Develop A Can-Do Attitude

A can-do attitude is vital to the success of all our ventures and people who epitomise this approach are more energised, enthusiastic and uplifting than those who take no for an answer or are resigned to a life more mundane. Obviously we all belong to the former category!

One of our most challenging – and most destructive – habits is a great tendency to focus on what we can’t do rather than what we can. It’s a habit that can creep up on us and ambush us, eating away at our confidence and stopping us in our tracks.

It’s also one of the most pernicious habits for stifling our creativity and personal development.

Diana’s story

Take one of my clients – Diana – a vibrant, smart and creative woman who wanted to grow her fledgling business. Diana had some fantastic ideas and heaps of energy, but where she was stuck was in how to get more clients. In particular, she had a huge block around selling her services. “I can’t do it. I hate it. I never know what to say. I feel so stupid.”

She was adept at focusing on what she couldn’t do, and bringing up memories – evidence – to back up that she couldn’t… memories, for instance, of embarrassing cold calls and boring networking events that achieved nothing but a hefty hit to her self-esteem.

Shifting focus

What Diana needed to do was shift her focus from what she couldn’t do onto what she could do. She needed to stop the habit of chastising herself for her shortcomings and start a new habit of nurturing her strengths. She needed to develop a can-do attitude.

Coaching helped her to focus on her strengths and begin to develop that essential attitude.

Five Tips for Cultivating a Can-Do Attitude

1. Be a Dreamer

A successful can-do attitude requires you to think like an entrepreneur. A successful entrepreneur mindset involves three essential components: the ability to be a dreamer, a realist and a critic. You need a good balance of all three so that your attitude is ‘grounded’. People often spend a lot of time being one or two. You need all three. Give yourself permission to dream. Stretch your mind to imagine the fabulous, the wonderful, the absolutely perfect outcome  that you want.  There’s a lot of truth in the saying that you have to see it to believe it. For something to come about, you have to allow for the possibility first – in your mind and in your  imagination.

2. Be a Realist

Dreams are no good without applying them to reality. Get into the habit of asking yourself how something could be made possible, made real. Which dreams do you want to prioritise and take action on?

3. Be a Critic

Be your own best critic, not your worst enemy. Great ideas and plans need to be challenged, pulled apart, inspected for flaws, weaknesses.  Do this objectively. Don’t make it personal. This isn’t about you. It’s about your plan. Look at it from every angle, not just your own. Get others to look out for your blindspots. Iron out the glitches before you take it to market. Roadtest it before you try and sell it. Apply this approach to all new endeavours.

4. Just Do It!

Get on with it. When all’s said and done, what’s left to do is to just get on with it. Begin small if you want to, but begin you must. And, then, keep going. This is  what distinguishes can-doers from everyone else. Their attitude keeps them going. They may change strategy but they stay true to their dreams. The most enduring overnight successes take years of preparation, planning and hard work.

5. Pick a good Team

Who is in your team? Who is on your side? Are your closest allies all can-doers? They need to  be. Their position in your life is too key to be vague about this. Ensure your people are can-doers. They bring out the best in you and you bring out the best in them. At some point, work with a great coach to bring you on and guarantee you’re performing at your best, exploiting possibilities, running with opportunities, creating new openings.

Don’t let yourself down!