Whether you are starting a new business or trying to build a suitable career for yourself, I know what it feels like to be in the beginning stages of your journey, and having other people just tell you to believe in yourself. You might often feel like telling them, ‘Yes, I get it. I do believe in myself, but then what?’ You would still feel stuck if things are not working out for you yet, no matter how much you believe in yourself, and you would still really need practical advice that can really get you through in your journey.
So here is some practical advice, in the form of mindset shifts that you need, which have worked for me so far and so can sure work for you as well. There are three kinds of mindset shifts that truly have the potential to change the game for anyone who’s struggling for growth, whether it’s for their career, for their startup business growth, or in any other ambition that they’re trying to pursue in life.
Think big of yourself
The first one is thinking big. Now this is something that you need to pay attention to. Honestly, I myself used to be the type of person who would set really low standards for myself and for other people. The reason why I used to do this was that I just didn’t want to be disappointed. I think if you’re feeling stuck, you might be the same kind of person at this phase in your life. The thing is, when you set your standards really low, you actually end up striving to achieve something that’s even lower. The way to change this mindset, if you are a new business owner let’s say, is to start surrounding yourself with other entrepreneurs. Anyone who is successful in life is not going to shoot their own goals down. Successful entrepreneurs have massive visions and a strong unwavering belief that they can make it happen. When you interact and build your network around them, their positive energy is going to pull you up and make you want to push up your goals as well. You will naturally begin to set up higher benchmarks of success as you feel like you want to emulate them.
Thinking big is important. If you tell yourself that you want to sign up one client in the next 6 months, then your actions are going to reflect that goal. You are going to sign one client and that’s all. On the other hand, if you tell yourself that you are going to make $100k in revenue this year, you would end up making 10 times the efforts to make sure you achieve that goal. You will show up more, hustle more, hop on more calls with potential clients, and basically maximize all your outreach activities.
Ask yourself what the more successful versions of you would do
This one is a bit tricky to understand. If you are facing a problem or feeling stuck in your business, ask yourself what the six times more successful version of you would do. You see, at every stage of growth, it’s going to require a different version of you to keep yourself going. So if you feel really low right now, take a step back and ask yourself, how you would react to your current situation if you were actually making 5-6 times the money you’re making now. Asking yourself this question will help you to think at a higher level, to be a bigger person, and to not really sweat about the small stuff. For example, a six figure business owner is not going to try to reply to every single online comment they get about their services. They would rather be spending majority of their time stressing about which new market or area to penetrate. When you think like this, you would realize that there are so many differences between the things that successful people are focused on, and those that you are focused on. This is turn will teach you what is it exactly that’s making you feel stuck and unable to grow beyond a certain point.
Let me give a clearer example because it’s important that you get what I’m talking about here. Let’s say you have an unhappy client who’s bashing you online or something like that. Ask yourself, what would a six-figure version of you or a six-figure earning CEO do about this? Would they stress about it, cry about it, and shut down their whole business because one person wasn’t happy? No, they would move forward. They would understand what they did wrong and try to do better next time. They’ll work on the strategy of their business, and really move on with it.
Assume that no one can do better than you
Just assume that nobody can do better than you. It’s as simple as that. You see, when you really start growing fast in your business, and you become a thought leader in your space, it can get scary because you start seeing people replicating the things that you do. You might see people being really inspired by your work and you start to feel the competition. You start worrying what if you run out of ideas. What if someone does something better than you and you just fade into the background? What if people in your community find someone better? These kinds of thoughts are really common as you’re growing your business.
If you’re in the content creation business, for instance, you might start wondering how much of your content you should give out for free. You start worrying if you’ve given out too much without charging your readers or viewers for it. What if someone copies your ideas and makes more money out of it? So tell yourself that no matter what, that no one can do better than you. Even if there’s someone who literally copies your entire article and publishes it elsewhere, claiming to have written it themselves, they’ll never be able to deliver it the way that you do, or monetize it the way you do. You have to remember that if you compare yourself to everyone else, and you stop yourself just because a concept was replicated or was done before, then you’re really doing a disservice to other people who might align more with your personality and action plan. Even if people try to copy you, nobody can ever take your entire business and run away with it.
So these were the three shifts in mindset that if you implement, would really be helpful in giving you a career boost, or letting you become an expert in any business you do.