By the time you read this article, we will all have completed one quarter of the year 2010.  Most of us were glad to see the year 2009 leave us, and most of us were hopeful that 2010 would be better.

My sense is that for some of us, 2010 is indeed better.  And for others, the agonyreduced business volume, diminished cash flow, more worries--continues.

After 13 years of doing this--and almost 6 years of writing these articles--I am convinced that one of the absolute keys to success is that the Small Business Owner maintain a positive outlook and a positive vision for the business future.

If you, as the owner, don't believe in yourself and in your future, how are you ever going to convince anyone else to believe in you?  Anyone else includes your vendors, your lenders, your family, and of course, your customers.

The burdens of Small Business Ownership are many, and they are varied, and they can be very heavy.  And that's in good times.  In difficult economies such as we have experienced, the weight of those burdens is multiplied.

So, where does the Small Business Owner find the inspiration, and the energy, and the internal resources to keep going?  Your fans are a good source family, employees, good customersare a few sources that come readily to mind.

Here's another resource.  For years, I have kept a Word document called "Good Thoughts From Good People", and when something worthwhile comes my way, I add it to the document, and then I re-read the whole thing.

Good Thoughts From Good People is a simple thing to do, and it doesn't cost anything.  Yet it works, and is something all Small Business Owners should do. 

My first entries many years ago came from Zig Ziglar, who has been the inspiration for so very many small businesses, and so many people down through the years.

Here are some Good Thoughts From Zig Ziglar:

• You are the most important person you will talk to all day, so you'd better be careful what you say to yourself.
• Other people and things can stop you temporarily.  You're the only one who can do it permanently. 
• Most people are defeated by enemies they never see.

Don't you find these thoughts worthwhile?  I don't know of anyone in small business who hasn't had moments of self-doubt.  Not all of Zigs sayings are full of deep philosophic import.  Sometimes he's just plain funny.  Here are some more.

• A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
• If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.
• God loves you whether you like it or not.

My Good Thoughts From Good People file has more than Zig, though.  Here is one I received last week from a good friend and trusted advisor.

• Every successful man I have heard of has done the best he could with conditions as he found them, and not waited til next year.  Edgar Howe, as quoted by Lee Richardson. 

Here is a good one for those of us who have sales responsibility--and what Small Business Owner is not responsible for sales?

• S⁴ means:
  • Some Will.
  • Some Won't.
  • So What?
  • Someone Else Is Waiting. 

This one was added last fall from an email my wife sent, but I have no idea who said it.

• Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle! 

Two more quotes from Zig:

• I am like an eraser.  I recognize my mistakes, I learn from my mistakes, and then I erase those mistakes from my memory.  I move forward in my life every day, even if it's only a tiny step, because I know that great things are accomplished with tiny moves, but nothing is accomplished by standing still. 
• All of us need to remember there is a vast difference between failing in an event and failing in life.  Once we understand that, our chances for success substantially increase.  We need to remember that..."

I hope you find something positive in my Good Thoughts From Good People file.  But what I really hope is that you will create your own Good Thoughts File, that you will add to it periodically, and that you will gain inspiration from these Good Thoughts.

Here is one last Good Thought:

• Losers stop when they fail.  Winners fail, fail, fail until they succeed.  Mary F. D. Williams, EA, Ed.D.

Author: Bill Belchee

www.beaconsmallbiz.com

Copyright 2010 Bill Belchee All rights reserved

Printed here by permission of Bill Belchee