Mindset: Your Greatest Business Asset

People talk a lot about action. What should I do? How should I act? What's the next step in this uncharted entrepreneurial adventure?

Action is important. I talk a lot about it, too. And yet ... I believe there is far too much talk of action, and not nearly enough talk about mindset.

What is mindset?

Well, it's how you think. It's how you talk to yourself. It's how you speak about yourself and your business. It's how you feel about what you do, day in and day out. It's how you react to the successes and the setbacks.

Mindset is the one thing that will break you if you don't master it.

That seems a harsh statement, but as a business owner, you are in charge of everything. It's a hefty responsibility; there's no one else to take the fall (or claim the successes). There is no safety net; you're IT.

Does that excite you or does it intimidate you?

It probably does a bit of both, which is normal.

In every business you will encounter ebbs and flows. Months of money thrown at you, and months where you'll wonder if you've done something, dare I say it... wrong. And, because you're a human being with a life, you'll have ups and downs personally that will influence your work as well.

Why do I share this crucial truth?

Because if you don't manage your mind throughout the journey, the ebbs will destroy you. I'm not trying to be all gloom-and-doom over here, but as a business owner, it's a reality.

What I want to do is set you up to succeed.

Yes it's quite easy to get on a huge high when something goes well - you sign a new client, that book deal comes through, you interview with your biz idol goes viral - but how do you handle the disappointment when a client cuts back or doesn't sign that contract, or you feel like you're more likely to lasso the moon than find a new (and profitable) revenue stream?

What do you do?

Here's an observation about ducks. Two ducks will fight, then they'll swim away from each other, ferociously flap their wings, and return to peacefully gliding on the pond as though nothing has happened.

How can you be like those ducks when things don't go your way (or go according to your ideal plan)?

Do you have a way to release the frustration and disappointment that is an inevitable part of being in business for yourself or do you hang on to it and let it color your entire day (or week or more!)?

If you stay present and grounded in the fundamental belief that everything has, is, and will always work out for you, then you are prepared to succeed. Period. But if you fight against the disappointment, deny the natural ebbs and flows, try to force your way out of the valleys by clawing and struggling, and bemoan your fate (as if it's doomed), you will fail. I'm not kidding. You will not last. You will not have the staying power required to be an entrepreneur. You'll most likely give up. And that would be a shame.

At best you'll scrape unhappily by. Is THAT your dream as a business owner? No, I didn't think so.

I want nothing more than for you to succeed. This world needs more happy successful people, why not you?

One word: Mindset.

Be like the ducks. Experience each aspect of your journey as it unfolds, but don't harbor it and stay "there".

Instead, experience, release, recharge, and trust that all is well. Pay fierce attention to your mindset and you will know success.

Because from a happy, grateful, accepting, and appreciative mind flows genius - and success is simply a joyful result of that.