How's your internal negative voice today? You know the one. The one that tells you things like 'that'll never work', 'that's a stupid idea', 'who on Earth would want to buy this stuff from you?', 'you really think you can run your own business—who are you kidding?', 'there are so many other businesses like yours out there, being run by better people with more experience and knowledge—you haven't got a chance', 'that's a ridiculous goal, it's too big—you'll never make it.'

The good news is it's not just you, most of us have got those voices. And what do we do about it? Unfortunately we tend to listen, and even worse—believe them!

I have great news for you! You can do something about it! Think of a project or idea you've been considering. You think it's a great idea and could be a fantastic success but you've been holding back on it.

What's stopping you? Is that that voice inside your head telling you that failure is inevitable?

There are some powerful questions you can ask yourself which will help you to silence that voice.

Make sure you can remain undisturbed for a few minutes so that you can truly let your mind concentrate and open up to new thoughts. You may find a pen and paper useful to jot down any ideas that come to you. Then ask yourself the following questions. Really take your time in answering them, ensure you explore every possibility.

- What's stopping me from moving forward with this idea/project?

- If there were no obstacles in the way, what would I do?

- If the voice is wrong, what would that mean? What effect would that have?

- What evidence do I have, based on past experiences, that my negative voice could be wrong?

- The part of me that this voice represents is trying to protect me. And I thank it for that. How would that part of me react if I, having taken everything into consideration, gave this project a go?

- Does that part of me agree that it's worth trying?

- If I knew I could not fail, what would I do?

When we try something new it is often the case that it doesn't work perfectly first time. Those people to whom Coco Chanel was referring have learnt not to listen to their negative internal voice. The result is that they go ahead. And if it doesn't quite work they still don't listen to the voice. What they do instead is make some changes and try again. Making changes is essential. After all 'if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.' And if it still doesn't quite work, they make some more changes and try again. And so on until, inevitably, they succeed.