1. Empower your mood - When you approach challenges with a positive attitude, the world offers possibilities you never imagined. Inevitably, negative thoughts will enter your mind and attempt to distract you. Pause at these moments and remind yourself that these disheartening feelings are temporary. Tell yourself that you can push any negativity aside and restore your optimism.
2. Act to create your future - As an entrepreneur, you're ultimately responsible for your attitude as well as your actions. Focus on one thing you can do to move forward rather than wasting valuable energy complaining. By taking that step forward, you'll strengthen your resolve and create workable solutions. Remember--as my good friend tells me--if you don't take action on something on your to-do list within two days, it's probably not worth completing.
3. Turn off your internal critic - Remove the word but from your conversations and always state things positively. Focus on three or four words that energize you, and use them to quickly change your attitude when necessary. "I can do it" is my mantra.
4. Expect positive outcomes - No matter the circumstances, tell yourself that positive outcomes will emerge. Don't disregard any opportunity: Return calls that may not initially sound promising--you never know where the next great idea will grow. Investigate all opportunities to open new doors or assist others in their goals, and know that your business will be the better for it.
5. Allow your surroundings to support your upbeat attitude - Your physical environment plays a big role in changing your attitude. Entrepreneurs are fortunate because we can often adjust our office spaces without having to worry about repercussions from our co-workers or a boss. Locate your desk near a window if it helps you relax, and display cartoons or pictures of your friends, family and pets that make you smile.
6. Free yourself from self-imposed negativity by declaring that you'll have a joyful day at the start of every morning. Nurture positive energy by creating moments--even if it's just for two minutes--when you can release any tensions you're harboring, and your environment will support your ultimate success.

Childish produces tantrums.

Childlike brings fresh eyes to marketing opportunities.

Childish rarely shows up as promised.

Childlike is fearless and powerful and willing to fail.

Childish is annoying.

Childlike inquires with a pure heart.

Childish is merely ignored.

Even if you're not self-employed, your boss is you. You manage your career, your day, your responses. You manage how you sell your services and your education and the way you talk to yourself.

Odds are, you're doing it poorly.

If you had a manager that talked to you the way you talked to you, you'd quit. If you had a boss that wasted as much as your time as you do, they'd fire her. If an organization developed its employees as poorly as you are developing yourself, it would soon go under.

I'm amazed at how often people choose to fail when they go out on their own or when they end up in one of those rare jobs that encourages one to set an agenda and manage themselves. Faced with the freedom to excel, they falter and hesitate and stall and ultimately punt.

We are surprised when someone self-directed arrives on the scene. Someone who figures out a way to work from home and then turns that into a two-year journey, laptop in hand, as they explore the world while doing their job. We are shocked that someone uses evenings and weekends to get a second education or start a useful new side business. And we're envious when we encounter someone who has managed to bootstrap themselves into happiness, as if that's rare or even uncalled for.

There are few good books on being a good manager. Fewer still on managing yourself. It's hard to think of a more essential thing to learn.

Learn to manage yourself. How?