Developing A “can Do” Attitude

If you’re going to be successful in your business you need to develop a can do attitude. Without it you won’t even get going, you’ll become just another dreamer and talker. By can do attitude I’m not talking about a superficial positive cliché to everything, I’m not talking about a false cheerfulness when under pressure. It has to go deeper than that. It has to be ingrained in your DNA, a part of your core. You don’t have to go about constantly smiling, who does? Who could?

I’m talking about developing an attitude that you can deal with any obstacle that arises. You will not hide from it, not deny it, you will deal with it in a logical and determined way. You will decide on a course of action and overcome each obstacle that is in the way of your attempts to solve the problem. If you’ve spent most of your life as an employee you may have not been in a position to solve problems, you may not have had to deal with any problem solving issues.

Well if you’re going to build yourself an extra income you’re going to have to get used to solving all the problems that that journey will bring. It’s my opinion, my deeply held belief that anybody can be trained for anything. We are not born knowing how to do anything. We are products of our upbringing and culture.

If we were educated and brought up to be independent problem solving people that’s what we are. If we were on the other hand brought up to take orders and not think for ourselves, then we will exhibit those characteristics, always looking for someone else or the state to solve our problems.

We do not however have to remain trapped in the constraints of our cultural upbringing. We can break free and rebuild ourselves into what we want to become. We are not machines, we have the free will to grow, to step outside of the beliefs we have had hammered into us about ourselves and how we should behave.

Here’s some tips for developing and reinforcing a can do attitude.

• Watch out for self defeating mental chatter. As soon as you hear yourself thinking something can’t be done stop and ask why? If sales in your business are slow ask why. What can you do about it? Don’t say you can’t sell them. You can, you may just need a different approach. If there’s a little nagging voice in your head telling you you could never run a business. Stop it and change it to you can run a business. Once you get your business started and make your first sale, you have achieved a great victory to silencing that self sabotaging voice that’s been holding you back for years.
• Avoid negative people. Not always possible I know but you can at least shut them out. Don’t let their negativity drag you down into inertia. Don’t allow their “you can’t do anything about it” attitude contaminate you.
• Become a problem solver. Approach each problem in a logical and determined way. Who said life was supposed to be easy? It’s full of problems. The great news is that you have the greatest computer in the world between your ears. Start to use it. Brainstorm problems. Come up with solutions and form plans. No matter how bad the situation keep looking for options. There’s always something you can do. In a dark room it’s better to light one candle than to complain about the dark. Look at problems as challenges for you to deal with.
• Leave the comfort zone. Think outside the box and be prepared to try new ideas. Keep your mind open for new ideas. Look around for how others have solved similar problems. Take calculated risks.
• Stay positive and be bold. Any problem can be solved with the right mindset. If you’re thinking of starting up a business to build yourself another income. You will have to complete a multitude of tasks to het it up and running. These can seem overwhelming and may discourage you. They needn’t. Just break the tasks down into smaller tasks then work logically through them

Over the last week I’ve pulled some products from my business that weren’t selling very well. I had to replace them with other products which I believe may sell better. The thought of dropping products and finding others to replace them was quiet daunting. It meant me getting out of my comfort zone and searching for other products. I just broke it down into small chunks.

1. Pull all poor selling products from EBay. They are costing money to keep on EBay. Draining your profits. (I leave them on my website because it doesn’t cost me anything to leave them there.)

2. Find new products to replace them with.

3. Contact supplier

4. Buy products

5. Write out listings and take photos.

6. List them on EBay

7. Monitor

Mission accomplished within two weeks.

• Don’t take anything personally. In your day to day business dealings take nothing personally. If you have a dissatisfied customer, deal with the problem calmly and logically. No matter how unreasonable it seems just deal with it, solve the problem then decide whether you want to deal with that customer again.

A can do attitude is the ability to overcome problems. To set goals and do everything you can to achieve them no matter what the obstacles are. To move forwards towards your dreams with a white hot intensity. Determined to achieve them. It’s an attitude that is essential to success and it’s an attitude that you can develop. With each success you have, however small it’s an attitude that will soon be reinforced in your character.