Having the appropriate mindset is the MOST critical aspect of being a successful entrepreneur. I know, many of you are thinking that it is your idea, how you are marketing, where your practice is located, and so forth that determines your success. That is WRONG. It is actually your mindset that will determine your success.

Having a mindset operated from a state of fear and limiting beliefs will prevent you from succeeding.

Not valuing yourself will hinder you from ever understanding your worth.

SAYING “I CAN’T” MEANS THAT YOU WILL NEVER SUCCEED.

If you say “I can’t” then you know what? YOU ARE RIGHT.

Never say “I can’t”… That is for weak minded people and entrepreneurs aren’t weak minded, especially the nurse practitioner entrepreneur. Instead, entrepreneurs are positive, intuitive, forward thinking, hardworking, problem solvers, critical thinkers, and live in a world of abundance. Weak people put their head in the sand and crawl under a rock because they “can’t” change the circumstances in their life.

Do not be one of these nurse practitioner that crawls under a rock.

Do not be submissive.

Do not be a victim.

Do not be weak.

Instead say “YES I CAN” when it comes to any hard process or task in your life.

I hear from nurse practitioners all the time that say “I can’t start my own practice…”

With that mindset, you are absolutely right, you can’t start your practice. Instead, you will be a workhorse for your corporate and physician overlords the rest of your career never realizing just how powerful you really are! You will work until you are 65 and retire tired and probably broke, like the majority of Americans. You will never be FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT.

I also hear from nurse practitioner entrepreneurs that they “can’t” do a certain task in their business. This task can be anything from marketing to hiring a new employee to integrating a new niche service line into their practice.

Guess what? You are doing yourself and your practice a great disservice when you say, “I can’t.” If instead you said, “I can”, then you could potentially learn a new and VALUABLE skill that would not only save yourself a lot of money but would grow your practice.

Marketing is easier than you think. Don’t say “I can’t do marketing on my own.” You are truly missing out on knowing the most valuable skill a business owner could ever have. Marketing is the number one function of a business, therefore the business owner needs to understand how to do it.

Integrating new service lines into your practice is extremely easy. Don’t say “I can’t do testosterone replacement therapy in my practice because I am women.” That is nonsense. Men don’t care who treats them, they just want to feel better. By not integrating a certain in demand service line into your practice, you are basically just opening the door for your competition to do so!

Writing your own resume or creating the content on your website is easier than you think. It just takes practice. Don’t say “I can’t rewrite my CV myself” or “I can’t create the content on my website… I should hire a content writer instead.” You are again missing out on developing a skill that is critical to your professional success: WRITING.

Listen, the only time I ever say “I can’t” is when I am stuck in a situation that I end up loathing. This happened recently at the urgent care I was working at. I told myself “I can’t keep doing this” because I knew it was holding me back from my full potential. That is why I left. This is different from saying “I can’t” when it comes to a change in your life that could be positively life changing though.

When my mind is playing a trick and is telling me that “I can’t” do something, I immediately shut down that negative thought and begin WORKING TOWARDS a solution to the problem. I just got onto LinkedIn… I told myself “I can’t get a profile up and running… This seems complicated…” But guess what I did? I just logged on and created the account. I am glad I did; it is easier than I thought!

Remember, when you are saying “I can’t”, and let that dictate your actions, then you are right: YOU CAN’T! So instead of saying “I can’t”, simply just say “I am in trouble” and get to work on fixing the problem. Saying “I can” will guide you to success. Saying “I can’t” will set you up for failure before you even had a chance!