Fall down 7 times, stand up 8


Hello Reader,

In 2024, I wiped the slate clean and recommitted to putting focused attention on building my business.

I've had side hustles on and off since my 20s, selling services, online courses, coaching, freelancing and even a brick-and-mortar café.

They never got the traction I'd hoped for.

In 2023, I 'gave up'.

After years of trying and failing, I was disillusioned and tired.

So I scaled back a lot of my business activities in 2023.

By the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the itch to work on my business started again.

Somehow that hope and desire never died out.

As the Japanese proverb goes,

'Fall down 7 times, stand up 8.'

There were a number of serendipities happening at the time that nudged me:

  • Stagnating salaries, rising cost of living, and college bound kids
  • A change in management at work and an impending acquisition
  • More people I had to issue the dreaded PIP (performance improvement plan) to
  • Hearing about the repeated problems women were facing in business that I knew I had the solution to

And my passion and purpose were reignited.

After all, what was the alternative?

  • Continue working a job that could be made redundant?
  • I'm in my 50s, is this the legacy I want to leave behind?
  • Continue climbing the corporate ladder knowing the trade-off wasn't worth it?

My goals for starting a business in the first place kept ringing in my head. I wanted to

  • Be able to visit my kids when they go to college anytime I wanted.
  • Make a living on my terms where I won't be told, 'you've maxed out on your salary scale.'
  • Experience greater fulfilment seeing the direct impact of my work on moms whom I'm passionate about supporting

It was a no brainer.

I revisited all the programs I bought and coaches I had engaged before and realized I already had everything I needed and more.

What was missing was my ability to objectively evaluate the results of my actions - so I started working on this in 2024.

I practiced diligently reviewing all my business indicators without the biased stories and meanings I was assigning about myself.

Even more important, I forgave and gave myself permission, grace and compassion for where I am and mistakes I've made.

I stopped beating myself up for not making the millions of dollars I wanted to when I started.

I acknowledged I was having a real life, working a full-time job to provide for the family, raising kids, plus building a business.

All of it had taken a toll on my health so that was a wake-up call too.

Not to throw a pity party, but here's what I've learned and realized:

  • You can choose to build a business that grows at a pace aligned with your life's priorities
  • As long as you're willing to accept the consequences of those decisions
  • With full knowledge that the alternative isn't what you want anyway
  • And make peace with the actions and outcomes of that choice

A lot of people give up because there's a misalignment between the results they want in their business and the amount of effort they're willing to put in.

Most of the entrepreneurs at the level I aspire to work really, really hard.

If they say they don't, it's because the don't see it as work since they enjoy the process so much.

But I'm unwilling to put in the intensity, pace and amount of work they do.

Because there are other priorities in my life which are more important to me.

Releasing all this pressure on myself was possible because of my decade long practice that's now encapsulated by the MAP Method.

MAP comprises 5 parts, and up until 2023, I was doing 4 of these parts.

The 5th missing element has been the total game changer.

It's enabled me to come to this place of clarity, calm, and certainty about my business.

I want every woman business owner to be equipped with the MAP Method and learn how to use it in your business.

Because when it comes to building and growing your business, the show stopper isn't what you don't know.

It's all the mindset and emotional drama that goes on in your unconscious self-talk as you go through this roller coaster ride.

Especially women - we continue to put ourselves last, berate ourselves and be our own worst critic when things don't work out.

We'd never say the things we say to yourself to our kids.

Yet we don't hesitate to play that on repeat mode in the back of our minds.

We need to stop that now.

So, I'm opening up a 6-week live all-women cohort to handhold you to apply MAP into your daily life and business.

I'm so convinced of this that I'm giving you a 100% money back guarantee if you don't experience any changes after the 6 weeks.

Registration opens on 15 October.

Click here to get on the waitlist to receive details when it does.

See you inside.

Sharon

Sharon Singh Sidhu

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