What are the good things going on in your business right now? When you kick off the day, do you take a relaxed moment to think about the good things? Or are you the kind of person who immediately takes a deep breath and thinks about all the problems you’ve got going on? Having a fair view of all that’s going on in business is, of course, a good thing. But focusing too heavily on the problems isn’t going to make things better. 

Sounds kind of nuts, right? Saying that focusing on your problems isn’t going to fix them? Ever hear someone say that what you choose to focus your time and energy on will be the things that grow? By that logic, if you spend too much time focusing on the negative, all of a sudden you’re going to be surrounded by negativity. 

At the beginning of the year, we read “You Are A Badass” by Jen Sincero as part of our I Swear I’m Gonna Read This Sh*t Bookclub. While we read it more for the personal development piece, there were sections in there that really resonated with us in terms of business.  

FEEL YOUR GRATITUDE

This ties right back into the opening of our blog post here. Gratitude is the act of recognizing and being thankful for what is. When it comes to business, adding in a little gratitude every day is going to help you to create a more positive mindset, which then begins to help you attract more of what you want – the positive things. What kinds of things should you be grateful for? All kinds of things. But what we liked best was the notion of being grateful for the things you want MORE of. Be grateful for your clients, be grateful for your ability to talk about your business with ease, be grateful for your support network, be grateful for cashflow. There are a lot of things to be grateful for out there, but if you put a little strategy on it, your business will begin to reap the rewards. 

We particularly liked this quote from the book: “When you are consistently in a state of gratitude, and aware of all the awesomeness that already exists, it, among many other things, makes it much easier for you to believe that there’s more awesomeness where that came from, and that this yet-to-be-manifested awesomeness is also available to you. You’ve received awesomeness before, so of course, you can receive awesomeness again” 

FAIL…AND THEN TRY AGAIN

We learn from failing. If we keep waiting for perfect, it’s never going to happen. It’s so easy to give up when you fail at something, but if you can step back from the emotion and look objectively at what happened, pick out the lessons and learn from it. Then readjust and try again.  

KEEP YOUR PROMISES TO YOURSELF

Who is guilty of saying “I’ll do that later” and then never actually doing it? We certainly admit to it ourselves. But what Jen dishes out in her book is that when we start to keep the promises that we make to ourselves, we become more accountable. More accountable to us, and more accountable to others. We loved her example of ‘don’t be like that friend who flakes out all the time’ to yourself. Instead, respect yourself, prioritize yourself, and commit to yourself. It’s a concept that fits well in business too; stop putting off those tasks and conversations. Follow through on what you say you are going to do. You need to be accountable to your business just like you need to be accountable to yourself. 

Since reading You Are A Badass, we have been more purposeful in these areas. Regular gratitude, not being afraid to try and fail, and keeping up with our commitments to our business. And you know what? It’s working. It’s shifting our mindsets ever so slightly every week and we’re seeing more positive activity in our business. Give a try, what do you have to lose? 

Want to grow a little more in your personal and professional life? Commit to it! Join our I Swear I’m Gonna Read This Sh*t Bookclub. We read 1 book every two months, rotating between personal and professional development. It’s totally low-pressure, and it’s totally good for you. Come and join us!