Workbook
The Entrepreneur's
Path
Challenges, Evolution, and Reconnecting with Yourself
By Ana Vargas
This is important information for those working as freelancers or entrepreneurs.
Congratulations!
You have made one of the most enriching decisions that exist on a personal and professional level. Starting your own activity or working as an independent professional requires a lot of courage.
Currently, more and more people like you are choosing to live differently, seeking a broader meaning for their lives, leaving established structures and the so-called "comfort zone."
The reason why you chose this path can be varied:
- Physical or mental health: The level of stress you have lived with for a long time has been such that, for your own health, you choose to start a kinder path at your own pace.
- Clarity in your vision: You have a clear business idea and have prepared yourself to develop that project you trust so much.
- Personal reconnection: For a long time you dedicated yourself to caring for your family and now you choose yourself; you bet on your talents and resume your creative facet.
- Change of environment: You changed residence and find yourself needing to start over.
- Life circumstances: Life gradually led you towards the path of entrepreneurship.
- Forced change: Maybe you weren't looking for change, but a work or personal situation forced you to change course (Things always happen for a reason).
Perhaps the reason you chose this new course is not entirely pleasant and doesn't necessarily feel like it came from your own decision. If so, I invite you to take the time to heal the anger, frustration, or the surprising event that led you to this new course so that you begin this new journey with clarity, without carrying the heavy baggage of the past or at least with the consciousness of letting it go along the way.
Whatever the reason, congratulations. I am sure that, whatever project you undertake, if you do it from your own consciousness, it will be a path full of learning and successful discoveries.
The entrepreneur's journey is a great path of personal growth
It requires daily internal work, perseverance, discipline, self-esteem, clarity, and direction, without neglecting personal care, the balance between the professional and personal, and creativity.
Being responsible for your own activity is exciting, but it requires your constant presence. You are responsible for creating, managing, promoting, solving, and, on top of that, facing your own fears and fighting internally against the discourses you hear from the outside.
It is not simple; it requires a lot of dedication, self-confidence, discipline, and daily work with direction.
This leads you to recognize the great capabilities you have and the infinite number of possibilities in front of you. I know all this because 17 years ago I started my own adventure.
The Entrepreneur's Compass
The first tool I put at your disposal is this digital book that will serve as a compass whether to start your entrepreneurship, to refine the direction you are going, or to confirm that you are on the right track.
My intention is for you to have an easily accessible guide to create your own route. The information is based on my own experience as a healer and as an entrepreneur, as well as on the accompaniment of the people who have trusted me.
Let's start by identifying reality and my request is that you be 100% honest with yourself. This information is only for you, so have the freedom to reflect and allow yourself to feel and express your truth.
Part 1: The Origin (Your "Why")
To know where you are going, you need to remember why you started. Mark the main reason that drove you (click to select):
Quick reflection: Is your current reality still aligned with that original reason?
The Pains of an Entrepreneur
Throughout more than 20 years as a Reiki practitioner and 17 years as an independent worker, emotional change has been a constant. Being your own boss and, at the same time, your colleague and employee, offering efficient and attentive service to your clients, leads us to change roles permanently and to be in constant questioning and inner fatigue.
The pains I have identified that accompany us most frequently are:
1. Uncertainty
We don't know where this decision will take us, what the economic and personal result will be, if it will be successful or if we chose well. Even once the project has borne fruit, the uncertainty of knowing where the path will continue remains.
2. Loneliness
It is your idea, it is your dream and only you know what it means to you, how your project makes you feel, and what your mind tells you. That makes you feel alone in the process. Family and friends accompany or question you, but you feel there isn't someone with whom you can express yourself freely, without judgment and without having to justify yourself.
3. Constant Doubt
Questioning is a vital part of entrepreneurship because nothing is certain and because entrepreneurship is an evolutionary journey. Therefore, doubting must become our thermometer to choose where we are going. Don't let doubt stop you; on the contrary, let it help you find answers.
4. Procrastination
We avoid doing what we know needs to be done. It is vital to identify if it is out of fear or to evade something that is evident. Sometimes, even fear of success can stop us; we prefer to leave for later what we must make concrete.
5. Loss of direction
By being very creative and not having someone to direct us, we can lose our way easily. There are so many ways to create, to carry out your project and promote it, that you end up losing direction among so many unrealized ideas plus the excess of external information to which we have access.
6. Lack (or excess) of Structure
Being a creative soul and going against structures out of rebellion is sometimes counterproductive. The ideal is to be free, but with a solid base that allows us to be flexible. If you are too rigid, you require flowing better; if there is chaos, you need order.
7. Impatience
Results do not happen overnight. Success does not arrive by miracle; it arrives with dedication. Recognize the small advances of each day so you can see how you are advancing with direction.
8. Lack of rest and disconnection
Working as an independent has no schedule and we can end up working non-stop. However, we have to rest physically, mentally, and emotionally to continue sustaining the project. You need to disconnect consciously.
9. Constant comparison
Following the competition and those we admire on social media can serve as inspiration, but at the same time, it can be a great conscious and unconscious pressure. We compare ourselves for better or for worse. Whether your ego explodes or your self-esteem diminishes, both extremes are toxic. Choose consciously how you feel when you follow someone.
10. Following what others say
Just because it worked for others doesn't mean you should replicate it if it doesn't resonate with you. Desperation leads us to follow inauthentic formulas. You have to follow your own formula and your inner knowing.
11. Loss of initial purpose
Excess external information can derail you. Whenever chaos throws you off balance, return to the origin and check if that purpose is still valid; if not, relocate your direction.
12. Throwing in the towel
"Throwing in the towel" is not always defeat; sometimes it is knowing that the cycle has closed. Maybe life is telling you it's no longer that way. Yes, it feels like grief, but then you move forward with more experience.
13. Wanting magic answers and solutions
We are always waiting for that magic opportunity. There is no magic solution without constant work. The magic formula is the connection with yourself to choose where to take yourself and your project with consciousness.
14. Lack of Action
Dreaming, affirming, planning, and creating is an essential part of life and your entrepreneurship, but if action is not joined to the dream, then it does not materialize and does not become reality. What action are you taking today to make your dream come true?
Part 2: The Diagnosis
Rate from 1 to 5 how frequently you feel this. (1 = Never / 5 = Very frequent).
Mark the number that corresponds:
TOTAL SUM:
From 14 to 28 points (Flow Zone): Congratulations! You are managing the "inner game" of entrepreneurship very well. You have doubts, but they don't stop you. Keep listening to your intuition.
From 29 to 49 points (Alert Zone): You are in the average. The pains are present and starting to affect your performance. It is time to choose one of the pains with a score of "5" and work on it this week. You require returning to flexible structure.
From 50 to 70 points (Crisis/Burnout Zone): Your entrepreneurship is consuming you instead of nourishing you. It is likely that you are operating from fear or comparison. Stop. You need rest urgently and to reconnect with your initial reason (Part 1). Remember: your entrepreneurship is only a part of your life, not your whole life.
Action Commitment
What is the "pain" that is stealing the most energy from you today?
If the magic solution isn't going to come knocking at your door, what SMALL real action are you going to take TODAY?
"Remember: Doubt helps find answers, but action is what materializes dreams."
8 pillars for a solid and emotionally healthy entrepreneurship
To build something lasting, we need strong foundations. Let's analyze each pillar:
1. Purpose
The purpose is what you want to receive through your entrepreneurship: your own personal gain. Identify what type of gain you seek: physical, mental, emotional, economic, family, professional, success, recognition, deservingness, proving you are capable, approval from others, or developing your talents.
Be 100% honest with yourself and identify what the true purpose is for you. There are no good or bad answers, only the truth, even if that truth sounds uncomfortable because of the prejudices you have about yourself. This is about radical honesty.
Complete the following phrases and include those that define your inner purposes:
2. Contribution
Now let's go to what you want to contribute. It is what you wish for your project to generate for society, the environment, your community, or the industry where you are focused. Define what your knowledge and your project contribute, and who it is aimed at. It is not to justify your decision, but to connect from the heart with what you really want to deliver to the world.
Complete these phrases, it is not an exercise to do in 2 minutes, the invitation is to take the time to listen to your truth, it may be that you sit down to write and the answers do not flow easily, when that happens, I recommend the following exercise: Select one of the phrases to complete and during the day ask it or repeat it mentally and let the answers arrive throughout the day, I assure you that you will be surprised by the real reasons that will come to you if you ask calmly, without forcing the mind to find the answer.
3. Talents
Identify what your natural talents are; what is very easy to do, which for you is almost imperceptible, but which others recognize as a great skill. You can even ask people close to you what they consider to be your natural talents or skills; sometimes they see more clearly what we do not. Also write down those talents that you recognize you have, that perhaps you have kept out of fear, but that you know you can use. On the other hand, describe the skills you have acquired throughout your personal and professional life that you can put at the service of your project to make it more yours.
4. Lifestyle
If you chose the path of entrepreneurship it is because you wanted to create your own lifestyle. Lifestyle includes areas such as food, exercise, type of work, ways of learning, ways of traveling, use of money, family or single life, hobbies.
What activities and responsibilities are included in your current way of living?
What are those priority and non-negotiable activities that you live day by day?
How many hours a day do you actively dedicate to your project?
Exercise: Here you can even write the activities by hour and by day that you currently perform to have real clarity about your lifestyle.
5. How you function
It is important to recognize that each of us are unique individuals and that, based on our personality, our life experience, and the place where we live, we function differently. Start by describing your natural operation:
- - Are you more mental or emotional?
- - Are you a morning or night person?
- - Introverted or extroverted?
- - Are you very creative and a dreamer, or are you realistic and grounded?
- - Are you flexible or rigid?
- - Does it take you time to finalize things or are you very active and dynamic?
- - Are you cautious or do you jump in without thinking?
Remember that in each area of our life we function differently. By doing this evaluation, I invite you to focus your attention on your role as an entrepreneur. Identifying how you function will help you know where you need to balance yourself and pay attention to achieve your goals, respecting your own energy.
6. Limiting Beliefs
We all have an accumulation of information (ours and others') that has made us limit ourselves, whether due to previous experiences or what we learned at home, in our cultures, and in society in general. It is what was said and what we "bought" as absolute truth.
Recognize in the day-to-day of your entrepreneurship what those constant thoughts are that make you limit yourself. They can be thoughts related to your talents, money, success, or the essence of your project.
What fixed ideas do you keep repeating to yourself?
What discourse do you keep saying about how difficult it is to reach your goal?
How much are you using what happens outside as an excuse to limit yourself and hide behind that belief to not advance?
It is very easy to blame the world, but it is more pleasant and enriching to advance despite your own limits.
7. Self-care
As I have mentioned from the beginning, your entrepreneurship is completely linked to you, to your essence, and to how you are physically, mentally, emotionally, and energetically. Therefore, taking care of yourself consciously will allow you to have more strength, spirit, motivation, clarity, and health to move forward.
All human beings must take care of our health, but being an entrepreneur or independent worker makes this a vital area; if there is no health, you don't function, there is no work, no action, you don't generate, you don't receive, you don't advance.
The discipline with which you take care of yourself is reflected in the success of your business. Not by working non-stop will you go further; on the contrary, you will only end up exhausted and lose the taste for what you do. Establishing a self-care plan is of vital importance, in which I recommend considering the following 9 aspects:
- - Diet adequate to your lifestyle.
- - Exercise that helps your body move energy.
- - Medical monitoring of your health.
- - Conscious rest and good sleep habits.
- - Vacations (physical and/or mental).
- - Beauty treatment.
- - Support network (your tribe).
- - Some type of therapy that accompanies you in the emotional process to give you tools that allow you to be more aware of yourself.
- - Fun and recreation, enjoying.
8. Real Evaluation
Knowing the place where we currently are is of vital importance. Having a clear, and above all real, context of our situation allows us to make more accurate decisions and not just chase dreams that can lead to frustration. Therefore, I invite you to start with an analysis of your current situation considering the following areas of life:
How is my health:
My economy:
My relationship life:
My family life:
My social life:
The status of my project:
Survey 2: The Clarity Thermometer
How solid are the foundations of your business today?
Instructions: Rate from 1 to 5 how true this is for you at this moment. (1 = Totally false / Not clear | 5 = Totally true / Crystal clear)
PART A: THE INNER WORLD (You and your mind)
PART B: THE OUTER WORLD (Your operation)
YOUR RESULTS (Sum your total points - Maximum 40):
0 to 15 points (Sand Foundations): Danger of collapse. You are operating by inertia or reaction, without solid bases. It is urgent that you stop to define Pillar #1 (Purpose) and #5 (Lifestyle) before continuing to build, or exhaustion will win.
16 to 29 points (Foundations Under Construction): You have clear notions, but there are energy leaks. Probably you are clear on the "what" (your product) but not the "how" (your lifestyle or self-care). Review the points where you marked 1 or 2 and focus on them this month.
30 to 40 points (Rock Foundations): Excellent! You have an aligned and sustainable business. Your next step is simply to maintain discipline and perhaps scale your objectives, because the base already supports more weight.
The Comprehensive Action Plan
Although being flexible is part of the delights of being independent, structure is essential to move forward. You require clear planning that honestly includes the following steps.
Going to the origin of your intention, the purpose is something very personal and must be clear to you, because that will be the starting point to start or resume the journey.
It may be that with time and the experience you are acquiring in your entrepreneurship the contribution transforms or even broadens its horizons, for which it is important to review this topic often.
You can divide objectives into personal, economic, completed projects, clients, new products; having a guide helps to resume the path. Just remember that if you are too strict, you can allow yourself flexibility in meeting the objectives, but if you are very volatile and dispersed, then return frequently to those objectives to resume the route.
Describe in detail the current and real services and products so that you have clarity on what you dedicate yourself to. Create a quick phrase that describes each of them, practice it so that when you are with clients or friends you can explain your product or service quickly and safely. You can also make a list of products or services towards which it could evolve, as long as you don't focus too much on the future and do focus on the present.
Keeping a record of the supplies you require both for the elaboration of your products, their sale, promotion, distribution is important to take care of those small leaks in which we sometimes invest unnecessarily. If what you offer is a service, consider everything intangible that is also an expense (internet, websites, reservation systems, material editing). This will allow you to know where your resources are put, what you can improve or even seek external help that allows you to be more efficient.
This is a complex issue, the vortex of social networks leads us to a constant state of trial, error, and despair, we end up giving up because no matter how much we follow formulas, learn strategies on each platform, we do not achieve what we want or believe we should obtain. Here is where the importance of self-knowledge is of vital importance, knowing how you like to communicate, what you want to communicate, what is the form of communication aligned with you, trying, but also being consistent with what you choose, creating a minimum 3-month plan to establish what flows easily for you and your entrepreneurship.
I know it's not the part that is enjoyed the most, however it is what we must do to establish our entrepreneurship with solid foundations; a lawyer, accountant, suppliers who support us in production or in any stage of the business.
You are the most important thing and not because you are an entrepreneur means you must leave yourself aside. Doing what you like and living from that is not the only thing that forms you as a person, so be clear about non-negotiable personal activities, those that you know nourish you, that disconnect you from everything and connect you with yourself, what you enjoy and allows you to recharge the battery to be more creative and efficient, so do not leave those activities aside and although it seems there is no time for that, create it, because that is why you are independent.
Your plan must include all this so that you do not lose sight of what you require to pay attention to, and so that you can create the workflow that your project requires, in balance with your lifestyle.
There will be moments of greater pressure in which you have to dedicate more of yourself and your time, but those must be moments or short stages, not the constant in your entrepreneurship.
Finally, I want to mention something very important: not everything is a business opportunity. Although it is important to talk and share what you do, do not look at every moment, meeting, party or conversation for an opportunity to sell what you do; that only wears you out and does not allow you to disconnect to refresh your ideas.
Paying attention to these aspects will help you put internal order, give clarity to your actions and, above all, feel the calm that activates when knowing where you are going and how you are creating that path of entrepreneurship so powerfully.
My Story
In 2004, in Mexico, I began studying and practicing Reiki, a Japanese energy healing technique that continues to be my daily life companion. I learned to meditate and accompanied my teacher when she gave classes and initiated students.
In 2009 my life changed and I emigrated to Luxembourg for love. Upon arriving, I faced reality: it would not be easy to find a job in Marketing like the one I had in Mexico. At 33 years old, it was my turn to discover a new way of living. I studied French and began my social life connecting with the Latino community.
My personal Reiki and meditation practice accompanied me daily. One day, I offered Reiki to a friend and little by little I began sharing this technique. In 2015 I opened my own center: "A Magical Butterfly". It was a dream come true, but it implied a lot of work combined with raising my two little ones.
The pandemic allowed me to expand into the digital world, collaborating with companies like Deloitte, PwC, and the University of Luxembourg. The path has not been linear. I have lived an up and down of emotions, sometimes asking myself: "And all this for what?". But I always return to what I love: accompanying people in their emotional processes of healing and consciousness.
I like to live beautifully and living beautifully begins by believing in yourself, making life more pleasant, and moving forward with consciousness and dedication.
Your Business Partner
My second proposal is the following: Do you need a flight companion?
I know you have many ideas, but sometimes indecision or the lack of an interlocutor who understands your vision stops you.
My proposal for you: Your business partner.
I offer you an accompaniment where we combine strategy and energy:
Clarity
Action plan aligned to how you function.
Emotional Management
Tools to overcome fears and blocks.
Strategy
A safe space to pilot ideas and solve problems.
Planning
A clear agenda directed at your objectives.
A touch of healing and calm
During our meetings there will always be a moment of peace, as well as tools that allow you to return to your center with ease.
Success is already given by the simple fact of choosing yourself. Allow me to explain how I can accompany you so that the path is clearer and more enjoyable.