Career & Finance

5 Ways to Stay Positive as a New Entrepreneur

As an entrepreneur, it can feel as though we’re rushing, hurrying, and feeling oh-so-very busy these days. Whether we’re tasked with too many things or are working on task prioritizing, it can often feel as though we can’t get everything done. For today, I thought I would share with you a few ways to stay grounded in positivity as a new or well-versed entrepreneur. These tips have helped me to keep my cool and push on to accomplish my goals and reach out to others when I am in need of help.

1. You have to focus on one good, positive thing each day.

It’s easy to focus on all the negative things that happen. When you focus on the negative, that’s what you get. I tend to immediately turn to the many things that could go poorly in a given situation and while for some that might seem like preparedness, for me it leads to whining. And that my friends, isn’t good for me, the business, or anyone around me. I have to remind myself, daily, that positivity will lead to better results. One of the important ways to stay positive is to focus on one good thing that happens each day. Even if you have to write it down as a reminder in a journal, do it—you’ll start to notice positive results.

Instead of focusing on what you lack compared to others, push yourself to be better and test out new ideas.

2. Acknowledge comparison.

But don’t obsess over it. Looking on Instagram a bit much? Seeing all those darlings in their cute outfits making you feel bad about yourself and your life? Welcome to social media. Saying that you won’t compare yourself to others is like saying we don’t live in a competitive society or we don’t root for any type of sports team, or we don’t want to move up a ladder to better ourselves. Saying “I won’t compare myself” is just not realistic. Comparison is a large part of what can drive us to be better. But we need not let it take over our lives. If you find yourself obsessing over it, one of the ways to stay positive when your feeling low is to put your phone down and take a break from social media.

Another way to stay positive is to remind yourself that there is a line not to cross when playing the “compare this to that” game. People are who they are and I am who I am. I can’t change that. But what I can do is push myself to become better by looking at what has worked for others and testing out ideas to see if they can work for me.

3. Allow yourself some down time.

It’s OK to stay in your gym clothes all day every now and then—but not every day. Working from home can give you the freedom to stay in your jammies and bang out a hundred emails, call potential clients, have a online meeting, etc. And that’s OK but that’s not the precedent should you set every single day. Whether we like it or not, society is very visually driven and when you dress nicely it makes a better impression on you (internally) and on others (externally). Sometimes, even when you’re feeling at your laziest, it’ll do you a bit of good to throw on something cute and a swipe of mascara before you head out the door. It will not only improve your mood and attitude, but if you happen to run into a client, it will leave a better visual lasting impression, speaking volumes for professionalism.

4. Set personal goals.

Be it for work, for your health, or for success, one of the most important ways to stay positive is to set realistic daily or weekly goals. And be specific. Check them off as you go and then set more. It’s better to say, for example, “I want to reach out to five new bloggers and ask to collaborate with them today” (specific ask) than it is to say, “I want to collaborate” (too vague).

When I was a middle school teacher, I used to have my class write down a daily goal: “What are you going to accomplish today?” And rather than students saying, “I’m going to get an A” (too vague) we turned that into something specific, “I want to write three paragraphs…” So they’d try to meet a more achievable goal for the day.

Do you have daily, weekly goals? What are they? Once you start setting goals, you’ll feel accomplished—that generates positivity. No one can resist the thrill of a completed to-do list.

Surround yourself with people who will give honest, open feedback to better the direction you’re going in.

5. You can’t do it alone.

Find a mentor or be a mentor. Sometimes when we’re navigating new territory in life, we might be unsure of the terrain or we may feel like we know exactly what we’re doing. If you need a little navigation in those instances, a mentor or professional confidant can hear you out and steer you in the right direction (with sage advice!). As a healthy individual, one of the ways to stay positive is to surround yourself with people who are positive. A mentor is someone who isn’t necessarily your best friend or your relationship partner, but someone who you can throw your ideas at and in return receive honest, open feedback—all to better your career direction.

Each time we fail, we should use it as a reminder that it’s OK to fail, it’s OK to reach out to others for help. We learn and grow from our failures in hopes of becoming a better version of ourselves.

What tips do you have for new entrepreneurs? Share them in the comments below!