Is Your Body Image a Success Stopper?
IS YOUR BODY IMAGE A SUCCESS STOPPER?
Article by Michelle Hess
Photo Credit: Dasha & Mari
Magazine: Issue #29
Did you know that you could be wasting and losing money because of how you feel about yourself when you look in the mirror?!
Whether you are on the thinner side or have a more ample sized body, HOW you feel about it impacts practically every area of your life in obvious and subtle ways.
Why do you need to deal with those nagging bad body thoughts? So you can become a smarter more successful entrepreneur. (The added happiness is just a bonus!)
MONEY MAGNET OR REPELLER?
Money stress is in the top 3 worries in the United States. We either attract or repel money with our money magnet skills. Jen knows this too well. She is an attractive over-achieving fire-cracker of a woman entrepreneur--well educated, stylish and ambitious. She’s moved up quickly in her field and is a top innovator for her specialty.
Still, her body esteem affects her money magnet skills.
Even though she can give you fashion advice and beauty tips, when Jen looks in the mirror, she’s constantly picking at her appearance (too short, not toned enough, skin could be better…).
To distract from her body dissatisfaction, she ends up shopping…a lot. Clothes are easy for her to fit into and she thinks that if she finds the “right look” she’ll feel better. Online shopping is her favorite “de-stressing” activity, because she “works hard and deserves it”! There are a lot of new clothes hanging in her closet, tags attached. They won’t get worn.
Her credit cards have balances in the thousands.
Often Jen lies awake at night, her mind spinning about her debt, so now she takes sleeping pills to shut it all out. The money leaks, which are repelling her cash flow are taking their toll.
Stop the Money Leaks!
Jen shows us one way our body image can affect our finances. I know, I know, you can never have too many clothes...or shoes! But seriously, we waste money (lots of it) because either we end up buying the wrong look, the wrong size (the “I’ll fit into it soon” size!), or the wrong trend for our body type.
How much do you think you’ve spent on bad fashion advice over the years?
And don’t forget, this money “leaking” may extend to anything that you impulsively buy to try and make yourself feel better. We want the cash flow to be positive not a downward financial spiral!
SELF-EMPOWERMENT?
Poor body image is also a common success stopper for women in education and the workplace. And guess what?
Yep…THAT COSTS YOU MORE MONEY.
Even for smart entrepreneurs, research aplenty shows that many are holding themselves back from full potential and this definitely impacts money magnet skills. When we aren’t firing on 100% of our creative, ambitious and energetic pistons we lose out.
How confident we feel about our body image affects our overall confidence. So if you are a high-achiever, you could actually be doing okay overall, compared to your average person, but deep inside you’ve got to know that you might not be humming along at full capacity.
Body image and self-love isn’t a trivial issue. As psychologist Dr. Emma Halliwell reports, there is an abundance of “evidence that when society teaches girls that their appearance is intrinsically linked to their value as a person and that their looks matter, society undermines...women's potential to thrive.”
You probably already know that if you speak on stage and at live events you can increase sales more quickly. This success strategy is one of the most fantastic ways to reach your ideal clientele if you have a service based business (if you didn’t know this, seek out one of the HF marketing gurus!). Do you think that if you feel uneasy in your body that you will jump at those opportunities, let alone seek them out?
Maybe, just maybe, you are full of courage and even though you don’t feel great in your own skin, you are doing those speaking gigs and videos anyway. Bravo to you! Now imagine what it would be like if you felt electric and powerful in your body?
Watch out world!
This applies to how you show up EVERYWHERE. Is it time for you to bail on the bad body image and lack of confidence? Increased self-love will repay you over 100-fold. Let’s put an end to the money leaks--along with the lost business growth and career opportunities--so you can look in the mirror with confidence to a more powerful success starter.
It’s a Sign is a compilation of self-improvement articles written by entrepreneurs seeking to bring holistic solutions to everyday problems. Read more articles from this feature.
Michelle Hess, MA, CPC, RYT founded BraveGirl™ in 2006 to build Confidence, Courage and Connection for Women. Michelle helps entrepreneurs drop the drama, ditch the diets and delete the Body Image BS. She's the creator of the Brave Body Love™ Global Summit for Women, the Body Love Experiment™ & Blissful Body, Luscious Life™. Michelle is also a fan of alliteration, Thai food and shoes. Want more body love success strategies? Join the free Body Love Experiment™ and receive a free gift to help you love your body right away.