Starting a New Business - Overcoming Negative Self-Talk

Did you ever hear the saying 'there is nothing to fear except fear itself'? Think about that for a minute - it seems to say fear creates itself and really has no basis - there is nothing to actually fear.  

The same thing could be said about thoughts of doubt or skepticism. For whatever reason, there is a lot of low self-esteem going around. It can be the result of having harsh criticism from others, or of never being able to please our 'authority figures'. They mean well, supposedly, and just want you to do your best.  

However it appears your best is never good enough for them because they wrongly think that by telling you to always 'aim higher', or pitting you against someone who is more proficient to compete with them, that this will somehow compel you to be their champion! An "A" is not even good enough - 'see if you can't try harder and get an "A+" next time'; 'See how well Molly does that? Maybe she could give you some pointers'; 'Don't you want to be like Jack? Look at those trophies he has!' 

The problem is two-fold - everybody is different, with different talents and gifts - and we don't all have the same interests. They say you do best what you like to do - so if whatever you are doing is 'not your cup of tea' you will likely not do as well as someone who breathes, eats and sleeps whatever it is. That doesn't mean you are less of a person or in some way inferior at all - it just means you are different.


Whether it is sub-conscious or conscious, you hear all that negative self-talk. 

You just need to 'deprogram' yourself from believing negative things about yourself. 

Make an effort to think of something you do well and that you enjoy, whenever you hear 'you can't do this' or 'you could have done that better', or 'so and so does it better than you do'.... and even if you can't think of something you are proud of and that makes you feel good about yourself, then think about something pleasant that you enjoy - a memorable day you had at the beach - or even the beach itself - what you love about it - the smell, the sound, the colors, the warm sun. 

Just immerse yourself in it and replace the negative thoughts with something that makes you feel happy.


This is particularly relevant to starting a new business because most of the people you know that are not involved, will try to discourage you - again for whatever reason, they will try to make you skeptical - 'are you kidding'? 'That sounds like a rip off'; 'Oh, it sounds like a scam'; 'good luck buddy, I would never buy anything online'; 'I know somebody that lost it all on a game like that'; 'You probably don't have the experience to do that'; 'People are far ahead of you and you will never catch up'.

To reinforce this negativity, you likely will not see any tangible results at first - starting a business is not like starting a new job, where even though you don't know what you are doing or where you are going they still pay you while you are learning. When you are brave enough and creative enough to try to start something of your own, you are not paid and you are spending long hours learning and trying new things; and frankly many of the things you try will not work - at first or even at all. This just means find another way, it doesn't mean 'I told you, you couldn't do this'. 

You have to be able to tell yourself 'it is ok'- 'I will learn', 'I will catch up', 'I will do it right' - and you will have the faith in yourself to keep plugging away until you can see the results of your actions. It may not be today or tomorrow but if you are consistent and really determined, there is nothing that can stop you. Good job!

Making The Most Of Your Time

Many business owners struggle with the concept of time. The conflict lies, more specifically, in the lack of available time. It is an all too familiar story: the business day starts and, before you know it, the time has gone and you haven't managed to complete half of the tasks on your 'to do' list.

This scenario is to blame for much work-related stress. The cause? Well, it really comes down to a lack of time control. Manage your time effectively and you will find that much of your work stress melts away.


Here are are five key tips to help you to make the most of your time.

 


Time Yourself  

You know better than anyone how to tackle the key tasks in your own business. However, it is just as important to know how long each of these tasks takes to complete. The best way to find out is to time yourself actually doing the work. You should do this both for the work you do for your customers as well as the work you do within your own business.

For example, a business owner wants to publish blogs on a regular basis. How long should she allocate per week to this task? Well, the best way for her to know how much time writing, editing, finding an image, and publishing a blog will take is for her to time herself actually doing it.

Indeed, in order to get a truly accurate time picture, she should time herself doing this task on several occasions so that she can get an average and then allocate the necessary amount of time each week. 

 

Don't Drift  

In order to control your time, you have to be strict with yourself. Using the example above, the business owner could easily spend hours thinking about, researching and writing blog posts. However, this will not help her business to thrive.So, instead, she should set herself a tight time frame within which she can write and publish a high quality article. It is amazing how productive you can be when you have a looming deadline - it can really focus the mind! 

 

Remove Distractions  

In a similar vein to the point above, effective time management means removing distractions. Once you have set yourself time to complete a piece of work you should focus on that work.Try not to succumb to distractions such as Internet searches or email correspondence. These really are time black holes and can easily double the time you need to complete a task. If you can, turn off all devices that will bleep, ring and flash messages at you; they can and should wait their turn. 

 

Time Boxing  

The time boxing technique is particularly effective when you know how long tasks take to complete. At the beginning of the day, work out what jobs you need to complete and how long each task will take. Then look at how much time you have available and slot the tasks into the relevant time boxes.This can really help you to focus on the jobs that you want to complete. 


It can also prevent you from taking too long on any one job and stop you from becoming distracted.In addition, time boxing also encourages you to be realistic regarding your 'to do' list. After all, if you have unrealistic expectations as to what work you can finish in any given day you just end up feeling stressed. 

 

Allow A Contingency  

When you allocate time boxes to your work, always allow a period of time for contingencies. As much as you don't want time to get away from you, you also don't want to become completely imprisoned by your time management technique!


If you follow the tips above you will discover that you can find more hours in the day. In addition to that, the hours that you do spend at work will be far less stressful.