Start with STOPPING and THINKING

Business success is all about Starting with STOPPING and THINKING, here are three places to start your stopping and thinking:

1. Is this what I really want?

Being in business brings all sorts of challenges, changes and opportunities and sometimes we can be led in a direction that we really don’t want to go and for many reasons (cash-flow, family commitments, staff, technology etc). If we don’t stop on a regular basis to check in and see if we are headed in the right direction chances are we will end up somewhere we don’t want to be.

Stop at least once a month and ask yourself the very important question “is this where I want to be and am I going where I want to go?” you might be surprised by the answer you get.

2. What would my mentor do?

I’ve been very fortunate that I have had exceptional mentors throughout my life and in my business, during the times when I’m unsure about an activity or I find myself doing unproductive things (like procrastinating) I think about what my business mentor would do. I know for sure she would not spend hours engaged in activities that can be outsourced while she focuses on growing the business and doing the things that are dollar productive.

Most times it’s as simple as saying to myself “What would my mentor be doing/do in this situation?” it’s a great question to ask as it helps me see a different angle to how I initially approach a situation. If you don’t have a mentor think about someone you know or know of  in business that is really successful at what they do and ask yourself the same question “what would X do in this situation?”

 3. Self Talk – A quality conversation

I have read 100′s of business and self help/motivation books and the majority of them discuss the importance of what you say to yourself, having positive thoughts and using affirmations in one form or another. In my book Accelerate: How to accelerate yourself, your business & your networking skills I have a quote “if you spoke to your friends the same way you speak to yourself would you have any?”

We are human so we are going to experience a range of emotions both positive and negative, we will have a range of thoughts both positive and negative and we will or won’t speak to ourselves in a helpful and positive manner. The exact same way we think about and speak to our friends, business colleagues, loved ones and families.

I have trained myself as often as possible to have quality conversations, when a negative thought or feeling comes in I acknowledge it and move to a more helpful ‘quality’ conversation or thought.

Is this easy? NO does it need lots of practice? – YES, do I always do it? – NO (i’m human too!) is there a magic solution? – NO Can I buy a book to learn? PROBABLY will it work? MAYBE why is it worth it? – TO GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT!

I have searched high and low for the seminar, books, coaching, mentoring, workshops, meditations to ‘take control of my thoughts’ and here is what I have learnt – YOU DO NOT NEED TO KEEP SPENDING MONEY ON LEARNING HOW TO DO THIS all you need to do is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and eventually your mind will hold it’s own quality conversations and you will start to correct yourself – without the aid of any outside assistance.

Put some STOPPING and THINKING time in your diary today and reap the results you REALLY want from your business.

Until Next time… I’ll be thinking!

Sue