Hey, hey, hey, it’s Courtney Sanders here! This summer has just been so crazy! I’ve been doing a ton of traveling for the Your Wealthy Year Tour.  I was in Madrid recently, and now I am finally back home just in time for my birthday. This is really a profound moment in my life because New Year’s and my birthday are both times where I tend to be in a super reflective mood. I don't always take the time to reflect, and to look back at the things that I've done. As I take the time to reflect, it’s just crazy how much growth has happened, obviously with my brand, and everything that I'm doing over this past year,  including being invited to speak at the White House. I say this not to brag, but to be a living example of what it is like to be really about this life. Along with the growth comes people not always knowing what the mission is. It’s inevitable that people sometimes misunderstand what I meant to say in my posts and podcasts, and this just made me realize that not everyone knows what it really means to be a Think and Grow Chick, what it stands for, why we’re here and what we do. When I started the website ThinkandGrowChick.com, it was not my intention to turn it into a business. It was more of creating a group of like-minded people who were going to be accountable for each other’s growth and success. Little did I know that by putting my goals and my income stream out to the public, it would inspire and empower other women to improve their lives. That being said, being a Think and Grow Chick is not all play. Yes, you may see all the glitz and glamour that comes with it, that’s just a bonus. The sacrifices that I had to make, how much I have to stretch myself to what was uncomfortable but essential to get to what I wanted to have, the behind the scenes, are all things that only a true Think and Grow Chick would be willing to do to follow their dreams.

The podcast will tell you more about the behind the scenes actions that I needed take to get myself where I am now.

For the full audio, please check out the podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud.      [podcast]

Notes from the Podcast:

In the podcast I pointed out so many significant attributes that set the Think & Grow Chick apart from the rest. These are the values, the sacrifices, and the hard work that needs to be done. Here are some of the attributes of what it really means to be Think & Grow Chick :

1. You have to be super committed to your goals and dreams.

People think that being a Think and Grow Chick is just being a woman who has a lot of hopes and dreams. However, that is not the case. I would say that the majority of women have hopes and dreams, but there are more people in the world who want to do something, who wish for things, and who have a dream in their hearts. But a Think and Grow Chick is a person who is committed to working toward those hopes and dreams, making them a reality in her life, and actually creating results. That's the kind of person I am. That's how this idea was birthed. Some of you who have been rocking with me since the beginning surely know my story. The story of how I hustled through college waiting on tables, started my own hair care business, maxed out my credit cards, as well as borderline getting kicked out of college. To make a long story short, someone took a chance on me and sent me to an all-expenses paid conference where I met a life coach who has a remarkable enthusiasm over the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.  I got so inspired by her story, how she was on the brink of bankruptcy, on the brink of divorce, how she was on the brink of everything, at the lowest point in her life and how she triumphed over those challenges and improved her life by changing her mindset and applying the principles in the book. At the time I had to read the book from the library because I could not afford to buy it. I was really blown away by the goal setting process, because I never heard anybody break it down like that before.  This started my hot pursuit for self- development. I spent time learning and applying all the knowledge into my life. I would sit on the floor of Barnes and Noble's, staying there all day, and read personal development book after personal development book, just searching for the answers that were going to help me change my life. A lot of the stuff I read was very inspirational, but a lot of that stuff didn’t come with a manual, either.  The book says discipline, but there was no explanation about what it is and how you’d actually do that. There wasn’t much information, and that was the moment I made my commitment. There on the floor, out loud, on that day, I promised and made my commitment to God, to myself, to learn and apply the principles I learned and to create actual strategies and tools to help people change their lives by making these available to others.  The step that would take you from where you are right now, to getting you to crossover and become a Think and Grow Chick, is the level of commitment you are willing to give to pursue the life that you say you want.

2. You continuously invest in yourself and believe that knowledge is power.

One of the things I learned from the book Think and Grow Rich was the principle that you have to decide what you're going to give up in exchange for what you want. Also, you have to have a burning desire in order to get it. Again, with the growth of the community, I was having interactions with people who may not know that Think and Grow Chick’s genesis came from giving people tools in order to actually take action. These tools are things that you use to invest in yourself. You must want it more for yourself than anybody else would want it for you. The problem for most people is that they can’t decide the things they need to give up in order to get what they want.  Moreover, when people are presented with the tools needed to invest in themselves and the time and financial commitment needed, they back-out. They fail to understand that in order to create the life that they say they want, it requires tools, it requires strategies, and it requires having the mindset that you're going to take the action, and that you are actually going to do the work. That's what it means to be a Think and Grow Chick. It is not just a woman who wants more and has dreams. Ideas and dreams are a dime a dozen, but it's about someone who is committed to actually taking the action to achieve those dreams. Never stop learning. It is never too early nor too late to invest in yourself with additional knowledge and skills from tools and strategies that will help you get what you want in life. Anything can be learned. Even if being forward-thinking, aggressive person is not your demeanor, you can still develop that kind of attitude. It's really a mindset, and honestly, it's really a choice.

3. You prepare yourself for success.

Successful people prepare for their success. Overnight success doesn’t really happen overnight, it takes years to become an overnight success. You don't see what happens behind the scenes, how they're making the hard choices, how they're stretching themselves. They're taking the leap in ways that you can't see. That’s what I am doing now. I am at a point where I know that I will be expanding my business soon. So as early as today, I am making the necessary sacrifices, adjustments, so that when my pathway is clear, I can skyrocket and do the things that I want to do. Since I was in high school, I've always had a dream that I would be tri-coastal, Chicago's not really a coast, but I love Chicago, and I want a house there in the summer. I want a general house where we live in LA one day, and then I want an international house in Spain. I had never been to Spain and I was only 16 when I came up with that idea, but I just decided that that's how I wanted to live my life. Me going to Spain felt like I was putting the down payment on the dream that I said that I am trying to bring into fruition. It was very important to me, not just from a vacation aspect, but from a "paving the way aspect" because I'm a big believer that you have to make room for the things that you say you want by stretching yourself and taking that action. While we didn't buy a house while we were in Spain, just being able to be there felt like we already did. Just last night, I was sitting on the floor here in my office, having a late interview with someone who lives overseas. Because of the time difference, I needed to stretch myself to be up at a time that wasn’t comfortable for me. After the interview, I had to do my make-up for another video I was going to record for the group. I'm constantly stretching myself, none of that was comfortable.  Point is, you have to pave the way for success by doing what it takes even before you're ready. You need to create the space for the bigger things that are about to come. I didn't wait until I had enough money to go over to Spain, and bring international house hunters, so that I could buy my house. I went ahead of time, just to get it into my mindset, to get it into my bones that this is what I want, this is what I'm creating for my life.  Think and Grow Chicks do not fear stretching themselves to pave the way for success no matter how uncomfortable the situation may be.

4. You are living your life’s purpose.

A Think & Grow Chick lives a life with a purpose. Your purpose is greater than your fears, so don’t get easily swayed by all the outside forces that could derail you from achieving your goals. You need to step up to the amazing calling that is your life, because it's there, and you were created for a greater purpose. The most successful people in the world are risk-takers, but they bet on things that they have mastery over, things that they have control over, and the number one thing you have to have control over is control of yourself, right? Living on your life’s purpose is betting only on yourself. It’s a win-win situation because there is only one person who controls your actions. You.  You have to be able to bet on yourself, and you have to master, and have control over that fear of that idea that you can't do anything. What could be more tragic than to walk this life without a purpose, right? Not being able to graduate at the time I was supposed to because I didn’t do the work, put the fear of God in me, literally, that I didn't want to leave this earth without walking in my purpose.  I promised myself to never allow that to happen again. A Think & Grow Chick does not allow setbacks to keep her from moving forward. You don’t get stuck in the same situation over and over again. You have got to move forward. There is no such thing as staying still. You are either getting better, or you are getting worse. There's really no in-between.

5. You believe in taking the action now.

It’s not enough to ask what your dreams and hopes are. The more important question is, what are you doing to make it come true? People are afraid to take action because people are afraid of the unknown. But a Think and Grow Chick, she is willing to move beyond her fears.  If there's anything that I want in life that I have a burning desire for, I'm coming for it, and I'm definitely going to get it. There is no wishing. There is no hoping. There is no, “oh, well let me think about it in three months because that's more convenient for me.” There is only doing it now. Talent is inherent in my family, but there is this huge gap of some people who really achieved great things in their life, and then there are ones who didn’t simply because they didn’t do what it takes. It’s not about having what it takes, it’s about doing. If an opportunity is presented to you, then you go take that action, and you go do it now. Your level of success relies on how quickly you decide to take action. What it really means to be Think and Grow Chick: to be aggressive about your success, to be really serious about your future, and to give to value other people’s time just as much as you value yours. We are not people who just dream, but we are people that make the dream happen.