Starting your own business is like having a child – your life will never be the same again. And, oh boy, does this baby need a lot of time and attention, especially for the first three years!

Are you ready to embark on the bittersweet journey of parenting (ooops! I mean entrepreneurship)? Then this article is for you. Two well-known pillars of entrepreneurial success are attitude and determination.

In this article, we will focus on attitude. Google says that attitude is “a settled way of thinking or feeling about something”. So, what differentiates entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs? Let’s look at differences in their mindsets. Imagine a situation (from real life, of course) where a potentially highly rewarding deal blows up a few days before its closure, because of a huge miscommunication between both parties.

What Would A Non-Entrepreneur Think?

“How this could have happened to me?! I worked so hard for almost six months and now this unreasonable client is just slipping through my hands! How unfair is that? And why is my partner blaming me for destroying the deal? I tried my best! He just doesn’t get it!”

What can we read between the lines? A lot of drama, self-pity, and a complete lack of any sense of responsibility.

What Would An Entrepreneur Think?

“That’s a shame! My partner and I have worked really hard to close this deal and now it is gone. I feel frustrated and I can see that my business partner does too, but that’s ok. We are a team, man! What we have to do is to analyse what went wrong and make sure that we avoid those mistakes in the future. Maybe I should also look into my style of communication? The client seemed to be very irritated after the last meeting. Hmm. Was it something I said?”


Do you see the difference? An entrepreneur values teamwork, knows how to control emotions, learns from mistakes, takes responsibility for the circumstances, and is eager to come back stronger than ever. That’s a successful attitude!

But what to do if you are stuck in a limiting, non-entrepreneurial box or trapped by your own destructive thought processes? Take a deep breath! You are not alone. Many people out there feel and think the same way and, therefore, the world created Twitter and Facebook so that all of us could exchange ideas on how to develop a successful attitude!

I am happy to share five tips from my own toolbox:

1. My daily mantra: “No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up, and never give up!

2. Get up with the sunrise and exercise. A healthy body = a happy mind!

3. Take time off work. Regularly. (If you get out of your working routine for some time, you will be amazed to see how many new ideas and opportunities come your way!)

4. Choose your friends carefully. As Jim Rohn said: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” 

5. Money is just money. Life and relationships is what matters the most. (Remember that your loved ones are as valuable as your business.)

P.S. Do check out my "People Power" website as I share 8 tips you can use to network and connect with high-power people.

_{This post was first published on Yana Fry blog and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.
Edited by Nedda Chaplin
Image credit: Young manager expressing his ideas from Shutterstock}

Did you enjoy this post? Please comment, like and share!