Written by Kamladevi Sharma, International Speaker
Kamladevi Sharma is an international speaker on work-life balance, a certified professional life coach and qualified business consultant. She helps entrepreneurs and people in management globally.
Whether it's on or offline, many start-up entrepreneurs find it challenging to sustain success. In fact, according to the US Bureau of Statistics, only 25% of start-ups survive 15 years or more in business. Being in the field of business for more than 10 years, I believe that this is significantly linked to an entrepreneur's mindset and, his/her overall ability to adapt to changing circumstances and withstand challenges. Accordingly, to ensure that recurring success contributes to your business's sustainability, the following tips are recommended:
1. Know and remember your 'why'
Being seen, heard and profitable among the noise are some of the most frustrating challenges an entrepreneur faces. It is in these frustrating moments that you must remember your 'why'. This way, you create the space for birthing creative ideas and solutions to the clutter you're facing. Otherwise, the focus on the lack of money and other resources can result in you feeling anxious, depressed and wanting to give up.
Therefore, remind yourself often, 'Why am I doing what I am doing? Why did I start this business and what do I intend to achieve from it?'
To build momentum around this and stay in alignment, you can choose specific words that reflect your 'why' and repeat them often. For example, 'impact', 'well-being', 'abundance'.
2. Distinguish your strengths from your weaknesses
In knowing your strengths, you know which traits will benefit you in specific situations and, when to use them. This helps to capitalize on growth opportunities presented to you- whether it be converting your leads or landing a long-term contract. Likewise, in knowing your weaknesses, you know the things you fear and those that hold you back, so you can get comfortable with them and subsequently turn them into your strength.
Making your weaknesses your strength is a decision away. So, ask yourself, ‘What am I good at? What do I feel confident about? What do I avoid? Why do I avoid it?’
3. Get clear on your vision and build your worth around it
Your vision will change as you evolve, meet your goals and take inspired action in your business. Knowing when it is changing and taking control of that process is important in being open to the possibilities. Additionally, being deliberate in creating a vision that represents your ideal life helps you to get grounded in the possibility of it manifesting. Subsequently, build your worth around it. Affirm the possibility of it and be open to receiving the endless opportunities that can boost your momentum for success. When you know and feel that you are worthy of your vision manifesting, it manifests with ease, so ask yourself, ‘What does a perfect day in my life look and feel like? How do I value my time and energy? What do I prefer to spend my time and energy on?
4. Coach yourself everyday
It doesn’t matter the kind of business you’re in. Some days will be epic, while some will be extra challenging. During these times, your mental health is your responsibility and making the preparation every day for what you have to do in your business is also your responsibility. Nurture the belief that your business is contributing to a bigger cause. When you value your business, those who you connect with experience the value of it. Subsequently, speak positive things to yourself daily and immerse yourself in the positive feelings of those words. Simple statements help, for example, ‘I accomplished it before. I can accomplish it again and again, or my work is changing the lives of millions of people worldwide. I can keep going’.
5. Meditate to recognize the lessons
The most unexpected things at the most unexpected times pop up in your business. Orders can get messed up. Your equipment or team can fail you. Stuff happens! The experience of these is the beauty of life. Instead of reacting on autopilot, meditate with the focus of knowing the ‘why’ behind the experience. Ask the question, ‘What can this person or situation teach me in this moment or how can I change who I become when this happens?’
This way, you take on a problem-solving approach and maintain your inner peace. Your mind then looks for solutions rather than get stuck complaining. This level of proactiveness will also help you to develop compassion and empathy towards those you are dealing with, and these will be mirrored back to you.
6. Communicate clearly your likes and dislikes in your business
Not knowing your likes and dislikes is a weakness in itself. It leads you to react to triggers rather than stopping the momentum from being created from the onset. Reflect on your day at night and call out the things you liked and disliked in your business for that day. Then consider, how can you get more of your likes into a day? How can you use your dislikes to be a better version of yourself? How can you use it to help someone impacted by your business?
Communicate these to those who can be affected in your business by changes in your words and actions, to get them in alignment with your new desires. It helps to keep the flow going, obtain respect for your decisions and, improve your relationships with those affected by your decisions.
7. Make time for fun and play
Business can be aggressive and robotic, but you don’t need to become that. The systems and procedures serve a purpose and so do you. Remain authentic. Be mindful, have fun, listen to music, take walks, do stretches, play games, do deep breathing, sing along with the birds and listen to the ocean, immerse yourself in ‘ease’ whenever you can, as much as you can, in your business. Keep the mind detached from the people and situations around you, and attached to what makes you feel in flow and at ease. This helps to keep the mind clear and body relaxed when challenges arise.
8. Accept feedback with the intention to keep learning and growing
Whether you like it or not, both positive and negative feedback has a purpose in your life. Attracting it brings an awareness about yourself that you otherwise did not know. Get comfortable with feedback- good or perceived bad. It’ll help you to know what you need to work on, as someone sees it through their lenses. It’ll also help you to improve your communication skills and get clear on who you truly want to be, as compared to what others perceive you to be. Using feedback as constructive criticism is many times the key to standing out in your market.
A business venture is overloaded with experiences for mindset and financial growth. The perfect triggers are there to awaken you to learn about the intensity of your emotions, your desires, your creative potential, your resilience and, your ability to problem-solve. It brings clarity to your self-concept, which fosters your stability and business success.
However, you can get misguided easily by the frustration of things not unfolding as you expect them to. This often makes you feel like the victim of the process, which prevents you from finding a way around the problems you are facing. Superseding these mindset limitations and being your authentic self, keeps the opportunities for progress and growth open. It makes recurring success possible, so applying the tips above prepares you mentally and emotionally for continuous growth in yourself and your business. It’s your mindset that really challenges you in business and prevents you from experiencing recurring success.
For more information, visit: https://revive.coach/
Kamladevi Sharma is an international speaker on work-life balance, a certified professional life coach and qualified business consultant. She helps entrepreneurs and people in management globally, including you, to eliminate burnout and, achieve balance in their personal and professional lives. Her dedication to achieving clarity, alignment and results for her clients, ensures that they can thrive and feel more fulfilled and successful in their life, career and/or business. Additionally, her expertise in mindset and personal development strategy has benefitted over 4000 professionals globally in personal growth and, over 250 businesses in jumping start a momentum for success in her signature momentum trainings at Revive. She has been featured on several podcast shows on various platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts and, the Guyana Times Sunday Magazine. Kamladevi holds a MBA in Business Administration from the University of Bradford, Bachelors in Social Psychology, Social Research and Business and, certificates in Professional Life Coaching and Counselling. Prior to co-founding Revive, she was magnificent in upper management positions in Guyana and lectured at several tertiary institutions there.
