I've interviewed almost 300 small business owners over the last 5 years. I've worked with thousands more. I can say without equivocation that we all bring a unique set of experiences, thought processes, and operational defaults to the way we run our businesses.
Maybe that goes without saying.
But I wanted to say it because, if you're like me, it's really easy to tell yourself that other people have it figured out and you don't.
It's very easy to make yourself the unfortunate exception and accept that you're building your business in spite of your experiences and proclivities not because of them.
Now, your unique set of experiences, thought processes, and operational defaults are the filter that most commonly gets called your "mindset."
Your mindset determines how you approach challenges and take advantage of opportunities. And it can be an especially tricky piece of the puzzle to dial in because it so often is functioning outside of our field of awareness.
Tuning your mindset also presents a challenge in that the effectiveness of your personal filter changes over time.
Your unique way of approaching challenges or taking advantage of opportunities might have been the thing that made it relatively easy for you to get your business off the ground but it making it much harder to keep it growing.
Your mindset might have been what allowed you to not spend every penny your business made in the beginning but is now making it difficult to give yourself a raise.
Your mindset might have helped you ignore all of the metaphorical yield signs early on but is now making it difficult to discern where you need to slow down and use a little more caution.
Unless you're paying attention to your mindset—the filter you're using to perceive what's going on around you and how you're going to respond—it's nearly impossible to break out of these old patterns and steer yourself or your business in a new way.
Today, the goal is to notice the filter.
You're resetting the way you approach your challenges and take advantage of opportunities.
Take an inventory of what's happening in your business right now. You can even review your reflection from Day 1 to remind yourself of the less dramatic things going on.
Then, take note of your first reactions or snap judgements about these things. The experiences, thought processes, and operational defaults behind those initial reactions constitute your current filter.
Consider how else you could perceive what's happening in your business and what would need to be different about your filter for those reactions to become your new default.