The mindset + business connection

By now you’ve heard how important your mindset is for growing a business. The connection between your state of mind and how successful you are in life is indisputable. 

You may have even started being more mindful and aware of how your mental focus affects your results in your day to day life, and in your business. 

But personal growth never stops. It’s constantly evolving with you as you move through life, making mistakes, learning from your lessons, and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone to grow. 

Here are some of my favorite growth principles and how they apply to business.

Action precedes motivation

You’ll often hear people say things like they need to “build up motivation” to go to the gym, or they’re getting “ready” to do something. But when you’re facing big goals, or even a problem that you need to solve, action is the way.

By simply getting started, you gain momentum towards getting that problem solved or hitting those goals you set for the year. Once you get started, you’ll find that getting into your groove comes more easily than spending your energy trying to build up motivation to just get started. 

One of the keys to taking decisive action in life is to know what guides you. Take a moment to think about what your values are. Personal values like integrity, honesty, and doing the right thing are great cornerstones to making decisions. When you face a situation that requires you to take action, think about how your decision would stack up to your values. 

The same goes for business- make your business values resonate with you. You’ll find that when you need to hire, fire, or make a difficult choice, your values will guide you. Go with your gut- it’s usually right. 

We’re usually way too hard on ourselves. Stop thinking “what if” and start moving forward. 

Remember, action comes before motivation. 

Being okay with the unknown

This is one of the hardest things to overcome when you want to engage in any kind of growth.

“What will happen if…?” can be a paralyzing question to keep in mind.

After all, there’s so many things you can’t control:

• Cost of materials
• Labor issues
• Call board not full
• CSR problems

And so on…

But if you want to grow, you must accept the unknown. Letting go of control will liberate you.

Remember, you can’t change what happens, but you can change how you perceive it. 

Will you let everyday problems ruin your day, and your path to growth?

Or will you seize each problem as an opportunity:

• To be a better listener
• To be a better communicator
• A better friend?
• A better leader?

Whatever it is, your perception completely defines your experiences, and the experiences of those closest to you. 

This doesn’t mean that you should grow your business without clarity. It’s important for you to have clarity in all areas of your business, so that when the unknown hits (storms, pandemics, short staff), you can focus on those issues because you know exactly how the rest of your business stands. 

Embrace being uncomfortable

One of the things that defines those who are successful is that they are okay being uncomfortable. 

After all, growth only happens once we get outside our comfort zones. Open up to what comes your way with the mindset that you can deal with anything you need to. You’ll find this helps you build confidence to operate your life + business with less stress.

Next time you feel uncomfortable about taking a risk that may have a big payoff, work on your perception. Take a second and think about how you can use this to your benefit. Ultimately if your goal is growth, you’ll need to lean into that discomfort. 

Rather than getting upset, getting into conflict or letting something ruin your day, think what lessons could be learned or what creative solutions you can come up with.

And if you can’t do that, just think about how much stronger you’ll be by coming out of the issue on the other side, having learned some lessons and insight for next time.

Growth is up to you

A great way to keep your mindset in the right place is to start practicing meditation. Start by taking a few minutes each morning to yourself, simply clearing your mind. When thoughts come in, focus on clearing them away and breathing deeply. 

Meditation doesn’t have to take a ton of time or work. It’s simply the practice of clearing our minds for a short time so that we are centered and focused for the challenges of life and growing our businesses. Give it a try, you may like it.

To your growth,

Stephen