I’m here to talk to you about having a positive mindset. This is something that I think I’ve got right and as a business owner, my mindset has carried me through the ebbs and flows and trials and tribulations of being a business owner and entrepreneur. I think it is massively undervalued when you’re looking for the keys to success. No matter what happens to you in life, a positive mindset is always going to pull you through and get you over the hurdles. Trusting yourself and understand that there is no such thing as failure, just feedback, is the key to giving you the business, the life and the progression you want.
I’ve come up with 7 top tips for assessing my own mindset.
There is good and bad in absolutely everything, unfortunately, you can’t have the positivity without a bit of the negativity but it’s more about how you manage and view that negativity and then use it your advantage and maintain the positive mindset.
1. Working out
The first thing that I do to help me stay positive is that I work out first thing in the morning.
I took time to assess energy levels throughout the day, I did this using a calendar. I’ve been getting up at 5 am since having my second child and I assessed my energy level at this point and discovered I had really high energy at this time of the morning and this high energy level lasted until about midday. I have a little bit of a lull between 12 pm and 3 pm and then I pick up again until I settle down with my wife at around 8 pm.
Working out at 5 in the morning helps to eliminate my stress. Anything I’m still carrying from the day before, I use as motivation. It boosts my happiness, it gets me into the positive mindset and gets energy flowing through my body. It helps me to achieve my goals because having the association with business and fitness – if you can push your body through doing more e.g. more reps, running faster, you can carry this through to the rest of the day, your mind controls everything e.g. thoughts feelings, you can push it to its limits. If you can push your body and your mind through it you can overcome any hurdles.
I found that working out in the morning improved my sleep pattern at night. So I’m getting much better sleep in the evening because I’m working out in the morning. I used to work out in the evenings, years ago, and I used to go to bed buzzing because I’m not using the energy to my advantage.
Ultimately, going to the gym in the morning is going to make you feel good, look good and you carry that with you for the whole day, it eliminates my stress and anxiety, therefore getting rid of my negativity.
2. Positive Language
The next thing is the use of positive language. This comes back to my NPL I did back in 2016, the words you use are going to affect you on a day to day basis and how you foresee each and every situation you undertake. Stop moaning,no more ‘I should’, no more ‘I would’, no more ‘I could’, it’s pointless. Why should you? Why could you? Just get on and do it.
Start using words like “I can”, “I will”, “now”. Put some urgency in it and actually commit to the things you want to achieve.
3. Glass Half Full
I always make sure that my glass is always half fulland not half empty. This means seeing the positive in every situation. Now you can’t avoid the negative because that’s where the lessons are and that’s ultimately where you can improve. I like people coming to me and saying “Active Brokers are amazing, your team are great” but that should be the case because we want to be the best at what we do. But my question is, what don’t we do so well? I’m not afraid to take negative feedback or to look at my failures because I know from that, comes success.
4. Present in the Moment
Be present in the moment. I spent a lot of time, as a business owner, when things are stressful (whoever says business is easy, is a liar) because one day it could be great but the next day could be difficult. It’s really hard to maintain a nice, flat playing field. You have seasons in business that you have to counterbalance and it’s about how you push through. It’s about being where you need to be at that point in time, if you’re in the office, be in the office. I find by separating myself from the office and family and home, I find that I can focus on a particular moment in time. You’re not worrying about something out that is potentially going to stress you out.
Be grateful for these moments, I have points as a dad where I’m playing with my girls and my mind is elsewhere e.g. I’ve been on my phone or thinking about my business. And it’s almost like driving, you’ve driven 2 and a half miles but you don’t remember doing it because you’re not present in the moment, your subconscious is doing it for you. But you’re missing out on key points of your life and being grateful for the fact that you’ve got the freedom to spend that time with your children or whatever it is that you’re doing. Be present, be there and be grateful and this will improve your positivity without a shadow of a doubt.
5. Learning, Growth and Personal Development
This is a big one for me, for the last two years, I’ve been massively into personal development. Prior to this, I was just existing in my little bubble, within my safe office environment.
Focus on Learning, growth, personal developments and look to improve every single day.
Making little steps, every little 1% improvement over the course of the year, 365 days or even just once a week, that’s a 52% increase if you just make 1% difference between one week and the next. This doesn’t have to be in every aspect of life but just one thing within your business or within your life that you can look to improve. Equally, look at your children and learn growth from them. My children find everything fun. Amelie and I watched football and she’s asking me questions about who the players are, what’s going on and I’m explaining it all to her. First thing the next morning she says to me “Can we go watch football?”
So we went and drew the team on a piece of paper, pretending it’s the pitch, putting the defenders in, goal line, goalie, etc. and I explained each of the positions. But that’s her growth and she found it so exciting but I think as we get older, we don’t invest enough time in ourselves and our learning. Learning helps positivity, start listening to podcasts, start watching YouTube, Tony Robbins, absolutely anything that can help you learn, grow and give you a stronger mindset.
6. Focusing on Dreams
Kind of linking to the last point and potentially a bit wishy-washy but I like to focus on my dreams. Big goals, big visions, something that I’m aiming for and ultimately that’s what my focus is going to be on. You have to take care of yourself before you can start taking care of others. You need to focus on your dreams and what you want to achieve and once you’ve started to achieve those, you can then start to help others achieve their dreams and do the same thing. That is ultimately why I set up a podcast because it’s all about help, inspiration, motivation and education. I know a lot about mortgages and a lot about money, I’ve been a business owner since 2006 and if I can help one person achieve a more positive mindset, help them get prepared for their mortgage, then I’m having success.
There’s a lot that I’ve learned from having a team of 15 to changing my business to having a business partner and then buying that partner out and focusing on the ultimate goal/ultimate dream on the things that I want to achieve, which is freedom, lifestyle, giving my family the best life possible, helping 1 million people to have a home and sanctuary within that home. This is what motivates me every single day and it comes back to understanding your purpose, vision, mission and values, working towards these every single day. But when you’ve got something that’s massively high then, you’re not focusing on the boring day to day stuff because you’ve got that positive mindset to keep striving for the big goals and big dreams.
7. Surrounded by Positive People
I think this is something that is massively important… Surround yourself with positive people.
I don’t watch the news, I don’t read the paper, if there’s something going on in the world that I need to know something about, I will find out from someone else and then research it if need be. The negativity that can come from others can pull you down. If you’re hanging around with negative people who are using negative language, always have their glass half empty, who don’t take time to be present in the moment and are always moaning, but do nothing to change their mindset, are going to ultimately pull you down. You need to spend time with people who are going to pull you up to the same level as them and achieve the same goals, or you strive higher and spend time with people who are way higher.
There have been people in my life with things like depression or have had something serious happen in their lives that they’ve needed help with and it’s our job to help that individual with it. Having a positive mindset will enable you to push through life’s barriers. Attack every day as best as you can and overcome any hurdle by knowing you’re learning, growing and improving.
I hope you found this useful and I welcome any feedback or questions you may have on this topic. You can comment below and thank you for reading.
Alternatively, you can look for me on social media under the name ‘Gary Das’ and get involved in the conversations there.
