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Today I'm sharing my own stories of risk-taking in my decade of entrepreneurship. Each risk, some big and some small, was worth it -- and each one had their own level of scary attached to them.  Not only do I share what each of these 10 brave business moves were, but I also tell the story behind each one. Some of the stories are hilarious. Some are not so funny at all.  Either way, I hope by modeling my own #BusinessBrave moves you get inspired to start taking your own risks in business.  Here we go!

Get your FREE Weekly Financial Wellbeing Check-In Ritual download here: https://shawnfink.com/financial-checkin/ Joy is important and necessary for PEOPLE LIKE US. People like us who are meaning makers, conscious, feminist, justice-oriented know that we don’t want a capitalist business model. We don’t want to run our business as usual. We want more YESES. Because fuck it. Like is short. In my last episode, I talked about things you can do to add joy into your business day. But, the joy stuff doesn’t have to stop there.

Doing business as usual where boring reigns. My people — and if you are listening I assume you are my people — my people don’t want to do biz as usual. Why? Because life is short and we went into business not just for flexibility and independence but for creative freedom. To do business our way. To make our own rules. And I’m all about helping my clients make their own rules. The shoulds will zap your joy. So the goals much change to the point where joy is operationalized. Joy is built in. Joy is a standard operating procedure in practice not just in mind or on paper.

GET THE FREE FINANCIAL WELLBEING CHECK-IN RITUAL HERE: https://shawnfink.com/financial-checkin/ Your self-worth isn’t found in your bank account. Or anywhere else for that matter. It’s time to unlearn some of the ways you feel enough as an entrepreneur. Have you have ever felt like you’re not good enough because you’re not making enough money or because your business is not where you want it to be? Perhaps, you often feel low because your bank account has been dwindling, or you want to make more but you keep plateauing. Or you just aren’t getting the sales you want. Or, maybe you just are barely making enough to get by? If you feel low while thinking about your money or sales it’s possible your self worth is tangled up in your bank account. Or, it is tied up in the tactics you use to earn money. That's what this episode is ALL about ... please leave a review if this speaks to you.

One of the key elements of being a stress proof entrepreneur is being resilient. And to be resilient you have to take extremely good care of yourself in mind, body and spirit ... but here’s the thing. If your bank account is in a scary place, you’re not going to feel good no matter how much self-care you do. Your wellbeing requires a healthy bank account. Get my FREE Weekly Financial Wellbeing Check-In Ritual download here: https://shawnfink.com/financial-checkin/ Sign up for my weekly Brave Yes Museletter here: https://braveyes.substack.com/

My passion and purpose is working with entrepreneurs who believe greatly in making the world a better place, helping people thrive, helping the land thrive, helping systems thrive, whatever it is, but my people really want to see change and progress. So let's do that. Let's focus on how we can make money, find meaning in our work and also do our small part to help the world in one tiny way. And so when I say let’s get business brave, what I’m really saying is, let’s really build businesses that are wholehearted, that are human centered. And, by human, I also very much mean you the founder, the leader of the business and those you serve, and those who are impacted by the work that you’re doing. So money, meaning and the greater good ... let's dig into this this week. You can get more messages and insights from me every week by signing up for my weekly email: The Brave Yes Museletter https://braveyes.substack.com/

The BRAVE YES CEO mindset is the backbone of what this podcast explores. This is a big part of the work that I do with my clients. And I’m, of course super passionate about it. And it really stems from first my own experiences as a leader as somebody who really in all spaces and jobs and experiences that I’ve had in my life, I have always been someone who could step up as a leader. Brené Brown says that leaders are “called to choose courage over comfort all day long.” Let me repeat that … “leaders are called to choose courage over comfort all day long.” That is exactly why I believe all entrepreneurs and founders need to be #BusinessBrave. Are YOU ready to become more #BusinessBrave? Book a session with me to discuss your Brave Yes Business and Life mission and goals and let's get a soulful, courageous action plan started for you. I've been writing, creating and coaching online for 15 years. Let's chat and see how my expertise and experiences can help you put yourself out there and grow your business to the size you wish. Learn more and schedule here: https://shawnfink.com/business-brave

We don’t just feel the fear and take our chances and hope for the best. That’s not humane — or even all that possible. We must feel the fear … AND Feel the fear and pause. Feel the fear and prepare. Feel the fear and set ourselves up for success. Sometimes we roar through a scary moment of uncertainty. Sometimes we purr.

A Brave Yes Mindset is a part of what it means to be #businessbrave … but the thing is that the Brave Yes, when it’s not trivialized, is often a rare occurrence. When you look back on your life you may remember handful, maybe two handfuls of Brave Yeses that you can't really draw back on as memorable events in your life. But being a wholehearted entrepreneur requires everyday bravery. I can’t think of a day that has passed in the past 10 years of being an entrepreneur when fear didn’t show up and knock on my door. This is precisely why my work has always been super spiritual. In order to put our ideas out into the world -- to put our services, our work, our words out into the world and ask for money in return -- we must be business brave. What is required of us is far more than just showing up. We must have a fire inside of us to be brave -- there has to be something bigger pulling us along. Or else we’ll just retreat back into our nice quiet cave and hide a bit more. Being Business Brave requires us to dig deeper into a more every day type of courage that rarely makes it to your social media feed. LET'S BRING YOUR MISSION ALIVE: Brave Business Coaching may be for you if this episode speaks to what you need to bring some life back to your business. https://shawnfink.com/soul-shine

It’s easy to slip into “why bother” mode with something like this. Why bother — no one will read it. Why bother — people will unsubscribe. Why bother — it will be just left unread. Why bother — who am I to have a newsletter designed for writers? (museletter in my case) We do this for a very clear reason: You know what reason is, don’t you? Our fear of disappointment. Sign up for The Brave Yes Museletter: https://braveyes.substack.com/ Work with me to transform your own self-doubt in private coaching: https://shawnfink.com/soul-shine

As a coach for entrepreneurs, I work with my clients on the Brave Yes Journey, which is almost always about playing bigger in their work, taking up space and making bold changes for greater life alignment. I encourage my clients to set stretch-y goals — not for achievement purposes but because personal transformation happens just beyond our comfort zone. When we do something that seems nearly impossible, our courage and confidence grow exponentially. My story alone is proof. Listen to this Brave Yes CEO episode here. Looking for a Coach to help you do your list of impossible things? Let's chat. Learn about my Brave Yes Coaching here: https://shawnfink.com/soul-shine

What's Your Brave Yes Kryptonite?That big dream of yours ... it requires you to be what I call a courage maker. Courage makers, though, are still just human beings, not superheroes. Life circumstances will pop up out of nowhere. Your life circumstances may be exactly what’s keeping you in place and feeling stagnant and there may be nothing you can do about that. But here’s the thing. There's always something else at play in our lives as we are building something and dreaming up something new for ourselves and our work. When we can, we must remove the kryptonite and shove it out of our way. What's Your Brave Yes Kryptonite? That's what this week's podcast episode is all about. Listen now. Are you interested in my Brave Yes Action Hours? 90 minutes of coworking together on our YES projects. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkf-qtpjkoE9xJp6v-rFHDuY_UyFDirBCk

{minisode} A Month Of Yes by Shawn Fink

Think back to the times in your life when you said Yes — and by YES I am talking about the Brave Yeses, the kinda scary but liberating and exciting ones. Not just any yes but the yeses that were meaningful, purposeful and expansive to your life and work. As busy female founders and creatives, it’s easy to say no to ourselves. We like our noes. But I have learned that saying yes can change everything. And by that I don’t mean to other people’s yeses. I mean to the deep desires that live inside of us. JOIN MY BRAVE YES ACTION HOUR CLUB: https://join.slack.com/t/braveyesworkspace/shared_invite/zt-14cf1h2g6-y4jitRVjhm51yXEnY3JSYQ

Holding More Than A Business by Shawn Fink

I don’t care how long you’ve been in business, you’re in the gap. And sometimes that gap is huge like an ocean. And sometimes that gap is more like a little creek. Either way, you have to go through the mess to get to the other side. What is the gap? The gap is that learning space of where you are and where you want to be. You are standing on the cusp of a field of change and you have no idea how to get to the other side. That is the gap. There’s a problem in your business, and you need to solve it.

This month, I’ve been focusing on the importance of investing in your capacity as a CEO and entrepreneur — because in order to be braver, be bolder and do braver work in this world, we must have the capacity for it all. Without capacity we are left exhausted and floundering. We never set our best intentions forward when we are burned out an exhausted. Capacity ebbs and flows but at the end of the day, the number ONE capacity stealer that I see over and over in my work is this → a lack of self-worth. There is no bigger drain on our creativity, our energy, our wellbeing than not believing we are good enough. It just so happens that I have been coaching, studying and building a body of work around enoughness for years and it’s a huge part of my coaching program. Listen to this SOULCAST episode now.

I’m a believer in Radical Wellbeing for CEOs, Founders and Entrepreneurs who are doing Brave Work. Brave Work is often your soul’s work. It’s what you were meant to do. And, it can also be doing the work you do — just very differently. Whatever your Brave Work is— maybe it’s just being more visible and taking up more space — or putting yourself at the center of the work you’ve been hiding behind for so long … you have to have the clarity, the capacity and the courage to do it. That’s the foundation of My Brave Yes Coaching philosophy and model. But today I want to focus on the capacity piece of my coaching work because so many of you reached out to say YES, CAPACITY. THAT’S WHERE I NEED TO INVEST RIGHT NOW. :) LINK -- > 22 Ways to Boost Your Capacity and do Braver Work in 2022 https://shawnfink.com/22-ways-to-boost-your-capacity-and-do-braver-work-in-2022/

Your Expansion Is Calling by Shawn Fink

I want to talk about an essential part of my coaching philosophy today — the Catapult Method, which is a fun way of looking at the 3 Cs of Brave Yes CEO coaching and methodology. Two episodes ago, I talked about the goal of my work with women founders and entrepreneurs is all about the A-Factor — that focuses on alignment, audacious self-worth and authenticity. If you haven’t, check out that episode. And in the last episode I went deep on my own personal word of the year — untamed — and how I see it playing out in my business this year. Today I’m going to be a bit more practical and talk about the 3Cs of a Brave Yes CEO. Plus a bonus C for fun. Clarity Capacity Courage When I began my first business in 2012 — 10 years ago — I definitely didn’t have the 3cs. But over time I learned they were essential and where I eventually began to put 80 percent of my investment and resources. So let’s dive in.