Yesterday I was stressing about bookkeeping and taxes. I felt like a child who was going to get in trouble for not doing her homework. But after one hour with Jackie Sweeten at Sweeten CPA, I felt peace and control over my home office. What a relief! Jackie is the kind of professional I LOVE to work with. Like some kind of accounting horse whisperer, she took control and brought that wild animal into the coral and showed me how to handle it. With her calm assurance, she handed me control (over my part) and gave me the confidence to let her team handle the rest. I also know a ton more about my business and books than I ever did before! Talk about feeling in good hands!
Owning a business is extra difficult when you obsess about loosening your grip.
- Sometimes that grip is over your money.
- Sometimes, that grip is on your dream, or your precious idea.
- Sometimes you have your grip so tightly around your worry itself, that you can’t even see a solution if it whacked you in the face!
Do you know what it’s like to have a wall around a certain area in your business? I had a mental and spiritual block about my books. Just to paint you a picture, I have a pile of papers that I still need to file from tax season 2013! So naturally I get really stressed about tax season and filing, and saving the right stuff, and keeping records about income.
One recent tax year, I got the wrong help from someone who was going to help me with my books, and I ended up reporting an obviously incorrect amount for one line of my business, all because my head was NOT in the game. My first mistake was letting someone who didn’t know Quickbooks help me with my books (duh), and my second was not looking over her report (DUH). [I know you business people who manage books are just shaking your heads and cringing right now, and you probably even think this is related to some kind of terrible character flaw that leaks over into all areas of my life. And you wouldn’t be too far wrong about that, except that I have enough other gifts to buoy me up, so no one even knew, except my closest friends. 🙂 It’s like the illiterate person who can fake not being able to read. I used to be like that, but with my accounting books.] Furthermore, my accountant didn’t even ask about what should have been a very odd line item. After cleaning it up, I knew in my heart that I brought those problems on myself, of course…
Although I’ve always thought of myself as a great “manifester,” (I always seem to have what I need exactly when I need it, whether that’s money, information, documents, etc.) I would always get a little panicky a few days before I really needed to write that check or produce that document. It’s just a thing with me, and once I figured out the pattern, I decided to stop it.
After literally “manifesting” myself into a puddle of stress about my books, I decided it was time to own it. That meant, putting on my big girl pants and handing it over. Oh, my Lord, how humbling is that?! But here’s what I’m discovering in this process…
Admitting you have a problem, and then handing over control is EMPOWERING!
I let it go, finally, and asked for help. Yes, I asked for help from God, and realized that He had already planted the seeds for me. I just had to go harvest the crop! See, I have sat in several accountant offices before, and there’s a part of my brain that I always just shut off. Have you ever done that? You sit there, with your mind half closed, and you take notes and you sort of smile, and pretend you’re getting it.
Well yesterday, I prayed that God would give me wisdom to open my mind, and ask the questions that needed answering, and to really accept the help from someone who was referred to me in this area. Jackie Sweeten is a true pro because she never once hemmed, hawed or hesitated. I could tell, she’s seen clients like me before, but here’s the difference: I made the commitment to be teachable.
This is what I told her: “I need you to know this about me. I am willing to change…
“I am going to try very hard to open my mind to your advice. I will ask a bunch of mundane questions until I understand, and then I will do what you tell me to do, and I will pay you for whatever services you think I need.”
She was kind, letting me know that she totally understood. She easily welcomed my worry in and gave it a seat. This is a testimonial for her awesome bookkeeping manners, surely, but it is also a testament the freedom in really handing something over!
- Hand it over to a professional. If you’re not at ease with copywriting, or saying your message, then HAND IT OVER!
- If you’re not sure about how to implement a good idea, or how to focus on something that would help you move forward in your business or life, ask for help and HAND IT OVER! Literally, float it out on the internet, ask your followers on Twitter, or call someone who looks like they have their act together in that area and in most cases, they will be happy to help or refer you to their source.
- If you are tired of doing everything yourself, you can always pray! Trust god or however you envision Infinite Wisdom and goodness in the universe… and just ASK. Then be open to it, noting when you are being touched by someone who can really help. HAND IT OVER!
If you are one of those do-it-yourselfers by nature, I can totally relate to that. But here’s the big revelation — and you have to trust that this is true — there are other people in the world who can do most things better than you. LET THEM!!
You’re great, but you’re not good at everything.
It’s the true counterintuitive part about being an entrepreneur. When you jump into this sea, and really own your business of serving, building, profiting by your gifts and goods, you have to be willing to hand over the reins and do what YOU do best. Be teachable. Push yourself to understand what you need, and then follow through with your part. Sometimes it’s as minor as returning a phone call or filing a receipt!
You will be amazed at how much energy and calm you reap when you flex that muscle and hand over stuff you were never meant to do. Let that gap be filled by someone you trust, and open your heart to professional expertise. After yesterday, I feel like I just bought an extra few hours in my week (even though all I ever did with those hours was spend them worrying) and now I even feel empowered to file that 5-inch stack of receipts and papers. I don’t even need a bookkeeping house call, although I’ll bet I could get one if I really wanted one!
You will be lifted by letting go, and ironically, you will feel so empowered by the awesome natural gifts of others. We are stronger together.
Your turn. When did you ever turn something over and reap rich rewards for it?
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