Greetings, Wellness Warriors! What does it mean to be successful? For some, it could mean money, fame, higher education, or finding love. I grew up poor and have always felt driven to succeed. I thought that success meant financial security and the lifestyle I had always wanted. For years I chased the wrong things while neglecting my health. Burning the candle at both ends led to weight gain and serious health issues. That experience helped me to realize that being successful doesn't always mean making a lot of money. It means living your most authentic life possible. I learned this lesson through my personal experiences and the obstacles I have overcome. Life lessons are the best teacher. Only through these experiences, accepting errors and failures, can we draw our conclusions to move forward.
Change your Thoughts, Change your Life
Our minds are incredibly powerful because the way we perceive the world creates our reality. Your thoughts dictate how you feel and, in turn, dictate your actions. To have a success mindset, you have to shift your thoughts and rid yourself of any limiting beliefs about your ability or worthiness to be successful. We can consciously direct our thoughts and feelings through the power of intention, so we can take an active role in creating more of what we want in our lives.
Through my years of experience, I believe there are five aspects to a success mindset that I would like to share with you today. I hope that you'll be able to shift to a success mindset and implement some of these suggestions into your life.
Embrace a Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
When you live with a growth mindset, you believe that you can become better and improve aspects of yourself with time and practice. Having a fixed mindset is thinking that you cannot enhance your personality or skill sets past your current state. When you live with a growth mindset, you're able to develop your talents and abilities over time through experience and mentorship. When we are children, we believe anything is possible. It's only through life experiences where we get knocked down or told we can't do something that we begin to create limitations for ourselves. To have a success mindset we must break down those barriers and think like children again.
Don't Be Afraid of Failure
The only way to grow is to make mistakes. We live in a culture where we avoid making mistakes at all costs, but we often end up with a rigid mindset when we fail to get out of our comfort zone. To combat this, get out there, try something new, and learn to push yourself to new heights. Instead of labeling experiences in terms of failures and successes, frame them in a positive light. No one is good at everything. You're always going to have challenges and obstacles along the way. If you can recognize that all of them can help you grow and become a better person, you're living in a success mindset. If you're not progressing, then you're failing anyway, so you're better off taking the chance.
The Power of Positivity
If you don't believe in the positive possibilities for yourself, you're not living in a success mindset. This is not blind optimism and does not mean you should think that you can do any and everything. It means being realistic about goals and outcomes and shedding limiting beliefs about yourself and your abilities. It's scientifically proven that optimists are happier and more successful than pessimists.
The best part is that positivity breeds positivity; when you adopt a glass-half-full attitude, it will start to guide everything you do. The truth is success doesn't automatically bring happiness — but a positive frame of mind will invite success into your life. All it takes is a few simple tweaks to your thinking to become your happiest, most authentic self.
Self-Awareness
If you believe you can change your outlook, you can start by looking at yourself and figuring out the steps you can take to adapt your mind toward a more successful way of thinking. It's impossible to have a success mindset without self-awareness.
In business, you could start setting new goals or finding ways to help your employees or co-workers work more efficiently. You may decide to adopt new procedures, ask for feedback, or work on your listening skills. Whatever it is, you must start believing it is possible to get better and then give yourself the time and dedication to improve.
Keep Your Eyes on the Big Picture
This may be the most essential aspect of all in creating a success mindset. If you're chasing money, fame, or things that are fleeting, your success will be fleeting as well. True success comes from living your most authentic life possible and embracing your values. In my experience, once you find your passion and what drives you, you'll find true happiness and the money that comes with it is just the cherry on top. Focus on the possibilities in front of you and take action every day to get closer to your goals, but don't forget to enjoy the journey along the way!
Until next time, Live Well, Live Long!
~Dwayne
Comments