All the weeding in my backyard last week made for an unpleasant afternoon and a lasting impression. Weeds really tick me off! They will flat out take over and strangle out all the good plants if you let them. At least I had a revelation that made all the bending over, pulling and sweating worth it -- if the mind of a business owner is like a garden, what kind of negative thoughts (weeds) are choking out the positive and productive thoughts (good plants)?
As business owners, we can't afford to let negative mindsets take over our mental gardens. A mindset is simply the sum total of our habitual thoughts, expectations, limiting beliefs, opinions, fears, uncertainties and doubts. Once we create our mindsets, they eventually create our futures. If we allow our minds to be taken over with weeds, we lose our effectiveness, focus and competitive edge. As business owners, we must protect our confidence and mindsets at all costs.
If our minds are truly like gardens, I bet most of us take time to fertilize, water and care for most of the good plants (positive thoughts, goals, creative ideas, expectations, etc.). However, do we regularly take time to look for and yank out all the aggressively growing and destructive weeds (negative thought patterns) from our minds? Probably not. Maybe we simply try to deny or ignore the weeds and hope they will go away. Or, we don't bother to yank them out by the roots. We make a half-hearted effort and they come back more vicious than ever.
Take it from me, my backyard would be over run with weeds if I did not intervene by pulling them or spraying them with weed control. The natural desire of weeds to grow, advance and multiply is truly amazing. As a business coach for over 16 years, I can tell you the same is true for your mental weeds. If you let them, they will take over your mind and mental outlook. If you don't yank them out by their very roots, they will come back again and again.
Let's look inside your mental garden. What kind of weeds might be there? What negative mindsets could be growing unchecked? For example, are you allowing excuses to multiply like weeds. Do you blame your industry, the economy, the competition, your employees, customers, or the government for all your challenges? Do you fight any change and remain a prisoner to the old ways of doing everything? Do you believe all answers must come from inside your industry? Do you believe business is a struggle (weed) or a fun adventure? Are your best years behind you (weed) or is your future bigger, brighter and bolder? Are you focused on obstacles (weeds) instead of your goals? Do you worry (weed) about sales or do something positive and productive? Have you brainwashed yourself (weed) that good employees are impossible to find?
If nothing else, examine the weeds in your head and test their validity. Most mental weeds are simply unchallenged and untrue. If you hold them up to the light of truth, they lose their power. Next time you make an excuse, blame someone or something, or make a bold assertion (e.g. "There is no way that ______ can work in this business"), simply hold that negative thought (weed) up to the light of reason and ask yourself, "is there a chance that this belief is simply not true"?
Don't let your weeds grow unchecked. Be very vigilant since you ultimately become what you think about. What you think about you bring about. Choose your thoughts (weeds or good plants) with great care. If you don't like your results (effects) in any area of your business or life, look at your mindset (cause). Change your mindset, you change your world.
Daniel M. Murphy
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System