A Positive Mindset


It’s often the case when you want to start a business to begin with an idea and a business plan. While these are the staples of starting a business, most overlook the most important of all - a positive mindset.

What is a positive mindset to start a business?

Your mind has an amazing way of attracting things in harmony with it  — good or bad

You will have setbacks and you will have monumental failures when starting and building your business. If you give up, I can tell you now it will come down to your mindset. A positive mindset.

If you focus and develop your mindset on perseverance and success, you’ll keep at it. Starting a business with the wrong mindset or worse, no mindset is a guaranteed path to failure. A simple fact.

Many elite companies started when the founder went through a setback and realized something better was ahead. You have all heard the adage ‘change your mind, change your life.’

Famous personalities with a positive mindset

Oprah and Vera WangTwo of the great positive 'mindsetters' in the world.

Vogue rejected Vera Wang for the role of editor-in-chief, so she created her own bridal design label. The rest is history.

They let Oprah go as a news anchor. They put her on a talk show, which sparked the rest of her wildly successful career. Something better? I think so.

The world is full of incidents like these. 

Believing setbacks serve a purpose is a valuable mindset tool.

Think of “no” as just a word. Shoot for thousands of nos

The sooner you get it - 'obstacles are inevitable' - the sooner you will bounce back. You will have created the resiliency and mindset to start a business.

rejectedRejections are just obstacles you’ll inevitably run into. Stay focused on a positive mindset. See the positive outcome. never lose your faith, your belief.

Rejections are just obstacles you’ll inevitably run into. If it’s your 21th “no” from a potential backer or “I’m not interested” from retail prospects. Keep going. See it as a learning experience. Stay focused on a positive mindset. See the positive outcome. never lose your faith, your belief.

You’ve heard the story of Thomas Edison and how he tried over 10,000 times to create the lightbulb. Rather than giving up, his mindset turned 10,000 “failures” into “10,000 ways it won’t work.” Now there was a guy with a positive mindset.

The founder of Dyson vacuum cleaners, Sir James Dyson, tried over 5,000 prototypes before perfecting his company’s core design — and today ‘Dyson’ is still the frontrunner. Did he have a positive mindset? You bet ya' life he did.

If you start a business, thinking it will be a breeze, you’re in for many disappointments. Don’t give up your day job.

Your a positive mindset is the only thing you can count on in your business.

Are you getting the message? Get this right and get it right up front and you will save yourself so much anxiety and disappointment.

It’s a positive mindset that gives you
the resolve to resolve.

looking at a mapBuild a positive mindset first, and you will increase your percentages of success.

Your best-laid plans will fail often. Your resolve and determination are part of your mindset. Build a positive mindset first, and you will increase your percentages of success.

To give encouragement, hope, and help you get through grab the services of a mentor

Many people believe billionaires are “born with it” and their success comes from their unique personality traits. Carol Dweck - Stanford psychologist disagrees. She believes billionaires have a “growth mindset”–billionaires believe an outcome is dynamic, rather than fixed. They embrace the possibility of failure and see it as the foundation for success. Billionaires have processes and systems in place to improve their future. They do not waste time proving how great they are - they have the systems to improve their future success.

Starting a business, whether it’s online or offline, takes a lot of work. It also requires you to change your mindset. Do not see yourself as an “employee.” Change. See yourself self employed - as a business owner. A successful business owner.

You need to understand you must invest time and energy upfront to build a positive mindset, to create a thriving, successful business. Every serious business owner starts this way.

If any business owner took the time to measure the dollars per hour she/he was making in the first year, the business would probably never get off the ground. 

If your business is less than one-year-old and you’re trying to calculate $ per hour, you’re expecting too much too soon. Shift away from the employee mindset.

Take your time

red rosesTake your time. Make time to smell the roses.

Invest time in your mindset; this ultimately pays substantial dollars per-hour. When you get this, you’ll easily eliminate any feelings of discouragement. The stronger your mindset, the better the results are. 

Hook up with a mentor to get their experience to guide you.

teenager in a classroomI knew what failure was at 13. I felt ashamed, rejected, alone and dumb. But I overcame it.

Failure and success and how, at an early age I failed

And I mean FAILED.

My first year at high school - ‘FAIL’. 

How did I feel? Ashamed. Depressed. Rejected. Dumb. I felt alone. 

I knew what failure was at 13. 

Half the class went up and half stayed back to repeat. 

The simple thing was I just didn’t work. 

I did not build any foundations for future learning. 

The good thing is next year everything changed for me. It changed so much I topped the class. I changed my attitude. I developed a positive mindset. I didn't understand what I was doing at the time. I did things differently than the previous year. I wanted to do well. I expected to do well. I was positive I could do well.

I had built a great foundation for future success at High School.

‘change your mind, change your life.’

Still didn’t like school much and I didn’t realize at the time what I had done. I made a goal to change my attitude. I simply changed my mindset.

The rest is history. 

As a by-line, the kids that just scraped in a pass and went on really struggled for the rest of their time at High School. 

It built everything on dodgy foundations. 

Now as a mature adult, I realise that this fail, this rejection, shame and dumb feeling was the best thing to happen to me. 

You don’t see it when it happens. You see it as the now, the present, and you judge it, which can be devastating. 

Did anyone put their hand on my shoulder and mentor me to top the class the very next year?

Was there even such a person in that era?

Life went on and I learnt an enormous lesson. 

Failure is a success in a funny type of way. 

Anyway, I never realized this until much later in life.

Which leads me to the real lesson.

Failure is a stepping stone to greater success. 

Just a point on the above incident. These days you’d get your parents to hire a tutor. Didn’t exist in my time. 

By now, you would guess I’ve been around the block a few times.

I have experience.

Me at PortofinoYou learn more from doing and failing - doing and failing - doing and failing. Which leads me to why I am a mentor.

You learn more from doing and failing - doing and failing - doing and failing. 

Which leads me to why I am a mentor. 

Mentors are sort of friendly spirits, a hold my hand and I’ll take you there type of deal, good lyrics for a song.

Take my hand and I’ll take you there. 

Someday somehow”, and so on….


Don’t have problems, have solutions. 

So, my friend, a mentor is a soft guiding hand that identifies issues and together builds solutions. 

Just another thing - I don’t have problems, just solutions. 

In fact, I dislike writing or uttering the word.

HoustonHow would it be if we changed the famous phrase from “Houston we have a problem” to “Houston we have an issue? “

I substitute it with the word “issues” 

How would it be if we changed the famous phrase from “Houston we have a problem” to “Houston we have an issue? “

I don’t know; it sounds more resolvable.

Maybe it’s just the quirky way I think. 

Anyway, I am a mentor and I love helping business startups.

I’ve guided adolescent businesses and helped mature businesses in decision making, whether to keep or sell. I just love it.

It is not rocket science.

I’ve had businesses for over 35 years. 

Made plenty of mistakes. Failed many times but by golly I succeeded many times as well. 

Not always on my own merits. 

Many times, with enormous help from a business mentor. 

So my friend this is just one story of my life in junior school where I learnt a valuable lesson about failure. A valuable lesson about changing my mindset, my attitude.

It wasn’t apparent till many years later, but it was a lesson there waiting for me to learn how and why it happened. What a revelation. Now I am paying it forward.

In summary

Nothing is as important as a positive mindset. A positive mindset is the cornerstone of your business foundation. A positive mindset is the rock base to build your foundation on and then construct your business.

Starting a business will have enormous issues. Issues you haven’t even thought of. Issues that need to be resolved. It’s your mindset that gives you the resolve to resolve.

For some people, a positive mindset is a natural ability.

They see an issue and instantly see a solution with massive opportunities.

Most people see it as a daunting issue without the right mindset. It’s fight or flight.

But wait, hold the phone. What about if you could get unbiased non-partisan, unbridled advice from your very own mentor?

Enter….Mentoraus!!!

Experience isn't the best teacher, experience is the only teacher.

mountain climber

Confidence comes from experience