8 simple ways to develop a positive mindset for business success
Running your own business can be an exciting and rewarding career path, but it doesn’t come without its challenges.
One of the biggest challenges that you might face is developing and maintaining a mindset for success. As you and your business come up against a whole host of barriers, it is often your mindset as much as your strategy or skill that will help you to overcome the odds and reach your goal.
So how can you ensure that your mindset is strong and resilient so that you can overcome adversity and achieve your goals? Read on for eight tips to help you do just that.
1. View challenges as opportunities for growth
Carol Dweck’s famous theory about mindset is one that many entrepreneurs cite as crucial for success. In her book Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential, Dweck introduces the concept of growth mindset versus fixed mindset.
In short, people who have a fixed mindset tend to view their abilities as predetermined and unchangeable. As a result, they avoid facing challenges and believe that they have a limit to what they can achieve. By contrast, people with a growth mindset believe that with practice and effort, anyone can achieve what they put their mind to.
Cultivating a growth mindset could help you to lay the foundations of a resilient approach to challenges, helping you to achieve success whatever your goals are in business and in life.
2. Focus on perfecting the process rather than the end result
Processes are an important part of running a business to ensure consistency in the service that you deliver to your clients and in how you take care of your employees. But so often, these processes can be overlooked or forgotten in the rush to try to control the end result.
While targets and goals are obviously important, it’s perhaps even more important to focus on and perfect the process you use to achieve those goals.
While external factors can affect whether you achieve a goal, your processes are entirely within your control. Getting them spot on and also reviewing them regularly to notice opportunities for improvement can help you to develop the tools you need for success.
3. Let your “why” guide big decisions
When you set up your business, you probably had an idea of what you wanted it to help you achieve in your personal or professional life. Maybe you wanted to be able to provide a better lifestyle for your family, or maybe you wanted to be able to make a difference to a cause you believe in.
Whatever the reason was, keeping it in mind when you’re facing a big or difficult decision could be a helpful way to guide your actions. When you use your “why” as a compass for business growth, you’ll find it much easier to stay calm under pressure and make the right choice for you.
For example, you may be torn about whether a prospect is the right type of customer for your business. They may be offering a lot of money for your services, but if you can see that working with them would mean redirecting your focus away from your “why”, declining the business could be the right decision even if it feels uncomfortable.
4. Celebrate your successes – even the small ones
Staying resilient and in control requires you to think positively, and nothing is better at spreading positivity than celebrating success.
Whether you’ve hit a key milestone, delivered an outstanding piece of work, or hired a perfect-fit new employee, make time to celebrate your successes. Equally as important is to reflect on how you achieved the success. How could you replicate that success in the future?
When you encourage this behaviour in your employees, you can build a culture of positivity, helping everyone to build their resilience and improve their mindset.
5. Learn from your network of business owners
You might have heard the phrase “no man is an island”, and it’s especially true in business.
There are many entrepreneurs who have come before you, and many building their businesses alongside you, who are all learning on their way to success.
Running a business can feel isolating, but if you look around and make time to network with fellow business owners, you’ll find that there are lots of people to learn from and receive support from.
By the same token, there will be nuggets of wisdom that you’ve picked up from your own experience of setting up and running a business. By sharing these nuggets, you can help to create a network of peers to support you in your journey.
6. View criticism as a chance to improve
Taking criticism with grace is a life skill that can be difficult to hone, but it’s crucial if you are to make a success of your business.
Criticism might come from your business partners, your clients, or even your employees, but if you can learn to take this criticism as it is intended – to help you to improve – then you’ll not only develop a more resilient mindset, you’ll also help yourself to reach your goals that bit faster.
7. Actively work on improving your mindset
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re already making it a habit to improve your mindset. Just like so many skills, your mindset is something that requires regular practice if you are to maintain it to a high standard.
So, set aside some time each week to review how you could further improve your mindset. You might choose to work with a coach, expand your knowledge through reading, or attend a course. There are lots of different ways to do this, so explore the different options to discover what works for you. This is another area where reaching out to your network for advice and tips could be helpful.
8. Choose your words carefully
You might have grown up with the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me” – but science has now proved that this isn’t strictly true. The words that you use can have a very real impact on those around you, and they can affect your own mindset too.
Study results shared by the Business Relationship Management Institute have shown that negative self-talk increased stress levels and anxiety. By comparison, people who actively chose to engage in positive thinking and self-talk demonstrated that brain function was influenced by this.
Over time, through consistent efforts, you could actually change the way you perceive the world for the better.
So, to develop a resilient mindset that allows you to rise to challenges with ease, make a sustained effort to choose positive words and phrases.
Get in touch
While a positive mindset is crucial for business success, having the right protection in place can provide vital peace of mind, allowing you to focus on the task at hand. If you’d like to discover which risks could affect your business and how to protect against them, we can help.
Email creative@eggarforrester.com or use our contact form to request a callback from our team.
