search clock-o tags map-marker mail-forward calendar external-link twitter facebook caret-down caret-up caret-left caret-right envelope angle-double-left angle-double-right angle-double-up angle-double-down calendar-o instagram wheelchair automobile pinterest-p youtube bars arrow-right2 arrow-right arrow-left arrow-left2 shopping-basket user Pedddle Pin shop shopping-bag2 close

The impact a positive mindset has on your business

Traders- Hints & Tips

Thinking positively could be the key to a happier life and business success…

Hannah Joy Designs, Pastel Rainbow plaque - Be Happy

Julia is the fabulous coach behind The Simplicity Strategist, and is here to help us explore how a positive mindset has such a huge impact on our businesses and lives. 

Julia supports people who desperately need a shift from chaos to the calm, whether it be in your home or business life. Setting and sticking to boundaries is key, and discovering the things that are most meaningful to you and living by those values. It’s about discovering your true passions and making decisions for yourself and the things you want to prioritise, not what you think you should be doing or the values other people give to you. 

It’s so important to define what success means to YOU – not in terms of a 9-5 job, marriage, kids and even a career, but defining your own personal values and determining the way you’d like to live. Working this out is one of the secrets to living a more positive, happier life. 

Julia’s Top Tips for Positivity:

1. Get into nature

Getting outside really does calm you down, and helps you to be mindful and present. If you can’t get outside due to isolation or lockdown, having house plants around you or even just a picture of plants can give you a sense of nature and bring calm.

2. Help other people

Spreading positivity really does help you feel better. If you’re not quite ready to give yourself positivity yet, offering kindness to others is a great place to start! 

3. Practice positivity! 

With anything you want to get good at, practice is key! Think of 3 things each day that you are grateful for, whether it’s a nice cup of tea in the afternoon or the fact you chose to eat something healthy for lunch. If you want to build up positivity, it takes time – start small and don’t punish yourself. 

The pandemic has helped us all to appreciate the small things more. As Julia says, the small things often ARE the big things, and we value precious moments and find little things to be grateful for every day now. When we’re forced to prioritise, we appreciate the small things more. 

This is a great time for people to look at their normal ‘stories’ and work out what they actually want. So many people say to themselves ‘I don’t have time’, ‘I don’t make time even though I enjoy…’ or ‘I don’t deserve time to do…’ the things they really want to do. Some people haven’t had the chance to work from home before but suddenly get to try it now, and lots of people are finding time to be creative and craft as much as they like after being furloughed. Work out what your priorities really are, the things you’d love to do and that fill your heart. Whether it be finding time for crafts, working from home or outside of the 9 to 5, or moving somewhere else altogether, determine what is most important to you and go from there. 

Ceramic Sunshine
Selection of happy sunshine gifts from Upsydaisy Craft

How to stop being overwhelmed: 

So many people feel overwhelmed in lots of ways, and for various reasons. If you have a lot of brain fuzz, break it down into small steps: 

  1. Get it out of your head – Do a ‘brain dump’. Write down every single thing that’s on your mind. Even if it doesn’t make sense, just get it down in paper. Don’t try and make sense of it or organise it, just get it out as it flows. You can’t start solving your problems with all of those things floating inside your head. It doesn’t have to be a list, you could do a spider-diagram or write it on post it notes and stick in on a wall – as long as it’s out of your head, that’s the main thing! 
  2. Do one thing at a time – Not everything can possibly be important at the same time. Prioritise!
  3. Give yourself permission to let go – Cross the things off the list that you don’t need to think about right now. Focus on your priorities and the rest can wait. 
  4. Bookend your day – Get a routine that works for you and stick to it. It might take some trial and error to find out what really suits you and keeps you calm but motivated, so try a few different things. 

Julia suggests getting up in the morning and taking a few minutes to do some stretches, have a cup of tea alone, or read 2 pages of a book that inspires you. Do the same at night to relax, or create a ‘ta-dah’ list instead of a ‘to do’ list. Write a list of what you have achieved that day and the things that you’ve done well e.g. kept your children alive, made lunch, read 3 pages of a book, drank enough water – it’s all things you should congratulate yourself for! 

Journaling can also help – see our blog for details!  

Getting a coach or mentor

Getting a mentor or coach is a brilliant thing for a small businesses. Nicki has one and can testify to this! Julia invests in her own personal development as well as helping others, and she suggests: 

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! The more you know about yourself the easier it is to make decisions for yourself and your life. There’s less getting stuck in a rut, as you can be clear on your own values and your direction, so all the overthinking and overwhelm goes away. 

Coaching isn’t about telling you what to do, it’s about guiding and offering direction for you to discover what your real goals are, what the end aims are, and your true values and priorities are in life. What makes you happy?! 

The other benefit of coaching is that usually, if you tell someone you’re going to do something, you’re likelier to achieve it! Be accountable to yourself and take action when you say you will. 

Choose a coach who can help you get what you want. It may be best to look for someone who’s been through similar to what you’ve gone through e.g. Julia left the 9-5 rat race and found what success means to her outside of a corporate lifestyle, freelancing and working on her own terms. Others look at building a small business – look for someone who’s done what you want to achieve. 

After one session you know whether you connect or not with a coach. It’s also good to get an outside perspective. You can tell family and friends about your dreams and aims, but it can be good to get someone totally new in and get a fresh pair of eyes to break you out of the cycle. They can hold space for you in a totally non-judgemental way, and then you have a safe space to go through all your ideas, wants, needs and priorities, and explore creatively what’s truly inside you.

Julia is running 2 courses at present: 

  1. The first is a 3-month programme for women who are ready to build a life they don’t want to escape from – if they’ve been living life by default, just going with the flow and being swept along by busyness, expectations and the obligations of society, this is a chance to explore a richer more meaningful life that helps women define what success really means to them. Julia has the tools to help you find out!

2. A one-off session and a workbook for women who are stuck in overwhelm – this will help you untangle your thoughts and make plans that excite you, so you can move forward and start taking action again towards your goals.

Find out more on her website: https://juliadaviescoaching.com/simply-thriving-entrepreneurs