I know we have all heard, “It’s about the inner game,” and you may be really tired of hearing the whole “develop yourself” thing. But, here’s the deal – it’s true.

What is your inner game and how does it show up?

If you’re not willing to grow and develop yourself, your mindset, your skills, then you are going to get left behind. Being successful in whatever you choose to do, starts with developing a strong inner game. This isn’t just mindset, although your mindset is a big part of your inner game.

What show’s up in the outer world, first must show up in your inner world. What is your mindset? How clear is your vision? Where is your belief? What excuses are you hanging onto? Do you know what stops you in your tracks?

Are you willing to take a look at these things? When things aren’t going well, how willing are you to look at you? Or are you quick to blame it on an outside circumstance or person?

These are all important questions to ask yourself.

I was watching the last round of the Master’s this weekend, and it was such a great example of inner game. I think we can all agree that golf can be one big head game.

So, what sets the winners apart from the rest of the group? When you look at the professional golfers, they are all extremely talented in their sport. On any given day, you might say they were pretty equal in talent. So, what sets them apart?

The inner game sets the winners apart. How well they stay focused on their goal, controlled their emotions, and the stress when things aren’t going well. The winner is the one that has the strongest inner game that day.

How your inner game affects building a business.

Nothing will test your ability to develop your inner game like building a business in Direct Sales and Network Marketing. It’s one thing when you are talking about or selling someone else’s product or service. You can separate yourself from it, it’s not personal, and it’s easier to be more objective. But, when it’s your business, your product, opportunity, or service, it’s a whole other thing.

People may say “it’s business, it’s not personal” (I’ve even said this) but it is personal, and it better be. Of, course it’s personal, it’s your business. How well you deal with that is what really matters. This takes the inner game.

Here are 5 steps to creating a strong inner game:

1. Have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Know where you are going, what path you are going to take, and have a timeline to get there. Visualize it everyday. The best times to do this is right before you go to bed and right before you get out of bed in the morning. Create a vision board, book, or page. There are so many distractions in life, it’s important to keep your vision in front of you.

2. Know WHY this vision is so important for you to accomplish. When you are going for a dream, there are bound to be challenges and setbacks. This is when it is so vitally important for you to connect to your why. Knowing your WHY will get you over the challenges and setbacks and keep you moving forward. There is a bigger purpose for you than the small setbacks.

3. Believe. It’s your dream. No one knows what you are capable of better then you.  Throw your heart into it and believe. If you are at a place where you are having a hard time believing in yourself, then lean into someone else’s belief of what you can do until you can fully stand in your own. I know, I had to lean into the belief of my recruiter when I first started in Direct Sales. I would hear Mary Kay often say, “If you think you can you can, if you think you can’t your right.”

4. Be willing to let go of excuses and stories that don’t serve you. Your stories and excuses that don’t serve you only set you up for self-sabotage. I see this a lot in building a direct sales/network marketing business. You may sabotage yourself for a lot of different reasons. You may have hit an upper limit, a limiting belief or subconscious pattern. The first step in moving through these is to let go of what is not serving you. Become aware of certain patterns of behavior.

5. Take responsibility for your results. When you are willing to take responsibility for your results, you have the power to change them. If you place blame outside of yourself, then the power to change your results will always lie outside yourself – out of your control. Taking responsibility is not blaming. It’s taking a judgment free look at what you could have done better, where you need to grow or develop a skill and what you did well. It’s the mental strength to take feedback as information, and then use the information to get better.

The inner game isn’t a quick fix and will need consistent attention.  But then again, doesn’t growing anything worthwhile and beautiful? This is the place you give to yourself so you can then go serve others and get your great work out into the world.

Go out and be strong, courageous, bold, curious, open, and wildly successful☺

A warm welcome to this week’s new subscribers! I’m so glad you’re here.