Tell Yourself YES! 6 Ways to Maintain a Positive Mindset for Business Success

The success of your business depends on your mindset. I am sure you thought it was something else like customers or marketing and yes, that is true too. However, if a business owner doesn't believe that she can achieve her goals then she likely won't. There is no marketing budget or great customers that can change that.

If you want to build the right small business infrastructure, you must think in terms of what you want -- not of what you think you can't achieve. You have to be in a place of positivity at all times and focusing on your ideal outcomes. In essence you need to always tell yourself YES. Here are six ways to maintain a positive mindset at all time:

1. Find Your Tribe - Positive colleagues are always supportive and make you feel good, even when you're not. Keep good company with people who encourage and inspire 2. Choose Love - When the negativity seeps in, change your thoughts to positive ones. Tell yourself yes - always. If you say NO to yourself then you will not get an opportunity for someone else to say YES to you. 3. Step Away from News - Yup! Flood your news feeds with good news and inspirational stories. Motivational quotes sometimes are all the boost you need. Start your day off with one or two and in your day with something uplifting like meditation 4. Volunteer - It will change your world. You can't focus on your issues when you are doing something good. Giving back is rewarding - it doesn't have to be monetary. Sometimes people just need a bit of your time to make a difference 5. Gratitude - Start a thank you journal. Every morning write five things that you are grateful for.

6. Help Other Entrepreneurs - Have you ever heard of Bob Burg's Go-Giver principles? He says that if you focus on giving to others you will get something back in return - the old "Give and You Shall Receive."

Be the person who connects one business leader with another, offer some advice that you know you can help someone. I have done this for many years and I have reaped the rewards. For more on this check out Burg's book - The Go-Giver

Shakira M. Brown is an award-winning PR & Branding expert and Founder & CEO of SMB Strategic Media LLC (www.pradviser.net), a firm that helps small business owners get to the heart of why the customers/clients buy their goods and services. This is done by helping them clarify their message and convey their competitive advantage through providing affordable public relations, branding and content development services to help them stand out in their market. She is also a marketing consulting for the Regional Business Assistance Corporation (RBAC). Shakira has nearly 25 years of experience in public relations, television production, branding, marketing and website strategy. She has won over 13 industry awards in various disciplines for her work and is a frequent speaker for small business groups (www.shakirabrown.com). Known as "The Small Biz Whisperer, she is the host of Moment Masters Show Small Business Podcast (www.momentmasters.com) available on iTunes and Google Play, among others and she is also a contributing writer for Black Enterprise.com.