Your mindset is so important in everything you do, including your business. Mindset determines your action and whether or not you reach your goal. Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” If you believe something is possible, you take the action to make it happen. On the flip side, if you don’t believe it’s possible, you continue sabotaging yourself and remain stuck.
If you are an entrepreneur, it’s often feast or famine. You either have a whole bunch of money in your bank account or you are wondering where you’ll find the money to buy more products. Adopting the right mindset helps you carry on through the tougher times.
4 Practices That Will Help You Shift Your Mindset
- Believe in Abundance
When it comes to applying an abundance mindset to business, believe that there are enough customers for everyone. There are literally billions of people in the world and your customer isn’t going to be the same person as someone else’s. We are all uniquely defined by our location, our style, and our interests. Part of the advantage of being an online entrepreneur is that you can reach people from all over. You aren’t just competing for market share in your community.
In my coaching business, I mentor entrepreneurs who have a subscription box just like mine. I’m helping them scale their businesses. Why? Because I see them as community, not competition. There is room for us all to succeed. That is believing in abundance.
- Adopt a Glass Half-Full Mindset
We all know this saying. Are you an optimistic person who always sees the glass as half-full or a pessimist who views it as half-empty? As an entrepreneur, I urge you to shift your mindset to optimism. You will need to focus on what is going right in your business and celebrate the wins, because there will be times when you fail.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t want more. That’s perfectly fine. You just want to avoid focusing on mistakes and getting down on yourself when your business isn’t where you want it to be. Positivity and celebrating the things that are working will give you the motivation to reach all of your goals.
- Practice Gratitude and Humility
You will always be able to find someone who has more social followers, has higher revenue numbers or more customers than your business does. But guess what? Comparing yourself to others only leads to dissatisfaction and jealousy. Instead, why not be grateful for what you do have? Live in the moment, celebrate recent successes, even be grateful for the challenges you are facing right now. Every obstacle you face makes your business stronger.
At the same time, remember when you’re riding a wave of success that things might slow down on the other side. Keep your perspective, don’t take yourself too seriously and don’t put yourself ahead of others. When you do have a downturn (and you inevitably will), you’ll look back with gratitude and humility and discover there are many more lessons to be learned.
- Don’t Compare Yourself to Big Online Companies
Have you ever looked at what big companies can offer online at low price points? If you have, you are probably already feeling discouraged. But if you ever take the time to look at their social media comments, you’ll find lots of negativity. Bad reviews, bad customer service, no connection with their consumer. As small business owners, we have to purchase or manufacture all of our products. That all comes with a cost. So how do we compete with big companies? We don’t. Comparison will be the thief of your dreams.
Think about a fast food chain like McDonalds and compare it to your favorite local restaurant. It’s apples to oranges. So why would you compare yourself to a huge online company? Instead of trying to compete with a big company, think of how much better you can do it. How can you make your products and the whole customer experience superior? How can you secure loyal customers for life?
Sarah Williams is the CEO and Founder of two 7-figure businesses, Framed by Sarah and Launch Your Box. She is also the host of Launch Your Box, which launched this past fall. The podcast has already been downloaded over 100k times, is in the top 1% of podcasts globally,and in the top 20 entrepreneurship podcasts in the U.S. Connect with her on Facebook @subboxwithsarah.
