working in your business. The world will tell you that you are to be results-driven. Make a goal and then relentlessly pursue it until you achieve it.
God is not like that. He is using your business to transform you more into the image of His Son. What does that mean? Well, it means that the results you want are not everything. You have not failed if you don’t meet your weekly quota, monthly goals, or quarterly projections.
Grow and transform your entrepreneurial mindset
God wants you to be aware of your growth, internally and externally. He is concerned with your character. He wants to see the Fruits of the Spirit in your life. You know love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Romans 12:2 tells us precisely what to do in our businesses. It says, Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
And, since God has you in business, He is also concerned with your reputation, the number of clients you attract, and how you are showing up and helping others.
In God’s economy, your business has layers. First, externally growing the business with more clients (the people you are serving), having more impact, and with more revenue. But also, internally, you have more energy, perseverance, and stamina. This entrepreneurial life is not an easy one. But, God is doing everything to help you be the best representative for Him.
What changes, for the better, have you seen in yourself since being in business? Take a minute to list them out and thank God for each one.
Shift 3: Why celebrating your progress will surprise and delight you
The third entrepreneurial mindset shift is to practice celebrating progress in your business. Think back to when you got started in your business. I bet you can see how you have grown. The lessons you’ve learned, the mistakes you’ve made, and the improvements you’ve created.
I have tried all types of ways to bring Calling Clarity to where it is now. I started with retreats at both ends of an 8-week process, and I did it with small groups and 1:1 over a 3-month process. Always in ‘on-demand marketing’ and constantly launching a new session is exhausting.
I learned that I did not want to do it that way. No more 1:1 (that is time for dollars), no more retreats that limited the time frame for when women could participate, and no more launching and re-launching every time I opened up a new session (too much work).
I’ve also made mistakes. But I can see how those things I went through gave me the confidence to tell others what NOT to do. Learning from others’ mistakes is excellent because it’s easier not to re-invent the wheel when God calls you into business.
Celebrate everything
I celebrate the closing of my brick & mortar, my Business & Educational Center. It opened me up to write a book. I celebrate my first idea that I knew every Christian woman in business needed (but did not want) because it is part of Calling Clarity, and every woman who experiences the Personalized Faith Plan is amazed by it.
Every book I read, coach I hired, and the group I belonged to helped me create the coaching business that is perfect for me.
I celebrate what I have learned, accomplished, and succeeded in doing. Each week, I reflect on whatever movement was made toward doing what God has called me to do.
Think back and journal about your where you started on your journey. What have you learned? How have you changed, added, or edited your offer? How is it better?
And then, take time each week to see your progress. No matter how slight, recognize it and celebrate it. It will keep your focus on what matters, and you will be satisfied that you are doing your best for God and yourself.
Shift 4: How recognizing and using your strengths frees your entrepreneurial mindset
The fourth entrepreneurial mindset shift is to recognize and work using your strengths. We live in a culture that tells us to work on our weaknesses so that we can improve. The opposite is true. We should be working in our areas of strength and let someone else take over those areas of weakness.
What happens when you try to work on improving your weak areas? You stop focusing on your strengths, and everything becomes mediocre. You can only excel if you take that list of what you’re good at and love doing and do even MORE of it.
When you work in those strengths (those God-given talents), you become the expert you want and need to be. This frees you up to stop copying others and stand out to your ideal clients, those you were meant to impact.
Galatians 6:4-5 says, Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
This is why I call myself a directive coach. I am the coach who has tools for you to use to help you understand God’s design of you, and I give homework. However, I have been told I am not a ‘real’ coach because I don’t just ask questions and allow clients to ‘discover’ their paths.
In my opinion, that takes way too long. I want women to get the help they need as quickly as possible. 😊
Client example of working in your strengths
Working in your strengths just hit home for me as I worked with a client. She thought she wanted to conduct a Boot Camp to get her clients in the door quickly. It backfired. Why? It’s not her. It’s not what her clients want from her.
Her strengths are restorative, connectedness, harmony, empathy, and developer. That means she creates stable, confidential, non-judgmental, and collaborative environments. Does a Boot Camp fit this model? No.
Her research and clients told her how embarrassed they are about needing help. She knew in her mind that they would not want to participate so openly in a Boot Camp-type setting. But she ignored what she really knew.
Are you ignoring your strengths? Are you fighting your perfect business model? Working in your strengths does two things for you:
- It energizes you to be more creative, to keep going, to be fully present
- It makes you a beacon of light for those you are called to serve. Your ideal clients hear your message and are attracted to you.
Have you discovered your strengths? Do you know how to use them in your business to create a business that truly satisfies you and makes you happy?
Shift your entrepreneurial mindset for satisfaction and happiness in your work
Remember, you were created to work. God wants you to enjoy the process of working. Therefore, you need to celebrate your progress in your work and that working in your strengths will satisfy you in God’s calling into business.
Do you need to make any of these entrepreneurial mindset shifts to feel more satisfied? I have a QUIZ for you named the Life Shift Quiz. Use it to see where you are and if you are ready for a shift.
Very insightful..thank you