So, you've registered your company and got the certificate of incorporation. You've signed on an accountant and bookkeeper and got your business cards and marketing materials. Your website is up and running and there's a few other tasks on the go to make you ready to trade. In fact you're so good, you've already done some prospecting and generated a a ton of good quality leads who are just waiting for you to take payment for the fantastic services you have on offer.

The power that drives a business comes from the internal environment of the business owner's mind. The drive and motivation it takes to get a business off the ground and in flight is no small feat. The energy and determination that's needed to keep a business airborne and climbing is like the motivation, sheer guts and grit that it takes to climb Everest while dragging up behind you an unconscious Elephant.

To have a new mindset, you have to have a new way of doing things. Doing things the old way will only get you old results. As Dr Joe Dispenza says, to experience a new reality, you have to develop a new personality. So true my friends, so true. So what is a new personality? Do I have to become someone else you ask? Sounds like some sort of Psychological harm to do that to yourself doesn't it?

We're not talking about developing a new persona that's fake or mutated. We're not taking about having multiple personalities either. What we are talking about is overhauling the way you think about business and more importantly, yourself. Your internal voice and conversations, your limiting beliefs and behaviours. We're talking about putting the work in that's essential to having the mindset that will spur you on and drive your ambitions. The environment you work in, the people and attitudes you expose yourself to and surround yourself with and the daily habits and behaviours you indulge in and perpetuate and how they fit into your long term vision, the goals you set for your business.

A motivational speaker known as Jim Rohn has been widely credited as saying: "You are the sum total of the five people you spend your time with." Give that some thought and take into account who the five people are that you spend most of your time with in social circles. We're not counting kids in this equation for those who have children, but we are looking at the adults in your life who you give your time to. What do they do for your mindset, are they are force that motivates you or are they the vampires that feed on your positivity and leave you exhausted, sapped, drained?

Now that you've answered that question or avoided it, whichever you choose to do, what are the things you need to do to lighten the weight of that Elephant you're dragging up the mountain, what can you do to make yourself powerful enough to make that load easy to move? The elephant represents all the things you have no control over, the things that crop up and slow down your journey to the top of the mountain, your business success. Some of the things you have no control over are: The way the market will behave, national and world events that will suddenly take place and affect your operation, things like algorithms and political activities.

An Elephant's weight is an Elephant's weight and that's all there is to it and there's nothing you can do about it, physically. Mentally however, there's a secret weapon. Your mindset. Do you view it as the weight I have described it as, weighing and slowing you down? or do you view it as an opportunity and mechanism to build muscle, for those of you who work out in the gym, lifting weights is one of the things we do. For those who have played some Rugby, pulling a Tractor tyre behind you for several metres was something that was just part and parcel of building powerful thigh muscles that propelled you at speed down the pitch one try after the next.

It's how we see the challenges in our lives that makes all the difference. It's how we train our minds to deal with setbacks and it's indeed all about the energies we allow to come into and exist in our space that will determine how well and how fast we develop a mindset that will take us forward more often than backwards, because there will be times, many times that we slide backwards despite all our effort to go forward, and the key thing is freeing ourselves from the environments and energies that cause some of the slips and slides so that we lessen as far as we can, all the things that will slow us down when they fall into our sphere of influence.

Cognitive behavioural therapy emphasizes the connection between what we think, what we feel and how we act. When you feed your mind with anything negative, in any form, you detract from a powerful and successful mindset. Let's look at some examples. If you surround yourself with people who focus on problems and not solutions, on the past and not the present or the future, on being the effect rather than the cause, then you introduce your mind to an environment that causes you to move in the direction of a future that is in tune with the past. Your thoughts come from past experience and they cause past emotions to surface and drive actions in a direction that is past orientated. Ground-hog day, for many days.

When you place yourself in environments that are made up of people who are emotional alchemists, converters of negative experiences into motivational fuels, who personify the process that turns coal into diamonds, fossils into fuels, adversity into motivation and failure into success then your mindset will adapt and form into a formidable force that will take you to new heights and levels of satisfaction and achievement.

There's a lot more though to do in terms of mindset. Making your body subservient is a key part of the process. Making your body subject to your will and not the other way round is of primary importance. A healthy body and a healthy mind go hand in hand. Be mindful of what you put into your body because the old saying "Rubbish in equals rubbish out" cannot be understated. Eating right and exercising well create a symbiosis and synergy between mind and body that is nothing less than exhilarating, we think faster and clearer and have a more motivated outlook on life. We are more able to approach our goals with a powerful mindset that is solution focussed and forward thinking and our positive energy has a productive effect not just on ourselves but on our teams and people we come into contact with. In short we become positively transformational, creative and inspirational.

Feed your mind with organic, salt of the earth ingredients. Occupy your mind with with growth, personal and professional growth. Learn new skills and empower yourself with knowledge. When you're not working or learning, take a break doing wholesome activities, be mindful of the things you watch on TV and the movies you choose to entertain yourself with. The movies you watch will have an impact on your emotional state, you may not notice this as anything dramatic but if you think of it like this: 'One drop of poison can contaminate an entire water supply' that brings a little perspective doesn't it? Yes, it's hard I know, but success isn't easy and despite what the 'Get-rich-quick-brigade' and the preachers of 'Shortcuts.com' may say, there's work to be done and Wheat to be separated from Chaff, conscious decisions to be made and freedom from unconscious destructive behaviours to be secured and it all starts with the little things.

Get out of bed when your body wants to stay in it. Feed your body when you decide to feed it and only with foods and drinks that are good for it and not what it craves. Set that alarm clock for early in the morning, no later than 6am and never press the snooze button. Drag yourself to workout and exercise even when you don't feel like it and do it regardless. Set new physical goals and challenges and work up a sweat when you do. Do a decent workout and raise your endorphins. I can tell you that a good consistent workout gives you such a buzz and pumps you up for the day. Energise yourself and power yourself up with a good workout and in doing that, raise your confidence and your 'feel good hormones' to help move you with energy, grace and style through the day, in an empowered and winning mindset.

Never in a million years did I see myself as a Yogi. Yes I practised martial arts of various forms over many years and learnt meditation and practices such as Yoga but I saw it in a different way. I started doing Yoga this time, around about the time I Co-founded this business with my good lady Elaine and what a difference it has made in my life and in our business. Doing it consistently, like everything is always the challenge and the key concept to bear in mind here is: 'Progress not perfection.' It doesn't matter if you miss a few sessions and all the stiffness comes back again and you find it hard to sit cross egged again, all that matters and counts is that you make progress and it really is irrelevant how many times you have to start again. It's a journey and not an event. It's growth and not perfection.

1. Do a list of things to do for the next day before you go to bed
2. Leave your workspace ready for you to hit the ground running when you come back to it
3. Leave today's work all done before you turn off the lights and you can only do this if you manage your time properly and set SMART goals for the day
4. Have an end of day or bedtime routine to still your mind and be thankful for the day you've had
5. Start your day with gratitude, there's always something to be grateful for
6. Do a morning Yoga or Meditation routine everyday
7. Set out a morning exercise routine and aim for at least an hour
8. Crack on with your to do list you set the night before and manage your time properly
9. Make a commitment to stepping out of your comfort zones in areas that will grow you and aim for one a day
10. When you do all these things, just keep at the forefront of your mind your motivation for doing them - What drives you? Connect with that emotion and let it fuel your mission

Have fixed goals but be flexible regarding how you achieve them. The routine I have specified above will undoubtedly have many variations on my journey and it has already changed a few times in a few months and that's just fine. The key takeaway is to evolve your life by actively doing and actively deciding what needs to be done to unify your physical, mental and emotional energies until they work in unison and bring you the best results. Study the habits of successful people and understand that it is only through dedicated action and focused attention on all the right things that we get the results we want. We get what we put out into the world and so make sure you put your best out so that when it comes back to you it enhances your life.
Being a business owner is a vocation, it takes your heart mind and soul to be in it and to do that, your body and mind must be tended to and nurtured so that you are well equipped to make your business a success in an ever-changing market place.

Give yourself the best opportunity to thrive and not just survive in business and enjoy the sense of fulfilment and satisfaction that comes with it.

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