Winning The Mind Game As A Business Owner
Having a small business is about making plans and doing things - but even more so it's also about your mindset. Your thoughts can make the difference between success, just getting by or closing shop.
A lot of small business owners don't make it because they don't realize how important the power of their mindset is. They only concentrate on the business side of things and ignore their own thoughts and feelings.
Today, I’m going to show you how to get your mindset ready for success in business, why it's important, and the steps to do it.
Mastering Your Mind Game
Set Clear Goals
Accept Failure
Build Resilience
Create a Support System
Let’s look at these healthy mindset behaviors and see how they can change the growth path of your business.
Set Clear Goals
Having clear goals guides you. Having doable goals keeps you going. Without goals, you're like a boat captain without a map. There are many ways to set goals, but only a few ways to set big audacious goals which still feel like they’re yours.
Create Your Vision: What do you want your business to be in 1, 3, or 5 years? Do you want to grow it, scale or sell it? 'What do you want to be in 1, 3 or 5 years time? Do you want to stay a business owner, become an investor or sell your business and live on the Bahama’s? As I am a visual person, I find it powerful to make vision boards with images of how I see my business and myself in the future.
Break It Down: No one can eat an elephant in its whole, you need to cut it on smaller pieces. Same goes for your vision. Split it into smaller steps that seem doable to you.
Stay Focused: Keep your vision board where you can see it. Hang it on your office wall, have it as your screen saver or print it on your new favorite coffee mug. Same goes for your smaller goals. Put them where you can see them and check them often. I have my long term, 5 year vision board on the wall and my shorter, one year goals as notifications in my agenda and use it as my password.
I love how exited entrepreneur Nathan Hirsch of Accountsbalance balances the long term vision with short term goals in his own unique way:
“Find a partner that balances you. I am more of a short term thinker but my partner is more long term. It’s a great balance!”
It’s a great reminder for all of us small business owners did we do not need to do it all on our own.
Accept Failure
Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s a part of it. I think we all know that. But all small business owners I meet struggle with embracing failure as part of their journey. Every failure is a lesson in disguise.
Change Your Perception: See failures as chances to learn and get better. I hold a quote of the inspiring Nelson Mandela close to my chest: “You win some, you learn some.”
Analyze and Adapt: After a setback, take time to understand what went wrong. Reflect on the things that didn’t work and why they didn’t. How did you handle the setback? How are you feeling about it? What do you need to be able to come to terms with regarding this failure, so you can move on?
Stay Positive: Keep a positive attitude and keep moving forward. Failure is a part of the journey, so keep going. This is where the success business owners distinguish themselves. They also had tons of setbacks, but they dusted themselves off and tried one more time.
Here’s a personal story about failure:
Have you ever wanted to sell your business, but were unable to do so because it wasn't sellable? I've been there. It broke my heart. And I learned from it. In this article I share the 9 lessons from failing to sell my business.
My friend Leona Watson who sold her event business has a powerful view on failure.
“I think it’s about needing to EXPECT failure. It’s going to happen 100%, so plan for it. It takes the sting out of personally feeling like a failure and gets you back into the driver’s seat of moving forward.”
Build Resilience
Resilience is your ability to recover from problems. It’s what keeps you going when things are hard.
Grow: Believe that you can get better and grow through the harder things. Have you ever tried 5 days of fasting? Or taking daily cold showers for 2 minutes? Can you be angry and just sit with that feeling rather than lashing out at someone? By deliberately creating discomfort, you can train your mind how it handles it. That’s why most of the successful business owners I know sit in ice baths or do intermittent fasting.
Take Care of Yourself: Look after your physical and mental health to stay energized. Everything, including you, works better after you plug it out for a while. When you are not mentally or physically fit, your business will very likely suffer from it.
Keep Going: Keep moving forward even when you face problems. This is not about pushing through no matter what or at all costs, but about the skill of showing up every day. Keep showing up, even when it’s hard.
“Physical health in business is so important. I do a 1 hour High Intensity Interval Training daily. It helps me clear my mind and stay focused. Find a way to take care of yourself and get away from business” Nathan adds.
A client’s story:
Talking about resilience... Understanding how much your business is worth is an exciting exercise. However, I know from working with thousands of small business owners that most of them overvalue their business and are often shocked after they get an independent valuation done. They can get a bit in a funk after a low valuation. That's why I wrote this article, guiding you on what you can do when your business isn't valued as highly as you hoped and how to transform that low valuation into your next big win.
Create a Support System
You can't succeed alone. Be with people who believe in you, support you and encourage your big vision.
Find Mentors: Look for experienced business owners who can give you guidance and advice. A lesson I learned early on was to only work with mentors who have achieved what I wanted to achieve in a way I respected.
Join Peer Groups: Join business groups or masterminds where you can share experiences and learn from others. Feel comfortable to level up your circle when you have leveled up. If you are the smartest one in the room, you need to get in a different room.
A Challenge For You
Now it’s your turn to win the mind game. Here's a challenge for you:
Make One Clear Goal: Make a specific, achievable goal for your business.
Take a Big Step: Do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone.
Think and Adjust: At the end of the week, think about what you learned and how you can do better.
Share your progress with me! Remember, we are all on the same journey.
