Business Mindset Matters - 1 Dream Big Start Small

Welcome, lovely people, to our first lesson in the Business Mindset Matters series. I'm delighted to have you along for the journey, and I hope it will be transformative for all of us. I recommend that you get yourself a small notebook to record the exercises and your thoughts on this journey, or use a digital platform to record things. This week, our topic is "Dream Big, Start Small", so let's get right into it.

Dream Big, Start Small

When you first step into the world of online business, it’s easy to look at the people ahead of you — the ones with hundreds of posts, beautiful websites, full courses and a huge online presence, and think, “How on earth will I ever get there?” I know I did.

I started at Wealthy Affiliate eight years ago, and my journey has been one full of:

• Successes - achieving what I wanted
• Feedback - not achieving what I set out to achieve, but learning something useful along the way
• Diversions - things that looked like a block but turned out to be just something new or different that I needed to learn along the path
• Time-outs - time when my outside life had to take priority over my online life (it's absolutely allowed!)

Starting your business can feel like standing at the bottom of a mountain while everyone else is already halfway up the trail. But the sooner you realise that you are not in a race, you can leave that baggage of "I'm already behind" at the starting line.

You are on your own journey - there is no one to compare yourself to, except your own dreams.

But there are a lot of us here with you, cheering you on!

1. Dream BIG!

Dreaming about a different life is what brought you here - it's why you started looking for a way to change, because you knew that there is something bigger out there for you that you have not yet realised. Remember this and remind yourself often why you are here. Your dreams are your own, and I encourage you to dream BIG in this venture. Think about what it will mean for you when you achieve the first few goals you have set yourself.

What are those goals - do you know?

If not, write down why you are here and the difference it will make in your life when you get to where you dream of. We will look more at dreaming and why you are here in lesson 3, but for now, try this simple exercise.

Exercise 1 - Dreaming about your future

1. Sit quietly and ensure you will not be disturbed by your family, your pets or your phone!
2. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. This is important because it sets a circular breathing pattern that can help you relax.
3. Imagine a wave of relaxation washing over you from the top of your head to your feet - you can think of it like a cleansing shower, washing away your tension and stress - these are things that you have allowed to invade your mindset that you no longer need.
4. Now imagine yourself in 5 years. Project yourself into your ideal situation - where you live, what you look like, the health you enjoy, your confidence and posture, the relationships you enjoy. Really imagine what this would look, sound and especially FEEL like. You can ask yourself the question: "What will I feel like when I have achieved my dreams?"
5. Sit with this moment for a few minutes - soak it up. Now imagine what it would feel like if you had it NOW. Bring the future into your present. Imagine you had all these things now, and intensify the feeling so that it overtakes your entire body.
6. Come back to the present moment and open your eyes.

This exercise need only take a few minutes, but you can practice it multiple times a day so that you are firming up your dream and your vision of your future life.

Next step... getting started!

2. Start Small: Small steps build momentum

So here’s another truth I want you to remember - always:

Every successful entrepreneur started exactly where you are. Blank pages. Zero followers. No traffic. No income. Just a dream and the courage to take the first small step.

Now you might not be starting at the very beginning, and that's fine, neither am I. You may already have a successful business, and your desire now is to take it to the next level. You may have started but want to change direction. There will always be more dreams and more levels - that's evolution!

Whatever your circumstance, remember that you don't need all the answers before you start. The secret is to be willing to start messy, start unsure, but start anyway. Every blog post you write, every lesson you learn, every tiny task you do (however small) is a brick in the foundation of your future business. It may not feel like much at first, but over time, these small actions can stack up into something real and meaningful.

Real people who started from nothing

One thing that can often help you is to realise that other people have done what you are setting out to do - start small and grow big.

Here are some of their stories to use as inspiration for your own motivation.

Harrison Nott - CoolTowel (teen entrepreneur)
Harrison started a cooling towel business while still at school after spotting a simple problem and making a better product. What began as a small bedroom project grew into thousands of orders and a real trading company — proof that solving one small problem can be the start of something much bigger. Read Harrison’s story at: https://www.sidehustlenation.com/cooling-towel/.

Bill Hewlett & Dave Packard - HP (the garage origin)
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began with a small workshop and modest capital; their earliest work in a garage in Palo Alto produced the HP 200A oscillator and helped launch a company that later became a multinational. The 'HP Garage' is now a symbol of how big ideas can begin very small. Read more on HP’s history page: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/history-of-hp.

Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak - Apple (a humble start that grew huge)
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak’s early work together (famously associated with a garage in Los Altos), eventually grew into the mega-company, Apple. While some aspects of the “garage” story have been mythologised, the core truth remains: huge companies can have very humble beginnings. The Computer History Museum has a good short history: https://computerhistory.org/blog/steve-jobs/.

Proof matters: when you see people start with small, imperfect steps and keep going, belief becomes practical — not just inspirational.

Exercise 2 - Find someone to follow

Tony Robbins is one of my favourite motivational speakers ever, and if you haven't read any of his books, then I highly recommend them.

One of the things that he advocates is following in the steps of others and modelling their success. That's also what we encourage at Wealthy Affiliate - to learn from the successes and errors of others.

So in this exercise, all you need to do is research some people in your own niche who have done well and are succeeding in the niche you are interested in working in. See what they are doing, what services they are offering and see how they started - they will have started like you... at the beginning, with nothing, no followers and just a dream. And they made it work with their effort, dedication and perseverance.

WARNING... WARNING... WARNING!!!

Now, there's a warning here - DO NOT negatively compare yourself to these people, but use their stories as inspiration for your own motivation.

Remember this....

"There are no real new stories - but there are an infinite number of perspectives!"

My dad told me this when I was very little, and I think it is very relevant to online business - to YOUR online business. Whatever niche you are in, there will always be other people in that niche. There are 8 billion people in the world, for a start! There are bound to be a few repeats!!

However, there will be NO ONE who tells YOUR STORY like YOU DO! That makes it unique - and that is your unique selling point - your USP!

Exercise 3 - Your beliefs: A tiny, honest exercise

One thing that sabotages many an online entrepreneur is themselves! Yes, you read that right! We are the people who get in the way of our dreams the most!

What we believe is possible and what we believe about ourselves is really the key to making changes and creating an improved mindset. The first 2 exercises in this class should have honed your dream and shown you that it is possible. Now it's time to tackle your own beliefs!

Bringing subconscious beliefs into your conscious awareness is the first step to changing them. Be honest with yourself here. This is your own private work, and no one is going to judge you. Do not judge yourself either. Just observe! Grab a notebook or open a digital journal and answer these few, short prompts. Try to write without overthinking.

1. What do I believe about my ability to earn online?
2. What stories do I tell myself when I think about money and success?
3. Which fear pops up first when I imagine my business working?
4. What would I do today if I truly believed I could succeed?

Write a sentence or two for each. These will bring some of your beliefs into the light.

Esther Hicks says, "A belief is a thought that you just keep thinking", and YOU can change your beliefs, no matter how deep-rooted they are. We will tackle some of these beliefs in future lessons. But for now, just consider whether these beliefs are helping you or hindering you.

If they are helping you move forward, keep on with them.

If they are hindering you, think about where these beliefs come from - are they really yours? Or are they from your parents, friends, religious leaders, teachers or society as a whole? When you know where they really come from, you can set about changing them. And we will start that next week.

This is lesson one in a series of 12, so we won't change your mindset overnight! But we can start DREAM BIG, and START SMALL!

Where to go from here: You don't need to see the whole mountain

I have posted here about my struggles digging the foundations of my business - you can find them on my WA blog, and there are many others that have shown that one small step that you take consistently can get you to the top of the mountain.

It is natural to want to see the whole path before you make your move, but in business, you rarely get to see the whole mountain before setting off from base camp. That's OK too.

Clarity - seeing clearly what you want and what you need to do - comes from doing, not from waiting. So, instead of asking, “How will I build this entire business now?” ask, “What is one small step I can do today?”

You could choose from a multitude of simple things:

• Complete all the exercises above to work on your mindset
• Write one post
• Buy a new domain
• Research one keyword
• Learn one skill
• Research a new affiliate program
• Redesign your homepage
• Set up a social media platform
• Watch some training videos
• Write some comments

The list is endless - as long as you are doing something productive - one small thing that will move your business forward, you will be winning.

Question for you

What is one small step you can take today that will move your business forward?

Tell us in the comments — honest answers particularly welcome!

What’s next? Week 2 preview: Taming the Fear Monster

Next week, we will dive deeper into subconscious beliefs: what they are, where they come from, and practical techniques to gently shift them so you stop them from holding you back.

Here's to your success!

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This is a class that I hope will help many, so please feel free to share your thoughts, wisdom and ideas in the comments if you feel it will help you or others.