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Surround
Yourself with Amazing Women
By Mikelann Valterra, MA, The
Women’s Earning Institute
I was sitting in a
coffee shop when it happened. Sitting there, sipping on my non-fat
latte, I shared my latest business ups and downs with two other women.
They were successful, powerful, wonderful women. In fact, they were more
successful than me. I shared some financial frustration, and one of them
locked her eyes on me, and said slowly and clearly, “Mikelann, you are
worth a lot of money.” And then she told me just how much money she
thought I was worth. My eyes got big. I knew better than to say,
“Yeah, but…” so I just took it in, blushed a bit, and squirmed in
the hard, coffee shop chair.
There is something
almost magical when a successful woman looks you in the eye and tells
you she believes you are worth more.
I believe that we need
to purposely spend more time with people who are more successful than we
are. We need to be inspired. We all have a tendency to hang out with
people who are just like us. Check yourself. Do you spend most of your
time with people who make about the same amount of money as you do? This
is only natural. It can feel uncomfortable to hang out with people who
are very different. If you are at a dinner party with people who make a
lot more money than you, it can feel strange. And if everyone makes a
lot less than you, it also feels strange. So we seek our comfort zone,
whatever that is. But the dilemma is this—if everyone in your life is
doing what you are doing, it is very difficult to change. And making
more money often requires some change. Do you have people who inspire
you?
I had become friends
with these women. They were regular, ordinary women who dealt with
normal, everyday life stuff. We all struggled with finding that elusive
work/life balance. We all had families and tried hard to find time for
them as well as for ourselves. They were good women who wanted good
things for their loved ones, themselves and the world. And I knew they
cared about me.
As women, we crave
relationship. Be clear—women are extremely relational! So use this
knowledge purposefully. This means two things. For one thing, we need
relationship to be truly happy. If you think that being wealthy will
mean you are alone, you will not seek wealth. For another thing, women
are deeply affected by what people say to them. We take in feedback more
profoundly than men do. For better or worse, what people say to us,
affects us. So imagine the impact of surrounding yourself with positive,
abundant women who believe in you! The effect is amazing!
So who are you
surrounding yourself with?
© 2007, Mikelann R.
Valterra and the Women’s Earning Institute. Empowering women to
earn what they’re really worth, www.womenearning.com.
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