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[Entrepreneurial Karma Card] One Thing All Entrepreneurs Must Have at Their Core…

I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a teenager… It began with selling horses and then I stumbled into creating, marketing and selling my horse show.The reason I became an entrepreneur was because I hated the first real job I ever had… at a local laundrymat. After being able to spend time with my horse and in nature, being in a concrete box, smelling chemicals and taking orders felt like my version of hell on Earth!

me and my first horses!

my first horses!

One of the biggest lesson I’ve learned and been reminded of over and over and over again is to Trust Yourself.

When I told people I would make money with horses… I heard:

  • “yeah, right”
  • “horses eat money, they don’t make money”
  • “You’re not going to be able to do that”
  • “Who do you think you are?”
  • “No one will pay you for that”

It would have been so easy to listen to all the voices outside of myself. I listened to myself instead. I trusted myself.

I used the “yuck” of my 1st job to make it happen… and I used the dream of what my life could be to keep me going.

Along the way, I’ve had many amazing mentors and teachers, in the horse world and the business world. Along the way, I’ve become a mentor and teacher myself.

One of the greatest gifts I’ve learned from the BEST teachers and mentors (and that I share with my clients and students) is that ultimately, you must cultivate an unwavering belief and TRUST in yourself.

Yes, I learned tons of strategies, tactics, great advice that has been invaluable. I still have teachers and mentors to this day. One of the most important lessons my best mentors taught me is how to cultivate belief and trust in myself.

I’ve loved cultivating ways to look inside of myself to hear and feel what’s inside. Some of those ways include meditation, journaling (specifically, doing a Journal of Appreciation, not a journal of complaining like most people do) and some other techniques.

So today’s card is to inspire you to ultimately…

Trust Yourself.

trust-yourself-webGetting clear on the business and life you truly want and then checking in with yourself every step of the way is key.

I believe in you!

maritza-signature

 

22 Comments

  1. Maritza Parra on April 24, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Do you have a strategy or method you use to check in and trust yourself? I’d love to know!

  2. Paul Colaianni on April 24, 2014 at 1:59 pm

    Trusting myself involves being confident in what I’m doing, right or wrong. I’ve noticed that I gain the most forward momentum by just making a decision. I prefer closure, not linger. The longer it takes me to make a decision, the longer I linger. So now, I just make a decision, and find out if it was the right or wrong one later down the road.

    This has increased my confidence and trust in myself. I don’t fear failure, I just make it happen faster so I can move forward no matter what happens.

    Thanks for allowing me to think out loud in this comment. : )

    Love your stuff.

  3. MIchael Kawula on April 24, 2014 at 3:25 pm

    Great post Maritza and I love the image. Love Live Life Each Day!

    February I did a gratitude journal each day for 30 days. Had to be something different each day. Something I’ve meant to do with my 3 little ones as I think its so powerful.

  4. Jessica on April 24, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    Amen! Trust is one of the best things we can have on our entrepreneurial journey because it is an expression of our faith in ourselves and our business. Super cute Karma Card too 🙂

  5. Chris on April 24, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    Maritza, I was lucky enough to enjoy your amazing Dancing Horses show at Belmont Park, during the Triple Crown Event in Long Island when you were just a young kid. It was beautiful. The music, the outfits, the riding and of course the horses were magnificent. Even then we could tell that there was something very special about you as a leader and a motivator. Thank you for sharing your gifts.

  6. Alex Harris - AlexDesigns on April 24, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    I love that you stuck with your passion and pushed through. Now look at what an impact you are having. Building trust with other people takes time and unfortunate you need to prove yourself. We always know we can trust ourselves though!

  7. Andrea Beltrami on April 24, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    As always well said, Maritza! (LOVE these cartoons)

    I don’t think us solopreneur types understand just how crucial our belief in ourselves is. The fact is, most of us are navigating the uncharted water alone so we can’t afford to forget that we matter, that our dreams matter… that ultimately we don’t need anyone’s permission to be who we are destined to be. Believe! And don’t ever let someone squash that belief!

    I just wrote a blog post on the same area, titled “If You’re Asking For Permission You’re NOT an Entrepreneur. Here’s a link if you want to check it out… http://bit.ly/1l56nuX

  8. Celest Horton on April 24, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    I love this KARMA card!!! I so agree. I am impatient for this business to grow, yet just realized (yesterday) that this is a very busy month as a mom and my conscience is telling me that I have TOO MUCH on my plate. I have to TRUST in my heart and allow my top priority for the next few weeks to be mom and not stress about the business growth during that time. The business will always be there and my kids always won’t be. 😉 Thanks again Maritza…so timely! 🙂

  9. kate erickson on April 24, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    Maritza, thank you so much for sharing this – SO powerful. Trusting yourself is sometimes the hardest thing to do, but in many situations, the most important!

  10. Maureen Murphy on April 24, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    I love the appreciation journal. You have a great story to tell. Yes belief in yourself would be the best asset to have to propel forward ! Thanks for your great posts!

  11. Ryan Hogan on April 24, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    Couldn’t agree more! I had my best friend laughing at my initial ideas… if you don’t get ‘it’, you don’t get ‘it’. You have to trust in yourself when no one else does, and reinforce that trust with a good group of like-minded individuals.

  12. Dean Patino on April 24, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    Thank you for sharing your inspirational leadership Maritza. I greatly appreciate your words to trust ourself. We grow up in a world of “no” from the time we are infants. We hear and see “no” all the way through life. Thus the message that is planted in our minds is no, it can’t be done, don’t do it, do bother, can’t happen, not going to happen, no one else has done it, and the list given birth since birth of no grows up all around most of us.

    Your story defies that messaging, the lack of trust that follows right behind those no’s. To keep a Journal of Appreciation is an awe inspiring way to lead, it’s no wonder you have overcome those no’s to trust in yourself and accomplish what you have throughout your career to touch the lives of many in such a positive and long lasting way.

  13. Amber Hurdle on April 25, 2014 at 8:22 am

    Another cartoon to make me smile! 🙂 Trust (which comes second to loving) yourself is indeed vital. It seems as if much of the resistance around our money, our weight, our success, our habits….all stem from this. I heard another coach compare what we take into our thoughts over a lifetime of being told lies by those around us to a child who was raised in a house that had led paint. That child absorbed that every day, and even if she moved out of that house, she was “infected” day-in and day-out, and even when she moved from that house it went with her. So even if we remove ourselves from toxic environments, we have to treat ourselves to get the toxins out. It doesn’t just go away. I think your gratitude strategy is just the right cocktail for detox! No surprise I’m totally tracking with your thoughts! In fact, I wrote about the Attitude of Gratitude vs. Divinely Discontent here: http://amberhurdle.com/private-self/a-thanksgiving-blog-executivecoach/ Great post, Maritza! xo

  14. Anthony Tran on April 25, 2014 at 11:41 am

    Hi Maritza, thanks for sharing this personal story. So glad you fought through all the doubters. You are right you… you have to believe in yourself before others can believe in you. There will always be haters, doubters and ultimately people who don’t want to succeed. You have to fight through all that because the cream always rises to the top. Keep it rocking!

  15. Charlie Poznek on April 26, 2014 at 1:19 am

    Maritza, thanks for this uplifting message! Whether the naysayers are people around us saying “it will never work,” or that little voice of negativity inside saying “you’ll never pull it off,” your message is clear – trust yourself, and listen to that part of you that knows, deep down, that this is what you’re meant to be doing.

  16. Justin Williams on April 26, 2014 at 1:23 pm

    “Love your business, Love your life”. That says it all. This is really great Maritza. Thank you for sharing!

  17. Sandy Donovan on April 30, 2014 at 8:26 am

    It is so easy to give up when others are doubting, especially when I don’t always have the answers to all of their questions. Doubt creeps in. Thanks for sharing this post and illustration as so many people go through it at multiple stages.

    Also – can’t picture you working at a laundry mat! You seem like you need much more freedom than that. Good thing you found your calling and pursued!

  18. Christine on May 4, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    Trusting myself is one of the hardest things. There are so many people that will tell you that our plans will not work. Thank you for reminding us that it really can work.

  19. Dagmar Sands on May 6, 2014 at 3:14 am

    “Doubt who you will, but NEVER YOURSELF”! I’ve read this quote many years ago and it began my journey on TRUSTING my GUT and myself. People can be “Dream Stealers” if you let them. When you believe in yourself and what you do for others is the right thing, then you can never go wrong. I read the book “Key to Yourself” which also is very similar to “The Secret” and in this book it states that God had to make a decision where to put a KEY to man when he created him. After the angels were giving him hints to hide it way up high in the sky or deep inside the ocean, he said NO…a man would find it there but then he came up with an idea – why don’t I hide the KEY inside the man – he will never look there to find it. Well, God is right, we have to look inside of us because he put the KEY there for us to find it – this KEY opens up so much if we just TRUST it and find it there. Therefore, look no more.. look inside YOU! The key is there to guide you throughout your journey to SUCCESS, HAPPINESS and HEALTH!

  20. Dagmar Sands on May 6, 2014 at 3:17 am

    Maritza, I’ve missed seeing you but you stay on my mind with your wonderful posts and e-mails. Thank you so much for sharing your cartoon. It’s very late but it made me smile. You’re always very inspiring to others. Dagmar Sands – call me sometimes 404-313-3456

  21. Sandy Rakowitz on May 8, 2014 at 7:05 am

    I totally agree also Maritza – Trust in yourself, in your own intuition. Horses taught me this also…they are such good mirrors and respond to our hearts and intention so clearly. If I lingered in a decision around a jumping course, well, not so good outcome to or over the fence! Now how I translate this is, if I linger over something, I have missed the initial signal from my gut instinct and need to go back to finding and tuning back inside to that first gut sense – and then just go with it. This often feels like a leap of faith. And, this is what builds my trust – trying things out and finding out where it leads and what happens. –I also had many say to me that working with horses would not lead to making money – the favorite saying in our house was “Go Broke, Buy a Horse.” A lifetime of sticking with my deep internal sense of connection with horses, and animals, and letting that lead the way – no matter what anyone says. Thanks as always for such clarity, thoughtfulness and right on messages.

  22. David Cohn on August 23, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    Thanks for such an inspiring post Mritza. This is one thing I’ve found through http://www.thanmerrill.com that’s helped me as well.

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