I listened to a friend share his founding story. Part of the story was that he put every penny he had into getting his business ready to open. Translation: he was all in. The audience asked questions about various things that could go wrong and what he would have done if it hadn’t worked out. His response was simple: “You can’t think like that.” He focused on making it work and winning. Sure enough, it worked. That business has been thriving for years.

The simple statement “You can’t think like that” says a lot about how my buddy thinks. He has a winner’s mentality. He doesn’t worry too much about the hurdles or the what ifs. He focuses on winning and doing what’s needed to win. He’ll push himself and put it all on the line in the name of winning. I’ve known him for years, and he’s overcome adversity repeatedly. He’s successful, and I attribute a large part of his success to his winner’s mentality.

Building a company is hard. A lot of things must go right for your business to succeed. Some are in your control, and some aren’t. One thing that’s totally in your control is how you think about yourself and what you’re doing. Think about yourself as a winner. That simple shift in mindset can have a big impact on your outcome.

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