When you have a setback, how to you react? Many of us may feel frustrated, maybe even want to blame someone else or think we’re failures. There are other choices for how you can react to setbacks along your self-employment journey as you’ll learn from Charlene Norman, chief cheerleader for frustrated entrepreneurs, and expert at the winning mindset.
And as you’ll soon learn, this woman knows what it’s like to experience devasting setbacks. In fact, she suffered two significant ones in the last decade.
She lost her job as an executive at an industrial packaging firm in the Great Recession.
In 2015, just before getting her first book published, Bullet Proof Your Start Up, she suffered a stroke and was given only a 50/50 shot at surviving. In just over a year she is almost fully recovered.
What’s her secret? She’ll tell you it’s her practice of the winning mindset.
Some very important lessons in our conversation include:
- How she focused her mindset to overcome the devastating effects of her stroke.
- Why you need to fire some of your clients. She believes don’t hang onto clients that aren’t a good fit, if you’re feeling guilt or if you’re bored with them.
- She describes the 6 steps for building a winning mindset.
By the way, Charlene is generously giving away two free copies of her book!
If you want a copy be sure to get on our email list and be on the lookout for an email for how you can claim your copy!
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Build community.
- Manage energy.
- Reframing your mindset.
How Charlene Works and Thinks
- Wake up time: 6:00am
- Core work activities + habits: 1) Respond to all customers. 2) Send out a monthly newsletter to all customers. 3) Thank you notes to every new and repeat customer.
- Ideal work environment: Home office in the basement with big windows, beautiful carpet, antiques, and a big board that says “1 million to 10 million.”
- 90-day goal: Launch a new program and build income.
Inspirational Quotes
“When you decide to take the risk of being your own person, you have to establish in your own mind what your limits are.”
“Our decisions should never be based on fear, our decisions should always be based on growth.”
“At that point, there’s no fear, there’s not elation. There’s only a quiet sense of pride.”
“When you let go, more comes in.”
Coaching Advice
For people with an idea for a business without a clear path for starting out, Charlene recommends these first steps:
1) Understand why you want to do it: Entrepreneurship can be a rocky road so knowing your “why” sustains you and your motivation.
2) Stick to your plan: Nothing happens overnight, so don’t change plans too quickly. Give it time to grow.
Resources + Bonus Materials
Charlene’s 6-level triangle of the Winning Mindset
