Get Your Hopes Up with Christy Wright

How to Create an Amazing Customer Service Experience   1:14 Create an Amazing Customer Service Experience 4:30 Five Ways to Improve Your Customer Service 15:14 Customer Service That Disrupts the Competition with Shep Hyken 33:45 Encouragement: Use Your Experiences to Shape Your Customer Service If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. When I wrote my book Business Boutique-a book entirely about how to start your own business-I left out something that I believe is crucial to winning in business: great customer service. Do you know why I didn't write about it? Because I believe, as women, we naturally excel in customer service. We're relational. We're great at connecting with people, serving others, nurturing, and thinking about how someone else feels. However, there's always opportunity to grow, right? Well, several years ago, I had a pretty frustrating experience with a customer service representative. It was so frustrating that I now use it as an example when I teach on what not to do when working with customers. Here's what happened: I got a notification in the mail that my dental insurance had been canceled. As you can imagine, I was really confused because there had been no other conversations about any problems with my dental insurance. And then one day, poof-it was canceled. So naturally, I called and spoke with a customer service representative, and she told me, "Well, you didn't pay your bill. You pay it every six months, and you didn't pay it the last time it was due." I responded, "I'm so sorry. I pay my bills. I wasn't aware that it was due. I don't remember getting a bill in the mail or hearing anything about this." And her response was, "Well, we decided to become a paperless company a few months ago, so we just send emails now." It turns out, they had an old email that I hadn't used in years. So, I kindly asked the "nice customer service person" if I could pay my bill right there over the phone and reinstate my insurance. Her response? She threw out three words that still makes me cringe to this day: "Our policy is . . ." Is there anything that makes a customer more upset than hearing, "I'm so sorry, but our policy is . . ."? Nobody cares about stinking policies! We don't have to run our businesses that way! In fact, your business will be more successful and more fun when you provide incredible customer service and put your customers before your policies. 5 Ways to Improve Your Customer Service I want to give you five ways you can improve your customer service and help your business succeed: 1. Don't be late. Always, always, always be on time. Whether it's a shipment going out, returning a phone call or an email, showing up to a meeting-whatever it is, do it on time. When in doubt, I always want you to underpromise and overdeliver. This one is convicting for me because I'm not great at it-I'm working on it. But this is the most basic way to keep your customers happy. Just be on time and do what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to do it. 2. Don't be emotional. Listen, I've got a lot of feelings. I have so many feelings that even my feelings have feelings. But whether you're having a good day or a bad day, your customer doesn't care. Every day, your brand and your business should be having a good day. Nothing will break trust with your customers like being Dr. Jekyll on one day and Mr. Hyde on another. You've got to be consistent in how you take care of people. Don't be emotional, and don't take your bad mood out on your customers. 3. Don't forget to listen. I know this sounds really basic, but when we're having a conversation with someone, whether it's a normal conversation, a positive conversation, or even a really heated conversation, we're always thinking...

Become A Woman Who Supports Other Women   1:22 Become A Woman Who Supports Other Women 8:42 Five Ways to Become A Woman Who Supports Other Women 18:49 Women Supporting Women with Liz Cox 33:45 Encouragement: Shake Off the Shame If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. I'm the product of countless women who have invested and poured into me-and I bet you are too. In fact, I don't know where I would be in my life today without the support of other women. I'm so passionate about being a woman who champions other women, but you know what I've realized? It's incredibly hard for us women to do. There are just so many things in our world that divide us. Sometimes the division looks like mommy wars and parent shaming. Other times it looks like being jealous of the woman at work who got the promotion instead of being excited for her. Or maybe it's rolling your eyes at how your neighbor parents her child differently than you do. Regardless of how the situation plays out, there often seems to be an ugly division between us and other women. It's like no matter where we stand, we're always looking down on someone else. But here's something I deeply believe: The reason we're so quick to judge women with decisions different from ours is simply because we're not completely comfortable with our own choices. It's not because we think she's so wrong. It's because we're worried that maybe we're wrong. When we're constantly insecure about our own choices, we project that onto other women by judging their decisions. But if you want to be a woman who supports other women, you have to do what that kind of woman does! You have to connect your desire to be one with your behavior and your attitude-you know, actually walk the talk. It all starts with the woman in the mirror. That's why I want to talk about five intentional behaviors you can choose to do to become the type of woman who champions other women. 5 Ways to Become A Woman Who Supports Other Women 1. Love yourself. You have to love yourself before you can love anybody else. The reason we're so hard on others is because we're so hard on ourselves. And if there's no love in you for yourself, I promise you, you'll have no love to offer other people. The truth is: You can't offer something you don't have. So if you want to offer love and champion other women, you need to love yourself first. 2. Be confident in your own choices. You can't champion someone else's choices if you aren't sure about your own. 3. Give grace. Choosing to give grace when the women in your life disappoint you will allow you to champion them despite their imperfections. Because what we all really need more of is grace. I'm going to mess up, you're going to mess up, and she's going to mess up. We're all going to mess up. That's why we should not only offer more grace to others, but we should offer ourselves more of it too. 4. Have Empathy. Empathy is simply putting yourself in someone else's shoes. It's giving them the benefit of the doubt. It's imagining what it would be like to be them. All day, every day, all we ever think about is how we feel. We look at the world through our lens, unique situation, or personality style, which makes it hard to understand why someone else would respond or act differently than we would. That's why it's so important to have empathy. And what's amazing is, when you do that, it's so easy to champion people who are different from you. 5. Give what you want to get. If you want people to champion you, champion them. If you want people to love you, love them. If you want people to be kind to you, be kind to them. Give the things you want to get, and I promise you, you'll get what you want and more. Y'all, being a woman who champions other women is a beautiful...

Embrace Your Past and Tell Your Story   1:20 Sharing Your Story 6:38 Three Reasons You Should Tell Your Story 14:44 How to Tell Your Story with Jamie Ivey 39:10 Encouragement: Wisdom Is Not Weakness Resources 2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. For years, I've been sharing my story of growing up with a single mom who built a business (a cake shop) when I was six months old to raise and support me. This story is a huge part of my passion and heart behind Business Boutique. I love sharing the memories I have of our late nights and early mornings in her cake shop. I learned so much from those years helping my mom build her business from the bottom up. But you know what I don't share as often? How hard it was. There were so many hard times we had to walk through together. Like the time her cake shop was broken into at two in the morning, or the time we ran out of gas on the side of the road while it was raining. Many of those early years were spent in the trenches watching my mom raise a child and build a business completely on her own. But it was both those good times and those hard times that made me who I am today. See, there is power in telling your story. When I share my story, it really ignites the passion in me to champion women from all walks of life who are chasing their dreams like my mom was. And this is the same reason I'm constantly telling you to tell your story too. I tell you to not worry about selling, but to just tell your story-to start with your why. But the truth is: A lot of people are scared to share their story. When we start to explore our past, we tend to focus on the negative parts of it. And when we see only the negative parts of our story, we immediately feel inadequate and disqualified to do the things we want to do. But I want to encourage you today: It might just be those parts of you-those "inadequate" beginnings-that position you to do something that no one else can do but you. So, let's talk about some of the unbelievable benefits that come when you tell your story-both the good and the bad: Three Reasons You Should Tell Your Story 1. It creates connection. Sharing your story causes a ripple effect. It's contagious! It's amazing how many people think they're the only ones who feel the way they feel or have experienced what they've experienced. But when you open up and share your story and your heart, others realize that there are actually other people out there who can relate to their situation. And you know what? Realizing they're not alone gives them the freedom to open up and share their story as well! I love how Craig Groeschel puts it: "We might impress people with our strengths, but we connect with people through our weaknesses." 2. It brings hope. Think about it this way: Your story's not just yours. Your story is something that God wants to use to give other people hope for the future-to give them hope through hard times and scary moments. Are you going through something hard right now? Maybe God wants to use you to shine a light to others. It's not just an option for you to share your story. It's your responsibility to steward this story that God wants to use to bring hope to other people. 3. It can become your passion. Dave Ramsey has built an incredible business helping millions of people get out of debt. How did this become his job? He went bankrupt and lost everything in his 20s. Because of that experience, he vowed never to take on debt again-and today, he's successfully...

How to Be Authentic and Live Confidently as Yourself   1:19 How to Be Authentic 17:03 Being Authentic with Sarah Dubbeldam 41:10 Encouragement: God Did Not Create You to Berate You Resources 2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. Be confident in your authenticity, even when life and other people try to push you around or tell you to be someone you're not. A couple of years ago, I was asked to write an article for a very professional publication. Their readers are intellectuals, academics, and probably more conservative and elite. So, you can imagine my surprise that they wanted me-someone who prefers to be more casual and down to earth-to write an article for them about starting a business. I submitted the article and was a little surprised when they came back with feedback that the tone of my writing was "too chatty." I was like, Really? You're surprised by that? Have you not heard me speak, read my blogs, or listened to one of my podcasts? Because that tone is actually my entire brand! I remember thinking, If you don't want chatty, then you probably don't want me. Related: Ep 86: Be More Confident by Believing in Yourself I felt like this publication wanted me to be someone I wasn't. They wanted me to write like an academic with big fancy words, and that's just not how I write, talk or connect with people. Thankfully, we ended up getting to a good place where they felt like the article met their standards and could be published while staying true to my voice. But it was really eye-opening for me to realize how important it is to not only be authentic, but to be confident in that authenticity, even when life and other people try to push you around or tell you to be someone you're not. That's why today I want to walk you through how to be authentic in your daily life. This is going to help you not only be authentic, but also remain authentic no matter who tries to push you around. Let's jump right in . . . How to Be Authentic 1. Be vulnerable. Let me go ahead and start by saying this is not my idea. Brené Brown introduced this idea of vulnerability years ago with her book Daring Greatly and her TED Talk "The Power of Vulnerability." It's a brilliant concept that says, as we step out in vulnerability-as we open ourselves up, not just to pain but also to love-we're able to have deeper connections and a deeper sense of confidence in who we really are. As an Enneagram eight, vulnerability is really hard for me. So often I want to put up a tough exterior like I've got it all together. But the truth this: Authenticity is about trueness, and you can't live your truest self without being vulnerable. If you're always holding back a piece of yourself or hiding behind a tough exterior, how can you become who God created you to be? That's why vulnerability is so important when it comes to being authentic. 2. Tell the truth. There are two extremes when it comes to telling the truth: There are those who never share the truth, and those who refuse to accept the truth. Those who never want to share the truth lack the ability to be vulnerable. They want to act like everything is always great, so when someone asks how they're doing-even if they're going through a hard time or their kids are driving them crazy-their response is always, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm doing great." The other extreme are those who downplay or don't acknowledge when things are going well in their lives. You know, this person: You give them a compliment about a beautiful...

How to Set New Year's Goals That Will Transform Your Year   1:29 The Difference Between New Year's Resolutions and New Year's Goals 8:48 The 3 Qualities You Need to Set Smart New Year's Goals 17:13 New Year Goal Setting with Rachel Hollis 28:31 Challenge: How to Love the Enthusiasts in Your Life Resources 2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. Forget about New Year's resolutions this year. They're a waste of time. Instead, set smart New Year's goals you'll actually accomplish. Believe it or not, they're not the same thing! The Difference Between New Year's Resolutions and New Year's Goals Resolutions might as well be considered a wish. It's an idea of something you want to try that year. Sure, it's fun and inspiring. But the truth is: We fall off the wagon by February. It's the reason why you can't find an empty treadmill at the gym in January. But by February, you can walk right into the gym and start running. Goals are different from resolutions because goals are action oriented. Zig Ziglar made goal setting popular with something he called the Wheel of Life. We talked about this in a recent podcast episode so if you haven't listened to that already, go back and hear me deep dive into the Wheel of Life in episode 88. To give you a quick recap, there are seven areas in your life you should prioritize and set goals in (especially New Year's goals!): Career (or business) Finances Spiritual growth Physical health Intellectual growth Family Social Today, I want to help you start 2020 on the right foot by setting New Year's goals in each of these areas. Because your ability to set goals will completely affect not just how you start the year, but also how you end it. The 3 Qualities You Need to Set Smart New Year's Goals Every goal you set should have these three qualities: 1. Specific A New Year's resolution like, "I want to run more," doesn't work because it's not specific. And when you're not specific, you can't track your progress or even know if you've accomplished it or not. For example, if you told me you wanted to run more, I'd ask you, "Well, how? Do you want to do long-distance running? Sprints? Do you want to run on the treadmill or outside? Do you want to do trail runs on your own or join a running group?" There's a lot of different ways for you to run more, so get specific. 2. Measurable Then, I'd tell you to make the goal measurable by asking, "How much more?" Maybe you can run one mile right now without stopping and you'd like to work your way up to running five miles. Or maybe you want to sign up for a race and run a 5K or a half marathon. What is the measurable distance you want to be able to run in order to know that you've actually achieved this goal? 3. Have a time limit Finally, I'd tell you to give your goal a time limit by asking, "By when?" If your goal doesn't have a time limit, you won't be able to measure whether you actually reached it or not. Related: How to Write Smart Goals Incorporating those three qualities into your New Year's goal of running more would turn it into something like: I want to do more long-distance running and complete a half marathon by March 30th. Now, that's a goal! You'll know exactly what you're working on and working toward. And of course, because you have these different ways to measure your progress, you'll know if you achieved it or not, which is great accountability. Set Even Stronger New Year's Goals Let's take this one step further. If you really want to...

Reflect on God's Faithfulness with This Christmas Tradition   0:53 My Favorite Christmas Tradition Resources 2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. Merry Christmas, y'all! A million years ago, before I was married and had kids, and before life got so busy, my mother encouraged me to try a new Christmas tradition-one she'd been doing most of her life. Even before she had me, every year my mom would sit down and write a letter when she was packing up her ornaments after Christmas. In the letter, she would write about all the major things that happened in her life that year. She'd write about the highs, the lows, and everything in between. When she was done, she'd fold up the letter, pack it up in her box of ornaments, and put it away in the attic, not to be seen again until the following year. Related: What People Want the Most From You This Christmas A year later, when it was time to bring out all her Christmas decorations from the attic, she would open that letter and read it. She loved this tradition because it amazed her to see how much could happen in just a single year. Well, I loved this idea so much that I also started doing it in 2006. Now, I'll tell you, it wasn't very sophisticated. I would sit down with a couple pieces of printer paper and just write down all my thoughts-in true Christy fashion, I rambled on and on and was very honest. For example, in my letter from 2006, there's a line that says, "Dear God, please let me go on at least one date next year." Well, bless my heart. Apparently, that was a tough year in the love department . . . But you know what's so amazing? Year after year, as I've written these letters and then faithfully put them away to open the following year, I've always been blown away at not only how much can happen in a single year, but also how faithful God continues to be. I start every letter by talking about what happened that year, and I end every letter by writing out prayers, dreams and hopes for the next year. When I read the letter from the year before, I feel like I'm living in the fulfillment of God's promises that I had prayed for (and forgotten about). I remember, in December of 2014, sitting on my couch, reading my Christmas letter from 2013. One of my prayers that year was that Matt and I could start a family. And y'all, I was holding that letter over a giant belly-my son Carter was due the very next month! Of course, every year isn't like this. My letter from 2016 had prayers that Matt's grandfather, grandmother, and our 11-year-old dog Jackson would get better. But all three of those loved ones passed away that year. Tears streamed down my face as I read those heartfelt prayers. That was hard to read. Related: Ep 70: How to Be Content in Every Situation But you know what? Even in the despair, even in the grief, and even when it seemed like God didn't fulfill that promise or answer those prayers, I was still able to see God's faithfulness in how those events played out. Writing this letter has looked differently since marrying Matt because-I'll be honest-he writes them reluctantly. But we've gotten into a rhythm. Here's how we do it: Every single Christmas, I'll sit down with our notebook (we upgraded from printer paper!) and write my Christmas letter for the year. And then I'll give the notebook to Matt so that he can write his letter. And the following year, I read my letter aloud to Matt, and Matt reads his letter aloud to me. I'd like to point out that my...

How to Be a Successful Woman and Live a Balanced Life   1:26 How You Can be Successful in Many Areas of Your Life 4:39 Seven Areas of Your Life to Find Balance 11:30 Making Time for Both Your Family and Career with Sarah Sloyan 31:04 Leading with Grace and Strength with Jen Sievertsen 43:51 Focusing on Goals to Be Successful with Suzanne Simms 54:53 Challenge: The Best Way to Have What You Want Resources 2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. You can be successful in many areas of your life. Work, Sleep, Family, Fitness, or Friends: Pick 3. I recently stumbled upon an article online with that title. And I have to tell you guys, I disagree with it. The idea that you can't work, get enough sleep, and have time for family, friends and fitness is crazy. I'm tired of hearing the message that if you're winning at work, you're failing at home. Or if you're winning at home, you're failing at work. What's interesting is, not only is this message common in media, but it's also reinforced by the narratives in our heads. So many of us have this broken record on repeat in our heads telling us we're always failing. It's not if we're failing. It's which thing are we failing at today. But you know what? It's simply not true. Now, I know you can't do everything in the world (of course you can't). But you can do the most important things. You can't take advantage of every single opportunity, but you can do the right things, and you can do more than three things. The truth is: You can be successful in many areas of your life. Related: Ep 84: Cultivating Good Habits in Every Season of Life 7 Areas of Your Life to Find Balance I love Zig Ziglar's Wheel of Life. It paints a great picture of the most important areas of a person's life. If you're not sure where you should be prioritizing your time, these seven areas are a great place to start. The Wheel of Life isn't a prescription for every single person, but it does hold true for most of us. Just like a bicycle, when one wheel isn't working, the entire bicycle will have trouble moving forward. That's why it's important to find as much harmony and balance as possible in each area. Let's go through each of the different spokes of the Wheel of Life and what they each represent. This list is not in order of priority. You should prioritize these different areas based on your season of life, and then set appropriate goals in each. 1. Career (and Business) You spend a lot of hours of your life at work or in your business. So this should be an area of your life that brings you joy and fills you up. 2. Finances Your money affects everything. It impacts almost everything you want to do in life. That's why you need to be intentional about how you manage your finances and set goals in this area of your life. 3. Spiritual growth Growing in your faith is not going to happen accidentally. Your relationship with God is like any relationship. It will grow in proportion to the amount of time you invest in it. 4. Physical health I'm not talking about being skinny here. I'm talking about how you feel. How's your energy? Are you sleeping enough? How are you taking care of yourself? We only get one body, so taking care of it should be a priority. 5. Intellectual growth Are you investing in your personal development? What books are you reading? What conferences are you attending? What podcasts are you listening to? What are you putting into your mind that will change the actions you take and the decisions...

How to Enjoy Thanksgiving Even More   1:02 How to Enjoy Thanksgiving Even More 1:24 Write a Thoughtful Note 2:58 Be Hospitable 3:40 Disconnect Completely 6:12 Plan to Be Generous 7:55 Rest Resources 2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! I'm keeping this week's podcast episode short and sweet because I want to get back to spending quality time with my family-and, of course, I want you to do the same. I really love this holiday. Not only does it feel like the official kickoff to the holiday season, but it's also such a sweet time to remember all that God has blessed us with. Whether you have plans to spend this week in a crowded house with tons of extended family members or you plan to keep things low-key, I want to encourage you to be fully present. This holiday will be what you make it, and you can make it great. Before I let you go today, I want to share five simple things you can do this week to make your holiday a lot more special: 1. Write a thoughtful note. I think nice things about people all the time, but I always forget to tell them! Do you do that? I once heard someone say that thinking something nice about someone and not telling the person is like wrapping a gift and not giving it to them. That is so true! I actually save every handwritten note I'm given. No matter what anyone says, handwritten notes are not outdated-they're gifts people treasure. So, this week, spend a little bit of time writing notes to people who come to mind. You can give them a word of encouragement, say thank you for something, or give them a compliment that will make their day. Receiving a handwritten note is rare in our digital age, so brighten someone else's day with a sweet and unexpected note. 2. Be hospitable. 'Tis the season to show love to the people God has placed in your life by inviting them into your home. But the truth is, the holidays are a difficult time for many people. Maybe there's someone in your life who doesn't have a place to go during the holidays. Maybe there's a neighbor or a coworker who doesn't have family in town. This is the perfect opportunity to build new relationships by sharing your home, a meal, or even a simple cup of coffee with someone new. 3. Disconnect completely. I'm not just encouraging you to silence your phone or put it in airplane mode. This Thanksgiving, I want you to put it out of reach and out of sight completely-at the very least, for one full day. I often pick up my phone out of habit if I can see it. So if I'm sitting at the dinner table and I can see my phone close by, I'll pick it up and check it-even if there's been no ring or notification. But that doesn't happen when I can't see it. That's why I want you to put your phone in a different room, where it will be out of sight and out of mind. When you do this, you're giving the people around you an incredible gift: your undivided attention. And if you want to take photos, why not do something crazy, like buy a disposable camera that you can pass around? How fun would it be to see what kind of photos you get out of it? 4. Plan to be generous. This is the time of year when we're all acutely aware of how much we have to be grateful for, and it puts us in a generous spirit. But you know what? You've got to plan for that in your budget and even put it on your calendar. Believe it or not, a lot of nonprofit organizations have cut-off dates for their Christmas giving-some cutoffs are as early as the first week...

Be More Confident By Believing in Yourself   1:22 Choosing to Believe in Myself 5:59 How to Believe in Yourself 17:51 Faith and Belief with Mignon Francois 51:57 Challenge: The Right Time to Play Small Resources 2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. At our company, we get to go to church every single Wednesday. That's right, every Wednesday morning at Ramsey Solutions, our entire team of more than 850 people gets together to hear from amazing speakers, authors and pastors, like Max Lucado, Christine Caine, Donald Miller, Dr. Henry Cloud and Bob Goff-the best of the best. For years, our leadership team has asked Ramsey Personalities, like me, Ken Coleman, Rachel Cruze, Chris Hogan and Anthony ONeal, to prepare one of these devotionals for our company. And to be totally honest, we don't love the idea . . . like, at all. I'll give you four reasons why: It's a lot harder to speak to close friends than it is to speak to complete strangers. When you see the kind of speakers we normally have, it's easy to feel unqualified. We're supposed to teach Scripture, which is intimidating. Committing means writing a talk, practicing and preparing, which is a lot of extra work. All of this together was enough to make me never want to do it. Related: Ep 60: How to Face Your Fears and Do It Scared But you know what they say: Never say never. Choosing to Believe in Myself A couple of years ago, I felt like God was taking me through a season of growth where He was teaching me many different things and stripping me of my pride. One morning over Christmas break, I was sitting on my couch reading my Bible and journaling when, out of nowhere, I did the weirdest thing. I picked up my phone and texted my leader, "Hey, God's been taking me through a season of growth. So, if you ever want me to do a devotional, just let me know." I dropped the phone and couldn't believe that I'd just sent that text. I thought to myself, Why did I do that? I don't want to do a devotional! I don't have any confidence in doing a devotional. My leader texted back almost immediately saying, "Love it. Let's do January 2."-which was one week away! I spent the following week pouring over Scripture, praying, preparing and practicing. It was one of the most exciting and life-giving experiences I've ever been through. Related: Ep 68: Inviting Faith Into Your Business And you know what? I wasn't even nervous. In fact, I felt this deep sense of responsibility to deliver this message that God had so clearly given me. I share this story with you to show you that I still experience imposter syndrome. There are still situations that put me outside of my comfort zone and make me feel unqualified. But if we let these feelings drive our decisions, we'll never step into what God has called us to do. That's why I want to spend some time today talking about believing in yourself and having confidence even when you're scared. Let's get right to it. How to Believe in Yourself There are four things you need to "get" in order to believe in yourself and grow in confidence. 1. Get secure. If we're honest, 99% of our fears, doubts, insecurities and anxieties come from worrying about what other people think about us. But what if you didn't care? If you're secure in who you are and whose you are, then when someone says something hateful on Facebook, or your crazy aunt makes a passive-aggressive comment about a decision you made, it doesn't fluster you. It doesn't rattle you. It doesn't...

LIVE From the Business Boutique Conference 2019!   3:09 I have so many passions and dreams. How do I combine them enough to feel fulfilled, but narrow them down enough to create a focus that creates more success? 12:10 I know I need to set goals, but I don't know how or where to start. How do I learn how to create goals for my business? 16:00 What do you do when you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not moving forward? 20:31 If I launch before my journey is complete, do I risk failing from the start? Or is this simply a case of imposter syndrome? 24:13 What is the best way to handle copycats in your business? 28:24 Where is the first place newbies should start to attract ideal customers? 30:52 How do you create an email marketing plan? 35:27 How do I get my husband to realize, with owning my own business, I have to bring work home? 41:16 I have come from a 7 to 4 job. Now I have a blessing of working my own hours and enjoying my family. I don't want my hours of work to take away from my family. How do I balance my work and family? Resources   2020 Business Boutique Goal Planner Get going on your goals and make 2020 your best year yet! Order the new Business Boutique 2020 Goal Planner at BusinessBoutique.com/Planner and use the code BBPLANNER to receive Christy's Setting Goals video that you can watch right now! If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at podcast@businessboutique.com. New podcast episodes are available every other week. This episode is just like having lunch with some of Christy's best friends! Get to know photographer, business strategist, and host of The Jasmine Star Show, Jasmine Star; coach, consultant, and host of the Marketing Your Business podcast, Stu McLeran; comedian, musician, speaker, and host of The Kelsey Show, Kelsey Humphreys; and founder and CEO of The Cupcake Collection, Mignon Francois. They'll answer your questions, and more! This podcast was recorded during our Business Boutique Conference 2019 VIP Lunch in Nashville, TN.