Are Your Thoughts Sabotaging Your Business?

What do these words have to do with the success or failure of your business?

How many of you would agree that being in business is challenging? It may also be exciting and energizing, but the truth is, there are many variables that have to be executed and managed in a day. When we talk about the health of our business, we frequently overlook how the power of our own minds influence our results.

I had a client who was a natural entrepreneur. He had a clever mind and could see opportunity at every turn. By all rights, he “should” have been a multi-millionaire. But his anxiety “got” him. He would start a business by putting all the necessary pieces in place. But if he didn’t start making money quickly enough (for his unrealistic expectations), he would drop that business and follow his next big idea, only to start the cycle over again.

Then I had another client who had the opposite problem. He held on way too long with a business that he should have let go of. The market had changed and he didn’t change with it. He was so invested in being right, that he missed the signs that were obvious to everyone except himself.

You see, our minds are very tricky. Unconsciously, we pick out the information we want to see and start rationalizing our decisions to go along with what we want to be true. Without a great deal of humility and self- awareness, we operate in murky waters.

So, if you want to be even more successful, both in your business and in your life, you must be aware of your thoughts and how they impact your feelings, your actions, and your results.

Here are 3 tips to get you started on the path of self-discovery:

1. Before you can change anything, you must first become aware of what
you are thinking. This is where the practice of Mindfulness comes in.
Mindfulness is paying attention to what is happening in the present moment without judgment. If you take the time to just notice your thoughts, you will begin to get an inside view of what is motivating your actions.

For example, I may have a deadline coming up and I’m procrastinating getting the work done. If I sit with myself and ask the question, “Why am I not getting it done?”; then patiently wait, I begin to notice the thoughts and feelings that arise. This is when I get a greater insight into what’s going on behind the scenes in my unconscious mind.

2. Once the curtain is pulled away, I can begin to formulate a course of action.
If we go back to the example of the client who kept starting new businesses, he might have become aware of his fears around money and the accompanying anxiety. He might have noticed that it was a pattern that he was repeating and he needed to make a decision to make some changes.

3. Because we are complicated beings and the unconscious, by its nature is unconscious, this work is not always easy to do alone. If you find that your answers are illusive and your path is not clear, ask for help.

It is my strong belief, supported by many years of working with hundreds of clients, that there are important mental skills we need to learn in order for our lives to flourish. If you put equal time into acquiring these skills as you do into all other aspects of your education and professions, you will truly be an unbeatable act!

To Your Mastery,
Tina