Research on mindset suggests its impacts range far and wide – how well do police officers cope with work stress? How quickly do immigrants adapt to living in a new country? How do new parents adjust to the myriad of responsibilities of caring for a child? Mindset seems to be implicated in so many aspects of our lives, so it should come as no surprise that mindset can have a significant influence on entrepreneurial success. And while we know that most people will either fall into one of two mindset categories – fixed or growth mindsets, research also shows that we can change our mindset…and changing your mindset is a cornerstone of my business coaching approach. Ultimately, I am driven to help my clients understand and adapt their ways of thinking so they can leverage mindset for entrepreneurial success.
If you’ve been following my blog, you already know that a growth mindset allows people to see stressful events, problems, and barriers as challenges that provide opportunities – opportunities to learn, grow, and improve. On the other hand, those with a fixed mindset are more likely to fear failure, so much so that they see challenges as impenetrable blockades. Fortunately, mindset is a dynamic characteristic, and I’ve seen even the most fearful entrepreneurs realize beliefs about success and failure are subjective. The only true limitation to achieving your business goals is your imagination, and possibility grows from mindset. What then, can you do to develop a mindset that drives success?
A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
Stress is real – we all experience multiple sources of stress in our daily lives from work stress to family stress to traffic and everything in between. You can also take control over stress through practical, healthy habits.
Sleep – regular, routine sleep is a pillar of health. Quality sleep improves your ability to cope with stress, make smart decisions, and generally function optimally. Experts recommend maintaining a routine sleep schedule which means getting around 7 hours every night and going to bed and waking at the same time every day.
Movement – regular exercise is a fundamental strategy for managing stress well, and it also contributes to better sleep. Go for a walk, ride your bike, practice yoga, or head to the gym. There is no special recipe for exercise, just move your body daily to support your total health.
Relaxation – establishing ways to take a break from hectic schedules is also important. Listening to music, practicing mediation, creating art are just a few activities that can help you create a peaceful state of mind.
Once stress is better controlled through healthy habits, you may find that your mindset begins to shift on its own. At the very least, less stress allows you more energy to dedicate yourself to learning a growth mindset.
IMPACT OF MINDSET
In my experience as an entrepreneur and business coach, a growth mindset is liberating. Growth mindsets reflect passion, excitement, strength, and determination. When you operate from a growth mindset, challenges become opportunities and risk becomes reward. You’re allowed to learn, evolve, and thrive when you’re no longer tied to the notion that failure is the end of the line; instead, failure means growing and developing new skills. But you don’t need to trust me; research shows that the growth mindset influences businesses to be more innovative and productive while also promoting workplace cultures that value collaboration and hard work.
FOCUS ON STRENGTHS
Another vital component of developing a growth mindset for business success is identifying and following your strengths. I’m sure there are many things you can’t do – but what you CAN DO will guide you to success. Remember, you are building your own business and you have a lot of life experience that tells you how to set your own path. For example, some people are naturally more productive in the morning while others maybe more successful in the evening hours. Trying to be a morning person when you’re a night owl will not help you succeed; it will own hinder your productivity. Identify your strengths and the practices that work best for you so that you can leverage your strengths for success.
BELIEVE IN YOUR POTENTIAL You can evolve as an entrepreneur. You can learn new skills and talents. You can seize the opportunities that so-called failure represents. This belief in self is often one of the more challenging qualities for entrepreneurs to develop which is essentially why I became a business coach. The recipe for success has very little to do with a person’s intrinsic qualities and so much more to do with learning to believe that you can achieve your goals even if it means developing new traits. When you work with me as a business coach, I’ll help you develop the mindset to see challenges as opportunities that make you a highly skilled, flexible, and adaptable entrepreneur that leverages mindset for success.
Want to break through the barriers to your best business? Schedule your free consultation by filling out our online needs assessment today at www.ThriveHQ.ca
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