WHAT IS MINDSET

Your mindset is how your mind works.

It’s made up of your collective thoughts and beliefs, and they affect your thoughts, feelings and actions.  They also provide the lens you look through and that’s how you see and interpret the world around you.

You can imagine how much mindset comes into play as an entrepreneur stepping outside of your comfort zone, entering a world of uncertainty to start and grow your business.

 

HOW BELIEFS ARE FORMED

Many of us aren’t even aware of all the thoughts we have day in and day out.  Plus, we also have a ton of subconscious thoughts.  These are beliefs ingrained in us since childhood or are learned from difficult situations. Our beliefs are formed 3 ways:

 

01 - From parents & authority figures 

Parents, teachers, grandparents, etc have taught you what they know to be true via their lens of the world.  Some you’ll decide to keep, but others you may want to examine and decide if they still serve you or if you’d like to reshape that belief.

 

02 - Society & culture

Depending on where you grew up, how you grew up, the culture you come from…there are specific truths and beliefs that are ingrained in the everyday.  Some of these beliefs may be ones you can pinpoint straightaway, but others are buried a little deeper.

 

03 - Our experiences

When something traumatic or difficult happens to you, you form a new belief as a way to protect yourself because your natural instinct is above all else to stay safe.

  

To uncover some of your beliefs, think about some of the things you find challenging now and then see if you can trace it back to one or more of these 3 root causes.

  

AN EXPERT ON MINDSET

One of the foremost experts and authorities on mindset is Carol Dweck.  She has a book called MINDSET that I highly recommend.

 

At a very top level her book says that:

“A mindset refers to whether you believe qualities such as intelligence and talent are fixed or changeable traits.”

 

It goes on to say there are 2 different types of mindset:

01 - FIXED MINDSET

People who believe that these qualities are inborn, fixed & unchangeable.

02 - GROWTH MINDSET

People who believe that these abilities can be developed and strengthened by way of commitment and hard work.

  

You get to decide what beliefs serve you and which ones do not. Once you’re aware of the difference between a fixed and growth mindset, you have the chance to choose which type of mindset you’d like to cultivate. Which one would serve you best as an entrepreneur with big goals and dreams?  

 

WHAT ARE BELIEFS?

According to Tony Robbins, a belief is simply a feeling of certainty about something.  For example, if you believe you’re tech savvy, all you’re really saying is “I feel certain that I’m tech savvy.”

 

Consider where in your life and business you feel uncertain.  If you’re uncertain, the feelings that may come up for you around that uncertainty are anxiety, a feeling of overwhelm or what I call general “ickiness.” These feelings most likely mean there’s a subconscious belief coming up for you and your response is all about how to protect yourself and stay safe.

 

Staying safe goes against pretty much all the inspiration, wisdom and advice given to entrepreneurs.  People tell you nothing good comes from your comfort zone, or that you need to step out and be bold in order to fulfill your dreams and achieve your goals.

 

So, where does that leave you when you’re battling your mindset and simultaneously working towards those business goals?  The discomfort can be overwhelming, lead to inaction and you might get stuck in the fear.  This is why finding out how to shift your mindset can help you move forward.

 

MINDSET CHALLENGES FOR ENTREPRENEURS

Growth is never simple, easy or comfortable, but there are tools to help you manage your mindset and take small steps forward every day to cultivate positivity and change.  And with a more positive outlook and a mindset focused on growth, it can help you create success in your business.

Do any of these mindset issues sound familiar to you?

• Making yourself feel smaller to avoid conflict

• Allowing other peoples’ opinions dictate how you behave 

• Imposter syndrome 

• Comparison-itis 

• Lack of confidence in your abilities

• It’s hard showing up and you talk yourself out of it

• You can’t charge that much

• You do charge that much for your service, it needs to be hard work and lots of time and energy so you’ve “earned it”

• Your work isn’t anything serious…it’s just “pocket money”

• When you take time off, you feel guilty you’re not working

 

Whether you resonated with one or most of these statements, you are not alone, my friend!

MINDSET TOOLS TO START THE SHIFT

What do you do when you find yourself in a negative thought spiral?  Here are some ideas to try:

Physical Activities To Change Your Mood

• Shake like a wet dog to loosen the negative energies in your body and let them go…I call this one “shake it like a polaroid picture!”

• Breathe.  Do a breathing exercise to calm your anxiety and focus your mind. One to try: take a deep breath in through your nose, expanding your belly then chest, hold for 3 counts, and on your exhale blow through your mouth and let loose a big sigh or the sound “haaaaa” which will open your heart chakra.  This will get you out of your head and into your heart.

 

Finding Space For Quiet

• Meditation (even if it’s 5 minutes a day) – I like to imagine negative thoughts floating away on clouds and leaving my mind.

• Surrender your mind chatter to the heavens. Imagine the top of your head opening up and letting all those beliefs and thoughts that don’t serve you drift away like stardust.

Visualize What You Want

• Turn the page – when a negative thought comes up, picture it written on a page in a book.  Now, imagine turning the page, leaving that thought behind and having a blank page to write a new belief, or a positive thought that you’d like to have moving forward.

• Be the eye of the storm – you can have a tornado of negative thoughts or chaos from the world spinning around you, but you decide how you’ll react.  Be the eye of the storm where it’s filled with light and peace and you are calm and focused, aware of the storm but not scared by it.

  

You won’t shift your mindset fully at the flip of a switch.  It takes time and practice. Just like you exercise your leg muscles to run better, you need to set up mind practices to start shifting your negative thoughts into positive ones, and begin leaning towards the growth mindset you desire.

 

One last exercise you can try for whenever a mindset challenge arises:

• Identify the challenge, thought or belief coming up

• Choose the next best thought (not a quantum leap thought that you don’t have the capacity to 100% believe yet)

• What feeling do you want to have tied to that next best thought (do you want to feel more confident, positive, free?)

• Deconstruct to reconstruct: Remember a time when you felt the most confident / positive / free…what were the circumstances in that situation?  Remember everything you can and then apply those circumstances to this new area you want to have this feeling in

• Create a new belief and write down an affirmation that will support you in cultivating that new belief

  

At every new level you reach as an entrepreneur, you’ll find new mindset challenges arise.  Getting into the practice of managing and shifting your mindset is extremely valuable in helping you move forward and create the success you really want.