It’s all good: Keeping your head up when business is down

It’s no secret running a small business can take an enormous amount of hard work, energy and fortitude. The down times can even be somewhat soul crushing. But successful entrepreneurs are able to overcome all that and focus on the positive without the negative aspects becoming too debilitating.

Recent research draws strong links between the ability to maintain a positive attitude at work and sharper negotiation skills, better decision-making, expanded creativity and greater overall work performance. The reason? Looking on the bright side keeps you from narrowing your vision.

“Positive emotions expand awareness and attention,” explains study author Barbara Fredrickson. “When you’re able to take in more information, the peripheral vision field is expanded. You’re able to connect the dots to the bigger picture.”

The study may make it sound overly easy to maintain a sense of well-being at work, given all the financial, logistical, intellectual and physical challenges of business ownership. But displaying positive leadership to your employees is crucial, since it can affect their morale, pride in their work, trust in their future employment and even their integrity on the job.

Three suggestions for making that happen:

1. Maintain an attitude of gratitude. A run of bad luck or negative events can make you forget the abundance of aspects actually going well in your business. When having a bad day, put your problems into perspective and remember how lucky you are to be able to own a business. A written list of everything that’s going well might help.

2. Challenge negative thoughts. Emotionally fortified entrepreneurs are able to interrupt and distance themselves from pervasively negative internal dialogue. That takes practice, since we’re not necessarily used to countering our own thoughts, and many of us judge ourselves too harshly. After a low sales month, for example, a negative person may question his ability to run a successful business. A more proactive person stops that thought process, identifies it as an over-generalization, identifies reasons for the problem and starts to tackle the causes.

3. Give yourself credit. The nature of being an entrepreneur is that you’re going to put yourself out there, and you’re going to sometimes fail. But occasional failure is head and shoulders above reaching old age and realizing you never went after your dreams because you were simply too afraid of risk. Facing your biggest fear — the fear of failure — can be incredibly liberating, and in fact give you the extra energy you need to remain strong and positive when your business is taking a beating.

Need more inspiration? Read about the many great business people who floundered before achieving success — and realize how much you have in common with them as an entrepreneur.

“People who have learned to think positively under pressure feel the constant need to accomplish something new,” notes Harvey Deutschendorf on Fastcompany.com. “They use goals to mark their progress, keep motivated and stay on target. Having something to constantly strive for adds substance and meaning to your life… it will sustain you when the going gets tough.”

Custom Toll Free can set you up with a positive and effective marketing campaign aimed at inspiring your entire staff. Contact us at 1-800-CUSTOMIZE.