ENTREPRENEURSHIP: The Crazy Power in Positivity
Entrepreneurship can be a battle of endurance. Between the high peaks of achievement are valleys of setback. Moments of self-doubt and fear. Moments where maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit and keeping your eye on your goals is a struggle. What makes entrepreneurs unique is your responses to these challenges. Your positivity and focus.
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”
Henry Ford
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Entrepreneurs develop the ability to persevere and to grow stronger, more motivated … and more successful. How do you do this? You’ve read many times that success comes from shifting your mindset. Entrepreneurs succeed by knowing that you can succeed. Knowing that you can succeed steers you to finding out how to succeed.
Since Guildstreet started we’ve had our share of ups and downs just like every other business. We learned early that the key to overcoming setbacks and challenges was to shift into enquiry mode and focus on the positives, and then to see what we could do to turn negatives into opportunities. Each situation brings knowledge, opportunities and potential outcomes, and by concentrating on those, we set up for success and continually improve for success.
Now, when Guildstreet team members meet with clients, prospective clients or personal and professional friends, we talk about possibilities, and how a view of possibilities can impact performance and outcomes. Positivity is not sugar-coating. Positivity is generating ideas out of challenges.
Positivity vs. Negativity
Another way to look at positivity is to understand the different outcomes that come from positive versus negative mindsets.
A negative mindset limits thinking, undervalues achievements and generates a variety of poor outcomes and negative feelings. Negative feelings, in turn, can lead to lack of confidence and underperformance. Negative thinking leads to not thinking - the inability to seek out solutions because you’ve given up too early. Negative thinking blocks everything. It spirals in on itself like a black hole.
A positive mindset, on the other hand, is open and innovative, always searching for a way to the better outcome. Positivity increases energy and improves productivity: a winning formula for success. Positivity breeds the tenacity to keep going and find your way through the forest. Positivity can help you turn a bad situation into a good one in a much shorter period of time and with better end results. And best of all … a mindset of positivity generates ideas!
Consider that huge setback that was the COVID shut-downs. How did your business respond? Were you discouraged? Ready to give up and lose faith? Or did you adapt to serve your customers? Did you identify ideas that will make your business more resilient in the future? Many businesses are now more agile and flexible in finding the feedstocks for their business because they were forced to find alternative sources of supply.
Guildstreet’s clients are an amazing example of the power of positive thinking. During the pandemic they invented new ways of doing business, new ways of reaching customers, and created lots of new product lines. Pivot has become an overused word, but wow, please celebrate all the businesses who did pivot and who came out of the pandemic shut-downs stronger and more profitable.
Growth vs. Fixed
The second important mindset is growth versus fixed. A growth mindset views the opportunities ahead as limitless. A fixed mindset is limited by the current state of things. (You can tell from this section that my favourite Christmas present was “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck!)
A growth mindset allows entrepreneurs to think big and push forward. Missteps become a chance to demonstrate resilience and determination: both being ingredients needed to overcome set backs and to reach new heights. You will recognize this mindset when you read stories of successful entrepreneurs who changed adversity into triumph. It’s quite a fun exercise to view a challenge and look at ways to twist that challenge on it’s head and turn it into an opportunity.
An entrepreneur with a fixed mindset suffers failure and gives up. A fixed mindset views the market and political environment as limited and shrinking; something they have no control over, so they don’t bother trying. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky.
Shift your Mindset
Here are three more tips to help entrepreneurs maintain a positive and growth-oriented mindset:
Make your goals unlimited. Unlimited thinking opens up your goals to unlimited opportunity and performance. Think of Henry’s Ford’s quote about a ‘can’ versus ‘can’t’ attitude. Amazon started in Jeff Bezos garage!
Be deliberate and take action. Deliberately take actions to achieve your goals - step by step. If the goal is gaspingly huge, then break it down into chunks.
Execute with excellence. You are the best. You are unique and will bring a unique flavor to your business in any industry. Demonstrate that to your customers by providing them with their best choices.
Leading for Positive Growth
What kind of leader are you? Do you encourage people to keep trying and do you support them? How about listening and learning from everyone? Do you include your team in finding business solutions? Do you lead by example with motivation to push through and achieve something new? Many years ago my boss told me “Don’t bring me the problem; bring me three solutions.” With that simple sentence, she forever changed my world.
Need more inspiration? Can we help you change your world? We’d love to chat and help you and your business reach new heights. Contact our team today!
By Maggie Bremski and Keren Houlgate