People always say that you need to think positive. But can positive thinking really help you achieve your goals and live your dreams? One thing for sure, positive thinking is not the only factor that determines your success, but how you think will greatly affect the results you get in life. In other words, your mindset is important when it comes to living a successful life.
How you think will determine your focus and feelings. For example, imagine you are taking a stroll in the park. The weather is nice, everything is good, you’re feeling calm and happy, and you can hear the bird chirping in the background.
What if suddenly, a snake appears from the bush? Guess what will happen next?
You will shift your focus from enjoying your walk and the weather to the snake. You feel fear because you’re in the fight or flight mode. You stop thinking about all the good things and only think about what you must do next.
This is exactly what will happen if you have a negative mindset. You
will only focus on the negative things.
Instead of enjoying life, you will find all the bad things in life. Instead of
finding ways to improve and to make your dreams come true, you will find all
the reasons why your dreams are impossible to achieve.
Your mindset determines your decisions and actions
You have to understand that your mindset determines your decisions and hence, your actions. Why do you think people do what they do?
The same situation can happen to two individuals, but one chooses to do something, while another chooses to do nothing.
It was like what Henry Ford famously said:
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
People who have a positive and empowering mindset believe that they can do it, and thus, they find ways to make it work. They work harder, they ask around, they read, they do whatever it takes, simply because they believe it is possible.
They think that they can do it and what they want to achieve is possible, therefore, they take the necessary action to get there.
On the other hand, people who don’t think that they can do it will choose to do nothing. They tell themselves what they want is impossible to achieve or that they don’t have the necessary resources to achieve their goals and dreams.
As a result, people with a limited mindset will never be successful. First, they don’t believe what they want is possible to achieve, so why even try? Second, they don’t think they have what it takes.
And this is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful – mindset.
Successful people think differently than unsuccessful people. And because of the differences in mindset and thinking, people decide and act differently.
Fixed VS growth mindset
Fundamentally, your mindset can be divided into two categories, the growth mindset, and the fixed mindset.
People with a fixed mindset believe that things are fixed and they can’t do much to change the situation or improve themselves.
On the contrary, people with a growth mindset believe that things are not fixed and they can improve themselves to achieve the results they want. They believe that they can achieve their dreams and goals as long as they work on themselves and what they want.
I love the example of the tortoise and the hare given by this article:
Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare?
The hare was so certain that he would win that he sat down and went to sleep during the race.
The tortoise just plodded on and kept going, always thinking that he had a chance of winning. When the hare woke, he started running as fast as he could, but he was just too late: the tortoise had won.
The hare had a fixed mindset. He believed that his innate ability would always mean that he would win whatever he did.
The tortoise had a growth mindset. He believed that he needed to work hard and keep going if he was to win. He was also not afraid of failure or he would never have agreed to race the hare.
Can you see the difference now? People with a fixed mindset tend to believe and think that everything is fixed and there is no way they can change things. This is why even when they are given an opportunity to improve, they will say no because they don’t it is possible.
People with a growth mindset look at things differently. When they are given an opportunity, they say yes because they believe that there is a possibility to achieve something greater.
So, what mindset do you have? Do you have the growth mindset or the fixed mindset?
The right mindset to overcome setbacks and failures
Setbacks, failures, rejections, challenges, and problems are inevitable. As long as you are making progress, you are sure to face some obstacles and roadblocks.
However, depending on how your mindset and how you think, a roadblock may not need to be something there to stop you, unless you make it so.
For people with a success mindset, they treat problems as challenges. They don’t look at setbacks as something permanent, rather, they believe that problems are nothing but some inconveniences that they must learn to overcome.
This is why extraordinary like Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, etc., are able to achieve amazing results despite going through all the odds.
If you possess a fixed mindset, you will never believe that you can make it. You will look at problems as something permanent and there is no way you can overcome it.
Therefore, adopt the success mindset. Aim for growth and always believe that setbacks and problems are there to grow you, not to stop you.
How you think will determine what kind of life you will live
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
Success is really a mind game. I’m sure you know a lot of talented people with great skills, but they aren’t as successful in business or winning the game of life.
On the flip side, there are also people who have no college degree and they don’t seem to have the skills or knowledge, but they manage to make it big and live a life that most can only dream about.
When it comes to achieving extraordinary success in life, talent, skills, and passion are just part of the factors, what is most important is your mindset.
This is because your mindset – how you think – will determine what you do.
So, what are the success mindsets you develop? I have shared them in my previous article, check them out:
Success Mindset: 13 Thinking You Should Adopt to Succeed in Life