Owning a business comes with its share of challenges—frustrations with employees, difficult customers, uncooperative bankers, and government red tape. Many business owners accept this as the norm, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Imagine having great employees, appreciative customers, helpful bankers, and minimal worries about the government. Is it possible? Absolutely!
Believe it or not, the key to this transformation lies within you. A whopping 90% of the barriers between negative and positive interactions in business are created by our own self-limiting beliefs. The remaining 10%? That’s just in your head too!
Detailed research in neuroscience explains how our minds can hinder business success, but here’s the gist:
When you have challenging experiences with employees or customers, your brain records these along with the accompanying emotions. If you’ve spent months feeling frustrated with an employee, had to fire them, and then faced a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, your brain tags these memories with pain. Over time, you subconsciously create a mental “shortcut” that links any employee issues with inevitable pain, so you avoid it at all costs.
Moving forward
First, accept that this scientific explanation is plausible. This recognition alone puts you halfway toward resolving these mental barriers. The next step requires courage and vulnerability: self-reflection to bring these thought patterns into your conscious awareness.
Once you become aware of these negative thought patterns, you can consciously control and begin to unlearn them. Like any ingrained habit, this takes practice. Spend some quiet time free from distractions to identify and replace these patterns. For example, in dealing with an underperforming employee, shift your mindset from focusing on past painful experiences to viewing the issue purely as a business challenge.
“This is just a business issue. I can set aside the personal emotions of past experiences and have an honest, business-like discussion with the employee. Avoiding it makes it worse.”
So often, the pain of avoidance is greater than the pain of doing the action.
Changing these patterns takes practice. Start with minor issues, perhaps a direct and professional conversation about tardiness. Give yourself and the employee advanced notice of the discussion. If an employee arrives late at 8:15 a.m., say, “Hey Joe, can you come to my office at 10:00 a.m.? We need to discuss your punctuality.”
This preparation period helps you unlearn old, negative thoughts like:
- “He is probably going to start crying.”
- “I hope he doesn’t quit over this.”
- “He will probably blame someone else.”
Instead, replace them with new, positive thoughts:
- “I want to understand the real reason for the tardiness.”
- “Can I communicate my point of view clearly and professionally?”
- “How can we help Joe be punctual?”
Trust this process and experiment with these new mindsets. The changed experiences will soon replace old, negative ones. We practice what we preach and look forward to hearing about your successes!
Congratulations in advance for taking the first step to real change!
