One thing I always do at the end of the week is make sure I review how it's been, identify what I did towards my goal of building my business and also make sure I continue to encourage myself to continue moving forward. Being my own cheerleader is a challenge but what can us self-employed people do? If we can't cheer ourselves on who will?
I look for little victories...not those big successes; why? Because in my business, that is mostly what I am accomplishing. Acquiring small accounts that will add up to a bigger number which will amount to being able to take care of my expenses, put some in savings and provide me with the ability to enjoy my life in different ways. A trip to NYC to attend The New Yorker Festival would be a great reward for my hard work. But all of you need to be reminded to look back and see what you did that worked and identify what you did that needs tweaking. It's critical to building momentum and not using the same tactics that really aren't getting you where you want to go.
If any of you out there have seen the movie "What the Bleep do we know?" you will remember how they talked about the pathways we create in our brain through repeated behaviors. This ties into how we get so addicted to behaviors...they give us something that we think we need. But to change those neural pathways we really have to work hard. Wow! I don't know about you but I'm already tired from working hard doing what I do...now I have to work on something else? YES!
Continuing to repeat patterns that don't work is just plain insanity...why? Because you already know the outcome and that outcome didn't pay off. However, if you find you are repeating these patterns then you need to ask yourself why? It's another part of the review, evaluate and reward process. To reach your goals you must be willing to be critical of your behaviors and patterns so you can learn, regroup and continue evolving as an individual and a business person. More work??? Of course but that's what it takes to build a successful business and if you are balking at the idea that you need to evaluate if you are meant for this kind of work?
This morning I read an interesting article The Effort is the Prize and this research suggests that there are two mindsets; "a fixed mindset, which occurs when someone believes that personal qualities like intelligence are immutable, and a growth mindset, which occurs when someone believes that skills and characteristics can be cultivated through effort." I know I'm the latter because academics were a challenge for me when I was young and so I never believed that I had the ability to excel in that way...however, I knew and believed that if I worked hard and researched information in my own way...I could become accomplished in that which was important to me. Maybe in my case the key is "important".
Mindset, attitude and the importance of the thing(s) we want are all key factors in how we move forward [and sometimes backwards] and I believe and will always say, that they can be used to our advantage or not. We can change them and be flexible in them in order to make it to our respective destinies...yet, they can also become walls that keep us stuck in old patterns. This is why the ability to look at ourselves and evaluate own mindsets and attitudes is critical.
Review, evaluate and reward...try it and see how you do...and while your at it, check out the movie. It's very interesting and should at least get you to thinking about things in a different way.
Have a great weekend!!!!!
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