What is your business mindset, and is it helping or holding back your growth? In this article, I’ll guide you on adopting a “transformative mindset,” explain why it matters, and outline steps to shift your business outlook for immediate and future growth. I also discussed these ideas in a recent podcast with Joe Polish.
In any situation, I assess my business mindset and look at how I can apply lessons from my past experiences. I view my past as “raw material,” or valuable information that I can transform into new insights for the future.
If you’re looking to shift your business mindset, focus on making your future bigger than your past. The past is for learning; the future is for achieving. That’s my guiding principle. I approach each new experience with a fresh, open perspective—a mindset that actively seeks out positive and transformative opportunities so that I’m prepared to recognize them when they appear.
I am intentional about the way I approach experiences, knowing that my mindset plays a big role in making them successful.
As Strategic Coach has expanded, we’ve attracted larger companies. But I’ve observed something interesting: some highly successful people still approach business with what I would call a “consumer mindset.”
Understanding the Consumer Mindset
The consumer mindset assumes that the world is there to serve you. This mindset in business usually involves three main tendencies:
1. Criticizing,
2. Complaining, and
3. Blaming.
How to Develop a Transformative Mindset
The transformative mindset, on the other hand, encourages you to actively shape your experiences. Instead of waiting for things to happen, you take control and pursue opportunities. A transformative mindset has three core qualities:
1. Contribution,
2. Collaboration, and
3. Creativity.
My goal is always to expand my transformative mindset by embracing contribution, collaboration, and creativity. This approach also seems to create more freedom in terms of time, finances, relationships, and purpose.
Building an Environment for Success
By changing your mindset and fostering an environment that supports a transformative outlook, you can build on your strengths and naturally attract people who operate within their own strengths.
Shifting Your Business Mindset
Your mindset influences your actions. When you observe someone’s behavior, you should look at the mindset that likely drives it. Every person faces a choice about who they want to become in the future and what mindset will help fulfill that choice.
Entrepreneurs, in particular, have a unique ability to envision themselves far into the future and engage with that vision intellectually and emotionally, even before there is any evidence of it.
As an entrepreneur, your identity is shaped by your vision of who you want to become. That forward-thinking is a decision—and a crucial step in changing your mindset for lasting impact.
To fully embrace this path, you must commit to giving up criticism, complaining, and blaming. Once you choose this transformative mindset, you can’t go back. This is a turning point that shapes the road ahead.
There are various aspects to building a transformative mindset, and with time, your behavior will naturally follow. Soon, you’ll notice others with a similar approach, and this is where the benefits truly begin to appear.
Rethinking Intelligence
Despite what traditional schooling suggests, our intelligence isn’t limited to our individual brains. True intelligence is knowing how to tap into the insights of others. The school system often promotes a belief that intelligence is self-contained, which can make adopting a transformative mindset challenging. But shifting your approach to value collaboration, contribution, and creativity is essential if you want to access the intelligence of others. The reality is, intelligence flows between people who choose to let go of weaker mindsets like criticism, complaining, and blaming.
