I keep going on about mindsets and people’s various approaches to business. By now, you’ve probably gotten the idea that there is a significant difference between how successful people think in comparison to everyone else. And, believe it or not, your mindset plays a vital part in, well, just about everything you do in life. This is why, in today’s post, I’m going to go over a couple of the key differences between successful and ordinary people.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to my success series. I’m your resident green living and business leadership host – Antoaneta. In this article, I’ll give you some tips that I’ve personally found very useful in leveraging my mindset for success.
Why your mindset matters
The first and most important thing you need to understand about this is the role that your mindset plays in your life. Almost everything we say, think or do in our lives is a direct response to certain factors, be they internal or external. Our emotions, body language, and even our physical reactions come as a result of our subconscious mind taking the surrounding factors into account and making a decision on the spot. And, unless you happen to be some sort of enlightened guru with fifty years of prior training, you don’t really get to tell that subconscious mind what you want it to do. The decisions are taken without your agency, and, more often than not, you accept the actions before you’ve got the time to think them over properly.
But what if I told you that there is a way to communicate to your subconscious mind, even if you didn’t spend half of your life training in a secluded monastery? Yes, you heard that right, there is indeed a way to control your reactions before they happen. It’s called altering your mindset!
Our minds, you see, take actions depending on the general way in which we think. Depending on the things that we value and see a purpose in. This is where all the sayings about people showing their true colours under pressure and in life-threatening situations come from. When everything is on the line, your subconsciousness will make a choice based on your general line of thought, but it won’t consult your rational mind. And, yes, I know that I’m oversimplifying it. Still, you get the idea, and, for the purposes of this book, that’s all that you need to understand about the subject.
Your mind is something that you can develop. Just like a muscle, when presented with the need to perform well continually, it will improve. Most successful people utilise long-term thinking and often look to the bigger picture for their answers. While everyone is stuck worrying about today, or worse yet – obsessing over the mishaps of tomorrow, a successful person is already planning for next year!
Don’t “Yolo” it
Excuse the hip term, but I wanted to make a point here. Regardless of your religious affiliations (or lack thereof), choosing to live in a “carpe diem” sort-of-way can have a devastating impact on your long-term wellbeing. If you’re bored, upset, or otherwise dissatisfied with your present situation, this doesn’t mean that you should party your woes away. Likewise, it also doesn’t give you an excuse to sit in a corner and wallow in sadness. Nobody ever achieved greatness by twiddling their thumbs and whining about what they don’t have.
Instead, pick yourself up and think long-term. Ask yourself – how and why did I get myself into this situation? Where would I rather be, and what would I rather do? How would I get there?
Now, take your answers, write them down if you have to, and start planning. Oh wow, would you look at that, you’re already doing exactly what every single successful person out there has done at one point or another throughout their life!
But what does this have to do with your mindset, you might ask? The answer is everything. Finding yourself in an unfavourable situation, brainstorming your way out, making a goal out of it and then achieving it will make all the difference. Knowing that you can work your way out of a bad spot and experiencing it first-hand will forever change your personality for the better. It will teach you a great deal of things – both about yourself and about the world at large. It will give you confidence in your own abilities, compassion for others, stuck in the same position, and a whole host of other notions and ideas that you never would’ve encountered otherwise.
So, next time you start feeling upset about not being born into wealth and success, remind yourself that you’re actually luckier for it. Because if you were, you never would’ve learned the lessons that hardship has taught you!
Hardships build character
And that’s something that just about any self-made millionaire or billionaire would happily confirm for you as well. That character that you’re building is your success mindset. It is the combination of knowing what matters, understanding why it matters and knowing that you need to work towards achieving it, no matter who or what stands in your way. Once you improve your mentality and your outlook on life, once you start looking at the bigger picture, you will no longer be able to make excuses. Neither in front of yourself nor in front of others. Doing things right will become the only possible outcome. And you will have taken your first step towards real, lasting success.
Planning and execution
The ability to plan long-term and to make good on your plans is yet another thing that separates successful individuals from everyone else. Since excuses are no longer an option, your subconscious mind will stop reaching in that direction. Instead, it will remain thoroughly focused on the tasks at hand. And, if you’ve managed to build a solid plan for achieving your goals, then it’s just a matter of time to get there.
This is what allows successful people to actually get somewhere, while everyone else is busy winging in and trying to do as little as possible to “pass” and get their “participation reward”. I know I might sound a bit harsh here, but this is the way things are, and if you’ve ever studied, worked, or even shared hobbies with other people, I’m sure that you’re already drawing parallels. While most kids in school are thoroughly focused on their efforts to avoid studying, successful children give it their all. While most of the office workers are wondering how they’ll get through the day and can barely wait for 6 PM to leave their cubicles, the successful individuals are completely absorbed by their efforts to contribute to the future of the company.
Start now get perfect later
A lot of people, be they aspiring entrepreneurs or ambitious professionals, get caught up on the details and end up wasting valuable time and effort on things that they don’t need to worry about just yet. Perfectionism is “okay” when applied selectively. In the broader sense, however, being a perfectionist, especially when you’re new to something, is a short-cut to failure. You certainly don’t need to know everything about business, management, or investing before you try your hand at it. Learning by experience is not only valid but also a very viable tactic when it comes to this. If I waited until I had learned everything about these fields, I was probably not even going to have a single business up and running by now. The best time to start is yesterday. The second best is today. So why wait? Start right now and start making progress!
Don’t obsess over failures
Things will eventually go wrong. Taking the time to put a backup plan together is smart. Spending every waking moment worrying about what-ifs isn’t. More often than not, failure can teach you more about yourself and your work than success ever will. Failure will give you data, which you can then use to get better, smarter and stronger.
Take responsibility
Successful people don’t expect someone else to waltz in and solve all of their problems. Instead, they own it up and look for the solution themselves. They are the people who get called when there are problems that need solving. If you want to be successful, you need to adopt an adaptive mindset. Instead of duct taping the issues, you’re looking for meaningful, long-term solutions that work.
Take action
Actions speak louder than words, and successful people know that. Ideas are great, plans are excellent, but without action, they’re all just wishful thinking. Instead of spending your days dreaming about what you’d do when you get rich, get up and start building your wealth.
Well, would you look at that – we seem to have run out of space for today! I hope that you found this post useful and that you’ve learned some interesting bits that can help you on your own journey to success. You can also check out my previous blogs such as “How To Have A Positive Mindset About Finances“.
As always, if you think that I’ve missed something important, or if you’d like to share some tips and experiences of your own, please feel free to do so in the comments section below – I always love hearing from my audience!
Thank you all for reading, and until next time:
Stay green and motivated!
Seminar:
Recommended for further reading:
- GirlBoss
- Keys to Success – Napoleon Hill
- 24 Assets – Daniel Priestley
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
- Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind – Harv Eker
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I agree, having the right mindset is very important