by
Caroline Zook
We're going to delve into the world of mindset and share with you the four pivotal pillars that have played a crucial role in helping us build a calm, profitable, and peaceful business.
After all, your business can only be as relaxed as the mindset behind it, especially if you're a solopreneur or running a small business where it all begins with you.
The Four Mindset Tips That Build A Calm Business
Let's start by unpacking what contributes to reaching your business goals. There are several factors at play, including your:
Skills
Beliefs
Mindset
Habits
Circumstances*
*While circumstances often feel beyond our control and somewhat fixed, it's the elements you can control that we call the "four pillars of you" that make all the difference.
Let's not dwell on what we can't control, let's focus on the things that we can actively impact, change, and evolve!
Mindset Tip #1: Experimentation 🧪 The Experimenter's Mindset
Imagine approaching your business endeavors with the spirit of a curious experimenter. You're like a chemist, working away in your business lab, concocting potions and elixirs, always open to testing your whacky hypotheses. Okay, you kind of sound more like a wizard 🧙♀️ than a scientist 🧑🔬, but we think you get the metaphor we're going for here!
One of the MOST important parts of using experimentation to test all of your assumptions without attaching your self-worth to the outcomes.
We want you to think about embracing the idea that your business experiments can fail!
Did you try running your own podcast for 6 months and it never took off? That's okay! You learned a lot of new skills in that process and you can tick podcasting off your marketing plan.
Maybe you hopped on the TikTok train and posted every day for a month. Didn't see any movement in your business at all? Alrighty, you now know that TikTok isn't right for you and your biz goals.
The key to experimentation is being open and willing to try new things while understanding NOT all of them will succeed. That is what running a business is in a nutshell!
Recognize the transformative power of experimentation, embrace trying and failing, and watch as you continue to accrue new skills and experiences that will help you for years to come.
Mindset Tip #2: Essentialism 🔘 The Art of Focus
We read Greg McKweon's book Essentialism (aff link) and it was truly transformative for us. The book is loaded with value, so we'd definitely recommend reading it, but the concept of essentialism can be boiled down into this: Essentialism is the disciplined pursuit of less. It's about focusing on the vital few rather than the trivial many.
It's imperative that you zero in on the most impactful parts of your business and filter out all the other noise and chaos. As the person who runs your business, it's your main job to acknowledge you only have so much time, effort, and willpower, and all of that needs to be pointed in the right direction.
Since reading McKweon's book, we've found that we come back to a simple question, "Is this really essential to our goals?" time and time again. Highly recommend grabbing the book to fully learn the concept and embrace it!
Mindset #3 Patience ⏳ The Slow and Steady Approach
Impatience often clouds our judgment when it comes to business growth. Embracing patience means recognizing that slow growth is still growth, ensuring sustainable progress.
One of the best things we've ever done with any of our businesses was to ignore what other people were doing and embrace our own long game. It's easy to get caught up in the "quick tips" and "immediate growth hacks" but almost all of those things only work for the person who is pitching them to you. Instead, we like to zoom the lens out and prioritize a longer game plan, which almost always is less stressful, less anxiety-inducing, and is actually ENJOYABLE. Imagine that, running your business being something that's fun??
Your business is YOUR business. Your goals are YOUR goals. Your timeline is YOUR timeline. We can lose sight of these things as we spend time on social media or subscribed to other people in our industry. Take a moment today to take a deep breath and review the plans for your business for the next 1-2 years as opposed to the next 1-2 months.
Mindset Tip #4 - Evolution 🔄 Growing with Your Business
As your business evolves, so should your strategies and mindset. This means:
Letting go of what no longer works and embracing the natural evolution of your business.
Avoiding the dreaded "business dungeon," where you're stuck doing things you no longer enjoy.
Prioritizing your happiness by aligning your business with your evolving needs.
Recognizing that both you and your business will evolve and change over time, and that's perfectly normal.
Mindset Wrap-Up and Bonus Tips for Skills, Beliefs, and Habits
Before we close things article out, we wanted to leave you with some individual tips for the other "pillars of you" besides just your mindset:
Skills - If you worry about money, invest in your skills. The value of your skills will compound over time. Beliefs - Challenge limiting beliefs that may be holding you back from reaching your full potential. Your beliefs can and should change with new information (and skills!) Habits - Design daily systems that align with your long-term goals for sustainable success. Your outcomes are directly related to your daily actions.
We strongly believe you can unlock the full potential of your business by adopting the four key mindsets we shared. Remember, we only get one life to live, take control of what you can and embrace that life and business will always be evolving!
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