The road to self-employment has been a gigantic learning curve, and a journey to personal and professional development, and self-awareness.

I think much of my business and personal success is a result of who I have become in the journey.  Developing a mindset for success has been necessary and rewarding.

Here are 5 factors that I believe contributed to shifting my mind for success:

I truly want to succeed

Running a business (or two) takes a ridiculous amount of desire for the work you do.  Desire is an incredible energy source that keeps me focused and doing great things with my work.  With that desire, it never really feels like I am doing work and the time flies.  The desire to achieve success is something that I connect with every single day and I engage in activities that fuel it.  Having the desire makes me think of things that I wouldn’t  have considered before, such as how I can add more value for my employees and clients, what other possibilities are out there that are congruent with what I am already working on, and how I can make my business the BEST in our industry.

I crave personal growth

I fully welcome opportunities to increase my self-awareness, to develop my talent and potential, to enhance the quality of my life and the life of the people around me, and I’ve realized my dreams and aspirations.   I seek out opportunities to contribute to my personal growth by reading, listening to audio motivations, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, participating in volunteer work, sitting on boards and committees, mentoring new businesses, attending events and discussions, etc.  Embracing an attitude of life-long learning has shaped who I have become in the past five years.

I am my business

This was difficult for me in the beginning but it couldn’t be truer; I am my business!  Three factors that have been significant in helping me realize that I am my business are the process, the people and purpose. The process is how I have spent my time thinking about my goals, the direction I want to take my vision in and the creative ideas I come up with to get us there.  The people are those who not only believe in the vision but those who are collaborators and want to see it grow.  Each person’s values and work ethics are aligned with the goals and ultimately the purpose of this business.  And the purpose is our mission.  Knowing that the purpose comes from me allows me to have a strategic focus which allows me to create clear direction that ensures we hit or exceed our goals each and every year.

The ability to pivot

I’ve learned that it’s an asset to my business to recognize when something isn’t working and to switch it up as soon as I realize that.   By making the necessary adjustments in our plans, we have always come out on top.  Goals are living and breathing and have to be as adaptable as our plan, our team and our business.

Jump in

I use the analogy ‘doing a cannon ball off of the high board’.  If you want to win at life you have to jump in with both feet and hope a net appears.  It’s frightening, especially at first, but the only way to win is by showing up.

Success is not a mystery.  It’s a mind-set, a psychology and an attitude.  Use these tips to help you develop your own attitude of success for 2016!

All the best for a prosperous new year!

Sheri