Ask any successful entrepreneur their top tools for business success, and they’ll likely talk about their mindset. We all have one; whether formed subconsciously over the years from our environments and experiences, or carefully, deliberately built to achieve our goals.
In his famous book All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum suggests that we need to remove years’ worth of mental clutter and pare down our mindsets to an earlier, more simplified version. That we knew the most important truths when we were young. And when it comes to basics like empathy, responsibility, and how to generally be a decent human being, I think he’s on to something.
As I’ve spent this past year carving out my professional niche and cultivating a business owner mindset, I’ve had to remove and reframe some key thoughts that were influencing my habits. But I’ve also had to add in some truths that I somehow missed the first time around.
There are thousands of business manuals and self-help books out there to tell you ‘all the secrets you need to know’. I have a stack on my nightstand. There are plenty of podcasts, tons of tried-and-true practices CEOs swear by, and I’m sure they’re mostly right.
But sometimes you just need a good powerhouse mantra or two to get you in the right frame of mind. Written, repeated, and applied over time, these mantras can help you reframe your mindset and reach your biggest goals.
And when you really need to harness a business owner mindset, Tina Fey knows what’s up. An accomplished writer, director, actor, producer, comedian, and all-around badass, Fey has some stellar advice for those of us trying to make our way in the business world.
Here are some of the best Tina Fey quotes to inspire you to run your business like a boss:
“Say yes and you’ll figure it out afterward.”
Anyone else seriously struggle with this? As an Enneagram 4w5, my default mindset is a combination of “everyone but me somehow knows all the secrets for success” and “I cannot make a move until I have every.single.fact in front of me”. Not so great if you’re trying to build a business. It’s easy to just spin in anxiety circles. I’m working on it.
Because the truth is, we’ll never truly feel ‘ready’ until we try.
It’s taken some serious mindset work for me to be ok with taking risks and taking on challenges I don’t feel ready for. But you know what? It really is the best way to learn.
My favorite way to reframe my thinking is to tell myself these things:
The worst possible answer is ‘no’
The lessons I learn will equip me for the next project I want to tackle
The best possible outcome is better than I can even imagine
And to be honest, most of the time, I do have exactly what I need to tackle that new project, take on that big client, or write that article that feels a little out of my wheelhouse. It’s almost never a legitimate inability holding me back. It’s fear. And I’m willing to bet the same is true for you, too.
Maybe you’ve got a killer idea for a unique design service. Or you’ve always wanted to start an interior design blog, but aren’t quite sure how to get started.
It’s one hundred percent ok to be afraid. Fear’s job is to help us assess risk, and any new thing has plenty of it. But at some point, you have to decide whether your dreams or your fear get the final say.
So look your fear in the face, wave hello, and then take that next step.
Or, to sum up with another Tina Fey quote: “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.”
“Perfect is overrated. Perfect is boring.”
We’ve all spent too many hours trying to find that *perfect* word or that *perfect* look, but at the end of the day, there’s really no such thing.
It’s easy to assume those who’ve gone ahead of us, those whose work we admire, slaved over it until it was absolutely flawless and everything they ever dreamed it would be. Until it was perfect.
But I suspect anyone who is truly creative — and who truly enjoys being creative — doesn’t spend much time chasing the illusion of perfection. Creativity takes bravery, joy, and a certain ‘who-the-hell-cares’ attitude. None of which play nice with perfection.
Instead of aiming for perfection, I think successful people pour themselves into their work, show up diligently until it’s completed, then lay it down and call it good.
In her book Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert puts it this way: “We don’t have time for perfect. In any event, perfection is unachievable; It’s a myth and a trap and a hamster wheel that will run you to death...I think perfectionism is just fear in fancy shoes and a mink coat, pretending to be elegant when actually it’s just terrified.”
So the next time you’re feeling stuck, chasing the ever-elusive “perfect outcome”, give yourself permission to move along and cross that “good enough” job off of your to-do list. Time to move on to the next thing.
“Know what? Bitches get stuff done.”
Now, you and I both know that being pleasant and professional is a key element of your success. Clients won’t stick around if you’re awful to work with. But there is a ton of ground between being a pleasant professional and being a doormat.
Tina’s quote might be the reminder you need each time you start to feel timid in your business:
When you’re afraid to ask for something
When you don’t want to step on someone’s toes
When you need to set firm boundaries with a client or business partner
When you don’t want to seem too opinionated/critical/passionate/intense/emotional...or any of the other words often used to describe women who have big ideas and interests
It’s not your job to overanalyze and stress about how your passion or competence or expertise makes others feel.
On the Goal Digger podcast, business coach and entrepreneur Jenna Kutcher explains, “You will never be judged by someone doing more than you.”
So those people who think you’re too (fill in the blank)? They need to pick up their own pace. You just focus on doing the work in front of you. Your passion and dedication and perseverance will inspire the right people. Your success will pave the way for others behind you and show them what it looks like to chase down dreams of their own. So get after it. Your people are cheering you on.
“If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?”
A beauty quote might seem ill-fitting in a blog about running your dream business. But it fits, I promise. ***And I’m not just saying that because I work remotely and my beauty standards are, shall we say, lax, as I type this from my sofa.
Anyway, so many of us are brimming with passion about the unique business we want to start, fueled by the creative vision we have, only to have our momentum halted by self-doubt as we scan checklists of ‘best practices’ set up by others. Everyone seems to know so much more than you. They understand all the right ways to do it, and it looks different than you were envisioning.
Look, it’s important to do your research, to learn from others’ successes and failures. By all means, find people in your field who are crushing it and soak up all the wisdom they have to offer.
Some basics are concrete. Knowing how to file your taxes properly? Super important. There is definitely a right way here, and you’ll want to make sure you follow it.
But most of your business practices aren’t so black and white. Most will evolve and develop over time to suit your clients, your preferences, and your unique business model. What works for someone else, what’s considered “the right way to do it” by others in your industry, might not work for you and the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Brooke Shields may very well have been the only woman going boldly into the 90s without tweezers in hand, eyebrow-related beauty standards be damned. And ya know what? She’s built a multi-million dollar career with those iconic eyebrows while the rest of us are spending our hard-earned money on brow filling pencils trying to right past wrongs. We followed the rules, the best practices of our era, instead of listening to our gut (or our mother’s warnings). Look where it got us.
My point is, just because people tell you there’s a right way to do something doesn’t mean that’s how you need to do it.
You want to create a business and a brand and a life that’s authentic to you. That’s the only way you’ll ever truly find the perfect clients — the people you are destined to serve with your unique business and skills.
No matter what goal you’re chasing, what dream you’ve set your sights on, get after it. If you show up authentically, your people will find you.
They’ll love you for it.
And the people who don’t? They aren’t your people.
(Or, in the words of Tina Fey: “Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.”)
Got a killer vision you’re dying to tell the world about but don’t have the words? I can help!
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