How many reading this have heard of the mental game of business? Owning a business is definitely not for everyone! It has its ups and downs and sometimes you have to zig when you had planned to zag. Unlike a “j-o-b” where you have a consistent paycheck, job description and set goals and tasks on a daily basis, entrepreneurship doesn’t necessarily provide any of those safety nets. You may have periods where you take little or no paycheck especially as you get started. The open road in front of you is for you to pave and map out how you see fit. 

What makes owning a business so difficult? You can learn business acumen from reading, coaching with someone and more. But more often than not what gets in our way the most is ourselves. We get scared. We become paralyzed. We stop taking action! Why? We may know what to do but often the mental game of business is unpredictable unless we have experienced that kind of pressure before. Most of us have heard the mental game of sports. The greats like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Tom Brady and more have talent BUT they have something even more. They have a will to succeed, a mental toughness, a never say die attitude that most of us don’t have. I grew up playing tennis and earned a scholarship to a D1 school but I certainly didn’t have that level of mental toughness. Have you ever thought of your business as having a mental game? Ultimately, it’s not the business but the person behind the business. You have to have resilience and mental toughness. 

There will be setbacks so you must know how to never let those setbacks get you down. You must know how to overcome those obstacles. According to an article in Forbes Magazine, “the risk of entrepreneurship creates a fabric of experience that, win or lose, you can be grateful for, as it allows you to explore your limits, learn and grow.”

Some items to pay attention to on a daily basis are the following: 

  1. Your language: Are you staying positive in your self talk and talk to others? A critique is ok as long as you are emphasizing the positive as well as the points to learn from.
  2. Are you coming from a place of service with your business? As a business owner, it is important that you understand that what you are selling is a product or service that will truly benefit another person or business.
  3. Are you always looking to learn: Learning and growing is a key aspect of building confidence and improving your mental toughness.
    • Reading books
    • Joining a mastermind
    • Hiring a business coach
  4. Taking care of you
    • Set goals daily
    • Write down your gratitude list
    • Eating healthy
    • Working out (at least walking)

Just like athletics, business requires mental toughness and a solid mindset. It has to be a daily focus and not simply something you look at occasionally. Honestly, life in general requires mental toughness. That’s why we see some people doing really well in life and others not so well. 

It’s not about the circumstances happening but rather how that person handles those circumstances. I’ll end with my favorite quote that I use often: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll.