Wow. This word might only be just three letters, but it packs a serious punch. It’s got a wide range of uses:
- Excitedly — Wow, I can’t wait to see how your business idea turns out.
- Surprisingly — Wow, what a genius business idea.
- Critically — Wow, yet another crappy business idea.
- Sarcastically — Wow, you probably think you’re the first one to come up with this business idea.
This incredibly small, yet powerful word is what Miki Agrawal uses not only to electrify her life but also helps her get a fresh eye on the world.
When you walk around in life just saying ‘wow,’ like a child, you literally see things in a different way. — @twinmiki Share on XAnd that’s the mindset Miki used to come up with her successful business ideas.
Go From Woe to Wow
Many aspiring entrepreneurs want to start a business but aren’t sure of where to start. Even seasoned entrepreneurs sometimes have trouble coming up with fresh, innovative products.
Take a cue from Miki. She’s the founder of TUSHY, THINX, and WILD — three major innovations that challenge the status quo of how we see poop, periods, and pizzas — as well as the author of Mindvalley’s Zero to $100 Million Quest.
What does she suggest for you to do to stand out from the crowd? Shift your mindset.
From woe…
Your mindset can dictate how you view yourself and the world around you. How you perceive it all is influenced from when you were young—whether you’re smart, beautiful, athletic, capable, incapable, and so on. And it’s all reinforced by society.
Those with a “woe is me” attitude have a fixed mindset—they see setbacks or failures as a result of their limitations. Their talk often sounds like this:
- “This is too hard. I don’t want to do this anymore”
- “It didn’t work the first time so it’s not worth it.”
- “Why are they better than me?”
According to psychologist and researcher Carol Dweck, those with this outlook on life have the following traits:
- Believe their intelligence, talents, and personalities are “fixed”
- Feel they are incapable of growing their abilities
- Tend to give up easily when there’s a challenge
- Resent the success of others
- Feel pressure to prove their intelligence time and again
A “woe is me” mindset can be a recipe for disaster, especially when it comes to business. But if you shift your mindset to see growth in your life, you may find that resilience is an incredible power to have.
…to wow
Now, those with a “wow” mentality have a growth mindset—they believe their situations can be improved through effort (and also even struggle). Their self-talk might be something like:
- “I have no idea how to solve it, but I’ll find a way.”
- “How can I follow that person’s footsteps? Their success is inspiring.”
- “Wow, look how far I’ve come.”
Those with a “wow” attitude, according to Carol, have the following traits:
- Believe their intelligence, talents, and personalities can be improved
- See a challenge as an opportunity to be better
- Persistent in overcoming obstacles
- Treat criticism as feedback to progress
- Feel inspired by others’ successes
A “wow” mindset is a resilient mindset. You’re more action-oriented, able to see the silver linings and use your creativity to come up with a frickin’ awesome business idea.
Discovering Your “Wow” Ideas
Understandably, coming up with business ideas can be difficult. Truth be told, it’s stressful. And stress, as we’re all aware, can have a negative impact on your health, especially when it comes to your mental health.
But one way to help this situation is to step back and see your world with a fresh pair of eyes, like how children view their surroundings. For instance, a box to you could be a spaceship to your child.
The disruption is that you can still live in a childlike state of curiosity, playfulness, and awe and still be a responsible adult at the same time. — @twinmiki Share on XWith children, they’ve yet to be influenced by the “brules” of society, so they see the world differently than adults. And when it comes to doing something, anything, they just go for it.
According to Emma Caselton, senior creative strategist at Seymourpowell, “some of the world’s biggest challenges, such as urbanization, congestion and pollution need serious imagination and ingenuity to solve. This is when channeling our inner child is important. We need to maintain our ability to imagine a better future.”
