You know you’re meant to do something significant. You’ve got the vision, the passion, the unwavering commitment to building a business that actually matters. But here’s what nobody talks about: that crushing moment when you look at your small business goals and realize you’re operating at maybe 40% of your potential. What if the other 60% is dominated by a mindset that holds your full potential back? The one that says ‘what if I’m in over my head?’
The Real Reason Company Goals Feel Out of Reach
Most advice about achieving goals for small business owners focuses on tactics. Better time management. Smarter systems. More aggressive marketing.
Terri Maxwell, CEO of Shift/Co puts it this way: “When you start a business and it’s your business, you can’t point to anywhere else other than you. So what happens is there’s this constant sense of doubt; I’m not good enough, I can’t do this, I don’t know how.”
Sound familiar?
Here’s the pattern: You lose a client. Your brain starts the downward spiral. “What if I can’t replace them? What if this means I’m failing? What if I got lucky before and now everyone’s going to see I’m a fraud?”
Within minutes, you’ve gone from one setback to questioning your entire existence as an entrepreneur.
And the worst part? This isn’t just happening occasionally. For most founders, this negative loop is running constantly in a part of your brain called the amygdala. It’s literally taking up rent in your head, pulling up every failure from third-grade kickball to last month’s proposal rejection.
Why Traditional Goal-Setting Fails Conscious Entrepreneurs
You’ve probably tried positive thinking. Affirmations. Vision boards. Maybe even screaming motivational phrases at yourself in the mirror.
They work for about fifteen minutes. Then the feel good vibes take a plunge and you’re right back in the spiral.
Here’s why: You’re trying to install a positive mindset on top of a negative program that’s running at full speed. It’s like trying to play a new song while the old one is blasting at full volume.
Athletes figured this out decades ago. One of Jordan’s favorite Mantras was “Winning is fun” and he’d start to laugh and smile after he made a mistake, repeating the phrase “Winning is fun.”
Research Terri conducted found that 98% of people have some version of the “I’m not good enough” program running. The difference between successful founders and stuck ones isn’t whether they have the program. It’s whether they know how to interrupt it.
The Success Switch: Altering Your Negative Program
You have to address the negative program before you can build a new one. Not eventually. First.
Terri calls this the Success Switch, and it’s based on how your brain actually works. The amygdala (where your negative programs live) is primitive. It either runs on autopilot using old stories, or it takes direction from the boss of the brain: the prefrontal cortex.
Your job is to wake up the boss.
Here’s the ABC method:
Acknowledge: To reset the Amygdala, use the prompt (speak it out loud: “The truth is I feel [frustrated, scared, anxious, whatever comes up].” Then pause for 20 seconds.
What happens next is fascinating. The amygdala says, “Oh, I need to pause what I was doing and wait for new information,” and then it will start to downshift. Within 15-30 seconds, the part of your brain that is racing starts to go into neutral.
Breathe to activate your prefrontal cortex, which then turns on your parasympathetic nervous system. Take a slow breath, one at a time, until you’ve taken four breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. With the first breath, you’ll feel slightly lightheaded. That’s your prefrontal cortex switching on. By breath four, your parasympathetic nervous system is releasing dopamine and serotonin, making your amygdala receptive to new programming.
Claim a new belief. The opposite of whatever negative program showed up. “I can do this.” “I am good enough.” “Oh hell yeah, I’ve got this.” Say it with power. Give yourself a couple Rocky punches if that’s your thing.
The entire process takes maybe two minutes. And it works because you’re not fighting the negative program, you’re switching it off first.
Installing Your New Success Mindset
Now that you’ve interrupted the negative loop, you can install something better. This part requires four elements that work together to rewire your brain through neuroplasticity.
Set a specific goal. Not someday. Seven days from now. Something that scares you a little but feels possible. Maybe it’s landing one new client. Maybe it’s two qualified leads. The goal is a guidepost, not an endpoint. You’re not measuring your worth—you’re giving your brain a target.
As Terri emphasizes: “Entrepreneurial goals are guideposts, not endpoints. It’s not about hitting the goal or missing the goal. It’s about: Am I better at this or am I not? Is my mindset better or is it not?”
Create your mantra. This is your personal power phrase. “Yes I can.” “I’ve got this.” “Sales cure all” (that’s Mark Cuban’s). Find something that grabs you, something you can repeat when fear shows up.
Shift your mood. This is the piece most people skip, and it’s critical. Your body is what convinces your brain you’re failing. When your shoulders droop and you stop smiling, your brain reads that as confirmation that the negative story is true.
Terri’s go-to method? Laughing out loud. Even—especially—when nothing is funny. “Something goes wrong, I lose a client, the loop starts, and I catch myself doing it, and I just start laughing. Ha ha ha ha ha. Oh my God, I can’t believe I lost my client, ha ha ha. What was I thinking, ha ha ha.”
Sounds absurd. Works every time. Five seconds of forced laughter shifts your entire physiology.
Move your body. Dance. Do Rocky punches. Jump up and down. The movement seals the new belief into your nervous system. Add music if you want to speed up the process.
The Seven-Day Rewiring Challenge
Here’s what happens when you practice this twice a day for a week: You build a new neural pathway. The negative program weakens. The positive one gets stronger. Your default setting starts to shift.
All you need is consistency. Morning and evening. Practice the ABC method to switch off the negative program, then goal-mantra-mood-movement to install the new one.
Will you hit your seven-day goal? Maybe. Maybe not. But you’ll be measurably closer, and more importantly, you’ll prove to yourself that you can access your power on demand.
Terri tested this a couple of years ago. The results were consistent: seven days of twice-daily practice installs a new, powerful success mindset. Not because of magic. Because of how neuroplasticity actually works.
Why This Matters for Purpose-Driven Founders
If you’re reading this, you’re probably not building a business just to get rich. You’re trying to build a conscious, purpose-driven entrepreneurship that can be both profitable and world-changing.
That mission requires you to be operating at 75-100% of your capacity, not 40%.
Because every time you slide into the red zone—every time you let the negative program run unchecked—you’re not just hurting your revenue. You’re delaying the impact you’re meant to have.
The world needs businesses that make things better. But those businesses need founders who can stay in their power long enough to build them.
This isn’t about toxic positivity or pretending failure doesn’t hurt. It’s about having a systematic way to get back up after you fall. To throw the interception and walk right back onto the field.
Your small business is personal , perhaps an extension of you; not just numbers on a spreadsheet. You have a mission to build something meaningful that makes money AND without burning out.
So start tomorrow morning. Pick one goal for the next seven days. Practice the Success Switch when fear shows up. Install the new program twice a day.
You already have the vision. You already have the commitment. Now you have the tools to access the power that’s been there all along.
As Terri says: “We’ve got to find ways to alter our mood. Our body is what convinces our brain that we’re failing. It’s not the external event.”
Change the program. Change the outcome. Your move.
Many of the principles shared here are inspired by the work of Terri Maxwell, CEO of Shift/Co, drawing from over two decades of business growth and leadership experience.
Shift/Co is a global community dedicated to conscious business growth. We empower entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through innovative tools, expert coaching and mentoring, and a supportive network. Our comprehensive approach includes personalized training, leadership development, and a collaborative environment, ensuring that members can achieve significant business growth while positively impacting the world. Join Shift/Co to elevate your business and be part of a movement that believes in doing good business better.