Let’s get one thing straight, figuratively speaking, you will get kicked in the balls. I mean that’s what life’s about right. You have hopes and dreams and a bunch of setbacks tries to derail them. Right? What separates successful people from ones that never quite make it is their mindset. This is true whether you’re in sales, leadership or just trying to get ahead in life. The stronger your mindset, the more clarity you have on what you really want to achieve. The stronger your mindset, the more likely you are to get up and keep going when life kicks you in the balls.
Last Week, I was attending a presentation at the Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES) and heard Arnold Sanow (motivational speaker) present. Arnold shared a simple mindhack that allows you to get a stronger mindset. What I call a success mindset. Before I get to his tip I wanted to set the stage.
The Seven Benefits Of A Success Mindset
1. Prospective – when you have a success mindset it gives you a different perspective on any situation. You just look at it from a different point of view than the rest of humanity. This perspective allows you to find solutions that other people usally miss.
2. Action v. Inaction – it’s only human nature to freeze in a challenging situation. We’ve all heard of the fight or flight response, the first step in that process is the freeze response, this gives us the ability to figure out whether to fight like hell or run like hell.
When we look at a situation that’s dire most people focus on the negative consequences. This causes people to freeze. But when you have a success mindset you’re looking for the opportunities hidden within the tragedy. The opportunity becomes a beacon of hope allows you to take the first step forward to make things better.
3. Happiness – when you have a success mindset you are a happier person. Out of all the possibilities that could possibly happen you are focusing on the ones that lead to success. I’m not sure about you but that makes me happy. And happier people look for opportunities to be happier. A self-fulfilling prophecy to be sure.
4. Problem solver – having a success mindset makes you more likely to come up with a solution. And that my friend is the essence of problem-solving looking at the problem and seeing a path to solving it.
5. Resilient – having a success mindset gives you the certainty that there is a solution that will get you out of this predicament. That certainty allows you to get up and keep going in situations where most people would give up. Resiliency is a common trait that the world’s most successful people all share. Never giving up, works.
6. Resource – when you have a success mindset you get a track record of solving seemingly unsolvable problems. For many people, this results in their peers seeing them as a resource that they can use when they get stuck. As you help other people think with a success mindset you spread this philosophy like a virus making your community stronger.
7. Success focused – the stronger your success mindset becomes the better results you deliver. Your success mindset build your confidence so you have a new way of being. This allows you to dream big dreams. This allows you to set higher expectations for yourself. All of this leads to you having the sense of knowing that you are going to do great things. Further strengthening your success mindset.
Arnold Sanow’s Tip
So this is what Arnold shared with us that day. There is always a flip side to every situation. In every negative thing that happens, you can look at the flip side.
For example, we have all heard stories about someone who gets cancer. Rather than focusing on cancer or death, they focus on who they are, “Am I a good person?” They focus on their relationships with the people they care about, their work and their place in the world.
This new focus changes who they are fundamentally. Many times this reset (re-mission) results in a remission of their cancer. I’m not sure about you but I think the two are connected.
The flipside is a tool that you can use to build a stronger success mindset.