Here’s a question that I know you’ve posed to the Universe plenty of times:

I’m working SO HARD but why isn’t my business growing any faster?

There could be tons of reasons — naturally — depending on your individual situation. Today I want to highlight some of the most common reasons why you could be doubling your workload but not necessarily making things happen twice as fast. Taking action is wonderful, but still, the Universe works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?

1. You need to learn specific lessons first

When things don’t happen within the timing that you want, it’s because the learning experience is more important right now than what you want to happen. It means that you may be missing a vital piece of information (either about business, yourself, your clients, your wounds) before you can sustain the energy of what you’re trying to create.

Or, you may have patterns and triggers that need healing and resolving before you can fully magnetize the maximum potential of your idea — meaning, until you resolve them, your idea may work a little bit here and a little bit there or inconsistently, but not totally nor increasingly.

2. Your growth depends on the contributions from others and bringing others into your orbit takes time

When you are trying to create something complex that has pieces and parts which are connected to others, the Universe needs time to arrange everyone into order. In fact, none of us can escape from this because we are all selling to human beings who will shuffle in and out of alignment with our lives. Sometimes, it means waiting for other people to step into their power and purpose or to let go of the old to make space for you. We don’t get to control that timing.

3. You’re not emotionally ready yet to manage the change or additional responsibilities that your idea brings

Lots of times, we’re simply not ready to manage the added responsibilities or pressure of what we’re trying to create. If you carry a long–range vision or a huge dream, ask yourself if you are truly emotionally ready to handle the responsibility of that? If not, the Universe will continue to hand you life lessons so you can collect the missing pieces before you can pass go.

The harness that the Universe puts on us, I’ve learned, is sometimes to keep your life manageable and for your own good. It means that you need to discover, learn and evolve some more to shore up your foundation (business, emotional or spiritual foundations) before you are ready to carry the responsibility of what you’re trying to create.

4. You’re taking action on things that don’t lead to sales

Here’s what I believe: lots of entrepreneurs spend loads of time on marketing but not that much time on explicit sales activity. In marketing, it’s all about doing. It’s tactical, meaning you check off a list of tasks to implement. Do the opt–in sequence today, write a blog post tomorrow, record a video this weekend.

Sales, on the other hand, is about, well, selling.

If you’re only taught tactical stuff — like do’s, don’ts, tips, techniques, launch checklists and such — you might know what to do but it’s possible you may never sell anything in your life. More on that below.

Most times, we’re not in control of the timing of what happens and when. But before you spiral into despair or resign to fate, let me introduce you to 10 ways you can assist the Universe to speed up the pace of your life and business:

10 ways to assist the Universe to bring your ideas to fruition faster

1. Ask for help from the Universe to bring things through faster

You can do that BUT here’s the caveat: Do you have a strong enough emotional, spiritual, energetic or physical foundation to handle a higher speed of change? Is it actually feasible to you to handle change at a faster rate, or are you already flying at maximum speeds?

I believe we are totally in control of how slowly or how quickly change comes into our life. But here’s the thing to be aware of: Are you asking for things to happen faster because you want to be rescued from your circumstances? Are you trying to dodge important life lessons?

Trying to avoid life lessons is about preserving a shame–based desire. Impatience and demands are born out of the belief that if you don’t have something now, you aren’t worthy or that you don’t need to change yourself in order to have what you want. If you always got what you wanted without effort or change, what other catalyst would we have to heal or shift? Shame wants to sidestep the life lessons but any soul–worthy business has to include a huge stretch of space for you to do inner work.

2. Focus on explicit sales activity

When I say explicit sales activity, I mean ‘not marketing.’

Here is what I consider to be explicit sales activity:

• Selling on sales calls either on the phone or in person (selling to clients or business allies) where they buy on the spot
• Writing and sending out sales proposals where clients buy on the spot
• Enhancing SEO so that customers find your sales pages and buy on the spot (important for product businesses)
• Refining sales copy so that visitors become paying customers on the spot
• Enhancing website navigation so that customers can easily locate your products/services pages and buy on the spot
• Creating a post–sale environment so that customers repeat their purchases on the spot (cross–sell and upsell)
• Signing on sales partners (partnership sales)
• Launching sales promotions where you ask for and receive the sale on the spot
• Distributing sales content (sales e–letters, sales–oriented blogging, pre–sales promotional content that drive sales on the spot)
• Creating new products and services
• Locating new leads or mining old leads

How often are you doing the above? Besides servicing clients, nearly everything else I work on is explicit sales activity. There is value in marketing, but remember that sales always comes before marketing. If you’re in the service business, focus on explicit sales activity. If you’re in the product business, balance explicit sales activity and marketing.

3. Clear out old programs, neutralize triggers and install healthier beliefs

One of the most effective things you can do to speed up the pace of change is to energetically clear out the old, whether it’s this–life trauma or past–life trauma. Find an energy healer to clear out blocks or resistance you have toward money, being seen, feeling valued, getting close to people, or being a receiver of good things. Sometimes, in just a quick session or two, you can release lifetimes of junk that is nothing but old debris littering your path. Not only that, but healers can also install healthier programming and replace your current beliefs with new ones.

Besides that, I also recommend doing shadow work on a regular basis. For me, shadow work helps me stay on top of any resistance or demons that would otherwise derail or curb my progress. Beyond that, shadow work fortifies my connection to myself and my intuition, and it checks me from projecting negativity onto my clients.

4. Expand your energetic container

Work on expanding the energetic container that you use to hold space or carry your audience. For example, if you are currently attuned to serving 200 people on your mailing list and 20 clients, begin to expand that space to include a larger mailing list and more clients. Your current reality will tell you what you are calibrated to. Set intentions with the Universe to expand and hold more energy and see what you are guided to do.

5. Transition from being a commodity to being a brand

When you market yourself as a commodity, there is not much you can do to differentiate yourself other than with your prices. Because your prices will be restricted based on what others are charging, it stifles you from being able to make more money. To break out of that cage, brand yourself and your products and services. Learn to sell and communicate your value.

6. Master sales communication skills

This one is a biggie! Obviously, learning how to sell is the number one driver of how much money you make (no duh, right)? Copywriting is the act of using words to influence someone to buy from you, and having sales calls means removing the veil and bringing your customer upfront, close and personal in intimate, one–on–one interaction.

7. Take time off to focus

In my experience and my clients’ experiences, sometimes you need to take one step back in order to leap two or three steps forward. Let’s say you are trying to create products which you expect to be a significant portion of your future income. But, your days are filled with servicing clients and there isn’t enough time or energy in a day for you to do both. That’s when you might consider focusing on creating your products — even if it means taking a temporary but responsible, calculated, anticipated and prepared loss in your services — so that you end up growing and earning more in the long run.

8. Cut out all distractions

Are you aware of how much of an energy and time-suck Facebook and our smartphones are? I was aware of it before, but now I really feel it! I’ve deleted my Facebook app and I don’t bring my phone to bed with me anymore. Out of sight, out of mind. Cutting out distractions and getting on a technology fast is not only about staying focused. It’s about preserving your precious energy on the work that truly matters. You need clear space and mental rest in order to receive moneymaking ideas, to grow and to serve your clients.

9. Cultivate short term memory and the ability to reset yourself

In sports, short term memory and the ability to reset yourself is a highly valuable skill that means the difference between winning vs. losing. Short term memory means the ability to reset your mind immediately after a setback, a mistake, a defeat or a loss. It means wiping your mind clean of the sadness, frustration, despair, anger, rage, nervousness and all that rushes through your system when things are not going your way or not ending in your favor.

In entrepreneurship, resetting means quickly bouncing back into the present moment and forgetting about what just transpired a minute, a month or a year ago — so that you can gather all your energy and momentum to focus on creating that desired result once again. Maybe you feel you just botched a sales call or you said something that caused a potential client to back off. Or, maybe a peer stole the spotlight from you. If any part of your memory cells are fixated on that prior disappointment or loss, or if you haven’t quickly processed that frustration, you won’t be able to energize the positive opportunities in the present moment — the only time when any change happens at all.

10. Try something different

There is too much business guidance out there today based in ‘business religion’, rules and authoritarian culture. Personally, I hate business dogma because it really feels like someone is trying to infect me with their limited programming. Ew!

When things aren’t working, try throwing out everything you’ve learned from others (especially rules and dogma) and dig for your own ideas and inspiration. In other words, follow yourself. If you run your business based on other people’s rules, you rob yourself of the opportunity from learning and leading yourself in the long haul.

Dogma is unhelpful because it’s based on precedent, and precedent is nothing more than someone else’s limited programming. Believing in rules means believing in other people’s limitations. Try things out for yourself and discover your own limits, not someone else’s.

Also, I see that lots of entrepreneurs find comfort in imitating others and how they present their website, for example. But instead of imitating others, risk your own act of imagination and creation. Don’t worry about failing. What you see as failure may actually be 26 percent success. Keep working on it and keep doing your own thing. Do it your way. After all, isn’t that why you decided to become your own boss?

Create with a clean slate. Do things differently. Don’t research what others are doing. Don’t focus on fitting in or being normal. Focus on being different. That’s where your new business income is waiting for you.

Hi, I’m Ana Coeur

I teach entrepreneurs how to create their business straight from their soul. I offer a complete Intuitive Business Suite to help you create, design, write and sell all from your intuition. Here’s the services you can take advantage of to empower your business: Intuitive Web & Brand Design, Intuitive Copywriting and Intuitive Selling. If there’s anything I can help you with, I would love to hear about it! You may email me at anaintuitivepicture.com

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