Your attitude: Critical to business success?

By Valrie Grant Entrepreneur, Managing Director GeoTechVision

Achieving success in your business will not happen by chance – it begins with your attitude. Yes, attitude makes a big difference! It can affect whether you attain a goal or give up, whether an unexpected event brings out the best in you or you run for the exit.

There are many benefits to adopting a positive outlook as it influences the choices we make which are at the core of all our results. Think about it, your competitors may have a similar drive as you do, but often the key to triumph over the competition lies in the choices we make. How many times have we seen the underdog team or player win over the more talented opponent? The difference is often attitude! One of the most important steps you can take toward achieving your greatest potential in life is to learn to monitor your attitude and its impact on your business life, work performance, relationships and everyone around you.

Attitude governs the way you perceive the world and the way the world perceives you. We all have a choice. We can choose an inner dialogue of self-encouragement and self-motivation, or we can choose one of self-defeat and self-pity. It’s a power we all have. Unfortunately, many promising business owners seem content to constantly dwelling on the negative – looking at all the things that are wrong in the business environment rather than seeing the many opportunities that abound. As entrepreneurs we should welcome problems as this gives us an opportunity to find innovative solutions. Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that that there are not many things in the business environment that need fixing and the supporting policies and institutional frameworks, but as an entrepreneur will you sit and be complacent and long for the day when there is a red carpet to doing business rather than red tape? Would it not be better to look at the existing opportunities while contributing to the solution?

Many of us have behaviour patterns today that were programmed into our brains at a very tender age. The sad reality of life is that we will continue to hear negative information, but we don’t have to programme it into our brains. The loudest and most influential voice you can hear is your own inner voice, your self-critic. It can work for or against you, depending on the messages you allow. It can be optimistic or pessimistic. It can wear you down or cheer you on. You control the sender and the receiver, but only if you consciously take responsibility for and control over your inner conversation. It will takes much effort to root out harmful attitude, but the rewards of ridding ourselves of this heavy baggage can last a lifetime. A simple change in attitude can give an entrepreneur a new outlook on their business and life.

There are several positive attitudes attributes that can put you in the right mindset for achieving entrepreneurial success. These include:

1. Having passion for your business.
2. Being true to your beliefs and core values
3. Setting an example of trustworthiness.
4. Not letting fear of failure cripple your growth
5. Avoiding procrastination and making timely decisions.
6. Keeping your ego under control.
7. Accepting criticism graciously. Do not make excuses – admit your mistakes.
8. Rebounding quickly from setbacks.
9. Getting out of your comfort zone to pursue something important.
10. Being humble – never let small successes turn into prideful arrogance.

I have learned many things about being an entrepreneur over the years through my own experience and that of others and the points listed above are some of the must have ingredients to mitigate or overcome the challenges of entrepreneurship. These coupled with hard work, persistence, and commitment to a purpose go a long way in contributing to entrepreneurial success. As I thought about attitude though, I must tell you never take yourself too seriously, learn to laugh at the silly things you will inevitably do along this journey, learn from your mistakes, celebrate the successes but never get stuck in the moment. Always look to what’s next and what you can do better.

Remember that you will never know it all, so recognize what you don’t know and surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. Build a supportive resourceful team. As an entrepreneur I credit my team for the majority of our successes. Without the support of my team, family and friends much of our accomplishments would not have been possible. Take a moment and celebrate the people who day after day are your biggest supporters, yes celebrate your cheerleaders with a thankful attitude. Take some time to periodically reflect on these good attitude attributes mentioned in this article as you may just be inspired to make small changes that have big impacts.

If you have a question related to this article or just a general question on entrepreneurship, write to us at guyanabusinesswise@gmail.com. Your question may be addressed directly or in our next article.