Your attitude determines your direction.
One of the hardest parts of being in business for yourself is to just keep going.
Certainly, we all know it is the thing to do. We have heard it before: “You just have to stay positive.” For the most part, as a small business owner you know that. It wasn’t like you took this leap of faith of becoming a small business owner without knowing you would have to tough things out.
Here is the thing: you did not expect just how many times a day, week or year that you would face challenges. And success is not just about getting back up when you’re knocked down, but how fast you can put the negative behind you and recover. It is about not letting negative thoughts take up space in your mind, distracting you from the things that truly matter.
To stress the power of positive thinking, a LinkedIn user pointed out this: Everyone has 60,000 thoughts a day, or one thought per second in every waking hour. It is said that 95 percent are the same thoughts repeated every day and 80 percent of those habitual thoughts are negative. Wow!
Being in business is a rigorous mental competition. So how do you overcome negative thinking to stay positive and find the power to keep on going? Everyone goes through it. While every successful person has his or her way of coping, it’s good to have a back-up when your tried-and-true techniques fail to keep you from the stinking thinking. Between research and asking a few friends, we came up a short list of methods that you might want to try:
Visualization. Jacqueline Fermin is a Regional Director for Holladay Properties, a national real estate company. She was recently named Property Manager of the Year by Building Owners & Managers Association in Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach. While Jacqueline always tries to keep in mind that ‘everyday is a good day,’ she also surrounds herself with visual reminders. Her most recent visual cue, given to her by her husband, is a picture of a kitten seeing her reflection as a tigress. She keeps it close to remind herself that this is how she needs to see herself and never to let anyone or anything make her feel differently.
Helping someone is among the ten tips that Tiny Buddha shares. Taking the focus away from you and doing something positive for someone else can give you enough time to regain perspective.
Be kinder to yourself. In Tory Johnson’s recently published Shift for Good, she talks about having more patience with yourself. Allow yourself the room to falter, learn, and grow. There are going to be bumps along the road. Beating yourself up for tripping over a bump can derail you. Give yourself the same mental pep-talk that you would give your friend.
Make the choice. My personal motivation is a voice that I hear internally. As a child whenever I was in a sour mood, my grandmother would tell me to ‘go wash my face and put on a smile.’ It was her way of saying that you can take a minute to feel sorry for yourself, but there is a definitive moment when you can decide to change your mood and your outcome.
Focus on technique or tasks. Positive mental attitude is huge for athletes! Every athlete has a bad game that can easily develop into a streak. So what do they do? When it is too hard to be positive, they keep their mind on the form and technique. When you focus on the basics, things start to fall into place, and the small successes start to add up.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. For some people, the hardest thing to do when in a negative space is to talk about it. This can be especially true for business owners. After all, you feel the need to project strength, stability, and success to your clients and your employees. It is easy to forget that it is not a sign of weakness to ask for help or guidance. It’s amazing how much tension is released when you get a fresh perspective and hear different solutions.
James Terry from GreenTeam Service Corp. adds that it is important to keep things in perspective. GreenTeam Service Corp. is a South Florida plumbing and electrical company that has been ranked as one of the fastest growing companies in the area. Terry says, “It’s important to remember that challenges don’t go away. You have to remind yourself that yesterday’s problems also seemed big but you got through it. You can’t accomplish things without growing pains. It’s just part of the territory.” He said that it helps him to search inspirational quotes on the internet. He will save four or five of them on his phone so he can reflect on them throughout the day.
We will leave you with one last thought: A positive work environment is more than a metaphor. You don’t have to be a business owner for your desk or office to play a factor in your outlook. It is hard to be positive when you are behind on filing or if your desk is a mess. By keeping a clean, well-organized and professional workspace, you are setting the tone and clearing a path towards your success.