Set Your Mind for Success

I meet many business owners every week. Some are wildly successful and others are struggling. It makes me wonder, “Why are some so successful and others not?” There are of course several different reasons, but one thing that successful people seem to have mastered is the right mind set.

Now, having the right mind set for success can be learned. It is not always easy to learn, but with work, you can change your own mindset. Just as top athletes continually train their bodies for peak performance, successful business owners need to continually train their minds.

There are many different aspects to a successful mindset. Some of my favorite books that elaborate on this are: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker, Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy, and The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.

The most important thing is that you MUST have an undying belief that your business will achieve the success you envision. But this faith is not the same as blind optimism. You must also be able to look clearly at your situation and understand the obstacles. You cannot just sit there thinking good thoughts and wait for the good things to arrive. You need to attack the problems facing you with an action plan and the intention of achieving what you want.

But it is amazing to me how many people don’t know what they want. They don’t know what they want for themselves or their business! Take time to do this today. It does take some time to really think about what you want in life. But the time spent envisioning your future is well worth it. Once you’ve pictured this success in your mind, write it down. Writing something down is one of the best ways to make it happen. Truly! And keep these written goals where you can see them. I know one successful business owner who puts his goals on post-it notes and sticks them on his bathroom mirror. So he sees them every morning as he starts his day.

Having this vision or goal in your mind throughout the day will help you tackle all those obstacles in front of you. You can tackle them with energy and enthusiasm because you know this will bring you closer to your envisioned success.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins talks to James Stockdale who was a Vietnam Prisoner of War for seven years. He survived years of horrendous torture and attributed his survival to his mindset. He said, “I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end…” When Collins asked Stockdale about who did not make it out, he replied, “Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go… And they died of a broken heart.” Stockdale then added, “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

If you are going to survive as a business owner, you need to have the absolute belief that will achieve the success you envision, but you must also confront the reality in front of you. Recognize the problems as challenges for you to conquer. Find the passion and enjoyment that got you started and let that passion shine!