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5 Mindset Shifts Leaders Can Use To Avoid Hitting The Wall

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It is so hard for business owners and leaders to switch off in today’s modern world. Technology and customer impatience is constantly vying for our attention at all hours of the day. Yes, we know customers are our turnover king, but there needs to be a cut-off point to our working day to avoid the dreaded burnout. Mindset shifts play a big part in our decision making.

I faced the same mindset shift challenges several years ago. I was heading a business that was all supply and demand. We supplied, and the customers demanded our immediate attention and service. It was a waste recycling business with many moving parts, at times many broken-down ones too. Because of this, we were playing catch up which caused daily problems and disruption to everyday pressures.

As leaders, our conditioned mindset has always taught us to make hay while the sun shines. Nothing about any detrimental consequences is thought of or mentioned. Leaders consider themselves to be tough cookies and resilient as core values.

Leaders Must Wear Multiple Hats

As a private company, I assumed many roles as one of the prominent leaders. I was heading sales, operations, marketing and financial budgets. In larger companies, there would have been individuals responsible for each role. Not in some private sectors, unfortunately. We needed to be agile, be able to think on our feet in an instant but constantly. 

There is only so much of this constant barrage of work responsibility you can take on before it becomes overwhelming as a human being, never mind a leader. The thought of ever being tired gets airbrushed over quickly without consideration for one’s mental wellbeing. Before you know it, a jolt in proceedings comes quicker than expected. I can vouch for that.

My Face Dropped On One Side: What Was Happening?

In my case, that came in some downtime for me, my co-leader colleague and our two boys. We both attended a sporting event on what we termed as a lad’s and dads’ night. I had an excruciating headache come on rapidly. At half time we got some food and drink; as I bit into my hotdog, my son said, dad, your mouth looks very funny. It felt funny, too; as I took a drink, it dribbled down the side of my face, I became anxious and worried instantly.

After the game, I decided to go to the hospital and get checked over. The doctor confirmed I had “Bell’s Palsy.” A term I had not heard of before, as your face drops on one side, it appears as a stroke on your face. It was a wake-up call for me after six years into growing a business. As I asked the doctor what causes this type of condition, his reply startled me. To put it in simple terms, he echoed, “you have hit the wall”. Another term is “Burnout”; if you do not take stock and slow down somewhat, it may lead to other adverse severe things in the future.

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch

It Was Time To Change My Mindset As A Leader.

I had a significant decision to make; I could not let exponential growth and success come between me and my health. I could not allow this to happen at any price, and nor should you. I needed to apply a mindset shift to lighten my load. 

The meaning of “Mindset” from the Definitions from Oxford Languages is “the established set of attitudes held by someone”. My business attitude was you do what you need to do no matter what. It was not the right formula anymore. I needed to apply a more realistic approach that would not cause any more distress on myself than required.

I was in a situation I had never experienced before. At times like this, you need to delve into your innermost feelings, thoughts & even your subconscious spirituality for the answers. Questioning your inner self-belief of still being able to grow and progress forwards is always at the back of your mind. I formed a mindset shift plan, and it was time to put it into action to become a better me and showcase my leadership qualities.

Here Are The Five Mindset Shift Changes I Made. 

  • I needed to empower more people to take on some responsibility. There was plenty of staff around me; I tested the waters with some and gave them more responsibility. As they took them on successfully, I entrusted them to do the job as they saw fit. I encouraged them to confide in me any problems they were unsure of tackling. Most prominent leaders find this the hardest of all to relinquish. 
  • I Turned Off or Diverted My Phone at Night. Being a medium-sized private business with 400 employees at various sites across the portfolio. Everyone had my number; as a business operating 24 hours a day, I would get calls at all hours of the night. Switching off or diverting my company phone was the only answer. I could no longer take the weight of the business on my shoulders at all hours of the day and night; it was time to rest my mind.
  • I Went To Bed Earlier & Rested More. I decided to adopt good sleeping hours after doing some research. I read that an hour or two of sleep before midnight could be worth double the amount of deep sleep. It also meant I could get the recommended 6-9 hours (I didn’t get prior) of rest needed for optimum benefits whilst helping my circadian rhythm.
  • I Made More Time For My Family and Me. There is no use having a wonderful life, house, car or holidays whilst working without giving the essential things like family & me time some consideration. In moments like hitting the wall, more essential priorities need consideration to enjoy life longevity free of burnout. 
  • I Learned Meditation. I was finding it hard to switch off at night. As a result, I suffered many nights without good sleep. After researching the calming influence meditation can have on your mind and body, I decided it was worth a try. I felt silly at first. Spirituality or spiritual healing was not something I considered before; I only wish I did it sooner. I continue to use meditation today; it has become a valuable part of my personal growth development. It can certainly help yours too.

Let my experience be one you don’t need to face for a wake-up call. Use my mistakes and my mindset shift changes to help make your abundant and pressurized work-life schedule easier as a leader.

One question you should always be prepared to ask yourself. Suppose you were to become seriously ill today. Would your business or work role continue in your absence? If the answer is no, can you allow others to assume more responsibility sooner? If your answer is, yes? Why are you still putting yourself through the strenuous burnout process longer than is needed?

Bobby Barr is a serial entrepreneur that has 34 years of real-world experience helping businesses increase revenue and build brand authority. He's a business growth strategist that gets results for his clients. His work has been featured in Yahoo Finance & News, Thrive Global, Good Men Project, USA Today, Fox News, NBC, Marketwatch, Medium, and many more. He’s worked with companies all over the world. Join him at https://bobbybarr.co.uk/.

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Success Advice

Why You Shouldn’t Discount A Brick And Mortar Store In 2025

We’re constantly told about how stores are closing down and how shoppers prefer online options, but is it worth questioning this theory?

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How to grow a brick and mortar store
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In 2024, you’d be forgiven for thinking that physical shopping is a thing of the past. We’re constantly told about how stores are closing down and how shoppers prefer online options. But is it worth questioning this theory? (more…)

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Success Advice

How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements

Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.

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altering business approach
Image Credit: Midjourney

Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.

There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.

Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.

Embed the strength of AI and ML.

AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.  

Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.

ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses. 

In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.

Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities

Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased. 

Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information. 

Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place. 

In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.

Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development

You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.

You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.

Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.

Developing key skills to achieve goals

Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.

Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.

Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.

Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.

Development/Coding Knowledge

Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.

Hacking proof framework

There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.

Communication Abilities/Soft Skills

Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:

Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.

Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.

Agile Implementations

It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.

  • Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds. 
  • Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
  • Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
  • Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them. 
  • Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.

  • Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
  • Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
  • Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.

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Success Advice

Understanding the Power of Yes and No: How to Create Boundaries For Success

These words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds

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Creating legal boundaries
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The two smallest yet most powerful words in life, “Yes” and “No,” have a big impact on our growth on both personal and professional levels. In addition to affecting the choices we make every day, these words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds. (more…)

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Motivation

From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone

By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality

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How to be motivated
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Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)

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