The difference between success and failure, happiness and sadness, is a mind-set. Your mind-set is a bunch of deep-rooted beliefs about yourself and about life in general. These set of beliefs are often generated by personal experiences (both good and bad) and other people’s ideas, suggestions or opinions about you – which have now become your conscious or unconscious philosophies of life. It is so called “MIND-SET” because it is a mind, built through one’s interactions with the world, which is now firmly set, just like concrete.
As a result, these persuasions, which have found their roots into your subconscious mind, become the yardsticks with which you measure yourself and life’s situations. They become your inner pair of eyes through which you see yourself and the world around you.
What is even more interesting about your mind-set is the fact it decides your self-image and your self-esteem. Your self-image is the mental picture you have of yourself, while the self-esteem is the value you place on yourself in relation to the society as a whole – how valuable you think you are to others – as well as the quality of the respect you have for YOU.
You will only succeed to the degree to which you see yourself as successful (Self-image). You can never outperform your self-image. If you see yourself “as not good enough for anyone” or not smart enough to become successful,” that is the ceiling you have set over yourself and that is what life will dish out to you – because it is your life’s operating commands. Your outcomes in life will always be consistent with the self-image you have carved on the platform of your imagination. Your self-image is your negotiation with the universe as to how it should reward with you.
Likewise, you can only be valued and respected by people and the marketplace to the degree to which you esteem or value yourself (self-esteem). Since your reward in life is dependent on how valuable you become to others and to the marketplace, it becomes impossible for life to value or respect you beyond the level of your self-esteem.
Your Mind Is Programmable!
But the good news is this; you can reprogram your mind-set for greatness. You can override any limiting beliefs or negative mind-set which has set the limits to which you can attain greatness and success. This is one of the most powerful qualities of human mind – the capability to accept new operating commands impressed upon it through sheer belief and relentless repetition.
As Napoleon Hill rightly said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” You are in charge of your mind. Others may influence your mind negatively without your permission, but no one can change your negative mind-set to positive without your agreement. Positive changes always begin within. It is therefore your responsibility to make up your mind to get rid of any negative belief system you may have nurtured for years. Get to work – impressed upon your mind the very things you desire in your future.
“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality,” said Earl Nightingale. Your mind is your world – and your world is your current life experiences. But if you do not like your world, go ahead and change it by changing your mind-set.
Below are 7 steps to help you cultivate a positive mind-set which is the seed for success:
- Decide to change – until you change for the better, nothing else in your present or future changes.
- Believe that positive changes are possible for you – remember that nobody was born with self-esteem or self-image – they are all learnt here on earth – and any learnt negative mind-set can be unlearnt through belief and repletion.
- Begin within – your mind-set is the operating program that decides your attitude, feelings, mood, energy and of course your altitude.
- Feed your mind – you can override or displace negative any mind-set by feeding your mind constantly with positive messages – listen to motivational audio or videos. Read motivational books. Attend motivational seminars and workshops.
- Hang out with positive people – it is been said that the quality of your friends sets the height of your success in life. If I know who your friends are, I can predict your future. Eagles do not flock. Spend time with people whose goals, future and accomplishments you respect and desire.
- Set goals – write down what you want your new life-philosophies to be and read it with enthusiasm daily until they enter into your subconscious mind. Likewise, write down your life- goals – what you want to be, do and have- let it cover the three major areas of life – relationships, finance and health.
- Create positive daily activities – this is the link to the fulfillment of your goals that you set. It is what you do daily that connects you to the future you have imagined. Write down at least five positive activities for each goal that you will do daily, whether you feel like it or not. This is the key to success. Every great achiever will tell you that it is what they do daily that changed their entire life.
Your future is at the mercies of your decisions – build it to your taste!
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau
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