Go from Surviving to Thriving by Cultivating a Positive Mindset
According to the National Science Foundation, the average person has 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per DAY.
Of those, 80% are negative thoughts, and 95% are repetitive.
YIKES! Guilty? Me too!
Positive thinking for entrepreneurs is self-preservation and is a MUST for negating negative thoughts. If YOU as a business owner can’t manage to be positive about what you’re selling, no one else will believe it’s worth buying. And if you have employees, being negative about your product and/or business around them will almost guarantee they won’t be excited about being your employee or want to work hard for you.
How to stay positive as an entrepreneur
What’s the alternative to keeping a positive mindset? Giving in to negativity is basically like saying, “Hey, Failure, nice to meet you! High five!”
While science might say that we humans are naturally negative thinkers, it does NOT say we can’t change the way we think! Here are some tips on how to stay positive as an entrepreneur that are legit working for me!
Change those “can'ts” into “cans”
Time to punt the “n’t” and get rid of it! Meaning, stop telling yourself you can’t do something that you definitely can. Now, I’m not saying to lie to yourself or be completely unrealistic about what your business can achieve. I’m just saying, don’t say you can’t do something when you’re actually scared of failure, are feeling overwhelmed, or it’s just easier to count yourself out. Negative thinking is EASIER than staying positive. It’s our natural “go to” as humans.
Negative thoughts are nothing but a bad habit we need to kick. And what do you do when it’s time to adopt a new habit? Start small, make consistent changes over time until the new habit becomes automatic and normal. So, whenever a negative thought rears its ugly head and tells you that you “can’t” do something, do a full stop. Ask your negative self, “Why can’t I?” Then ask yourself HOW you can.
Something else that can help you stomp your negative thoughts is actually SEEING yourself succeed. Always keep an inspiring visual in your head – like you accepting your Small Business Owner of the Year award! (Woot, woot!)
Be your own tough-ass football coach and call “TIME OUT!” on negative thoughts. Then send in a fresh player who says, “I definitely CAN!”
Figure out why you’re having negative thoughts
Let’s say gnats keep getting into your house and flying around your head. Sure, you could keep swatting at them. That would take care of some of the gnats. But you need to know where they’re coming from to get rid of all of them.
Negative thoughts are almost exactly like gnats. They’re frustrating and are always flying around your head. We talked about how to keep swatting them down. But finding out why they’re there is incredibly valuable to get to the root of the problem.
Think about the negative thoughts you have the most. (Remember, at the beginning of this article, the National Science Foundation told us that 95 percent of our thoughts are repetitive.) Then ask yourself why you keep having the ones you do. Do you have doubts about your skills? Are you worried about your product or service? Are money problems holding you back? It could be anything that’s worrying you about your business.
Once you’ve figured out why you’re having negative thoughts about your business, try to focus on the positives. Think back to why you decided to follow the dream, why your product or service is unique or helpful, how amazing you are at making it and/or selling it (and even how much you love doing the latter).
Get back to the basics, What is your why??? How can you leverage your why in conquering limiting beliefs?
Don’t pencil in positivity – prioritize it
It will take practice, like becoming awesome at anything does, but working at thinking positively every single day will change your business and your life for the better.
Reinforce your positive thoughts and actions.
Keep encouraging yourself.
Practice self-care.
Sure, you’ll still have a few negative thoughts creep in - our brains excel at producing those. When that happens, DO NOT feel that you’ve failed. Just recognize the negative and then throw it away.
Let the positive thoughts come in and keep them around for a rainy day.
It’s unrealistic to think you can be positive 24/7, but you can make it a priority in your daily life. Negative thinking will damage your psyche - and your business, by extension - if you let it.
I believe you can truly change your life and your business and achieve anything you desire! But you have to believe it too in order to make it happen. Are you beliving it?
