5 mindset shifts happened in my first year of entrepreneurial journey, which have changed my life completely

1. From ‘I hate social media, it is superficial and makes people addicted’ to ‘I can use social media in a healthy way to encourage and inspire people.’

Before I started my journey, I rarely posted in public (such as LinkedIn), because I did not think that I have things to share, because I was not so confident with my appearance, because I fear of others’ judgement, because I hated social media (because it damages people’s mental health), because I thought social media was superficial platforms which people use it just to show off……

Those self-limiting thoughts/mindsets prevented me from reaching out for people.

However, when I began to shift my mindset about myself and about social media, I realised:

‘I am very creative and have many ideas and thoughts that I can share and am willing to share.’

‘I am beautiful inside and outside. I should not hide it.’

‘Every person has his/her opinion on an object/person/topic. I can not control it and why should I bother to care about it. What people see from others is often who they are.’

‘Social media has its disadvantages but also advantages. If I share positive and high-quality contents there, people learn and get inspired from it, that’s excellent.’

2. From ‘I hate outreach, it is pushy and fake’ to ‘I can make outreach natural, friendly and authentic.’

Previously I did not like to do outreach, because I hated the useless Emails in my inbox and annoying DMs on LinkedIn. I thought I did not like this, so I should not give this to my customers, I cared about their mental health.

It is nothing wrong that I care about people’s mental health, but slowly I realised many people appreciate good outreach. So I began to learn how to make it natural, friendly and authentic.

Still I got many ‘no reply’ or ‘No’, but I do not take it personally and see it as great opportunities to learn:

to learn why some people give no reply, to learn why some people say NOs, to learn how I can make it better, to learn what people really want……

3. From ‘I hate marketing & sales, it is superficial and manipulative’ to ‘I love marketing & sales, the true M&S help me be even clearer and sharper with who I am and what I can contribute to our world.’

As a previous scientific researcher in natural science, I knew almost nothing about marketing & sales but had a strong prejudice about it.

However, since I built up my own coaching business, I realised how that mindset limited me.

When I really take time to learn about it, I realise building up a personal brand is not superficial at all. It needs me to dive deeply into myself, my uniqueness, strengths, purpose……. Only when I can figure out all these things, I am ready to connect with my customers naturally, authentically and powerfully.

No one wants to be manipulated to buy, but in truth is that we are all influenced to buy. How can I not only influence people but also inspire people to learn from working with me? That is a super interesting topic.

4. From ‘I must catch all the opportunities’ to ‘I should be selective with opportunities.’

Previously I was so afraid to miss any opportunities, so I worked hard and tried to catch every one.

However, sometimes I end up working with people who do not truly respect and value me.

So I begin to become more selective, filter out cheap and fake opportunities and focus on excellent and sustainable ones which bring real results.

5. From ‘I should do everything to prevent making mistakes/failures’ to ‘I love learning from my mistakes/failures. That is the fastest and most effective way to learn.’

Previously I hated mistakes and failures, because in my previous working environment, mistakes and failures are seen as very negative. I got criticism and sometimes even personal attacks if I made a tiny mistake. So I developed the mindset that mistakes and failures must be avoided as much as possible.

However, since I started my entrepreneurial journey, there is no standard like what is right, what is wrong. I need to explore everything by myself.

Slowly I realised that I learn so fast and effectively from my own mistakes/failures, compared with reading books from others or taking online courses. And it is very hard to forget this kind of deep learning from real life. Those lessons are not only in my mind, also in my blood and heart.

Entrepreneurship is all about mindset and action, is all about becoming the best version of oneself, is all about facing the demons in oneself. It is a game of real warriors, that’s why I love it, continue it and inspire people for it.