CREATING A MINDSET FOR SUCCESS

Success Mindset for

Dr Suzanne Henwood

What is it that separates people who seem to do well at everything from people who struggle and don’t seem to make progress?

What can we do to improve our chances of success?

Maybe you have heard of the ‘Mindset for Success’ and I am going to share some of the specific steps within it, that you can adopt, to change your results. By breaking it down into discreet steps, you can choose what to do and you will be able to create a plan that suits you, focusing on what you want to achieve and fitting in with where you are at in life.

1. Know what you want

It may surprise you to hear that many people do not know what they want. When asked in coaching, many people just cite what they do not want. Without knowing what you want and what success looks, sounds, and feels like, it is very difficult to design a plan of how to get there.

So, the first step is knowing what you want.

Feel into your heart and ask it what you truly desire. And then listen. Your heart speaks in a still small voice, in single words or simple sentences, in pictures, metaphors and feelings. You can then explore what success is, and what obtaining that would be like. This gives you a road map to follow.

2. Be aware of what is happening

you can create a plan. This will involve taking action. Though, we know that not all of our actions work effectively, some will need to be tweaked, and others scrapped completely.

To know which actions are working, it is essential that you are monitoring your actions, and the results for any changes that they generate. This requires focused attention on your part. So often, we take action, hope for the best, then let the actions run without monitoring or moderating them along the way. Successful people monitor their actions and their impacts, so that they are acutely aware of whether or not they are moving towards what they want.

3. Be prepared to change what you are doing

This next step follows on very closely from monitoring. If you are aware that you are not getting the results you want, you need to be willing to change what you are doing. This requires a flexible and creative mindset, as well as the confidence to alter your plan of action moment by moment.

4. Take persistent action

I wonder how many times you may have set out with a clear plan, and then lost heart along the way? Successful people are persistent. They are optimistic about achieving their goal and regardless of how many challenges or obstacles come

along, they take a breath, and create an addendum on their plan. They are so determined, so clear in what success is like, nothing will stand in their way.

5. Have the right attitude

We do this by having the right mindset: the right attitude. Whether this is Carol Dweck’s growth mindset, or some other form of thinking about growth, learning, blessings etc, it is essential that you believe you can do what you have set out to do.

When any obstacles occur, and they will, thinking about ‘how else’ and ‘what else’ will help you to find a way forward. Holding the belief that you are in control, is fundamental. It’s just about changing the individual steps. And if you don’t know how to do something, you know you can find out.

This is not about living in some fake bubble and pretending life is not tough sometimes. Far from it. This is about being fully aware of the reality and finding a positive way through. You may even find a way to embrace and enjoy challenges.

Breaking the Mindset for Success down into bite sized chunks, makes it much easier to see how some people seem to achieve more. It is rarely by chance, it is about understanding the strategy and knowing what you need to do – and doing it.

Anyone can learn to adopt a Mindset for Success. And you might like to follow the procedure outlined above to do just that. Starting with knowing what you want and what having a Mindset for Success would mean for you. Then working through the

steps, adapting your actions as required and having fun overcoming any old patterns that might show themselves along the way. It is unlikely that you will experience a smooth, clear path to success, but I absolutely know you can achieve what your heart truly desires by following this simple model ... and then staying with it.

Enjoy playing with this and do feel free to let me know how you get on.

Dr Suzanne Henwood is the Director and Lead Coach and Trainer of mBraining4Success. She is also the CEO of The Healthy Workplace and a Master Trainer and Master Coach of mBIT (Multiple Brain Integration Techniques) and can be contacted via her website.