Successful Mindset eBook

Successful mindset E-book What is the thing we call success? Success mindset-what makes a person successful Millionaire mindset-why some people will always be rich and others remain poor How our upbringing can program us for success or failure Recognizing your negative personality traits (are they holding you back from success?) 6. Recognizing your positive personality traits (how they can help you to be successful 7. Self analysis: Do you have the mindset for success? How to change your mindset 8. The power of positive thinking 9. 5 ways to change your mindset (into successful thinking) 10. 5 tips to having a successful mindset in business 11. Reach for the sky (think big and you will be big) 12. Being determined to succeed 13. 7 tactics to get more confidence in yourself 14. Making goals for success 15. Group therapy (to help you get a successful mindset) 16. Hypnosis therapy (to help you get a successful mindset) Part 3 take action 17. 5 strategies for taking action (do not just have a successful mindset act on it) 18. 6 ways to cultivate a successful mindset in the workplace 19. Think like a millionaire and make money in your business 20. Resources (not just links) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 1 Introduction: What is the thing we call success? When you hear the word, Success, good things come to mind. People who are successful do not have success thrust upon them out of thin air. They work for it. They exert a lot of effort and devote a lot of their time in order to become successful. To some lucky few, success comes easily. However, most people find success quite elusive. Understanding the Meaning of Success But what is success? What does it truly mean? If you ask different people, you’d come up with different definitions, different interpretations. Most of the time, people would define success depending on what they want out of life – if you want to become a millionaire, then success is earning millions. It also depends on whom you are asking. A stock broker may define success in accordance with the number of transactions he is able to close or the amount of cash in his bank account. If you ask a professional golfer, he may define success in accordance to the number of trophies he has won. If you are asked what success means, you may evaluate your own success by what you’ve achieved in your career, how much you get paid, how big your house is, what kind of car you’re driving, what kind of things are you capable of buying, and finally, what you can do. It is important that you find a truly meaningful definition of success. You cannot limit your definition of success to only a specific aspect of your life. You might end up with millions of dollars in your bank account but with a miserable personal life. Your definition of success should encompass not only success in your career but success in almost every aspect of your life. Narrowing Down the Definition of Success It is important that you narrow down your definition of success. This is important so that you would know where to start with the process of achieving success. It would help you determine what you have and what you still lack. It would help you succeed in anything you set out to do. You will be able to set a plan or a course of action that will help you achieve what you intended to do. There will always be arguments and philosophical debates over the definitions of success. What matters is what you think of success and what you believe it is. What ultimately matters is that you set out a goal for yourself and the completion of that goal means success to you. It could be creating a happy family, setting up an extremely successful business or becoming a millionaire by the time you’re 40 – it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you reach your goal; and the minute that you’ve set a goal for yourself, Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 2 you are left with only three things to do – equip yourself with the right attitude and personality of a successful person, know how you will go about achieving your goal and, finally, go after your goal. Then you shall have success! When you hear the word, Success, good things come to mind. People who are successful do not have success thrust upon them out of thin air. They work for it. They exert a lot of effort and devote a lot of their time in order to become successful. To some lucky few, success comes easily. However, most people find success quite elusive. Understanding the Meaning of Success But what is success? What does it truly mean? If you ask different people, you’d come up with different definitions, different interpretations. Most of the time, people would define success depending on what they want out of life – if you want to become a millionaire, then success is earning millions. It also depends on whom you are asking. A stock broker may define success in accordance with the number of transactions he is able to close or the amount of cash in his bank account. If you ask a professional golfer, he may define success in accordance to the number of trophies he has won. If you are asked what success means, you may evaluate your own success by what you’ve achieved in your career, how much you get paid, how big your house is, what kind of car you’re driving, what kind of things are you capable of buying, and finally, what you can do. It is important that you find a truly meaningful definition of success. You cannot limit your definition of success to only a specific aspect of your life. You might end up with millions of dollars in your bank account but with a miserable personal life. Your definition of success should encompass not only success in your career but success in almost every aspect of your life. Narrowing Down the Definition of Success It is important that you narrow down your definition of success. This is important so that you would know where to start with the process of achieving success. It would help you determine what you have and what you still lack. It would help you succeed in anything you set out to do. You will be able to set a plan or a course of action that will help you achieve what you intended to do. There will always be arguments and philosophical debates over the definitions of success. What matters is what you think of success and what you believe it is. What ultimately matters is that you set out a goal for yourself and the completion of that goal means success to you. It could be creating a happy family, setting up an extremely successful business or becoming a millionaire by the time you’re 40 – it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you reach your goal; and the minute that you’ve set a goal for yourself, you are left with only three things to do – equip yourself with the right attitude and personality of a successful person, know how you will go about achieving your goal and, finally, go after your goal. Then you shall have success! Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 3 Part one: What is a successful mindset? Chapter 1: Success mindset-what makes a person successful People are fascinated with success stories. Somehow, these stories give them hope that they could be as powerful or as successful. People are in awe of individuals who overcome odds of poverty, physical inadequacies or life’s adversities to become successful. Most of the time success stories start in simple beginnings. The Wonder of Success Dazzled and fascinated by successful people as you are, you have probably wondered what makes a person successful. Is there a secret to success? Is it something that only a chosen few will have the privilege to know? If only everyone can learn these secrets than perhaps poverty will be wiped out. Sadly, it will always be a fact of life that there will be successful people and there will be unsuccessful ones. There will be many people who will live and die not ever knowing what truly makes a person successful. It might be due to their faults and inadequacies, but there are a lot of factors that play a role in honing and creating a person who is empowered to be successful. Creating a Success with the Proper Mindset What creates a successful person or a winner? Everyone is a winner. All people deal with daily struggles that somehow define who and what they are. But the difference between a winner and another winner may be huge – it could be a million dollars’ worth of difference. When you read or see people who are successful in their fields, do you wonder what goes on in their minds? Do you wonder what drives them? Is it the rush of winning? Is it the prize? Do they merely want to win or are there any other reasons? Regardless of their reasons for wanting to be successful, these people are remarkably focused and determined. They do not falter and admit defeat easily. They grab lessons from life’s adversities and grow from these. They find and create opportunities from setbacks and problems. They are continuously growing and enriching themselves. They do not easily give up. They face challenges and would often look for solutions rather than dwell on the problems. People who are truly successful know how to prioritize. They know which things are important and which are not; and they make decisions accordingly. They set their goals and pursue these goals without wavering, without looking back. They strive to be better each time. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? What Success Means to You Pagina 4 So you see, it is important to know what success means to your life. It is important that you define yourself in terms of your ability to be successful. Do you have the mindset to be successful? You need to set your own measure of your success and create the right mindset to achieve your goals – to be able to tell yourself that you truly are successful. It doesn’t matter that you have already failed so many times. Do not let past failures hold you back from future victories. They should not hinder you from believing that you can still be successful and that you can reach your dreams. Even Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison had to fail a lot of times before they became successful. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 5 Chapter 2: Millionaire mindset-why some people will always be rich and others remain poor When you see a list of the top grossing millionaires or even billionaires in the United States, do the following thoughts run through your head – How did they do it? What makes them special? Is there a secret to becoming rich? Is there a key to becoming a millionaire? Can I become a millionaire? Becoming a Millionaire The simple answer is that you can be – you can become a millionaire, that is. Becoming a millionaire starts with choosing to become one. With that mindset, you start a course of events that would eventually lead to owning assets amounting to millions of dollars. This is the one thing that is shared by all millionaires – that successful mindset. It is this mindset that recognizes that there are things that you have to do to become successful. You do not rely on clover leaves or horseshoes. Becoming a millionaire does not happen overnight. Admittedly, there are those that win the lottery the first time they bought a ticket. However, most millionaires would tell you that it takes time and a lot of hard work before you’d earn your first million. The Millionaire Mindset – Why Some People Get Rich You can get rich. Yes, you can. It might take awhile but it is really possible to own the houses and cars that you only dream of at this moment. You have in you the secret to getting rich. You only need to recognize that you can be successful and, along with this recognition, you need to get over all the negativity that holds you back from being successful. It is very important that you try to develop and maintain a positive mindset. The way you think would determine how you would deal with things as well as the results of whatever you’re doing. There is no great secret to being successful. Success stems from believing in your capabilities – your confidence and self-esteem. Your mindset dictates how you think through a situation and it was found out that people with more confidence tend to reach good decisions and pursue wise courses of actions. The way a person regards a situation is determined by how he thinks. A negative thinker would regard a new and strange circumstance dismally and would tell himself, “I cannot do this.” or “I do not know how to do this.” A positive person would tackle a new situation differently. He would regard it as a challenge – something that he must conquer or overcome. A positive person would look at it as an opportunity to improve himself and to learn new things. He would focus on the solution rather than the problem. He wouldn’t give up easily and would seek for solutions until he finds them. Not surprisingly, he would always come up with a solution Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 6 and resolve problems one way or another. This capability has its roots on positive attitude, perseverance, self-confidence and courage. So, to become a millionaire you must have the right mindset – a positive one that is geared for success. This should be encouraged and maintained along with selfconfidence. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 7 Chapter 3: How our upbringing can program us for success or failure It is believed that your childhood determines the kind of person you would be. A person’s metamorphosis spans his whole lifetime. The ability to believe in oneself is rooted in a person’s childhood. His self-confidence develops as he grows and parents play a crucial role in the development of a person’s full potential. So, what kind of upbringing creates a person with potential for success? What can parents do to promote and encourage their children’s self confidence and creativity? Taking a Look at Facts A study conducted on successful people revealed that there are three factors on these people’s upbringing which primarily contribute to the development of their self-esteem, confidence and positive outlook. These factors include: the amount of time their parents spend with them, the recognition of their own personal independence and individuality, and the encouragement of their talents and abilities. Significant findings that were uncovered in this survey revealed interesting things in a person’s upbringing that ultimately contribute to his success. For example, it was found out that fathers play a huge role on their children’s upbringing. These fathers usually give emphasis on the need preparing for the future. Ironically, the study showed that parents who placed more emphasis on good sense instead of obedience were more likely to produce successful children. These parents did not place much relevance on giving punishments; rather, they placed more emphasis on teaching their children the value of good judgment. Successful people were also more likely to have been given more attention when they were growing up. They were children with parents who talked to them and encouraged them to develop their skills and abilities. How Your Upbringing Contributes to Your Success Remember that success does not happen overnight. Even child prodigies have parents who introduced, encouraged and supported their abilities. You cannot go in a store and buy success. It is something that requires the continuous investment of time and effort. How did your parents raise you? Were they the kind of parents who would ask you about your interests? Were they the kind of parents who encouraged you to enhance your abilities, or were they more the type to pester you into doing something that you had no interest in doing? It is important that parents take the time to talk to their children and take an interest on the things they like doing. By doing this, they would be able to know what their child needs and where he or she needs their support. It doesn’t matter what; it could be a guitar, a set of paintbrush or a science kit. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 8 Another thing to take note of was the role of your father in your life. Was he the kind of father who showed interest on you? Was he a hands-on dad? Did he encourage your individuality and abilities? Again, it is emphasized that fathers play a vital role in their children’s upbringing. A father who gives his children responsibilities and who gave them space to discover their interest and capabilities could expect that they would more likely succeed in their careers and in their lives. These children grow up to be confident in their abilities and will not likely buckle easily when faced with problems and setbacks. So, ask yourself – how did your father play a role in your upbringing? Of course, when all have been said and done, it still depends ultimately on you what you make of your life. The finest upbringing cannot make you a success; it can only endow you with the successful mindset that would make it easier for you to attain success. Likewise, the worst kind of upbringing is no permanent obstacle to attaining success; you can still change how you view yourself and the world so you can become successful. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 9 Chapter 4: Recognizing your negative personality traits (are they holding you back from success?) Your personality and your attitudes can influence your ability to succeed. Just think. Doesn’t your belief in your abilities come before any action you do and over your actual behavior? If you start doing something with a negative mindset, chances are you’ll not succeed in that particular endeavor. Whereas if you start doing something with the full and heartfelt belief that you can do it, you’ll probably do it. How Negative Personality Traits Hold You Back Look at it this way. Imagine that you want to lose some weight. However, after a few minutes of contemplation, you say to yourself, “It’s impossible to lose weight.” So you go through your old routine, eat the same food that you always do and refuse to lift one finger or one foot in exercise. What happened? Your negativity held you back into doing something about your weight! How can you start dieting if, from the outset, you have told yourself that your goal is actually impossible to achieve? How can you strive for something when you don’t believe in yourself that you can actually do it? In the abovementioned example, your negative attitude – your pessimism and your lack of belief in yourself – will indeed make it impossible for you to lose weight. Think about it. Would you really put any effort into dieting and exercising if you don’t think you can achieve your ultimate goal? Of course not! Your logical conclusion would be, “Why spend time and exert effort when they would do me absolutely no good in the end?” You might just ask yourself, “Why climb a tree that isn’t there?” Negative personality traits hold you back from success – from realizing your full potential. Your attitudes will determine how you will view your chances of success and thus will affect how much effort and time you’ll spend to achieve your goal. This is true whatever your goal is – whether you want to lose weight or to become successful in business. Be negative and you’ll get negative results. It’s the way things work. Recognize Negative Personality Traits To become successful, you have to improve your personality. Shed the negative for the positive personality traits. Of course, before you can do that, you must first learn how to recognize your negative traits. You should start by listening to yourself think when you are faced with a problem or when you want to achieve something. For instance, what comes to mind after you say that you want to become a successful businessman? If thoughts like “I can’t possibly do it!” or “But I can’t possibly get the capital or the financial resources required,” or even “I’ll probably just make a mess of it” then it’s quite clear that you have some personality Pagina 10 Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? and attitudinal baggage that you need to shed off. You are obviously negative and pessimistic. It is obvious, too, that you lack confidence. By listening to yourself think, you can easily identify the negative traits that you’re carrying around with you and that are holding you back from one success to another. You really should eavesdrop on yourself more often. You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn about your mindset this way. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 11 Chapter 5: Recognizing your positive personality traits (how they can help you to be successful Are there any secrets to success? Yes there are, but they are not sold in bookstores, in video shops and in the web. The secret lies in you and it’s your choice whether to “activate” your own success mode or just let it go to waste. Get a Move on When you want to go somewhere, you walk, drive or ride. If you will notice, you do something to get somewhere. You don’t wait for a good enough blast of wind to take you where you want to go. You don’t wait for a magic carpet to whisk you off to your destination. Becoming successful pretty much works the same way. To get somewhere in life – to get what you want or to attain whatever it is you want to achieve – you need to do something. You need to get yourself moving. The Positive Personality Traits that Will Get You Moving To get yourself moving up and towards your goal, you need to have drive or motivation and positive personality traits. What are the personality traits that you need to have in order to become successful? First of all, you need to have self-confidence or a high level of self-esteem. When you have confidence in yourself and in your abilities, you will not be fazed by small challenges and you will effectively be indefatigable. When you are confident that you have the capacity to do something, then you’ll see the outcome as a certainty and you can focus yourself and your energies on the means and ways of realizing it. This is a much more productive way of spending your time and energy than wallowing in self-doubts. Another related positive trait that you should definitely cultivate is positive thinking. The half-full, half-empty glass analogy may be a mite too clichéd, but it’s still relevant nonetheless. Indeed, the way you look at things play a crucial role in how things ultimately turn out. If you are a positive thinker, you will see problems and obstacles as mere challenges that you can overcome. Furthermore, you will see these problems as venues for learning something new and for self-improvement. When problems are viewed this way, they cease to become threatening and they are generally reduced in size, impact and importance. Of course, you also have to have enthusiasm or zest – call it passion, if you want. Enthusiasm for your goal and for what you are doing or for what you are trying to achieve is very important if you are to succeed. It takes enthusiasm to move on and continue striving even when things are not doing as great as you want or expect them to be. Determination and single-mindedness are also important for the same reason. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 12 To succeed, moreover, you have to have courage and you have to be realistic, too. Courage is what you need to take risks. However, you need to be realistic so that you’ll know which risks are worth taking and which are merely foolish. Honing Positive Personality Traits Even if you think that you already have these positive personality traits, it’s much better to objectively assess yourself. If you want, you can take personality assessment exams. Some are available online or you can also ask your therapist or your company counselor to administer the test. Moreover, since positive personality traits take time to develop, you’d better start honing them now. You can attend leadership seminars and workshops, for instance. Nevertheless, don’t lose sight of the fact that developing positive personality traits is not a one-off thing but a continuous process. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 13 Chapter 6: Self-analysis: Do you have the mindset for success? Now, you are the proud owner of a newly-opened business. So, what goes on in your mind? Do you believe that you are going to be successful? Do you believe that with absolute conviction? If you do, where is this belief rooted? Are you willing to do whatever it takes so that you would succeed? Or are you one of those people who constantly worry that you would fail? Do you go about telling yourself, “Of course I would fail, I always do.” Success Mindset – Do You Have It? These are the questions that you have to ask yourself. Your answers should be downright honest. These questions determine the difference between having the right success mindset and having the failure mindset. The truth is that things do not come to people easily. You cannot say, “Abracadabra!” and expect a million-dollar company to be standing in front of you with your name on its ownership papers. Success demands that you give it your all – the belief, mindset and hard work. There is a certain way of looking at things and acting on these thoughts that will make a huge difference on your ultimate success. So, do you have the mindset for success? Can you truly and unequivocally say that you are going to be successful? Do you think that you have all the qualities of a successful person? What is the Mindset for Success? If you would list down the qualities of a person with success mindset, you would come up with words like focus, perseverance, opportunity, creativity, drive, open-mindedness and dedication. With these qualities, you should know that you can be successful. It is important that you conduct self-analysis and determine whether you have what it takes to be successful. It is actually easy to know what makes a person successful. However, the challenge is to think like a winner. This is not easy. This requires perseverance even when things are tough. This requires a lot of courage and a lot of self-confidence. Sadly, not all people have that confidence. Most people would buckle when faced with challenges and adversities. The problem with these people is that they have given up even before the challenge even started. Some people have decided that becoming successful is hard work and that is, by nature, impossible. So, are you one of these people? Do you easily give up when the going gets tough? Success is always an open season. Anyone can just go right ahead, grab it and never let go. Ask yourself if you are up to the task, however. Do you believe in your abilities? Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 14 Do you trust yourself enough to take risks and sometimes jump blindfolded? Do you have a crystal image of what you want in life and are you willing to do what it takes to reach your goals? Do you know that setbacks and problems are inevitable, and do you have the courage to overcome these trials? These are all questions that you have to ask yourself to determine if you have the mindset for success. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 15 Part Two: How to change your mindset Chapter 7: The power of positive thinking It has been proven that the person who would most influence your success is your own self. Your attitude determines how you would view and react to challenges or problems. Therefore, it is very important that you have a positive attitude when dealing with things. This is a way to ensure that you control the reigns over every aspect of your life. Knowing Your Thoughts Basically, you would know if you are a positive thinker by taking note of the words that you use when you are asked to describe the things that are going on in your life. What would you use to describe your career or your marriage? The words that you use will show how you tend to think – whether you see the glass half full or half empty, in a manner of speaking. It has been said that the secret to happiness is how you see things. If you look at the glass as half full, you’d always have the gift of hope, faith and happiness. This is very important especially because you’d always be dealing with crisis, challenges and difficulties. By having the ability to look at things positively, you would be able to focus on solutions rather than on problems. This, in turn, will help you face life’s challenges with more ease. Do not regard life’s difficulties as problems, but rather as mere challenges that you can overcome and, in the process, make sure that you do not lose sight of your goals. Gain Power with Positive Thoughts Your chances for success are influenced by how you look at things and how you see life. The way you think – positive or negative – is really powerful. Do you know that there’s scientific evidence that says negative thinkers are much more likely to get physically ill than positive thinkers? If your mental attitude is powerful enough to make you ill, surely it is powerful enough to color your chances of success? When you think positively about the things in your life, you are empowered to act. Negativity usually paralyzes your faculties of thought and action. When you believe that problems cannot derail you and if you believe that success can be yours, then you will gain the power to see your plans through and to realize your goals. You won’t be paralyzed by indecision, doubts and depression. Rather, you will be filled with vitality and you’ll be raring for action. Your positive outlook should also give you social influence. If you are a person who remains unfazed even in the face of adversities, you’re a person people would want to be with and talk to. You’re a person other people are likely to follow. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 16 Do You Have Positive Power? So, how do you respond to life’s adversities? Do you regard yourself as a positive person or not? How do you respond to things when they are not going well? Do you recognize that it is inevitable that you’d encounter problems along the way or do you allow these problems to get the best of you? Talk to yourself sometimes. Look at yourself in the mirror and talk yourself into being optimistic. Try to boost your own self confidence and strengthen your self esteem. Learn how to be constructive and positive when dealing with things. You would eventually notice that things seem to work out the way you want them to. You gain control of your emotions and actions and these actions would lead to positive results. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 17 Chapter 8: 5 ways to change your mindset (into successful thinking) The minute that you think of starting something like a business, do you tell yourself that you’re definitely going to succeed or do you constantly worry about the thought that you’re going to fail somehow? If your thoughts are more of the latter kind, then you definitely need a change of mindset. Sadly, you share the same attitude with a lot of people – people who don’t expect to succeed. Not surprisingly, they really don’t. The reason for this is quite simple; they’re gearing themselves up for a battle that’s lost even before it’s even started. In effect, they exert less effort, less work, and less passion to their work. Believing You Can Succeed It is important, therefore, that you believe that you are capable of succeeding. By believing this, you will find yourself driven by the belief that you will succeed and that you would get what you hope to achieve. Most of the time, the level of your confidence determines your productivity. Your self-confidence reveals your belief in yourself and your capabilities so that when things go wrong, you would not easily surrender to defeat. When you believe in yourself, you would always give yourself a chance to make things right because you believe that you can do make a difference and that you will win. The way that you would react to a situation is largely dependent on how strong is your faith in yourself and your capabilities. Recognizing Self-defeating Thoughts So, how do you recognize that you have a fairly negative outlook? Are you one of those people who have gotten used to being the way they are that they don’t recognize how damaging their defeatist attitudes are. Negativity and pessimism are like migraines. They are difficult to ignore because they constantly nag at you. Sometimes, these thoughts could overwhelm you. They are so easy to recognize because they unconsciously manifest in your actions and words. Ways to Change Your Mindset How then are you going to ensure that you have the right mindset for success? How are you going to change your attitude when you have been so used to being negative and pessimistic all your life? Here are five ways which can help you change your mindset: 1. Learn to condition your thoughts toward a vision and a focus. Never lose sight of this vision and do not be discouraged by problems. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 18 2. Learn to see problems as mere temporary setbacks and direct your thoughts to solving these problems rather than dwelling on them. 3. Learn to take risks and enjoy them. It is important that you learn the value of blind faith. However, do not be careless when taking risks. Make sure that you have carefully studied your options before you jump into anything. And if you do make a mistake, it is important that you learn to recognize it and that you learn from it/ 4. Do not blame people for your mistakes. Doing so would be a waste of time. It is better to focus your energy on correcting those mistakes. 5. Recognize your blessings. People who are successful know how to count their blessings. This attitude helps them get through tough times. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 19 Chapter 9: 5 tips to having a successful mindset in business If there’s one thing that would ensure your business’ failure, that would be having a negative attitude about your business. A mindset that is geared towards failure will ultimately result into business closure, loss or bankruptcy. It is how you mentally prepare and encourage yourself for success that determines how well you’d do in the end. If you are working hard but you keep thinking that you will fail, it will not be surprising if you indeed fail. By not believing in your success, you inevitably lead yourself to failure. Setting a Positive Business Mindset One of the first things that you have to do if you decide to start and run a business is to believe in your success. It should be something so real that you could almost taste it. Your attitude in how you go about running your business is crucial to the ultimate outcome. By not believing in your success or by constantly telling yourself you’d fail, you inadvertently program yourself to do things that would ultimately lead to your downfall. Indeed, it is not quite easy to allow yourself to believe that you will succeed or dream that you’d become a millionaire! People will always have something to say; and sometimes you’d be plagued with apprehensions that you will fail. So, it is up to you to strengthen your belief that you will succeed. Tips to a Successful Business Mindset Although, it is great to have the right mindset when running your business, you should not expect success overnight. Admittedly, there are a few numbers of businesses that become successful overnight. Still for most businesses, it takes a lot of hard work and a considerable length of time before you can truly say that your business is quite successful. However, there are some things that you can do to ensure your success. These things are geared towards a positive business mindset: a. Avoid being with people who are pessimistic – people who would bring you down with their constant negative thoughts and actions. There would be a lot of people who would be jealous of you. It is important that you stay focused and do not lose sight of your goal. b. Visualize your success in order to be more confident in your actions and decisions. c. Always remind yourself of the reason why you put up a business. There can be a lot of reasons – wanting to be out of the rat race, disliking your previous work or your boss, or desiring to fulfill a dream. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 20 d. Be willing to make sacrifices. It is important that you remind yourself that in order to achieve success, there are things that you have to sacrifice. There will be times when you have to sacrifice a little bit of more of your times or you’ll work harder than usual. By knowing this, you will not get bitter as you try to reach your goals. e. Be guided by a business roadmap. If you have a business plan, it will be easier for you to have a positive business outlook. You’d know when you are on track or where your operation needs reinforcement. In this way, you will not get easily discouraged or disappointed. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 21 Chapter 10: Reach for the sky (think big and you will be big) Never make the mistake of underestimating the influence of your mindset on your life. That is to say, what you will to happen can influence what will be. For example, if you think you can do something, you're much more likely to do so. If you think you can't do something, then you probably won't be able to do so. Specific studies have, throughout the years, shown that a person's psychological state has a relationship with his or her probability of getting sick. Such empirical evidence in the fields of psychology and health care just goes to show that mindset does have an impact on one's life. If you think about deeply enough, the reason for this relationship should become clear – even natural and logical. Mind Pictures Ever heard of mind pictures? It is the result of the visualization exercise which is so much a part of positive thinking. You see, if you want to achieve something, then you should first draw a picture of it in your mind. Seeing what you mean to accomplish in your mind will actually help you achieve it. Think big and you will be big! Boost Motivation When you can actually see in detail what you want to achieve, you are reinforcing your own motivation and desire for this outcome. For example, if you want to be truly wealthy, then you should visualize yourself dining in fine restaurants, driving a Jag and living in a penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park. By doing this exercise – by Thinking Big – you will feel your desire or hunger for these things much more keenly – and this is what you need if you want to Be Big. This intense desire is what will endow you with the strength and endurance to work seemingly impossible long hours. It will give you the patience to work slowly but steadily towards your goal. It will also give you the fortitude to overcome the obstacles that might litter your path towards your success. Finally, it shall also endow you with the guts to take great risks when such risks are required. Make Plans By thinking about how exactly you shall be big one day, you’ll be much more capable of laying out a logical and systematic plan to achieve it. If your goal is to become successful, for instance, you won’t be doing much good if you don’t define what you mean by success. Success without context is merely a dream – not a goal that one works toward. On the contrary, if you take the time to think about what success means to you, you will know exactly what it is that you wish to achieve. Is it reaching a certain net worth or is it Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 22 something else entirely – say, international fame for your company? Although these two are not incompatible, they are not the same either. Both indicate success, but success of a different kind. By visualizing what you want in your mind – by thinking big and clarifying what “big” is for you – you can therefore make appropriate plans. From then on, everything that you will do will have meaning and purpose. Moreover, you shall not waste effort on matters that are not crucial to your goal. Filled with such purpose and doing only things that will contribute to your end goal, you just can’t fail. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 23 Chapter 11: Being determined to succeed All of us probably want to succeed. What eludes most of us, however, is the right way of achieving it. As such, you will see people longing for a get-successful-quick scheme. They probably realize that success means working hard. However, they just don’t believe themselves capable of sustaining the amount of effort required – so they simply go back to wishing and hoping that Lady Luck will give a nod in their direction. The Importance of Determination to Success If you let your self doubts get the better of you, then you are probably not as determined to succeed as you think you are. If that’s the case, then you just cannot succeed. Do you think that successful people like Bill Gates have never ever had cause to question their own abilities? Do you think they are less than human and have never had a moment of self doubt in their lives? You’d be mistaken if you think that. What they did have, however, is unflagging determination to succeed. They wanted something and they were fully determined to get it. It was their determination to succeed that mainly brought them success; although they have had their share of luck, it was their unfaltering commitment to their goal that played a large part in their success. Determination is that which will make you capable of achieving the seemingly impossible. It will give you single-mindedness of purpose – a positive outlook which is crucial to achieving success. If you doubt the wisdom of this, read about Charles Schwab’s life and you will doubt no more. As you probably know, Charles Schwab is one of the wealthiest and most successful businessmen in the United States. What you probably don’t know, however, is that Charles Schwab had to deal with dyslexia when he was young. Imagine the difficulties of going to school when you have dyslexia, how you shall be ridiculed and probably branded as an idiot. Charles Schwab, however, apparently overcame these considerable difficulties for he managed to graduate from Stanford University, is CEO of his own corporation, and has a net worth of more than five billion dollars. To have achieved all these, Charles Schwab had to have battled great odds. While his contemporaries in school were absorbing concepts and lessons as fast as they were being taught, Schwab also had to exert extra effort into reading the textbooks and understanding his letters. Such difficulties would have surely crushed and defeated a less determined man, but Schwab persevered because he was obviously determined to overcome his learning difficulties and succeed. Are You Determined to Succeed? Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 24 At this point, you should now be asking yourself if you have the same commitment to succeeding. If you are easily discouraged and are prone to giving up when the going gets tough, then you should seriously question your determination to succeed. Perhaps, too, you should ask yourself if the goal that you have set for yourself is truly what you want. As a means of increasing your determination, you should list down your life’s goals. If you want success, what shape do you want this success to take? List down all of the things that you want to accomplish and achieve. Think about them in great detail. By doing this simple exercise, you can constantly reinforce your commitment and keep your determination to succeed alive. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 25 Chapter 12: 7 tactics to get more confidence in yourself Confidence in yourself, in what you are capable of doing and achieving is crucial to success. How can you even take the first step towards your goal if you believe in your heart that you just can’t do it? If you are living your life this way, you should not be surprised if your life is a series of one disappointment after another. If you lack confidence in yourself, you will fail. Thus is the power of your mind. You can choose to use this power negatively and thus devote your life to a half-life full of failure – or you can use this power positively and live the successful life that you have always wanted and wished for. The following are 7 tactics that should be able to help you improve your confidence in yourself. 1. Know what you want Knowing what you want is crucial in gaining confidence. If you know what you truly want to achieve, you will become more determined and will thus be able to face all kinds of discouragements and obstacles. You’ll know that you have to believe you can do it; otherwise, you might as well let your goals go. 2. Reinvent yourself If who you are right now is causing you to doubt yourself and your abilities, then reinvent yourself and become a better and greater version of yourself. Become the person who is capable of achieving your goals. For instance, if you want to become CEO of your own company someday but are a bit doubtful about achieving it since you know you don’t have the requisite skills that such a high position requires, why not end the doubting and begin the learning? Enroll in a business school. Get an advanced degree in your field. Improve yourself! 3. Visualize your confident and successful self This is a practice in positive self reinforcement. Since you can see with your mind’s eye exactly what you intend to become, you can outline the steps required to achieving it. Once you are dealing in practicalities, you will feel less overwhelmed and more determined. Since you know how to go about achieving your goals, moreover, you will become more confident that you can and will indeed do it. 4. Let go of your extra baggage You don’t need people who will only bring you down and keep you in a negative frame of mind. If you have friends who are tying keep you down by telling you that you should not even try as you will only fail, let such friends go like you would so much extra baggage. These friends are not going to help you gain self confidence. 5. Begin with small challenges and celebrate these small victories Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 26 Challenge yourself with small tasks and problems. For instance, if your goal is to finish with top honors in college, then you can work at a high score in your upcoming exam. If you are able to achieve this small goal, you will add to your confidence. This should also motivate you for the next challenge that you will set. 6. Find a support system Find people whom you can confide to, who can help you maintain your confidence in yourself, and who can help restore this confidence when it’s rough going. 7. Stop beating a dead horse If you fail in one endeavor, that doesn’t mean that you will fail in the next ones. You should let past failures go and move on. The better you deal with disappointments, the less impact such disappointments will have on your confidence. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 27 Chapter 13: Making goals for success You need goals if your want to become successful. Why? It’s a simple reason, really; without goals, how do you know if you have attained success? Would you even know what constitutes success? Goals and Success It is easy enough to say that being successful means having a multi-million dollar home, earning a 6-figure income, having a fat bank account, having a vacation home in the sunny Caribbean, having your choice of cars, and enjoying all the other obvious trappings of wealth. This is the problem, however. Is wealth synonymous to success? For most people, this is probably the case. The question is: is it equally true in your case? Success can take many forms and guises. There are people to whom success means financial independence or the freedom from worrying about it. Although wealthy people will perhaps rank high in this type of success, people who know how to earn money and are confident of getting some when they need them will also qualify. People who live simply and do not need the things that money can buy, moreover, can also be deemed successful in that case. On the other hand, there are people to whom success is having a healthy, loving family or honor in their profession. There are journalists whose notion of success is getting the Pulitzer or some such awards. The above discussion illustrates three things: wealth is not a prerequisite to success, people from different stations and with different abilities can be equally successful depending on their criteria of success, and success means different things to different people. All these things considered, you really should have your own goals if you want to succeed. Exactly what kind of success do you want to attain – at what field of endeavor do you wish to succeed? Your goals for success will be the tangible manifestations – the benchmarks, if you will – of the kind of success that you want and will work to achieve. They will also guide you on your journey to success. By comparing what you are doing to what you want to achieve (your goals), you can easily ascertain whether your present activities are taking you nearer to success or are taking you farther away from your goals. Types of Goals The above illustrates that goal setting is very relevant to success. At this point, you should remember that goals vary by magnitude. Specifically, there are long-term, medium-term and short-term goals. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 28 The long-term goals are your overarching goals. In fact, you can set a mother of all goals – your ultimate ambition, if you will. This will be more in the league of a vision – for instance, you can specify that you intend to become the owner of a successful accountancy firm 25 years from now. Other long term goals that will naturally accompany this is your intended reach, your planned company’s size, etc. The medium-term goals are things that you intend to achieve in 5, 10 or 15 years’ time. These, naturally, should lead to your long-term goal/s. The short-term goals, on the other hand, should be the specific steps that you will need to accomplish your medium-term goals and, indirectly, your long-term goals. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 29 Chapter 14: Group therapy (to help you get a successful mindset) Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 30 Chapter 15: Hypnosis therapy (to help you get a successful mindset) Hypnosis therapy or hypnotherapy for short can actually help you get or develop a successful mindset. In fact, it is a favorite method of successful people in different fields of endeavors. Athletes and sports men have found it useful in boosting their performance. There are smokers who have long been trying to quit their habit who were successfully able to quit through hypnosis therapy. Alcoholics and drug addicts have also been known to get better and succeed in overcoming their addictions through hypnosis therapy. How Hypnotherapy Helps Develop a Successful Mindset Hypnotherapy is able to accomplish changes in behavior by changing the subject’s (the hypnotherapy patient’s) ingrained notions or perceptions and attitudes. Through hypnosis therapy, a person’s self-confidence can be boosted. His or her mind is “reprogrammed” so that the he or she will start thinking more positively about things and start having a more optimistic outlook. The person’s image of him- or herself can be changed through hypnosis therapy so that the person can think of him- or herself in a more positive light. Hypnosis therapy can also reduce a person’s level of stress and anxiety. Through hypnosis therapy, it is believed that a person can relax and clear his mind of all but the essential things that need addressing. A person can also forget all his physical discomforts and pain while he or she is undergoing this treatment. Considering all these things, hypnosis therapy does indeed appear to be one effective way of transforming one’s mindset from a state of pessimism to one of optimism, from apathy to enthusiasm and from everything negative to everything positive. Since the person’s powers of concentration can also be very subtly focused through hypnotherapy (pain, discomfort and irrelevant worries can be set aside), then it can be a great way of exploring options, planning and thinking about matters that can help one succeed in life or it can help resolve a persistent problem that’s preventing a successful outcome. The result is a mind that is much more capable of willing and achieving success. What Hypnosis Therapy Involves The hypnotherapy professional will first try to discover what you want to achieve. Thus, there may be initial consultation sessions prior to the actual hypnosis induction. You should be very frank with your hypnotherapist when it comes to your fears, your insecurities and what you truly want to change. You should emphasize that you basically want to get a more successful mindset. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 31 To get the best out of the therapy, be sure to go only to a reputable and professional hypnosis therapy clinic. Moreover, you should suspend all of your doubts and mistrust of hypnosis therapy as a healing technique. To receive the messages that your hypnotherapist will transmit to you while you are in a trance, your mind needs to be open and in an accepting/trusting frame of mind. When you are ready, you’ll be made to go into a trance-like state. In this state, the subconscious is activated and conscious thought is relegated into the background. The subconscious is where you’ll find deeply rooted convictions; once these are exposed, they can be assessed and modified and new suggestions can be made. There are probably going to be more than just one hypnotherapy session required; the more sessions there are, the higher the chance that the suggestions made will take root and shall be manifested through great changes in the mindset. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 32 Part Three: Take action Chapter 16: 5 strategies for taking action (do not just have a successful mindset act on it) Getting a successful mindset is attitudinal change. This type of change is greatly instrumental in getting things done. However, there is one other component of success that you should not fail to neglect. The right attitudes, convictions and beliefs – the successful mindset, in other words – do still need to be acted upon if they are to actually lead you to success. Even if you have the mot positive mindset, the most upbeat personality, the greatest possible confidence in your abilities, if you don’t act, everything will be for naught. The following are 5 strategies that you can employ to fully realize the enormous potential of a successful mindset. 1) Evaluate your behavior and determine what you need to change To start acting on your successful mindset, you need to evaluate your behavior and see if it is consistent with your newly changed and much improved attitudes. For instance, if you want to have a successful business by the end of the year, you must check your daily activities to see which can take you to success and which are not helping you in anyway. You should especially be on the look out for behavior or actions that can be detrimental to your success. Once you have completed your list, classify all your behavioral patterns and see which ones need changing and which ones need perpetuating. 2) Start small Rank the things that you need to change in order of difficulty. For instance, if the easiest thing to change is your tendency to lose three hours everyday in front of your flat screen TV to watch movies, start there. Cut back to two hours by the end of one week. Then shave off another hour by the end of next week. Then try cutting back the number of days until you spend only around an hour every week watching TV. By starting on easier to resolve behavioral problems, you have a much higher chance of success. This will reinforce the power of your mind over your behavior and make it much more capable of taking on more difficult challenges later on. 3) Plan and start a to-do list To act on your convictions and commitment, you need a plan of action. This will take the form of a to-do list where you will list down all the things that you should be doing to become successful. For instance, if you want to become a successful tennis player, you should plot a daily to-do list that includes at least two hours of tennis training (more if you want to be in the professional class). Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 33 Your to-do list will be your blueprint of action and thus your actual plan to achieve success. 4) Develop good habits The to-do list is a conscious effort to implementing your plan of action to success. You should take it to the next level by making fruitful and productive actions habitual. That is, they should be so deeply ingrained that the performance of these actions no longer needs conscious thought and decision on your part. Your good habits will keep you on the right track or on the “straight and narrow path” so to speak. 5) Continually assess and adjust Finally, you must constantly reassess your progress. After instituting the changes to your daily routine and behavior, have you come much closer to your goal? If not, then a reevaluation is required and an adjustment to your plan may be necessary Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 34 Chapter 17: 6 ways to cultivate a successful mindset in the workplace If you want to increase your employees’ (and thus your company’s) productivity, then you have to make them want to do so. Furthermore, you have to help them succeed in their individual endeavors. This means that you need to cultivate a working environment where the successful mindset is not only developed but also encouraged. The following are some of the steps that you can institute to foster a successful mindset in your employees and in the workplace as a whole. Consultation The way you interact with your employees should foster the right and successful mindset. Thus, instead of being the autocratic, know-it-all boss or manager, why not become the all-ears type? You’d find that a consultation-type of interaction is generally more effective if you are trying to develop a successful mindset in your employees. A consultation-type of interaction is by nature an open type of communication. When you keep communication lines open and when your employees are assured of an audience when they have any grievances to air or suggestions to make, they will become more confident and secure employees. Freedom on the How As the boss or owner of the company, it is your responsibility to set the company’s goals and success parameters. However, you can encourage your employees to participate and develop a successful mindset by letting them decide on how they would accomplish the company targets. By giving your employees the freedom to decide on the methods that they will employ to achieve the company’s goals, you are encouraging them to become independent thinkers and to make their own decisions. Independent thought is definitely a trait that promotes a successful mindset. Trust and Responsibility You must also show your employees that you trust them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. To do this, you must give them as much responsibility as they can and are willing to take. The more responsibilities you heap on your employees, the more they will rise to the challenge. Of course, you should not neglect to train your employees before giving them new responsibilities. Rewards Rewards are definite motivators – and, as you know, motivated employees mean a more successful mindset in the workplace. Thus, you should reward your employees regularly for their exemplary work. By acknowledging your employees’ contribution to the company’ success, you will make your employees feel that their efforts to succeed and Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 35 excel are not only noticed but also appreciated. This will make good employees want to give you more of the same excellent performance, and the other employees to follow suit. Gossip and Office Politics You should also carefully monitor the workplace for disruptive office gossips and politicking. When you notice tension among your employees, you should immediately get to the bottom of the problem before it can worsen and involve more people. If you don’t, your employees may lose their concentration and become caught in the traps of petty and trivial quarrels. Remove worries If you want your employees to be able to focus on their work and thus give you excellent output, then you should help reduce their worries. Assuring them about their benefits and compensation and throwing in some extra perks (say, daycare benefits for working mothers), they can devote their whole attention to work when they’re in the office. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 36 Chapter 18: Think like a millionaire and make money in your business Think of having money and it will be done. No, this is not some shallow, psycho BS. This actually happens. Of course, there’s a great difference between thinking and doing – and this is something that a person who wishes to make money must bridge to succeed. The fact remains, however, that the first step to becoming a millionaire is to start thinking like one. At this point, you may very well be thinking: “and exactly how does a millionaire think?” Read on to find out how you can think like a millionaire then start making money in your business. They Think in the Long-Term Millionaires are successful because they think about the long-term benefits of present actions. They realize that to start earning millions in the future they need to invest their money and time wisely now. Successful people know that the only feasible way to earn money is to let money itself do the earning. If you are planning on earning your millions through hard, direct labor, then you’re probably going to be dead before you reach your quarter mark. However, if you are going to work hard now, save up the income you get from your hard work then invest this money into income-generating assets, then you can make your money successfully work for you so that in the future, you will earn millions from residual income alone. If you want to become a millionaire, therefore, you must carefully incorporate your longterm goals into the way you run your business. Given a choice between spending your business’ profits in a Bora-Bora vacation and new office equipment that will triple productivity, it should be very clear where your money should go. The trip to Bora-Bora can definitely wait. They Make Money Making a Deeply Ingrained Habit Now here’s something that you should learn if you are going to make money off your business. To think like a millionaire is to automatically be on the look out for new money-making opportunities. That is, millionaires did not make their money by resting on their laurels the moment they made their first million. You should apply the same thing to your own life. If you want to make money in your business, then you should constantly improve it so that it can make you more and more money as time goes by. Once you have maximized the potential of your business, you expand it or invest in another business opportunity. You simply don’t stop improving, enhancing and maximizing. Making money in your business should become a habit. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 37 Impossible Is Not Part of Their Vocabulary If you want to think like a millionaire, then start revising the way that you think about yourself and about things in general. You should stop focusing on your weaknesses but start using your strengths. You should stop viewing obstacles as insurmountable barriers but merely difficult challenges. This is the way millionaires think and this is the way you should think if you want to make your business a success. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 38 Chapter 19: Resources The internet has become a cornucopia of motivational and self-help resources. Thus, you should not lack for reading materials on successful mindset. If you want to transform your present mindset into a successful mindset, you should make use of these internet resources and some others that are not available online. Basic Definitions To begin with, you may need help defining or understanding the term “successful mindset.” Basically, it refers to a general mindset or frame of mind (encompassing attitudes, perceptions, emotions etc.) that can lead to a successful outcome. This is being used interchangeably with positive thinking although positive thinking is basically just a part of what makes a successful mindset. To find a definition for “mindset,” any comprehensive dictionary online should suffice. Try Thesaurus.com (http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/mindset). If, on the other hand, you want to do some reading on positive thinking, then you may want to grab a copy of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s book, The Power of Positive Thinking which is available online (through Amazon.com) and is most probably available in your local bookstore. Dr. Peale was a preacher and a prolific author of self-help books. If you’re not ready for a whole book on the topic and just require a short introduction and a brief discussion, then you should try the positive thinking article from the Mayo Clinic. This article can be found at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/positivethinking/SR00009. It is very simply and well written so you should find it very easy reading. It will help you understand what positive thinking is and how it can be utilized in everyday life, and what its known benefits are. Theoretical Basis The belief that the mindset has immense influence over success is actually something that has long found application. Try attending leadership or organizational seminars and you’re likely to hear the buzzwords of “successful mindset” and “positive thinking” at least once. Fact is, positive thinking is widely accepted as an essential ingredient for change. Read up on the theories of individual change at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management#Individual_Change_Management). In line with this, you may also want to read about the Gleicher's Formula which was mentioned in that Wikipedia entry. A discussion of the said formula can also be found in Wikipedia at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_for_Change. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Hypnosis Therapy Pagina 39 If Kurt Lewin’s three-stage change process for the individual is to be used, hypnosis therapy definitely falls under the “unfreezing stage” where the old, unproductive mindset is slowly replaced by a new, successful mindset. Through hypnosis therapy, after all, the subconscious mind where the mental attitudes are supposed to be stored is figuratively “rewired” so that it will become more conducive to success. If you want to learn about hypnosis therapy, basic information can be found at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnotherapy). Alternatively, you can also contact the Academy of Scientific Hypnotherapy at telephone number 619-427-6225 or write them at the address that you will find at this stub in the National Health Information Center Website (http://www.health.gov/nhic/Scripts/Entry.cfm?HRCode=HR0670). Unfortunately, this professional organization does not have a website. You should definitely contact this organization if you want to ascertain the credentials of the therapist who will perform hypnosis therapy on you. Great American Photo Contest – Do you think your baby is the cutest? Pagina 40