WENDY ANDERSEN
GUEST WRITER
International best Selling Author &m Speaker, Wendy Anderson
Wendy Andersen is on a mission to encourage families to break free from external expectations and to find balance in life. She has spoken at numerous conferences and continues to enrich her audiences through ongoing training sessions and seminars geared to help them not just survive, but THRIVE!
This “normal” life that we were living by societal standards changed when our child was diagnosed with a Tuberous Sclerosis, seizures and later on autism.
So yes, that’s a bit of a heavy and personal start, but how does this relate to our businesses?
For the last 15 years, I have had a business that is easy, one that I’m good at and that makes me money. Sounds like a dream come true, right? Who wouldn’t want that? It was a business that I enjoyed, I had built a small empire in my field…no systems in place, no one to help me, I did it on my own the hard way. The way in which I had been told by so many that this is what I needed to do because all the others do it that way. This was “normal” for how things were done. This normal has effectively caused me to lose my passion for doing what is easy and I’m good at. This normal has caused me to want to run and hide and to wish so many times things would go away.
Ever since my son was diagnosed, my husband and I have worked hard to Redefine Normal in our family. Society has a set of expectations of who we should be as a family, who we should be as parents, and who our children should be as kids. Society has their own set of normal and if you don’t fit within the norm there is something wrong with you.
After about 7 years of feeling an inner tug, the constant thought “Is there more you can do with this, your life and your story?”, I finally made the decision to launch Wendy Andersen Redefining Normal. I will share our story and help other families with special needs children to redefine normal in their life. I am on a quest to make the normal setting on the washing machine the only normal in our lives!
In a short 9 months, I have co-authored an International Amazon Best Selling Book, Women Rising 3, spoke internationally as well as locally, set up a website with a “funnel”, aka I now have some systems in place and am getting this business started and taking action for a successful first year!
Throughout this process I have narrowed it down to three guiding principles:
Love. Embrace. Redefine! Love
Love…it’s such a big and powerful word. Are there things that you are doing in your life and/or business that you really don’t love doing but you’ve been told you need to do? Or better yet that’s the way you should do it so you do it?
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Life is too short to spend too much time doing things you don’t enjoy. I encourage you to look at all aspects of your life and #business that you dearly love doing, and do more of those! – Wendy Andersen #wisdom ” quote=”Life is too short to spend too much time doing things you don’t enjoy. I encourage you to look at all aspects of your life and business that you dearly love doing, and do more of those!” theme=”style3″] Don’t love cleaning, there’s someone who does…social media posts driving you batty…there’s someone for that too!
Action Step
Take an inventory of everything you do in your business. Give it a smiley face or a grouchy face. Now step back and assess. Do you really need to have the things done that you don’t enjoy doing? Could you hire someone to do them for you or even stop doing them?
I spent 14 years sending out emails for every registration. When I finally hired someone to automate this system I paid $350 for its full automation. Very big lesson learned here… the one thing that I dreaded the most about my business someone else could do in one day for $350, yet I kept doing it because that’s what was normal. Redefine Normal!
Embrace
Embrace where you are in life and business and be grateful for all you have! When I was starting Redefining Normal my thoughts consumed me. How fast can I get this set up and going, how fast can I start making money so I don’t have to think about the other businesses? Anytime I had to spend on my other business made me resentful, it was taking time away from my passion.
One day, a dear friend and fellow coach said “Wendy, you have a business that is making you money, you’ve automated so much of it. Embrace where you are in this process and allow the abundance of all your years of work to help fund the things you need to do for Redefining Normal.”
[click_to_tweet tweet=”A simple little mindset shift of embracing where my money is flowing from and using it to help Redefining Normal has made such a huge difference. – Wendy Andersen #wisdom #success” quote=”A simple little mindset shift of embracing where my money is flowing from and using it to help Redefining Normal has made such a huge difference, I no longer mind when I’m working on something that’s not for Redefining Normal and I make sure to block out time to do Redefining Normal work.” theme=”style3″]
Action Step
What in your business or life do you need to embrace just a little more? Maybe show a little more gratitude and shift your thinking?
Redefine
There is no one way to do YOUR business! It’s so easy to get caught up in looking at other coaches and businesses and thinking they do it this way and they are successful, so I should too. Or you hire a business coach and their advice goes against what you want to do (which is not the case with Freshly Implemented). They are your coach and they recommend it this way so you do right? No, absolutely wrong!
Just as there is no normal measuring stick in life, there is no normal way to do business. You get to choose, you get to decide and you get to Redefine Normal in your
life and business in a way that works best for you and you feel is right!
I learned this lesson the hard way in my first business doing it the way everyone else did and really burnt myself out. Once I implemented some systems and automation
I now love working on that side of me because I have redefined what that business needed to be for me!
Action Step
Is there an aspect of your business that you’d really rather do another way? Upgrade your thinking and do you because there is only one amazing you!
Life has such an amazing way of teaching us lessons, we have been blessed with three amazing children, one with special needs. When you stop and really listen to what life is telling you the impact is amazing! My hope is for the normal setting on your washing machine to be the only “normal” in your life and your business!
Love. Embrace. Redefine.
