A Guide to Achieve Positive Thinking
What does it mean to have a “successful state of mind”? Is there magic to it? Does it consist of only thinking positive thoughts and ignoring those doubting, self-sabotaging voices in your head? Maybe it’s about mastering creative visualization, diligently putting together vision boards while reciting a list of affirmations?
Why do some people seem to succeed without really trying? At least it appears that way. Are they just working harder than others? Were they born with a silver spoon or able to secure financial backing? Perhaps it was merely coincidence, destiny or good karma?
There are many schools of thought and lots of opinions about what it takes to be successful. But first, let’s take a moment to understand how success might be defined.
Defining Business Success
The most common definition of success is the amount of money a business brings in — profitability with little or no debt. It can mean that a business is growing, thriving, expanding. Lately, it implies being able to stay afloat in the midst of ongoing global challenges.
But what about feeling good about what you’re doing? Knowing you are making a difference in even a small way by helping people or the planet is a profit to your personal well-being. Doing no harm, selling products in harmony with nature is profitable to your spirit. Knowing that what you do is meaningful and it’s what you are meant to do delivers dividends.
On a personal level, success could be realizing your innate wisdom, attuning to spiritual awareness. Or being authentic, not trying to prove something or make someone wrong.
Internal or External
What motivates your desire for success? Is it the promise of external reward? Or is it more from intrinsic inspiration?
Enlightened philosophies teach that success has nothing to do with physical possessions. It is a state of being as opposed to having or doing.
While external rewards such as money, validation and recognition can be helpful, many feel more incentive when doing things for personal satisfaction. That means doing what you enjoy, finding meaning, or witnessing how your business impacts the life of others. Especially in the mind, body, spirit enterprise.
But in a society that emphasizes material values — outward appearances rather than inner — it’s hard to separate the two. It’s especially difficult if you own a retail business designed around selling “things.” The spiritual lesson to learn is being unattached to results, quite a challenge when rent and payroll are due.
Mind Matters
The most important aspect of business success is your state of mind. It impacts everything. It goes beyond what you think about consciously or even logically. It is what your subconscious programmed belief system is dictating. In other words, if part of you does not feel deserving, lack will manifest no matter how hard you struggle. Of course, the reverse is true: If you believe you deserve success, that is what will show up.
Positive Thinking Magnified
A powerful key to business success is trusting that there are infinite possibilities in every challenging situation. This is referred to as “possibility thinking,” and is more specific than just “positive thinking.” Possibility thinking means believing, even for an instant, that anything is possible no matter the appearance. It is choosing to reframe the most stubborn problems as infinite opportunities in disguise. By looking at situations in new and creative ways, unrealized pathways for change open up. It means countering confusion and hopelessness with a moment of… And, what if?
The right thinking can shift things instantly. It is allowing yourself to think as big as you want, imagining huge goals that are possible without limiting them to anything set. It sees the world as open instead of closed, magnifying the positive and minimizing the negative.
Limited thinking lands in dead ends, keeps you stuck in feeling hopeless.Possibility thinking reminds you of infinite possibilities — that there are more solutions, options, and avenues available than you’ve allowed yourself to see. This brings added momentum and is always available if you choose it.
Possibility thinking can even help you get past feelings of shame. Unconsciously, shame has programmed you to believe you are undeserving of success. It devalues you, especially your abilities. By incorporating possibility thinking, you are adding value to who you are. While overcoming shame requires inner work, having a mindset that allows possibilities to flow certainly makes the work easier.
Possibility thinking creates options, a business owner’s best friend. Then, others catch the energy and are inspired to move forward as well.
Change Your Perspective
It takes discipline to find potential in a negative situation, but they are always there. Being open to possibilities swings the door wide to greater flexibility and more constructive action.
Possibility thinking starts with the conviction that you and your business make a difference, that you are capable of doing great things. Sometimes it involves discovering options that might not be under your nose. Often, the simpler they are, the more likely they will elude.
Possibilities become apparent when you reconfigure your interpretation of a situation, looking at it with new eyes, using an opportunistic thinking style. It also means attuning yourself to your higher knowing, your wise intuition, your connection to and trust in the bigger picture playing out. Possibility thinking gives space to feel human emotions, simultaneously recognizing they are triggered reactions to fear with no power over truth.
You Do Know
What gives possibility thinking its power — there is a part of you that already does know. Here is an exercise to help you get in touch with your knowing.
When a situation is going on that has you stumped and you find yourself saying I don’t know, ask yourself: “What if I did know?” By giving yourself permission to know, the answer often appears instantly. Trust it. If no answer arrives, that’s okay. You’ve put the question out there and the Universe is required to provide an answer. Get ready!
During these transformational times, be the one who inspires others to see more than just problems — be the one who sees possibilities and opportunities within problems. Don’t discount the impact you have as a small business owner. As the planet shifts in countless ways, things may feel hopeless, confusing and as if things are crumbling. Let yourself get a sense of this new world being created and your integral part in that.
With enough of us thinking in terms of possibilities rather than gloom and doom, we will have a positive impact on big levels. On a business level, perhaps your customers will not hesitate to spend money when greeted with your possibility attitude. It is no coincidence that you are living through this awakening and evolutionary time of quantum shifts. You chose to be here to experience, learn and do things that could not have happened by any other circumstance. Your business is a part of that.
Recognize and embrace these huge lessons. No use resisting, running or hiding from them. Know that being a conscious business owner will expand things exponentially, becoming the accepted reality of planetary existence. Start by believing, even for an instant, that it is all possible.
Because… It Is
Here are some effective suggestions to increase being successful in business:
Set goals and define them clearly – In order to achieve success, start by setting clear goals. These goals do not necessarily need to be easy to reach, but by having something to aim for, you will be better able to move forward and overcome obstacles.
Clarity is vital to attain what you want. Unclear goals create unclear results. Try writing down exactly what you want, noticing any fears or self-limiting beliefs that pop into your thoughts and countering them with the truth: You are capable and deserving.
See setbacks as learning opportunities – Rather than seeing a bump in the road as a stop, see it as a way to discover a different route, learning and enjoying as you go.
Deservingness – Every day, clean up areas of your life where you feel any amount of guilt. Trust what you feel drawn to do, even if you don’t know exactly what you are cleaning up.
Keep commitments no matter what – It is often far too easy to walk away from commitments when the going gets tough. The more committed you are, the more the Universe keeps its commitments to you. Perseverance for long-term goals is why you are doing what you are doing. Deserve to keep the promise you made to yourself and the planet.
Be strong – Know that you have the resilience to continue on even in the face of obstacles. Believe that you have control over your own destiny and feel confident in your ability to succeed.
Passion – Remember why you started your business. Get back in touch with the passion, the inspiration, the excitement that was there from the start. Don’t ever lose the higher purpose for what you do.
Conscientiousness – Being careful, being thorough and desiring to do something well is a statement of success.
Trust your intuition – What is your heart telling you to do? Trust and allow your innate wisdom to lead the way. Listen to the signs and apparent coincidences that the Universe presents to you. They are important messages.
Be authentic – Posing a fake a Pollyanna outlook only suppresses your humanness. Acting as if rarely works for long and is not what you are designed for. Choosing to not hide from uncomfortable emotions and fears does not mean believing them. Recognize you’re being triggered: feel those emotions and do some digging to see what they are really about.
Believe in yourself – Notice negative self-talk and don’t buy it as truth. Be your own supportive parent by acknowledging and encouraging yourself.
Ask for and find support – Having a strong support system can make things easier, cheering you on when things get tough, offering advice and assistance that can help you improve your chances for success.
Remember, there are people out there waiting for someone like you to help them. You have empowering, healing and awakening offerings for your customers. You created your shop to bring something sacred and special to share with the world.
Your individual calling to help others is automatically a success in ways you may never know. You are making a difference with your gifts as well as with what you sell. That is success all on its own. The world is waiting for what you offer, no matter what it is. And people want to support your success.
No matter what you are facing, what uphill battle you are in, whatever you are afraid of, there are unlimited solutions waiting to be discovered. Unlock the power to discover them by choosing to believe there is a way out of any challenge you are facing. Know that not only is anything is possible, but everything is possible.
Here is an example of what can happen when you tap into your successful, possibility thinking mindset:
“ Istarted my own business over eight years ago based on an intuitive sense that this was what I was supposed to do; this was what the world needed from me. Success began to flow effortlessly and then, out of the blue, I experienced some major bumps that almost put me out of business. Most dramatically, someone ripped off my business plan and stole all my website information, changing a few words here and there. I toyed with filing a lawsuit but decided to do some deep inner processing work instead to see what my subconscious had to say about it.
I discovered that part of me did not feel deserving of success due to some things I had done that I had pushed way down into my subconscious mind. Once I remembered and processed those events, forgave myself, cleaned them up and let them go, everything immediately shifted in my business. The person who had stolen my material ended up deleting it and several new clients showed up! Shift your deservingness, gain success’ should be the motto hanging over every business door!” – E.L.