By Vicki Flaugher, CEO of SmartWoman Guides

Last week I had the honor of having SmartWoman Guides critiqued by a high level professional blogger. I will be sharing that audio interview with you very soon, but I wanted to share some of my take-aways from it. It was a little scary, but very helpful.

Much of what was said during my blog critique felt uncomfortable. I was encouraged to take a more prominent position in my niche marketplace, to become a full-fledged voice in the female entrepreneur community. I was, in the language of my beloved mother, encouraged to stop hiding my light under a bushel. Let it shine, he told me, let it shine!

I was also told that my current blogging approach and layout is unlikely to actually accomplish my mission of empowering and facilitating the beginning female entrepreneur. Ouch. My mystery blogger friend said my content is great, but the attention path of my blog is too unfocused to walk a new entrepreneur through an organized learning process. Okay, praising the quality of the content made it sting a little less, but still….ouch.

Am I the only one who squirms when they have to put themselves “out there”? Am I the only one who chooses to hide behind community building rather than become a pronounced leader? Am I the only one who desires something so passionately yet doesn’t relish the idea of being so forward?

The greater question, is this  – am I going to let my discomfort stop me from achieving my mission?  And, I can say definitely, NO. My website design is already under way, including development of a custom, SmartWoman product series, and I am using what I was told to grow and improve.

What about you? Are you open to honest feedback? When you get it, do you linger in the negative, hurtful side of truth telling, or do you use it to improve? Oh, we all say that we’re open, but do you take action on your newfound insights? Or do you perhaps say that you are going to keep doing what you’re doing, hoping for a different result.

Action is the true litmus test of whether you take feedback and use it effectively. To be able to take action on the feedback you receive, there are a few important things to consider.

First, you need to work with someone you trust as an authority, who is compassionate and respectful.  Feedback doesn’t come out of a bashing session. Helpful feedback reflects the upside of what you are doing and highlights ways to improve. Anyone who berates your personality, ridicules your ideas, or fails to recognize and encourage the quality of your efforts and sincerity is not a coach – they’re an abuser and need to be avoided. “No pain, no gain” doesn’t really apply. Sure, you might feel some emotional discomfort because your familiar comfort zones are being examined, but the feedback should not be outright painful.

Second, you need to listen to and trust your own intuition. If the suggestions you’re given don’t quite resonate, try to distill down the essential idea out of the suggested solution and find another way to implement it. Creativity can do wonders if you are open to alternatives. Rejecting a thought out of hand just because the approach isn’t quite how you’d do it shuts down creativity. Strive to respond to new ideas with more of a “That’s interesting…how could I best apply that idea?” mindset.

Third, take action! Use momentum in your favor. A body in motion tends to continue moving, so get moving! Talking and thinking about it must lead to doing. Don’t waste time examining why you didn’t think of that, or how you could have missed something so obvious, or any of that second guessing we all tend to do to ouselves. Take the feedback gift you’ve been given and let it help you. Allow it to change you.

I will publish the audio as soon as I get it and reveal my mystery blogger friend.  Until then, enjoy your business and enjoy your life! Watch for the new SmartWoman Guides redesign coming soon.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

Follow me at http://twitter.com/smartwoman

Today I woke up excited that I was getting new toilets installed. Our 24 year old toilets finally gave up and the city has a cool program to give you new low-flow ones for free. Great, right?

A few hours have passed now, and I do have new toilets, which work like a charm. We also have a hole in the yard where the septic tank had to be uncovered and pumped out with the promise of a potential major system repair looming. Ouch.

Hmmm…..what does this have to do with being a woman entrepreneur?

Well, first off, stuff happens. I feel fortunate that my partner and I have some cash reserves to handle what comes up. If you don’t, you might want to start to build towards having some flex in your budget. Some problems can’t really be put off. Imagine your life without plumbing…not a pretty picture.

Secondly, even when you put in new bells and whistles (the toilets), you still have to deal with the major underlying systems involved. Systems are the lifeblood of a successful entrepreneur. It’s how you’re going to build your business, sustain your business, and have a life outside of your business. (If the show stops running when you take time off, that could lead to trouble. If that time off is because of a major illness, rather than the more whimsical jaunt to Italy, then you can run into some real problems.) Get your systems in order and you’ll be much better off.

Lastly, you have to have a sense of humor and let it go. Being able to calmly (and dare I say joyously?) weather the ups and downs of Life is good for your health, creativity, and relationships, all of which you need in full working order to attract the success you deserve.

I love my new toilets and I am hopeful that any other repairs will be minimal. Regardless, I am most grateful that I have developed a point of view that lets me bend with the breeze. So, what about you—how do you deal with the challenges of Life? I’d love to hear your story.

Vicki Flaugher

p.s. I almost forgot to say-don’t forget the power of delegating. I am definitely glad I was not the one who had to stand knee deep in mud and…uh, stuff…to get this problem under control.