Most of us are fully aware of the power of positive thinking.  We know that to focus on the negative is not conducive to achieving positive outcomes and so we strive to look on the bright side and to seek the best in every situation – to be positive!

Now, I’m not about to suggest that this isn’t a solid daily approach and I’m certainly not about to suggest that you do the opposite!  Clearly thinking positively is preferable to thinking negatively, however, the problem with positivity is that when it is misplaced, it can sometimes result in denial and denial is not conducive to improvement.

This is where Acceptance can be very powerful.

The first step to acceptance is awareness.

This is about noticing patterns of behaviour that are unhelpful or weaknesses in terms of beliefs, skills and experience, or noticing what’s not working in your business.

The second step to acceptance is acknowledgement.

This is about actually recognising those things which is different to simply having awareness of them – trust me, you can have awareness and still remain in denial!

The third step is acceptance.

Only when you have both awareness and acknowledgement can you get to acceptance and when you are in acceptance, you have something really important: you have internal accountability. Because you’re no longer in denial, there’s now only one option and that is to deal with it.

So, sure, be positive.  Sure, focus on what’s good.  Sure, pay attention to what’s going well.

And equally:  Get Real!  Be honest with yourself about what’s really going on in your business and accept it.  Because when you do, you have the internal accountability you need to address it.

Ask yourself:

“What is really going on in my business?”

  • Is my marketing really working?
  • Is my business really profitable?
  • Are my clients really happy?
  • Am I really on top of everything?
  • Do I really follow through?
  • Am I really making progress month on month?

Write the answers down so that you see them and even better, share it with someone who care about your success (that’ll give you some added external accountability!)

And then from a point of acceptance, make a decision today to change things so that they do work!
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