Tips For Small Businesses

In his book The Winning Attitude, John C. Maxwell, noted author and speaker tells us that attitude is:

• The “advance man” of our true selves
• Has inward roots but outward fruits
• Is our best friend or worst enemy
• Is more honest and more consistent than our words
• Is an outward look based on past experiences
• Is a think which draws people to us or repels them
• Is never content until it is expressed
• Is the librarian of our past
• Is the speaker of our present
• Is the prophet of our future

Your attitude, or your willingness to think positively, affects many people—from your family to the stranger you smile at in the grocery store. An optimist will see opportunity in difficulties, while a pessimist will see difficulty in opportunities.

You must choose which you will focus on: if you choose poorly, you will doom yourself to never achieving your goals and being successful. Count on that.

So how do you begin to think positively if you’re a natural pessimist? I don’t really believe there ARE natural pessimists, just people who have been taught how to consider the darkest side of every cloud.

You cannot change the fact that a problem exists, but you can do a lot to determine what opportunity is within that problem. Begin to see that problems are a fact of life and that your job is to find a way over, around, under, or through them—as quickly as possible. When you’re upbeat and consider how quickly a problem will be behind you, it’s easy to be optimistic.

Cynicism is another killer when it comes to attitude. It’s a cousin of pessimism—it considers everything suspect and everyone as having an ulterior motive. It never looks at someone handing you a piece of candy just to be nice, it always considers that there is a reason you’re being handed the candy and the motivation of the person who’s giving it.

Cynicism comes from having unrealistic expectations. Many people expect great and wonderful things to happen to them with little-to-no work on their parts. They expect things to fall from the sky in to their laps. When it doesn’t happen as they expect, they become suspicious of others who have achieved success and ultimately, cynical.

You must harness the power of your thoughts and words when setting your course for success. Use positive affirmations daily: remind yourself that a stumbling block is temporary and that you will overcome it; admit to yourself that you are courageous and able to move on when others cannot; agree with your vision for your life and your goals.

As you discipline yourself to do this, you will find optimism and positive thinking chasing you down the street. And who couldn’t use these two friends when we’re aiming for success?

omewhere on your road to success, you’ll begin to understand that you are really never alone. There are amazing sources of strength and help everywhere you look—you just have to use them. You’ll have to look to find them and then know how to use them, but it beats the heck out of not having them at all!

A team is incredibly important as you walk along your path. You may reap the benefits of success in your world, but you don’t get there alone. The fallacy of the “self-made man” is just that—because everyone is influenced directly and indirectly by scores of people. Let’s look at a list of those involved:

• Parents: if they were there to raise you, they had the greatest influence on your life. Feelings of love and security are established early—as early as birth. Children who have parents who love, care for, and protect them gain enormously both psychologically and physiologically.

• Teachers: chances are there is a teacher who has made an impression on you that you remember to this day. Positive or negative, there are teachers in our lives who have the power to mold us and shape us. Sometimes we choose paths in response to a negative example a teacher has left us; more often than not, we choose paths that are due to the positive influence they’ve left in our lives.

• Friends: the happiest and most successful people tend to have a wide range of friends from different walks of life. They encourage us, lift us up, and are part of an inextricable support system in our lives.

• Mentors: smart people who truly desire success find mentors that will walk with them as they traverse their road. Mentors can point out pitfalls and potholes in the road that we might otherwise miss, and their experience and willingness to teach us is an invaluable gift.

• Spiritual Leaders: ministers, priests, rabbis, pastors, etc., are in an amazing position to contribute positively and significantly in your life. Their ability to see past the circumstances and share life and light is unparalleled. Having a spiritual leader doesn’t guarantee that you’ll never feel despair, but it does guarantee that you won’t have to go through the dark times alone.

Just as you have a team as you work towards success, you can be a part of someone else’s team as well. Be a friend to someone who is just starting out on the road to success—encourage them, mentor them (if appropriate), and commit to be there for them when they need you. Do the right thing (remember your integrity), and have compassion in all situations. You’ll build your team and your success as you do these things!