As the CEO and Co-Founder of The Growth Coach, a North American business coaching franchise system, I’m always trying to feed my mind and spirit with a diet of positive and valuable information.  After all, if you don’t keep yourself positive, productive and motivated, who will? As an entrepreneur, like you, I’m 100% responsible for my mental state, success, and happiness.  Therefore, continually learning and staying positive and confident are critical imperatives for a successful business and life.

You see, I don’t hesitate to spend money on worthwhile educational and motivational resources for me and my future … neither should you.  I spend thousands of dollars each year and consider such personal development strictly an investment.  And over the years, my return on investment from these personal development resources has been tremendous.  Put simply, this dedication to never-ending improvement/ development has been a strategic, competitive weapon for me and by association, our business coaching franchise system, business coaches, and clients.

Whenever you invest in yourself (business coaching, sales coaching, seminars, books, CDs, group workshops, etc.), there is no better return on your investment … it can be 5X, 10X, and even 50X a return on investment.  A few simple good ideas, better self-knowledge, profitable insights, and/or some critical distinctions can yield a reward of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But let’s face facts.  Unless you are willing to invest and grow, you will not grow and neither will your business. After all, what got you to where you are today is not sufficient to get you to where you want to go.  You must keep learning, growing and stretching.  You must be willing to elevate your mindset, knowledge, skills and habits to get to the next level.  Are you willing?

Recently, I was listening to one of my many educational/motivational CDs and heard Earl Nightingale, the original dean of personal development, share a talk on “The Strangest Secret.”  He boiled down the secret to success and happiness to one simple statement, “You become what you think about.” Let me repeat that.  You become what you think about.

As your virtual business coach, please stop and think deeply about that profound and valuable quote. Don’t dismiss it because of its simplicity.  Let it soak in.  You become what you think about.  So, what are you usually thinking about? Things to support your success or sabotage it?

Through this powerful quote, Earl was saying that your dominant thoughts determine your actions and that your actions (or lack thereof) ultimately shape your outcomes and destiny.  Your thoughts are the root cause of almost everything good, bad and ugly in your life.  Your success or lack of success can be traced back to what you habitually think about and take action on.  Put simply, what you think about (good or bad) eventually comes about.  Whatever you focus on, positive or negative, expands in your life.  Said another way, wherever your attention goes results will flow.  So…be careful.  Think negative thoughts and that is what you will attract…negative outcomes.  Think positive thoughts and back them up with right actions and you will reap positive outcomes.  You become what you think about.

As your personal Growth Coach, let me ask you some important questions:  On a daily basis, what are YOU thinking about?  Success or failure?  Solutions or problems?  Goals or obstacles?  Thinking about today or yesterday or worrying about tomorrow?  Thinking about opportunities or risks?  Dreams or fears?  Regrets or new beginnings?  Your blessings or your challenges?  The challenges of the tough economy or solutions for the tough economy?  Again, it’s your thinking that determines your feelings, actions, and ultimately your results.  Your thinking (the cause) sets off a chain reaction that impacts your results/outcomes (the effect).  Your thoughts are that powerful…learn to control them.

A few times a day, please pause and become aware of your thinking … the internal dialogue that’s occurring in your head.  Don’t deny it.  Everyone engages in self-talk.  They real question is not IF you do it but whether your self-talk is positive or negative.  What are you typically thinking about most of the day?  Does your daily thinking move you closer to your goals or farther away?  Does your habitual thinking support or sabotage your success?  If you are like most business owners, you probably aren’t sure and not truly aware of your self-talk.

Relax, there is hope.  There’s an easy way to become more aware of your habitual thinking.  Simply follow your emotions! Your emotions reveal your thinking patterns.  When your thinking is positive and supportive, you have positive and pleasant emotions (happiness).  When your thinking is negative and destructive, so are the emotions you will feel (unhappiness).  Your emotions function as your advanced warning system.  The next time you feel a negative emotion, ask yourself, “What’s the negative thinking taking place?” “What am I afraid of?” “What is bothering me?” “What am I focusing on?”

Simply becoming aware of your thinking (using your emotions as a guide) will help you correct course. Once aware, you will be able to re-direct your thinking and focus toward goals, dreams, success, solutions, blessings, and opportunities.  All of our business coaching services help business owners become more aware of their thinking and the consequences of their thinking.  Helping our clients adopt more empowering thinking and mindsets is critical.  Why?  You become what you think about.

Thinking about becoming a business coach?  Do you have what it takes to be a business coach with The Growth Coach?  Click here to learn more on how to become a business coach.