It was the end of summer in 1990, I had finished my year-long training to get my certifications in NLP, timeline therapy and, becoming a Master Clinical Hypnotherapist plus, I had the honor of being the first student to be invited to be on staff as a consultant at the Institute where I had trained. This, I thought meant I was working for myself.
At that point, although I started to hear and read the word entrepreneur, it didn’t really mean anything to me. The only thing I knew was I was now my own boss and I could make my own hours and split my fee with the institute, which after a while I realized wasn’t the most ideal thing to do if I wanted to earn a living.
Fast forward six months. I had the opportunity to have my own office within the practice of a well-respected local psychologist. Aha, now I thought I was really working for myself. I was paying rent, the office was mine to use when I wanted and within 60 days, thanks to an entertainment industry client, I had a full practice. Although I made it possible to only work four days a week I often worked from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. so that clients could see me after their work-day ended. The word entrepreneur still hadn’t clicked.
At the end of my 4thyear in practice, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and I was getting daily migraines. In those days there was no way to see clients other than in person so I had a bit of a dilemma.
In 1997 I heard about coaching which could be done by phone and I could have a home-based office. By the year 2000, my practice was closed, I had my coaching certification and I started working from home to build a business starting from scratch. This was really when I started to find out what the word entrepreneur meant.
Before I go into the nitty-gritty details about entrepreneurship let me just say that it’s possible for everyone to be an entrepreneur if that’s what you want. However, although not easy initially, if it’s something you really want and you are willing to make some changes you can become a very successful entrepreneur.
Thinking like an entrepreneur takes being willing to take action in a new way. It’s not always an easy feat, especially if you have a home-based business but it can be a very rewarding one as I discovered.
I was really curious to see what the word entrepreneur meant so, being me, I got out my dictionary, which said, “A person who manages, organizes and assumes responsibility for a business.”
What it didn’t say was how to do this so you don’t make yourself crazy. No one said it was going to be easy and I knew that working from home was going to be very different. What I didn’t take into account was how challenging it was to stay focused and on track.
I decided one of the things I needed to do before anything else was to learn from people who had already done this. I tend to be an introvert but I made myself do whatever was necessary. I started attending workshops, going to events, taking webinars and most importantly I learned that if I wanted to be a successful entrepreneur I had to believe in myself.
This was one of the most challenging things for me. I knew I was a great hypnotherapist, I had proof of that. Was I also a great coach, could I build a successful business, what if I failed, what if I didn’t know enough and for quite a while I allowed fear to paralyze me.
There’s something called “The Shiny Bauble Syndrome” which it seems is something that most entrepreneurs suffer from at times, especially when we are just starting out. We have so many different ideas and we want to get them all done at the same time. Trust me, that doesn’t work because you end up with a lot of half-finished products, articles etc.
I finally hired a business coach who taught me how to create a plan so I could stay on track, how to build an email list so that I had people to whom I could be of service, also how to take care of myself as a home-based entrepreneur. As I said earlier, having a home-based business is very different from working outside the home.
Gradually, the more I learned and the more clients kept being referred to me, the fear of not being enough disappeared. By this time I was in my early 60’s and I was realizing my own potential and how I had the ability to help so many people, especially my clients, mainly women, how to create successful businesses and how to achieve the kind of lifestyle they dreamed of living and I learned the difference between having a business and being an entrepreneur.
With the support of a good friend and mentor, when I was 65 I wrote a book called The Astonishing Power of You. I was nearly 67 when it was finally published and to my great surprise, it went to #1 in Amazon’s personal development section. (the book in its original form is no longer available because I’m writing version #2.)
My mantra became, “you are never too old and it’s never too late. Being an entrepreneur in my opinion, is a gift you give to yourself so that you are able to be of service in many different ways that allow people to change their lives.
I am Hazel Palache, an author, mentor, clinical hypnotherapist, stress management counselor and entrepreneur. I specialize in working with women 40+ who are going through some kind of transition and have come to a crossroad because fear and self limiting beliefs are holding you back. I help you to create an action plan to build your life (or business) so you have more confidence, motivation and positive energy. It's time to Say Yes to YOU. If you need support in any way I would love to connect with you. In the meantime please visit www.LiveYourAbundantLife.com to download your free EBook and receive your own copy of the international Weekly Wisdom.