Get your mindset right for success

Do you ever wonder what separates champions from normal people? Business leaders from those who didn’t quite make it? Want to learn the fool proof way of achieving success in your life, regardless of luck or circumstances?

I first learned about this really simple technique from Josh Waitzkin’s ’The Art of Learning’. Josh Waitzkin was a child chess prodigy. In the chess world he was hailed as the next Bobby Fischer (a child chess superstar in the 1970s America) and had a movie made about him called Searching for Bobby Fischer. He went on to become world champion at the full contact form of Tai Chi.

With this mindset trick, even if the smallest of pawns can become the king (or queen)

Josh credits his success in two vastly different disciplines to his ability to learn new skills. He called this, the Learning Mindset.

During many chess tournaments, Josh saw two types of kids. One set of kids would be congratulated on how well they did in the tournament and how good they were at chess. The other set of kids were congratulated on how hard they worked for that tournament and for the use of new techniques they had been learning.

The first set of kids always went on to drop out of competitive chess, sooner or later. The second set of kids went on to thrive, not just at chess but at all aspects of life.

Why?

Well, the first set of kids were being told they were good when they won. If they lost, they’d believe they were bad kids. Thinking you’re not a good child is not a nice experience. So they’d avoid new challenges and chances of losing. As a result they never left their comfort zones and so never grew to become better.

The second set of kids were praised for their hard work. It didn’t matter if they won or lost – they were doing well if they were working hard at their craft. As a result they were constantly learning. They stepped out of their comfort zones because they wanted to learn. They had the Learning Mindset.

Fixed vs. Growth

Dr. Carol Dweck is a professor of psychology at Stanford University, USA. Her work on mindset has made her world famous. In her book, The Growth Mindset, Dr. Dweck looks at how life can be approached from one of two mindsets – fixed or growth.

The fixed mindsetter believes that everything about themselves is fixed. They believe their talents and abilities are fixed entities. A fixed mindset would be, ‘I am good at Maths but not good at History’. They believe that even if they try hard at History, they’ll always be bad at History.

A growth mindsetter believes that traits and talents can be developed through hard work and dedication.

Obviously if you believe you’re not good at History, and you cannot improve that ability, you’re unlikely to work hard at it, right? If you believe that History is just a skill that you haven’t mastered yet, you’ll be more likely to put a lot of effort in to getting better.

As soon as you shift your mindset to the growth mindset, you can do anything. ‘I am poor’ becomes, ‘I am poor right now, but I’m going to work hard to make money’. ‘I am stupid’ becomes ‘I haven’t learned enough on this subject yet, but I’m going to study until I know more’.

Success

You cannot fail at anything if you build a Growth, Learning mindset. Listen to your own language – how often do you tell yourself you can’t do something. How often do you believe you’re just not good at something? That's your fixed mindset talking.

Once you start practicing the growth mindset, the sky is the limit. Each thing you can’t do or aren’t good at is just another challenge to be conquered. Listen to the language you use when talking to others and to yourself. Anytime you say something that sounds like the fixed mindset, rephrase the statement to the growth mindset.

Once you start approaching life with a growth mindset, you will never fail to succeed - because failure becomes a chance to grow, learn and finally succeed.

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Yours in health,

Coach Ben
#coachben