Whether developing the right sales strategy or finding the best workers’ comp insurance for small businesses, it takes a lot to run a company. One commonly overlooked aspect of success is attitude. Although it’s harder to quantify than ad spend or inventory, it’s just as important. But how do you maintain a winning attitude? Below are five tips:
1. Practice self-care
Maintaining a winning attitude starts with maintaining your health. If you’re feeling under-rested and over-stressed, it’s too easy to sink into cynicism. To avoid that, prioritize self-care. Set aside time to decompress, no matter how busy your life is. For the enthusiastic entrepreneur, this is a waste of time. However, it’s important to remember that your mind needs rest to perform at its best.
The nature of the rest you need will be unique to your personality. For some people, meditation or yoga is helpful. For others, a walk in the park or a hike in the woods is how they get centred. Whatever it is for you, finding and sticking to it is essential.
2. Remember your why
The day-to-day grind of running successful business centres around “how” questions. How do you cut costs? How can you boost profits? How should you streamline your organization? Although these practical concerns are essential to answer, they distract attention from another vital question: “Why?”
Why did you launch your enterprise in the first place? Why don’t you want to go back to your previous job? Reflecting on these questions can motivate you to stay positive, even when things are more complicated than expected.
3. Write in a gratitude journal.
Running a small business is a roller coaster of highs and lows. If you spend too much time focusing on what’s going wrong, it can drag you down. A daily gratitude journal is a straightforward way to refocus your mind and stoke a winning attitude.
At the end of each day, write down three to five things that make you happy and grateful. Nothing is too small, whether it’s a morning cup of coffee, a nice customer in the afternoon, or a delicious meal at night. It is essential to write them down rather than leaving them to float aimlessly in your head. This regular practice will refocus your mind on the positive in a short period.
4. Reduce your news consumption.
Maintaining a winning attitude is all about gaining control over your focus. Alongside boosting positivity through a gratitude journal, another way to gain control is to ditch the news. Or, at least, to seriously reconsider how you’re consuming it.
Do you passively watch the news at the end of the day to unwind? If so, consider reconsidering. Most news is full of drama, fear, and general negativity. Running a business is stressful enough, so there’s no need to pile on the anxiety with news stories that, more often than not, don’t directly affect you or your business.
5. Create a supportive network.
Surround yourself with a helpful mix of friends, mentors, and other business owners. When you fall into hard times, don’t struggle alone. Instead, reach out to them for motivation, advice, and support. Even when you’re doing well, it can be inspiring to bounce ideas off peers and mentors.
Keeping a winning attitude while running daily operations is difficult but necessary. Practice the five tips above to ensure it becomes a natural habit.
