What Is A Business Owner Mindset?
A few years ago, there was an interesting conversation about what it means to be successful as a person. Some people said that being wealthy is the only way to see success, while others believe that achieving success comes from having a good work-life balance, serving your community, and living with dignity of life for yourself and those around you.
Another theory is that being rich isn’t necessarily the key to success, but instead, having a “possessive” attitude towards money is. This theory suggests that even if someone has just a small amount of money in the bank, they are still feeling successful because they feel like they own their money.
This article will talk more about this concept – the term is called “Possession Thinking About Money.” Below, we’ll discuss some important points about this mindset, how it can negatively influence our spending habits, and then finally, ways to use this knowledge to help you stay motivated on your financial journey.
Not enough sleep
Let’s look at one of our most basic needs in human beings — sleep. Sleeping is one of the body’s natural processes that we have to do to maintain health and wellness.
We require at least seven hours of sleep per night for optimum performance as humans. When we are sleep deprived, not only does it affect us physically, but it can also impact how we perform mentally.
Running a business means there are going to be highs and lows – lots of milestones and failures, success and setbacks. When things aren’t going well, a business owner may feel like they’re failing or their efforts are not working.
That’s when a lot of people give up, which is normal and understandable. It happens to the best of us.
However, I want you to know that isn’t a legitimate reason to quit. You don’t deserve to walk away because you made a mistake or lost some momentum. You worked hard, you sacrificed, you invested your time and energy into this business, and you should never consider yourself worthless as an entrepreneur.
Not enough exercise
One of the biggest reasons that business owners stop running or start being more lenient with their workouts is because they don’t feel tired after work. This is totally normal! Most office-side activities are done in a room with lots of people, which makes it easy to find someone to run with or ask for help at the gym, but beyond that, most workplace settings offer limited resources and opportunities for fitness.
If you need proof that not investing in your health isn’t a short-term idea, consider how much money we spend as a country on chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), medical costs related to these diseases amount to about $1 trillion per year — nearly one percent of our GDP!
That’s why it’s so important to establish healthy habits early on if you want to keep yourself out of the doctor’s office later on. Investing time into your overall wellness can reduce sick days, improve employee productivity, and save you money in healthcare expenses.
Another reason to make activity a part of your daily life is simply because you should be doing something every day. We all know that too many hours sitting down can have negative effects on your waistline and blood pressure, but also making sure you get at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every day helps promote bone density, weight loss, and cardiovascular conditioning.
Not enough time with friends and family
Being able to identify what makes you happy and then putting that first before work and family is not only important, but totally possible!
We’ve discussed before here how being rich is different than having lots of money, and how becoming wealthy takes focus away from other things in your life. That’s why it’s crucial to understand what really motivates you — what gives you joy outside of work.
It’s easy to lose sight of this as you grow up and have kids, but staying focused on these non-work activities is one of the most effective ways to keep yourself motivated and productive.
And for your sake, for others’ sakes, make sure you don’t take too much advantage of them because you’ll probably burn through all your personal savings just to find out they aren’t actually fun after all.
Too focused on your business
A few years ago, I heard a really interesting concept described as a “business owner mindset.” The term refers to someone who is constantly thinking about how their business can be more successful or profitable than it was the day before.
This person doesn’t sit around dreaming of what their business could be like, nor do they focus only on the negatives. They have a constant flow of thoughts that are oriented towards making sure their business will succeed in the future.
I always thought this was a very healthy mentality to have, so I made it my goal to develop mine. Over the past few years, I’ve tried various strategies to help me achieve this.
As you read above, I’ll talk more about some of these strategies here. But first, let’s look at some examples of things being way too much attention is paid to your career.
External forces such as market conditions, economic trends, and life changes can all play a big part in whether your job gets eliminated due to budget cuts or not.
So if we’re talking about paying too much attention to your career, that would definitely include things outside of your control.
On the other hand, external factors can also impact how well you perform your current job. For example, if you work for a company that is going through major restructuring or re-evaluation, that might create a challenge for you.
Too focused on your customers
A few years ago, I read an article about how important it is to have an “under-the-radar” mindset when running a business. The author described this as having a sense of stealthiness around others, but not yourself.
He explained that when you adopt this mentality, you subconsciously feel less pressure to make a big deal out of yourself because you recognize that everyone else does the same thing to gain success. You also believe that people with more successful themsevs are doing the same things that helped them succeed!
This removes some of the stress from being self-focused and can help you develop a healthier work-personal balance. It can also help keep internal competition down, as you don’t feel like you need to always be better than someone else or at least match up to their level of success in order to deserve respect.
There’s a reason why politicians and CEOs tend to look similar – they’re trained to value teamwork and collaboration over individual achievement. This helps them inspire trust in those around them by showing that they’re willing to share power and carry part of the burden.
I think this applies to anyone who wants to lead — whether you’re trying to motivate employees, direct staff members, manage project teams, or take responsibility for larger projects and responsibilities.
Having a non-self oriented leadership style will create a lasting effect on the people you influence.
Not enough of what you know
Being familiar with your products and services is great, but knowing how to run a business beyond that is something totally different. Beyond having a good eye for colors and styles, there are many other things that make up the “business owner” mantle.
This includes such fundamentals as running a budget, marketing strategies, networking, etc. There are also more advanced concepts like financial statements or even creating and sticking to a business model strategy.
All of these things help you operate your business in the right way so that it can grow and succeed. But unfortunately, most people who start their own businesses never reach out to learn more about this material.
It is very common to see entrepreneurs pick one thing from outside the company they work for and then stick with it. They may add onto it, but not much else than that. This is definitely not the best approach when you want your business to thrive.
Not enough of what others know
A few years ago, I read an article about how most successful people have one thing in common – they are self-starter types. They start their own projects and initiatives without much help from other people or things like that.
They believe in putting in the effort needed to succeed alone, which is why they’re success stories. Only five out of every hundred thousand individuals ever get rich doing things with little struggle on their part, so it’s not easy to be wealthy if you don’t put in the work yourself.
I think there’s a lot of false perception around what it means to be a “successful business owner.” People assume that being a business owner equals having a big company with lots of employees under you. It doesn’t!
It can mean running a small business just like any other person would run theirs. In fact, some of the greatest entrepreneurs in history had no direct employee relations at all. Warren Buffett, for example, still runs his company through himself and only hires people who motivate him. He didn’t need anyone else to do his job.
What makes someone a successful entrepreneur isn’t always directly related to what they do, but instead what type of person they are. Being able to relate to and inspire people is a key ingredient to succeeding as a business owner.
Being consistent
Consistency is one of the greatest strengths in being a business owner. This can be seen as staying within your comfort zone, keeping up with regular routines, or sticking to an educational curriculum that you have invested in.
As human beings we are inclined to fall into patterns of behavior that have been worked before. For example, people who eat sweets frequently may need help breaking this pattern.
By adding more nutritious foods into their diet, they could start to feel healthier so they eventually stop eating lots of junk food. Same for those who may drink alcohol occasionally and find it helps them relax – giving up drinking for a while could also aid in health and wellness.
Business owners who spend time working on their company, educating themselves about new skills, investing in equipment or facilities, and developing relationships are all forms of consistency.
