This post is about a mind set for success.
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To create a mind set for success, first define your “success.” Success means different things to different people; someone else should not define your idea of success. If you cannot confidently define success, try to create your definition by brainstorming personal and professional goals. Why are these goals important to you? Will you consider yourself successful if you meet these goals? Continue this exercise until you clearly understand how you define your success. Then, explore how to create a mind set for success in 9 steps.
CREATE A MIND SET FOR SUCCESS
STEP 1: Embrace optimism, and positivity
To create your mind set for success, choose optimism and positivity. Approach each day with a positive attitude and excitement for what is to come, and you will open yourself up to success daily. The goal is not to avoid negative feelings or to never feel pessimistic but to choose positivity when given the choice. When you are feeling pessimistic, take back control of your mindset. An effective way to practice taking back control is to allow yourself space by sitting alone or listening to quiet, peaceful music for a few minutes. While your problems will not disappear after 3 minutes, you have given yourself the space to calm the chaos of your mind and gain control. Now, you can choose optimism, positivity, and a mind set for success.
STEP 2: Surround yourself with trustworthy and supportive people
Another way to create a mind set for success is to surround yourself with people you trust and who support you. When you engage with people who are authentic and optimistic and those who support your decisions, you feel confident and are willing to take on each day and its challenges with conviction. Supportive people help you persist when you want to give up and praise you when you reach your success. Think about the people you have in your life – who do you trust and feel supported by? Who will encourage you in your pursuit of creating a mind set for success?
STEP 3: Start each morning (or end your night) with an intentional plan
When you start each day with an intentional plan (or end your night with a plan), you will find everything goes more smoothly. Throughout the day, you will feel less frazzled and can complete tasks quicker and make decisions easier. You will see yourself as a confident and in-control person, and you will be set up to meet daily successes. If you consider yourself a “morning person,” then aim to get up just 15 minutes earlier and intentionally plan for the day ahead. If you are more productive at night, plan to spend 15 minutes before bed planning out the following day. Even just 3 minutes each morning (or evening) planning your day will give you an advantage and allow you the bandwidth to focus and create a mind set for success.
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STEP 4: Set SMART goals – personally and professionally
In your efforts to change your mindset for success, you must define what you consider personal “success.” You can begin to define your success by identifying personal and professional goals and then documenting those goals using the SMART goals framework created by George T. Duran in 1981. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. You may recognize this framework as organizations often use it to set goals and track progress. SMART goals are just as effective for personal goals as for professional ones if you make an effort to record, revise, and review them regularly. SMART goals provide a blueprint and guide you toward accomplishing them.
STEP 5: Visualize your goals and achieve them
To create your mindset for success, start by visualizing yourself as successful. What must you do to meet your goals? If you want to learn to play piano, start to visualize yourself playing the piano. What do you need to begin? How much time do you need to practice? As you visualize yourself meeting a goal, you begin to think through all the steps it will take to achieve it. Write these down and review them often. Continue this process as you work toward your goal. Visualizing a goal and your actions to achieve it is important to success.
STEP 6: Seek out and accept new challenges
As you continue to create a mind set for success, seek out and accept personal challenges. Taking on challenges may lead to finding new passions and will open your mind to innovative ideas. It will provide you with the motivation and drive needed to “dig deeper” when faced with any obstacles. It will feed your desire to learn and grow and lead you to successes you may not have thought possible.
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STEP 7: Express gratitude for “little things” every day
Expressing gratitude daily is a fantastic way to create a mind set for success. Gratitude should be genuine, given freely, and not feel inauthentic or forced. Think about the things you do throughout the day and acknowledge any person, place, or thing that makes your life easier or makes you happy. Do you feel grateful for that unexpected sunny day after rain and clouds were predicted? Whenever you express gratitude for the “little things,” you contribute to your mindset and success. A gratitude journal such as The Five Minute Journal is a tool that can guide you on your journey to expressing gratitude every day. Similarly, a gratitude app can prompt you to spend even a few short minutes a day acknowledging everything you are grateful for.
STEP 8: Accept that failure will happen
Truthfully, this step is hard to swallow – especially for those aiming to succeed. No one likes to make mistakes, and certainly, no one wants to fail, but everyone does at some point in their lives. All successful people have failed on their journey to achievement. If you want to create a mind set for success, you must push mistakes aside and use them as an opportunity to gain experience and grow. Approach every failure as a minor setback to building an even better path. Reaching your goals and successes will be even sweeter with this mindset.
STEP 9: Schedule time for self-reflection (and be willing to pivot)
Self-reflection is an essential and often forgotten action to create a mind set for success. Self-reflection is witnessing and evaluating one's own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes. Successful people understand the importance of self-reflection and use that information to change and pivot continuously. Practicing self-reflection daily is a wonderful way to constantly evaluate yourself and your goals and mindfully continue on your path to reaching your goals. It also allows you to wind down for the day and take meaningful steps toward continuous improvement and success.
(RELATED POST: 7 Key Self Discovery Pursuits to Explore this Summer)
Now that you have defined your success and understand how to create a mind set for success in 9 steps, you can use this information for your personal and professional journey. Continue to adopt these steps as you approach goals in the future. Your success is a mindset, and it is an extremely powerful tool. When you create the right mindset, you will find that your success is within reach.
MINDSET | ACTION:
Use the SMART Goals Template to draft individual goals. What do you want to achieve in your personal and professional life? What steps will you take to create a mind set for success?
This post was about a mind set for success.
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