Success Mindset: 8 Secrets of Building a Successful Business
In this blog post, I want to share with you Success Mindset: 8 Secrets of Building a Successful Business.
Starting and building a successful business takes hard work. The journey won’t be easy. As in an entrepreneurial endeavors, to create something that is impactful, sustainable and profitable will be one of the most challenging, time consuming and emotionally taxing journeys you’ll ever take.
I can almost guarantee that you’ll likely feel frustrations, self-doubts, overwhelmed or may even want to quit at some point of your journey.
I don’t mean to discourage or to scare you.
But I hope you appreciate my honesty here. Because in order to build a purposeful and profitable business, you need to fully understand the rules of the games and to get mentally prepared.
My Quick Entrepreneurial Story
I started my first business in Year 2011. I’m not gonna lie, but it was one of the toughest things I have ever done in my life.
You can listen to my crazy story HERE.
And yet, looking back, it’s also been one of the most exhilarating and rewarding journeys of my life. From not knowing anything about starting a business, struggling along the way, to eventually building it to multi-million dollars and able to support social missions that I care about.
I often get asked on what it takes to building a successful business. And I believe, the answer comes down to having the right success mindset. Below, I have put together what has helped me throughout my journey. And it’s my hope that this will be helpful to you too.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no extra cost to you, I may earn a commission when you purchase through my links. This is how I’m able to keep most of my content free and support my social missions. Thank you for supporting my blog! Please read my disclosure for more info.
READY TO CREATE A BUSINESS AND A LIFE THAT YOU’LL LOVE?
Grab my FREE
PASSION TO PROFIT PLAYBOOK
and start turning your passion into a deeply satisfying, impactful, and profitable business.
Make Money.
Change The World.
Success Mindset # 1:
Have Passion In What You Do
Do What You Love and Love What You Do!
It takes time to build a sustainable, purpose-driven and profitable business.
During the initial start-up phase, it is likely that you will have to spend a significant amount of time setting things up and getting the ball rolling.
So, make sure that you find something that you are passionate in and be excited to spend time on!
If you don’t enjoy what you do, every day will feel like a drag. But, if you enjoy what you do, you will be happy to spend more time to learn and to master the skill sets in your field, and be more likely to keep pushing forward despite obstacles and setbacks that will definitely come along the way of any business adventures.
If you love what you do, your enthusiasm will shine through to your audience and customers through your work too.
How To Find Your Passions?
I believe most of you already know what your passions are.
Your passion is what makes your heart soar.
But if you are unsure, you need to find them! And here are a few simple steps you can take to find out.
(1) Explore the Things You Love to Do
What do you love to do? Do you have certain hobbies you love doing – for example, do you love traveling? Gardening? Raising a pet? Camping? Calligraphy? Healthy eating? Exercise?
Notice what you always gravitate towards and love to do doing your spare time. Chances are that this is where your passion lies.
(2) Notice What You Cannot Wait to Learn
Are there certain books you always love to read at the libraries or at the bookstores? Are there subjects you cannot wait to learn? Courses you want to take and learn more about? Certain types of Podcast you always follow? YouTube videos you are excited to watch? Chances are you have a passion in these subjects.
(3) Notice What Comes Easily To You
Of course, it takes work to develop your talents – even the most gifted musician in the World still has to practice, but it should feel natural and joyful to do. I love to write, to teach, to coach, and I love to help others succeed. These are the things I thoroughly enjoy doing. Although I did invest many years in learning how to master these skills, I have enjoyed the process.
In other words, work is required, but suffering is not.
If what you are working on feel like suffering to you, then it may not be what you are passionate about.
(4) Try New Things
Chances are, there are things out there that you would be very passionate about doing, however, if you never knew about it or you have never tried it, then how would you ever know?
The key here is to keep an open mind and try new things. Sometimes, the best way to finding your passion is by doing!
Get out there, try new things, take a new class, meet some new people, travel to somewhere you have never been before, or read a new book. By trying out new things, you will be much more likely to find your passion than if you just sit around and do nothing (thinking alone will NOT lead you to your passion!)
Now, if after going through the above steps you are still unsure about your passion, OR if you want to dive deeper into the topic, below is a helpful resource for you.
Recommended Reading on Finding Your Passion
The Passion Test: The Effortless Path to
Discovering Your Life Purpose by Janet & Chris Attwood
In this inspirational and life-changing New York Times Bestseller, Attwood uses a simple test, The Passion Test, to help you discover your passion and find the meaning behind your life.
By reading this book and taking the test, you can identify your top 5 passions, and then learn how you can align your passions with your life with Attwood’s step-by-step program of action. 5 Star!
Success Mindset # 2:
Stay out of Fear and Stay in Faith
Common Fears Every Entrepreneur Face
Fear is a fundamental part of human psychology. Our brains are wired to feel fear because it helps us to avoid danger and keeps us safe.
However, if we let fear overcomes us, it can control and cripple our life.
As an Entrepreneur, we may feel different types of fears. Below is a list of common fears entrepreneurs face.
These are the fear of:
- Change
- Failure
- Not knowing enough
- The unknown
- Committing to business expenses
- Taking risks
- Disappointing others
- Being pushed into uncomfortable situations
- Being wrong
- That you are not good enough
- Saying NO
This article from the Entrepreneur outlines 11 fears every entrepreneur must overcome.
What Should You Do With Fear
Fear feeds on fear, so the more we try to avoid something we are afraid of, the bigger and deeper our anxiety can grow.
Certainly, successful entrepreneurs also have fears, however, they just don’t let their fears control them. On a deep, subconscious and consistent level, they have faith in themselves, and believe that with their persistency, they can eventually turn their entrepreneurial dreams into a reality. Because of that, they have the confidence to face fear and keep moving forward.
Fear is NOT real. It is just part of you feeling uncomfortable. Fear is NOT the truth.
Make the decision to face your fear and rise up.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable and keep pushing forward with faith.
Building a successful business is a journey of growth, and your destiny lies on the opposite side of your fear. Stay in Faith.
How To Strengthen Your Faith Muscle
You have got to strengthen your faith muscle if you want to use your business as a vehicle to make the difference in this World you are meant to make.
Below are 3 key ideas to help you strengthen your faith muscle:
(1) Your Ideas Are Here for a Reason
Remember how excited and passionate you feel when you talk about your business ideas and share your creations with the World? That sense of passions around your ideas is an indicator that you are meant to take action.
God (The Universe, Higher Power, Source) gave you these ideas for a reason. As an Entrepreneur, you have an incredible opportunity to use your business as a force for good and make a huge difference to the lives of others.
Have faith in your ideas, knowing that these ideas are here for a reason, and take actions on them.
Otherwise, you are wasting these beautiful ideas your Creator has blessed you with.
(2) The Universe is Always Supporting You
You have to believe that the Universe is always supporting you, that everything happens for a reason, even though you may not see the reason right at this moment.
Believe that the dots will always connect when you look backwards, and therefore, you must have faith walking forward.
And when you believe that the Universe is always supporting you, you will start to notice signs that show up around you. Perhaps it is a magazine cover you see at the supermarket, a conversation you overheard from a friend, a website you stumbled upon, a new connection you just made. When you open up your heart and choose to believe, the Universe will show you ways to move forward. Then, it is your responsibility to follow the sign and take actions as quickly as possible.
(3) Actions Beat Meditation
In my experience, I have found that faith-based motion beats meditation every time.
While I may not know what the heck I am doing at first, consistent actions always allowed me to gain knowledge and improve.
And once I get moving, I become unstoppable.
Remember, your entrepreneurial success begins and ends with you.
And the best way to strengthen your faith is to take consistent actions towards your goals.
Check out my blog post Top 40 Inspirational Quotes for Women Entrepreneurs to keep you inspired along your journey.
The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho
RECOMMENDED READING ON FAITH
I first bought this book because it was highly recommended by my Mentor.
Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery. The Alchemist has become a modern classic, transforming the lives of millions of poeple across generations.
Coelho’s enchanting masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, a shepherd boy who yearns to travel the World in search of treasure. His quest lead him to riches far different – and far more satisfying – than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of faith, listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and, most importantly, to follow our dreams. A MUST READ!
Success Mindset # 3:
Always Be Learning
Successful entrepreneurs are always learning!
Whether you are a beginner or a veteran in building businesses, remember to always have the mindset of a student and continue to learn. Continuous learning is the key to succeeding in life and in business, and to living a joyful, fulfilling life.
Since I have started building my business in Year 2011, I have made it a commitment to keep learning and keep applying what I have learned. Learning new skills, reading personal development books, listening to audio programs, watching YouTube training videos, buying online courses and attending live events ~ learning from other successful entrepreneurs and experts. And you know what, these ’investments’ on my mind have paid me back many times and more in business profits.
Learn and Apply
But here’s the thing, a hunger to keep learning is not just about passively absorbing information. Don’t overwhelm yourself with all sorts of information unless you are committed to taking consistent action on what you learn. You have got to implement and apply that information to your business in order to see results!
Your business can only grow to the extent that you do. You can’t make US$50,000/month with a US$50,000/year mindset.
To make more, first become more. The greatest investment you could ever make is the one on your own mind. Have a success mindset. You can’t live a rich life with a poor mind. Change your mindset, change your life.
Success Mindset # 4:
Have a Burning Desire
Successful entrepreneurs have a burning desire to succeed. They know WHY they want to succeed and have the burning desire to keep driving forward despite obstacles and setbacks.
The bigger your WHY, the easier the HOW.
Your WHY is your fuel and juice for your entrepreneurial journey. It is the WHY that drives your actions.
If you don’t already know your WHY, check out my YouTube Video How To Find Your WHY or check out my book Mind and Money Makeover to help you dig deeper and find your WHY.
Success Mindset # 5:
Understand That Not Everyone Will Support You
This is probably one of the hardest part of your entrepreneurial journey. This may be surprising – but you need to understand that NOT everyone is going to support you.
Sometimes it could be those who are closest to you (your spouse/partner, your parents, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your best friends) that criticize you, telling you that your dreams are impossible and asking you to quit.
Here is the truth – As you work hard and start to create success, you will find that some people are happy for you or be inspired by you. However, at the same time, your success could also be like a mirror – a reflection for some people to look into their own lives. Sadly, for some, because there are parts of themselves that they don’t like or feel insecured about, they may feel jealous of you and may even secretly want to see you fail.
What Should You Do
Don’t be disheartened.
But don’t let them discourage you or convince you to quit neither.
Be careful with who you are listening to. Would you listen to investment advice from broke friends? Or would you learn how to fly a plane from someone who hasn’t flew one before? You wouldn’t, right? So why would you listen to people who don’t have the success and lifestyle you want? Remember, if you listen to someone’s advice, you are buying their lifestyle.
Stay away from negative people and ’dream stealers’ and always surround yourself with positive people who are going to inspire you and lift you higher.
Check out my article Starting a Business: How to Deal with Unsupportive Friends and Family on my 5 strategies to deal with the situation.
Success Mindset # 6:
Execute, execute, execute!
No matter how great your vision and plans are, to build a successful business, it always come down to execution! That means getting your hands dirty, digging in and doing the hard work.
Ideas are a dime a dozen. Execution is what makes the difference. Execute.
Aim for progression, not perfection.
It is OK to be imperfect – just shoot first and then re-adjust course along the way! Take MASSIVE actions – Success will only come through consistent and massive actions!
Execute, execute, execute!
Success Mindset # 7:
View Failures as Lessons & Persist Until Succeed
View Failures As Lessons
Here is the truth my friends – Success takes time and effort. And you may fail many times before you become successful as an Entrepreneur.
Ask just anybody who has become successful if they have failed at any aspects of their journey. And the chances are that, you will get quite a few stories of missteps and blunders.
The difference between long-term success and failure is the reactions to it.
Successful entrepreneurs view failures as just lessons, these are opportunities to learn what don’t work! They learned from their mistakes, overcome the obstacles and setbacks, and persevere after failures.
FAILURES OF FAMOUS ENTREPRENEURS
Many successful entrepreneurs in history have had massive failures before they succeeded. For example, Bill Gate’s first company was a disaster, with a product that barely worked. And before Arianna Huffington launched Huffington Post, 36 publishers rejected her second book.
In addition, chances are that you have heard of Thomas Edison in relation to overcoming failure before. He was a master of trial and error. When asked about the many thousands of failures he had when trying to invent the light bulb, he famously answered, ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ Good thing for us that the greatest inventor in history never gave up.
Therefore, as you can see, failure itself is NOT the issue, it is how we viewed it and what we do to rebound from the failure that matters. Below, I want to outline 3 steps to help you rebound from your failures.
3 Steps To Rebound From Failures
(1) Accept that Failures are Part of the Journey
Embrace your failures. Understand that as you are turning your entrepreneurial dreams into a reality, you are learning new things and venturing into new grounds. Some setbacks and failures are inevitable.
As I said earlier, many of the most successful entrepreneurs throughout history had significant failures. What set them apart was how they reacted to their failures and channeled that into something positive.
(2) Reflect on the Lessons
Every mistake we make and every failure we face are lessons we can learn from. You need to be brutally honest with yourself. Ask yourself – What happened? Where did things go wrong? Why did it go wrong? Learn from the failure in order to avoid making the same mistakes again in the future, and to avoid making bigger ones.
3 useful questions to ask yourself every time you face a failure:
- What lessons can I learn from this?
- What is 1 positive outcome of this situation?
- How has this experience allow me to grow as a person or to grow my business?
This exercise will prime your mind to think of the positive instead of being fixated on the negative, and help you see new opportunities that arise from this defeat.
(3) Correct Course And Move On
Now that you realize what you did wrong and how you can rectify the problem, bravely deal with your mistakes head on, correct course and take actions to move on right away.
Remember, success is failure after failure without losing faith and enthusiasm. View failures as lessons, and persist until you succeed.
Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.
The only way to truly fail is to quit. So keep moving forward and never, never, never quit.
Recommended Reading on Turning Failures Into Success
Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell
In life, the question is not if you will face problems, setbacks and failures, but how you are going to deal with them that determine your success.
In this New York Times Best-Selling Book, Maxwell teaches you how you can turn your mistakes into stepping stones for a life-time of success. An inspirational book with practical blueprint to help you get back on track after facing failures.
Success Mindset # 8: Enjoy The Journey
READY TO CREATE A BUSINESS AND A LIFE THAT YOU’LL LOVE?
Grab my FREE
PASSION TO PROFIT PLAYBOOK
and start turning your passion into a deeply satisfying, impactful, and profitable business.
Make Money.
Change The World.
The road to success is going to take time and effort, it will also be an adventure and an exciting journey. But, it will not always be sunshine and roses – heck, it may even be a roller-coaster ride.
Some days you will feel like you are on top of the world, and some days, you will feel like you have fallen from the sky. And some days, you may even feel like quitting. Check out my blog post on 9 Effective Strategies to Stay Motivated as an Entrepreneur.
Enjoy Your Journey
Remember, always enjoy your journey! Learn to dance in the rain and enjoy the scenery along the winding road. Building a successful and sustainable business takes time and it is not a sprint, but rather a marathon. Enjoy the journey!
One day your tests will become your testimonials, and your story becomes your glory to inspire other people to go after their dreams too.
Rewards yourself and celebrate on every milestone along the way too. You deserve them!
The biggest prize of building a successful business? It is the journey of you becoming the best version of yourself and the person you are destined to be.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
- 5-Ways To Shatter Self-Limiting Beliefs and Self-Doubts (YouTube Audiobook)
- How To Stop Being a Perfectionist (YouTube Audiobook)
- Top 13 Benefits of Starting An Online Business
- 30 Best Online Business To Start (With Little or No Money)
Now it’s your turn. What’re your biggest takeaways? What have been your biggest challenge of being an entrepreneur so far? And what have been your biggest lessons and learning? I’d love to hear from you. Please comment below.
