How do you view success?  Many people grew up with a negative attitude toward the word “success”.  They were raised to believe that if you focused on having success in your life, it immediately branded you as being narcissistic or materialistic?  But is that always the case?

It is true that an unhealthy desire for success at any cost has caused many persons to show undesirable qualities such as greed and selfishness.  However, to the average person success may mean achieving more to make choices, build your self-worth, or accomplish a goal.

Do you ever find that you talk yourself out of success by indulging in negative self-talk?  Do you tell yourself you could never attain those ‘lofty’ goals? Do you set yourself up for failure by listening to the negative voice within?

Rather than listening to the negative voice, you can use positive self-talk to counter the negativity and overcome many anxious thoughts.  It has been said that if you fail to set a goal, you will reach it every time. How can you set goals effectively?

• Identifying your goal and writing it down is the first step in goal-setting.
• The next step is to formulate a plan, which will include a start date and an end date.  As your thoughts flow you will become filled with excitement on how you will accomplish the steps needed to achieve the goal.

At this point are negative thoughts creeping in once again?  Do not allow them to take hold.  Stop negative self-talk and replace them with positive self-talk.  You may need to repeat positive affirmations like, “I am a smart, capable woman (or man); I can do this;”  “I am filled with positive energy and action.” “I deserve to succeed because I am worthy of success.” On a personal note, I never forget to pray for the strength to accomplish what I’ve set out to do and to see it through.

Do you ever battle with negative self-talk in your online business? How do you deal with it? What methods do you use to remain positive and keep your motivation high? Please share.

Featured "Monday Writer"

Featured “Monday Writer”

– Judy Mick

In business and in life, being motivated (and positively motivated) is the most important characteristic you can have.  There are many ways you can build motivational habits on a daily basis.  Habits can be hard in the beginning, but give it 30 days and see how naturally they come!

1.  Have visual motivators. These are extremely important because your surroundings create the attitude you have every day.  A few things that you can post on your wall or your computer include:  positive quotes, a beach house you want to buy, a motivational calendar, etc.  Anything that makes you feel good.  I admit to all of the above!

2.  Stay around positive people. Your friends should be people who build you up, make you feel good and support your endeavors.   If you have a friend who always shoots you down, makes you feel bad about yourself……don’t hang out with them.  Or, you could ask them why they are always so negative – maybe they don’t realize that they are.  Just make sure you are around positive, supportive people.

3.  Read or listen to motivational and inspirational things daily. These will help you strengthen your mind and build up your confidence.

4.  Positive Self-Talk. Write down some positive affirmations and repeat them to yourself daily.  It makes you feel good about yourself and gets your mind on the right track for success.

5.  Keep Up a Positive Attitude. Always remain positive.  As soon as you stop thinking that life is so difficult – you will find it becomes easier.  Try to see the bright side of every situation.  “Stuff” happens.  Things you’re working on don’t always go as planned.  It’s how you deal with it that determines your success.

6. Share Your Attitude. Once you become a positive, motivated person – share your attitude with others.  Be contagious!  You’ll find that when you share your positiveness and passions – you will be driven to accomplish more.

Remember – attitude is a choice.  Pick a good one!

Judy

Judy Mick is a wife, avid runner, blogger, entrepreneur, positive thinker and lover of life!  Follow her exploits on her blogs at www.judy-mick.com and www.thestreakingrunner.com

Many people scoff at positive affirmations and hold to the theory that they do not work.  Do they really work?  What are affirmations? Affirmations are basically a form of self-talk.  Look at this realistically.  Every day, several time each day we talk to ourselves, and no not because we’re crazy.  Unfortunately, most of it is negative.  Don’t think so?  Let’s look at these two scenes:

1) You get in your car in your driveway and you suddenly remember that you left your cell phone in the house, but it’s important to have it with you. You immediately start berating yourself on being forgetful and may call yourself harsh names for not placing the phone by your keys as you usually do.

2)  You just got back from the office supply store and you slap yourself on the forehead as you just remembered the main reason you went to the store was to purchase copy paper and you have a 30-page e-book you want to edit before uploading to your website.  You may begin to call yourself stupid, ‘I never can remember anything’, and quite a bit of negative self-talk.

This type of talk is not up-building,  it does not make you feel good, and does nothing for your self-image.

Positive affirmations, on the other hand, affirm the best in you and focus on your good qualities.  They encourage you to improve in areas in which you’re having a challenge.  “I’m getting better at remembering things,” “Everyday I learn from my mistakes and avoid repeating them.”  These are examples of positive affirmations as they help you to see yourself as you would like to be and the goal you are reaching for.

Author, Julia Cameron, notes that “Affirmations are positive statements about positive beliefs.  They help achieve a sense of safety and hope.  If we can become one-tenth as good at positive self-talk as we are at negative self-talk, we will notice an enormous change.”

What can you affirm about yourself today so you that could have a positive impact in your business?

Today we continue to help Paula, a savvy, sharp businesswoman who has had a successful business offline for many years, determine why she has not completed a very important task necessary to launch her online business. We shared the points regarding fear of success, failure and completion with her and while she acknowledged she had some fears, she did not feel they were enough to paralyze her.

Could it be that even though Paula knows this activity needs to be done she has not wrapped her mind around that it needs to be given high priority?  The fact that it is on her “Most Important Things to Do” list means that it is important and in talking with Paula she recognizes that someone has to do it.  She also realizes that it is not something that should be assigned to someone else; it’s something that she needs to do.  But what has happened everyday so far?  She has found something else to do in that time slot, which means that she has procrastinated each day and given something else priority.

If failure to set a high enough priority on the task is causing Paula to procrastinate, perhaps she could benefit from the following suggestions:

• Use positive affirmations, such as, “I am a competent, successful businesswoman who is capable of reaching my goals by setting priorities in my online business.”
• Use positive statements with a positive outcome. For example, “If I complete this task today I will be one steps closer to the goal of launching my online business,” NOT “If I don’t do this task, I’ll never launch my online business.”
• Reflect on the benefits of taking action now and future results.  It will be one more item that you can cross off your list and that will give you a feeling of accomplishment.

If Paula’s procrastination is due to not setting priorities in her online business, what other recommendations or suggestions would you make to her?  Please share your thoughts in the “Comments” field.