I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that online businesses -- just like brick and mortar businesses -- have a very high failure rate for startups. Ever wonder why that is? There are several business consultants, success gurus, and motivational experts who can tell you. The problem is: Most of us don't listen.

How many times have we heard the "success secrets" of the multimillion-dollar pros? Countless times we have all been preached to about setting goals, having a defined plan, giving it all we've got, and aiming high. Yet still, take a look around. The statistics of small business failures have not changed. In the first five years of starting a new business, the odds say that you'll fail.

Ready for the good news? There is one thing I can tell you -- from personal experience, and from the experience of well-known, successful online business owners that I know. More important than setting goals, more than following a plan, more than shooting for the moon, is your mindset. Ask people who have succeeded online how they did it, and they are sure to tell you that they had to. That's right -- they HAD to. Why? Because failure is not an option.

When you set your sights on something as grand as starting your own business, you simply have to have the mindset that, regardless of what happens, you will not allow yourself to fail.

When difficulties come, the "failure is not an option" attitude will drive you to overcome them. When things aren't going as you originally planned (and many times they won't), "failure is not an option" will keep you from folding. When everybody else tells you that you can't make it, you will be able to tell them you can because "failure is not an option."

Those whose thinking allows them an "out," those who begin a business with the idea that if it doesn't work out -- "oh well," are the ones who will most likely falter. However, on the other hand, those who have no choice but to succeed will do exactly that.

Are you considering starting a new business? Do you have a business that isn't performing the way it should? Take a look at your attitude. Yes, it is important to set goals and follow through with them. It is vital that you have the knowledge and funds to operate a business the right way. However, those things won't carry you very far if you allow yourself to think that it's OK to fail.

Take some time this week to double-check your thinking. Are you "hoping" your company will make it? Do you "wonder" if everything will work out all right? When you eliminate the option of failure, you open up the flow of creativity, you boost your level of willpower, and you energize your thinking so that only those things that lead to success can control your mind. Once you accomplish that, the only viable alternative is to make it, and make it big!

Copyright 2004 Diane Hughes