Change your life with the Success Mindset

Ever wondered what are the secrets of highly successful people? Ever wondered what they do to be able to deserve such success? These people obviously know something that most people don‘t  or tend not to acknowledge. Something that makes them stand out from the rest – their mindset.

Mindset is simply a belief system or a thought process.

Standford psychologist and author Carol Dweck said that people are living in two different mindsets: The Fixed Mindset and the Growth Mindset, which is attributed to success. Having a fixed mindset is believing that what you have is unchangeable. If you are born poor, you’ll be poor for the rest of your life. If you are bad at mathematics, you’ll never be good at it. On the contrary, a growth mindset is believing that what you have can be changed and improved; that you are a work in progress.  

Developing a success or growth mindset may take time. However, you can start changing your life now by practicing these:

1. Use positive words and affirmations

What we think and say to ourselves bring about a significant change in our lives. Oftentimes, people tend to sell themselves short and put a limit simply because of the fear of rejection or failure. That is basically self-sabotaging. 

Many experts believe that the repetition of positive words and affirmations go straight right to our subconscious which has control over 90% of what we do. We reinforce an intention so deeply that it bypasses the conscious mind. The more you repeat those affirmations, the more you will actually believe what the affirmations are telling you. Remember that you are what you say to yourself. 

1. Take failure as a learning curve; not a condemnation

We are gifted with the power to choose which side of life to look at. We can see failure on the side of negativity – blaming yourself or others for not succeeding and staying in that zone because you’re too afraid to take a risk and fail again. Sure, failing can sometimes hurt but if we choose to look at it on the brighter side, we may understand that failure is essential to achieving success. Failing is actually an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and go in a different direction. It gives us a new perspective on how we succeed. Rather than treating your failures as condemnations, why not try to see it in a different light because what people don’t know is behind those successes, a LOT of rejections and defeats were made and in those experiences, you will surely learn a lot of new things that will pave your way to success.

1. Develop a morning routine 

Having a morning routine gears you up for success as it helps you from achieving more. It sets the tone for the day and leaves you more control of the schedules and time so that the most important things get to be done. Whether it’s making your bed, meditating, exercising or practicing gratitude, all it takes is discipline and consistency for you to see results in no time.

1. Never stop learning

Learning is a never ending process. There will always be new skills to learn, new strategies to adopt, new knowledge to acquire and new ideas to share. Reading is actually a good workout for your brain as it improves its function. You can set aside an hour of your time everyday dedicated to personal development. Take for example the habit of some of the most successful people of this era, Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. They allot a certain time of their day for reading. We should see it in a perspective where learning is as important as exercising. Just because your exam is finished, doesn’t mean you have to stop learning and not be interested in a certain topic.

1. Find your purpose

Finding one’s purpose is not that easy. However, it sets the tone of focus and direction in life. You have to get to know your ‘why’; the reason why you get up in the morning; the reason why you want what you want. Finding success starts with finding your purpose. It becomes your drive to pursue and achieve more. As Napoleon Hill said, “There is one quality one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”

1. Be grateful

Being grateful redirects our minds to become more positive. Gratitude holds a significant factor of having a success mindset as it increases our levels of happiness and motivation to achieve our goals. When you feel happy and energized, you feel more motivated to accomplish what needs to be done. These positive emotions fuel our progress further. Along the way of practicing this, you will come to realize that, indeed, there are a lot of reasons to be grateful for. 

1. Learn how to shift negative thinking into a positive one

A lot of people may find themselves guilty of overthinking and this leads most of the time to having negative thoughts. We tend to create stories in our minds and maybe perform a monologue in our heads, constantly overthinking of anything that comes into mind. To shift negative thinking into a positive one, stop and try to think of a moment where you feel you’re in your happiest. Think of the things or people that make you happy, whether it’s food, your pet, your friend or any event you find funny. Another way to shift that is through singing. It is known to release endorphins which are feel-good chemicals for the brain.

1. Surround yourself with people who lift you up

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn famously said that you are the average of the five people that you spend most of your time with. The people we surround ourselves with will influence our behavior, attitude and actions. That is why we need to be careful in choosing the people we give our time and energy with because for instance, you can’t hang out with negative people and expect you to have a positive life. 

1. Don’t fall into the trap of excusitis

Escusitis is simply the behavior of making excuses whenever a problem arises. Most people tend to make excuses to avoid facing challenges. Some of the most common ones are of those not being good enough, overestimating the strength or intelligence of other people and underestimating their own capabilities. Others resort to putting an excuse to their health condition or their age. Nevertheless, never sell yourself short. 

1. Don’t just dream; believe

Sure, dreaming is free but so is believing. To condition your mind for success, you have to believe that success is possible. You are undermining your chances of it when you think that success in this certain area is not because of some fixed traits or skills that you don’t possess. Along the way, there will be people who will doubt your capabilities and try to discourage you. And at some point, you may doubt yourself too; but don’t give up on that dream. That dream was placed in your mind and heart for a reason and it is in your hands to believe and pursue whatever that dream is. Believe that you are destined for greatness, because you are.

Indeed, having a success mindset will give you limitless possibilities. You will never know what you are capable of when you keep on limiting yourself. We cannot dream of reaching our full potential if we cling onto having a fixed mindset. You have to go out of the box, create the future that you want and believe in it so bad that it has no choice but to manifest.