Is Limited Thinking Sabotaging Your Business Success? 7 tips to turn old ideas into new ones

As we rest from the past year and look to the new year with hope and renewed vigor, now is a good time to reflect on the successes and failures of the past years. As you reflect, I ask you to dig into the failures of the past year and really look for the underlying cause.

Many people will blame the bad economy, lack of customers, reduced opportunities, changing regulations or financing, you name it, these past few years have provided ample opportunity for great excuses and various reasons. It may not sit well with some of you, but let’s face it, despite the failing economy, poor housing market, financial crises, and many other “Great Recession symptoms,” there have still been companies making money. , they expand and succeed. . If your business is not one of them, I ask you to consider this: “What role did you play in sabotaging the success of your business?”

This is not an easy question, and facing the truth of the answer is no better. Let’s face it, unless your business was affected by a natural disaster, war, or government-ordered shutdown, you probably had options available to you over the past year to change, expand, and grow your business, whether that happened. account or not not.

What “ways” of doing business in the old economy have kept you from succeeding in recent months? What old habits have been holding you back from expanding in changing uncertain economic conditions? What limiting beliefs have made it difficult for you to move forward? As hard as it is to admit, many of us have had ample opportunity to improve our business and economic situation in recent years. Unfortunately, too many small business owners have been so busy blaming outside circumstances and feeling sorry for themselves that they’ve missed out on many of the opportunities that would have propelled their business forward and into the new economy.

Even despite the current challenges we all face, opportunities abound if you are able to break old habits and ways of thinking and find ways to capitalize on the current chaos in the marketplace.

Here are some proven strategies to overcome bad habits and limited thinking and boost your business despite external market factors.

1. Look to others for information and help. Regardless of how long you’ve been in business, how well your business has done, or how much you might currently “think you know,” surround yourself with other successful business owners and coaches. Challenging situations require higher level thinking, curiosity, multiple points of view, and creativity. It’s much easier and more efficient to rely on a team of advisers and friends who can point out many of the nuances you may be missing. Perspective is one of the most important factors that can help you overcome obstacles, unfortunately, regardless of how smart you are, how much money you have, or how good you are, you only have one perspective: yours. To see things from different points of view, rely on your circle of influence for insight and perspective on where you are, what things look like, and where it makes sense to go from here.

2. Embrace new ways of thinking and doing. Most of us have behavior patterns and habits that have formed over time. These patterns, beliefs, and behaviors are often some of the biggest obstacles standing between where we are now and where we want to be in the future. Recognize that what got you here probably won’t get you there, and look for ways to change yourself. Take a new route to work, try a new food, read a book that goes against your beliefs, it doesn’t really matter what you choose as long as it goes against what you would normally do. By challenging your habits and patterns and opening yourself up to new experiences, you will ultimately open new paths to new opportunities. Find joy and delight in the nuances of new experiences and leave behind the comforts of habit and familiarity.

3. Review past success. Reflect on past successes and opportunities and look for hidden gems in those experiences. Often, as the business grows and stabilizes, we become lazy and begin to neglect many of the things that brought us success in the first place. Think about and look for habits and behaviors that you adopted in the early years of your business and be honest with yourself: are you still acting the same way and doing similar things? Are you making so many sales calls, looking for new opportunities, building new relationships? Or are you still trying to hold on to the ones you have? It’s crucial that you be honest with what you’ve done here and what will ultimately get you through this next challenge.

4. Brainstorm. Since the entire system is currently in chaos and no one really knows which way is up, take advantage of it. Everyone has been affected, and most people and businesses today understand that change is happening fast everywhere. Take advantage of the commotion. If you were hesitating to launch a new product or open a new market because existing customers might question your motives, DO IT. Most critical eyes have grown more sympathetic as the realization has come: to survive the next few years, you need to be able to adapt quickly, constantly change, and try new things. Now is the best time to try a new product, open a branch, or explore a new opportunity. I recommend not throwing money at random, but if after careful analysis and consideration an idea seems viable, now is the time to try it.

5. Face your demons. Are you afraid of what is coming? You do not know what to do? Not sure of yourself and where your future is? There has never been a better time to reflect on who you are, where you are going, and why you might want to go there. Be open to considering what you really want to do with your life and how your business can provide that opportunity. Accept the uncertainty you face on a daily basis and use it as an ever-changing opportunity for personal growth and development. Look for the things in your life that annoy you more than most and you may have found the area that you will want to focus on. Relationships, money, control, religion, politics, what area of ​​your life is the most conflictive or banned for you. Start there.

6. Design a roadmap. After all the thinking, reflection, and analysis mentioned above, formulate a plan. What have you learned? Where do you need to improve? Where do you want to go? What skills do you need to develop?/ Who is going to help you succeed? Start formulating a plan for who, what, when, where, how, and most importantly, why. The bigger your WHY, the reason you want to succeed, the easier everything else becomes. Start with the end in mind: determine your why, why do you do what you do? Why do you want to go from here to there? Once you’ve made that determination, formulate a plan that will take you from where you are now to the ideal scenario you envision in the future.

7. Don’t do it alone. List support from family, friends, and business associates. Moral support is one of the greatest assets you can use in your desire to move forward. Communicate your goals and objectives to the key people in your life and ask them to hold you accountable. Look to those around you to provide you with external motivation and ultimately hold you accountable. Share your visions and aspirations with as many people who will listen and seek your input and feedback. Formulate a plan based on the conversations you have and incorporate the feedback you receive into your business and daily life.

Ultimately, the biggest obstacles most of us will face in life are our own limitations and self-imposed beliefs. Use these 7 strategies to build momentum in your business and ultimately get you from here to where you want to be.