Why your mindset will make or break your business
I’m a huge believer in the impact of mindset. I’ve been struggling lately with falling into quite a negative mindset when I’m behind on work, or even when I’m not behind but just feel like I should be doing more and it’s incredible the way it impacts not only my work but my mood, my relationships and my personal life. That said, I’m writing this post as much for you to read and digest as I am as a reminder to myself!
What is mindset
Mindset is defined as “the established set of attitudes held by someone.” It’s the lens through which we view the world, shaping how we approach challenges, setbacks, and opportunities. There are two common types of mindset. A fixed mindset assumes that our abilities, intelligence, and talents are static traits that can’t be significantly changed. In contrast, a growth mindset embraces the belief that we can develop our skills and improve through effort, learning, and perseverance. This distinction matters because mindset influences everything in our lives from how we tackle problems to how resilient we are when things don’t go to plan. I listened to a podcast recently where they use the analogy of making a journey and how your mindset can impact your life. If you had an event or important meeting to go to in London but your car broke down, there are two options you can choose from. You can either come from the perspective of a fixed mindset that your car has broken down and therefore you can’t go to London so you just go home. The growth mindset will push you to find another way, whether you find someone to give you a lift or you find a train you can catch instead, you’ll find another way to get to London. You can equate this exact thing into your business goals. If a barrier comes up, are you just going to give up and go back to where you were or are you the kind of person that will find another way to achieve your goal?
Why your beliefs determine your businesses future
Your mindset and beliefs have such a huge impact on the future and success of your business. Have you ever heard of a self fulfilling prophecy? It’s all about mindset! If you tell yourself that you’re behind or a goal is too far out of reach, it’s going to happen exactly like that because you’re not putting yourself out there and pushing yourself to achieve what you want to achieve. When I started my business, I knew that I wanted (and to some extent, needed) to make a success of it so by having a positive mindset that it will be successful, I will find clients and I will achieve my goals, it pushed me to try new things, get out of my comfort zone and put myself in the rooms I needed to be in to achieve my goals. There’s also an element of confidence that comes when you have that positive mindset and tell yourself that things will work out because it becomes a cycle of telling yourself it will work, pushing yourself into situations where you’ll meet clients or find customers, that translating into success and then giving you the confidence that you can do those things that you might not have thought you could.
How to recognise & challenge your mindset
It’s so important to identify your limiting beliefs, where do you hold yourself back with the things you believe about yourself that might not even be true? I’ve heard business owners say things like “I’m not confident enough to promote my services online,” “I’m too old to start adding new services to my business” and “my business is too new to do XYZ.” All of these are limiting beliefs, by believing any of these things, you’re instantly holding yourself back. It’s also important to think about why these limiting beliefs exist for you, are you avoiding opportunities out of fear of failure? Are you stuck in perfectionism or overthinking? Once you can recognise these things, it’s time to start challenging them. Ask yourself why you think that, check whether there is any actual evidence backing up your belief, and then reframe the thought. instead of “I’m not confident enough to promote my services online,” you could say, “I’m a bit nervous about promoting myself online because I’ve not done it yet, I know that once I get started that confidence will grow.” As you start to create and live by those new narratives, you’ll find as your mindset changes, your ability to push yourself and achieve your goals will grow.
Bouncing back from setbacks
In any business, or literally any area of your life, it’s so important to remember that failures do happen and it’s totally normal. Not everything will go right every time. When you find that something hasn’t gone to plan, you’re allowed to feel that, take time to feel frustrated or upset or whatever you want to feel but then take the time to reflect on what’s happened, what you can do differently next time and then allow yourself to move on. Don’t dwell in the negative feelings and allow your limiting beliefs to take over. After a setback, always reconnect with your why, remind yourself of your purpose and the purpose of your business and then start to take small steps back towards where you want to be. The way you recover from a setback says so much more about you than the setback itself.
Daily habits to strengthen your mindset
In order to strengthen your mindset, you’ll probably need to start building daily habits to help you. You can’t just wake up one day and say “I’m going to change my mindset and everything will go right,” unfortunately it doesn’t quite work life that. The things that help to strengthen your mindset will be different for everyone but here are some of the things I try to do regularly to keep myself in a positive, growth mindset:
Set intentions: This is something I try to do daily, monthly and annually. I know that sounds like a lot but once you start building it into your routine, this will feel normal. For me it improves my productivity too so then by achieving what I set out to do, that brings a lot of positive energy.
Gratitude practice: I like to do this daily and can always feel the negative shift when I go too long without practicing regular gratitude. Sometimes I physically write down what I’m grateful for that day, sometimes it’s just a conversation at the dinner table but whatever works for you, it’s important to do it regularly.
Limit negative input: If I notice a certain account I follow online or a certain person in my life is draining my energy, then I’ll put in some distance by either unfollowing or spending less time together and it’s usually quite a noticeable shift after doing that. Plus it gives you a sense of confidence and control that you are in control of your own life and you can make your own choices.
Reflect and adjust: I really like taking the time to celebrate wins regularly, again I’ll either write this in my journal or talk to my family at dinner time. It’s so important to notice these positive things and when things have gone well. I also like to reflect on what hasn’t gone so well and where improvements can be made. This might look like making more time for a certain things, changing systems that aren’t serving me or trying something new.
Final Thoughts
Your mindset is huge when it comes to business success. A positive growth mindset will always support you in growing your business, achieving your goals and creating the life you dreamed of. Mindset isn’t a one time thing, it’s a series of regular changes and taking time to strengthen it in order to see results. And remember, there will be setbacks, things won’t always go to plan but it’s how you deal with those and bounce back that really shows who you are.
