Have you ever observed successful people? Think about in-demand movie stars, business professionals, politicians, or any person in a position of power and affluence.

What quality or qualities do they all seem to have?

Confidence, Determination, Discipline, Focus,  Self-Worth, Self-Esteem , Self-Assurance,  Creativity,  Flexibility,  Resilience, Vision, Patience , Courage, Self-Sufficiency.

Which of these qualities do YOU have?

You might be able to check off one or two (or perhaps a few) of these qualities and call them your own, but you might struggle with the rest. Most people do, until they understand the foundation of success:

DEVELOP A BELIEF IN YOURSELF

That is the root from which all of the above qualities stem, and it is the same root from which success grows.

If you don’t believe in yourself, if you don’t believe you deserve to be successful, if you don’t believe that you have what it takes to create the successful life you crave – you will remain exactly where you are right now.

You may be thinking, “Okay, I get it, I need to believe in myself in order to be successful. But how am I supposed to believe in myself when I really DON’T!”

It seems like an impossible challenge, but once you begin making small changes in your mental and physical environments, you will be surprised how quickly your circumstances begin to shift.

Taking Responsibility for Where You Are Now

The first step to develop a success mindset is often the most painful, but it is also the most necessary. Before you can move forward, you need to understand that where you sit right now is no one’s doing but your own.

That’s not fun to hear, I know. You might be inclined to argue with me and point to any number of horrible, debilitating challenges you may have faced in your lifetime, and you may further argue that they damaged you beyond repair, forever limiting what you are capable of achieving.

I won’t presume to tell you that these experiences don’t matter, or that you are weak for letting them hold you back. I won’t dare try to belittle the pain and struggle you have faced, because I know firsthand how paralyzing fear and pain can be.

However – it’s important that you understand something about these challenges. They have not made you who you are today, and they have not determined the level of achievement you have reached in your life thus far.

It is only your perception of these events that matters!

It’s not what happens to you that is important, only what you choose to do with the experiences and the conclusions you draw about yourself because of them.

Let’s use a common example to demonstrate this point. If your mother was highly critical and constantly belittled you and everything you did, you might now have a belief that you are no good, that everything you do is worthless, and that you will never be successful at anything.

Is such a thing true? Yes, if you agree with it and internalize it.

But what if you decided not to believe it any more? What if you decided to prove your mother wrong? What if you made a promise to yourself that you will persevere, no matter what else happens to you? What if you decided to stop focusing on your “flaws” and instead worked on building your strengths?

It is all within your control.

Do you realize that there are people in the world who have survived aweful experiences, and then went on to become multi-millionaires, set new world records, and positively affect millions of lives?

Why can’t you do the same?

You absolutely can if you stop using your challenges as an excuse not to try.

The whole point of taking responsibility for where you are now is to stop believing that you would have been more successful if you hadn’t faced challenges in life, and acknowledge that you could have excelled IN SPITE of your challenges (and you still can!).

However, don’t beat yourself up over this insight. Taking responsibility is not about abusing or browbeating yourself into doing better. Simply admit that you could have done better if you’d known how, and you will begin to try harder beginning right NOW.

Making the Right Choices, Moment to Moment

A common misconception that many of us share is the belief that success is a cohesive state of being that we will eventually claim as our own. In other words, we are under the false impression that we will one day take a giant leap from unsuccessful and frustrated to rich, happy and successful.

It may surprise you to learn that success is instead a process of making the right choices. It rarely (if ever) happens in an instant. Rather, you go from making mostly poor or destructive choices to making better choices more often.

Poor Choices

– Procrastination – Self-doubt – Defeatism – Resignation

Results

– Lack – Stagnation – Frustration – Victim mind-set

 

Better Choices

– Self-belief – Trust – Hope – Taking small actions

Results

–    Growing confidence – Optimism – Exhilaration – Eagerness for more

 

Still Better Choices

–    Building confidence – Believing in abilities – Taking bigger actions – Identifying true  passions – Willingness to risk more

Results

–    Greater progress – Accomplishment – Deepening belief in oneself – Freedom – Growing SUCCESS!

 

Again, this is a PROCESS. It is virtually impossible to start with a mind-set of lack and powerlessness and leap immediately to a mind-set of success and accomplishment.

Right now you may be feeling that it will take forever to get where you want to go in life. You may feel that the challenge is too big, the road is too rocky, and the obstacles are too intimidating.

Luckily for us, this type of process creates its own momentum.

Start by making small changes

We start by making small changes both mentally and physically. We begin strengthening our desire for more, believing in ourselves and our capabilities, and taking small steps toward the lives we truly desire – and then suddenly more and more opportunities begin to appear before us.

As we grow in confidence, we begin NATURALLY gravitating toward choices that will support our deepest desires. We begin feeling an urge to do the things we know will create success, rather than shying away from them as we did in the past.

Narrow Your Focus

Do yourself a favor and avoid looking at the big picture, at least while you are just getting started. Instead, narrow your focus so you are looking at each teeny, tiny step you take along the path to success. Focus ONLY on these little steps and remind yourself that every decision you make (no matter how small or inconsequential it may seem) will serve to move you closer or farther away from your desired result.

Listen to and trust your intuition

Make a promise to yourself right now that you will begin listening to your intuition about which choices are right for you. Reinforce your awareness about how your actions determine your results, and vow to consistently make better and better choices until the process becomes more natural.

Question your decisions

Question every move you are about to make. Ask yourself, “Will this help or hinder my ultimate objective?” Do this not only with every ACTION you contemplate taking, but also every INACTION you feel drawn to.

Keep in mind also that there are no right or wrong answers here, only what works best for you. For example, you may feel a desire to sit on the sofa and watch television for several hours in the evening. This can be both a positive and negative choice.

If you feel burned out from working too hard and need some downtime, taking a break is a positive choice.

If you are procrastinating on taking action and using the television as a distraction, it’s a destructive choice.

Again, use your intuition (listen to your gut feelings) to determine whether you are making choices that will make you successful. Brutal honesty with yourself will be required, I won’t kid you. It is astounding how easily we can fool ourselves and justify destructive behavior.

The only person we hurt when we do this is ourselves. There are no “success police” that will force us to make better decisions. We will receive no citations for laziness and procrastination. (Actually, the results we experience are worse than any citation we could receive.) It is up to us what we do with our time and talents. It is up to YOU what YOU will do with YOUR time and talents!

Start by making those small changes now and soon you will be on the path to develop a success mindset,  I hope you enjoyed it. I have created for you a MP3 version of the above for those who are on the run, in your car or while relaxing, Yours FREE to down load – Click on the link below  –

It may take a minute or so , so please exercise some patience ( after all it is a quality of the successful)

Developing a success mindset Mp3 – Listen to Podcast Here.

To your successful mind-set

 

 

Brenda Tsiaousis

Email : BrendaTs@brendatsiaousis.com

 

The above piece can be accredited to White Dove Books.