I was 8 when I started my first business.

😬 And it was very nearly my last.

I’d dragged two wobbly card tables into my friend’s garage. And we opened a "country store.”

She sold her used toys while I sold costume jewelry.

😁 I was 8, after all. Way too old to play dress up anymore.

We were excited about the prospect of a kid or two to stop by …

🤯 But it was the MOMS who poured in that shocked us.

And boy were they buying.

They saw that old jewelry and practically threw their nickels and dimes at our shoe box.

That’s when I experienced my first taste of the entrepreneurial drug that gets so many of us hooked …

I loved the sound of those coins hitting the cardboard — because I was making it happen!

- I had the business idea.
- I had the product.
- Clearly we were in the right place at the right time.

I was stunned at the simple cause and effect of my actions.

😡Unfortunately, one of the effects came storming in 30 minutes later in the form of my aunt screaming, “You can’t do that!”

Aunt Linda had once been a Broadway performer. So she could be a bit over the top.

But she was also the one who’d given me the costume jewelry.

So I mistakenly thought it was mine.

And how was I to know those crystals and beads were LITERAL DIAMONDS AND PEARLS?

Aunt Linda snatched up the remaining jewelry as the moms slunk into the shadows.

That’s when I experienced the ultimate shame …

My aunt marched me to every house on the block — and made me ask those grown women to give the jewelry back.

Can you imagine?? SO embarrassing.

Yet …

I still couldn’t shake the thrill of those sales.

That thrill followed me into adulthood. And inspired me to start my next business at 25.

The problem is, something else followed me, too.

- Every time I was invited to speak ...
- Every time I wanted to raise my prices ...
- Every time I had the opportunity to pitch a big client ...

I heard a voice in my head sneer at me: “You can’t do that.”

So more often than not, I didn’t.

It wasn’t until 8 years later, after I got trained in hypnosis …

😲 that I realized the belittling voice in my head wasn’t even my own.

And I knew I had to change that old program if I was going to have any hope of succeeding.

So I used the same hypnosis techniques I learned to delete the entrepreneurial blocks in my brain.

🔥 And my business exploded.

I went from charging nickels on the dollar to creating 4 successful businesses after that.

With a new inner voice that whispers …

🙌 “You’ve done it before. You can do it again.”

What about you?

Have you ever tried to stretch in a new direction until a critical voice in your head yanked you back?

🤷🏼‍♀️ I wonder, is that voice even yours?

And what would be possible for you if you decided to delete it?