If you want to achieve success, yes, there’s all the action you can take in the world. But if you don’t have the mindset in place to be successful, then you never will be.
I was watching the Olympics recently, and there was a British athlete who won a medal in the women’s 1500m. She was not considered to be in the running for a medal at any point. She was way outside in the times, and she ended up getting a medal. One of the things she said is she woke up in the morning and she believed she could do it. Sometimes, half the battle is believing you can do it.
So yes, we can know everything that we need to know, but we actually have to believe we can do it. That’s the aim of this post: to explain the four essential steps to developing a strong mindset. These steps help you deal with challenges as they come up and allow you to move forward to achieve your goals.
Here are the four steps we’re going to cover:
1. Cultivate self-awareness
2. Embrace a growth mindset
3. Develop mental resilience
4. Surround yourself with positivity
Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Cultivate Self-Awareness
One of the reasons people can have a weaker mindset is they’re not very conscious of what’s going on in their mind. They are unaware of what they’re thinking about, or how they’re thinking it. They don’t realize the negative self-talk that they have. We all have negative self-talk, and one of the ways to overcome it is to bring our awareness to it. Then we can start to question it, challenge it, and change it.
Our thoughts affect our feelings, which affect our behavior. If we have negative self-talk, that will make us feel more negative. This will then affect our behaviors, and we’ll have worse results. It’s about attacking that negative self-talk and changing it to something more positive.
Ways to become more aware of what you’re thinking:
– Journaling: Start with self-reflective journaling. Ask yourself questions about how you responded in difficult situations. What your thought processes were.
– Mindfulness practices and meditation: This helps you become more present in the current moment. The result is you’ll start to become aware of negative self-talk as and when it arises.
The biggest benefit of self-awareness is that it gives you the power to identify your limiting beliefs. You recognize what triggers those beliefs, and are able to take control of your thoughts. We do have the power to control our thoughts, change them, and choose the thoughts we want to have.
Step 2: Embrace a Growth Mindset
It can be quite tricky to grasp the concept of a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. What we want to do is move away from the fixed mindset. This is the kind of thinking that says we have a certain set of skills or qualities that we can’t change. For example, thinking “I’m either intelligent or I’m not,” “I’m artistic or I’m not,” or “I’m outgoing or I’m not.”
The truth is that these things – intelligence, artistic ability, being outgoing – can be learned. When we step into a growth mindset, we see challenges differently. Instead of thinking, “I’m no good at this,” we can shift to, “This is an area where I’m finding challenges. What can I do to improve? How can I change things? How can I learn and develop?”
Ways to expand your growth mindset:
– Take on tasks where it’s pretty much impossible to be brilliant at it all the time. For me, one of the biggest things was gardening. You’re dealing with things that are hard to control, like weather and plant conditions. It teaches you that there’s always more to learn.
– Challenge your limiting beliefs. When you hear yourself using a generalized statement like, “I’m no good at that,”. Recognize that you’ve switched into a fixed mindset.
– Use positive affirmations. If you find something hard, like sales in your business, go from thinking “I’m no good at sales,” to “I am a confident seller.” Start to switch it and change it, and take action to learn and get better.
The real benefits of a growth mindset are:
1. You can overcome failure much more easily.
2. It will keep you working towards your goals even if you find it a struggle.
3. It fosters greater resilience, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
Step 3: Develop Mental Resilience
I like to call resilience the “bounce-back ability.” We will come up against knocks in life, obstacles, and challenging times. When we face these, we need the ability to say, “OK, right. This is difficult. How do I overcome it?” That’s your resilience.
Resilience is maintaining that strong mindset in the face of difficulties and challenges. Its knowing and accepting that it’s OK to have problems. The things we’ve talked about so far bring our attention to the fact that we’re finding something hard. They help us maintain our composure and keep a more positive outlook.
The more you practice these things, the more natural they become and the quicker they kick in. For example, if your sales after a launch are lower than wanted, the first feeling is often disappointment. That’s natural. But with resilience, you’ll be able to say, “OK, I feel this way. It is crap. But what can I do next time? What should I learn? How can I improve?”
A crucial part of mental resilience comes from the important concept that you are 100% responsible for what happens in your life. When we lack resilience, we often blame the world, other people, or circumstances, and act like a victim. When we have resilience, we say, “This situation is rubbish, but what can I do to improve it?” We take responsibility for how we respond and how we bounce back.
Step 4: Surround Yourself with Positivity
This can be a tricky one. When we go towards our goals, the people who love us the most might unintentionally hold us back. They have a well-meaning way of pointing out the negatives. They think they’re keeping us safe or protecting us by doing this. They don’t want us to change because we’re in their comfort zone.
Here’s how you can surround yourself with positivity:
– Reduce your exposure to people who may say negative things. Don’t share some of your goals or dreams with people who tend to be negative.
– Find communities and people who are on the same path as you, who will lift you up and support you.
– Engage in activities that uplift you.
– Review your social media feeds. Get rid of anything that spreads negativity. Add positive people, groups, and content. Science has shown that having positive posts in your feed can boost your mood. Even more it can boost the mood of your friends when you share them.
– Listen to positive and uplifting content, like motivational audiobooks or podcasts.
Conclusion
To build and maintain a strong mindset, follow these four steps:
1. Cultivate self-awareness: Become aware of your negative self-talk and limiting beliefs so you can change them.
2. Embrace a growth mindset: Change those limiting beliefs into something more positive. Believe in your ability to learn and improve.
3. Develop mental resilience: Build your bounce-back ability so you keep working towards your goals despite setbacks.
4. Surround yourself with positivity: Create an environment that helps maintain, build, and strengthen your mindset.
I encourage you to have a go at these steps. See where they take you, what happens to your mindset, and how they help you achieve your goals. Remember, as Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” Keep that positive mindset, and there will be no stopping you!
