"If you hear a voice within you saying, ''You are not a painter,'' then by all means paint... and that voice will be silenced."

Vincent Van Gogh

One of the biggest barriers to a profitable business is ourselves. Or to be more specific what is going on in our heads. This is what the Buddhists term 'Monkey Mind' - the self-criticizing aspect of our mind that swings us from doubt, to worry, and back to doubt. It's what a client affectionately calls "that incessant voice in my head that doesn't shut up!!"

If you've ever heard yourself saying things like

* "How can you possibly think you're good enough to ... (start your own business/try out for the part/increase your prices)"
* "Of course you're not making sales, (it's a quiet time of year/we're in a recession/it's raining)"
* "They're never going to want to do business with me; I'm (too dumb /too old /too young /not funny enough/not serious enough)"
* "If I were really meant to be doing x, I wouldn't be having so much trouble" then chances are that's your Monkey Mind chatter talking to you.

The good news is it never really goes away. How can that be good news you ask? Well, when Monkey Mind is at its strongest is generally when we are threatening to change the status quo. In her book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Susan Jeffers First Truth is "The Fear will never go away as long as I continue to grow". Our Monkey Mind is playing on those fears to ensure things stay just the way they are thank you very much!

So if Monkey Mind is set to hang around, how do we ensure we are moving forward regardless?

The first step is to recognise that the doubts, fears and worries are always going to be there, however we can decide how much of our energy goes into listening to it. We can choose at any moment to focus our energy on achieving our goals rather than trying to analyse, suppress or argue with our self talk.

The second step is to check inwards that the goals we are wanting to achieve are in line with our vision, and reflect our true self, rather than simply being driven by fear or moving away from fear. This takes some real reflection, and can be quite confronting. Having someone to support you through this process will be invaluable.

The third step is to take action. Susan Jeffers Second Truth is "The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it." In fact even the step of changing your physical state can lessen the fear and allow you to move forward. A simple example of this is the fear we have in making particular phone calls - it may be for debt collection, or to ask for new business. In these situations, the act of standing up to make the phone calls can make you feel more powerful, thereby lessening your fear, and you actually come across as more assertive when you do make the call.

Monkey Mind is here to stay, and is not something that you can turn around over night, but just be thankful if you can hear it, it means you are ready to forge ahead!!