As a Life Alignment Strategist, I enjoy helping my clients turn their lives around by teaching them the power of a winning mindset. But what is a winning mindset, and how do you develop one? This article will examine what a winning mindset is and what it takes to ensure you wake up every morning with a burning desire to get stuff done.
What is a Winning Mindset?
During our formative years, through elementary school, and all through secondary education, most of us learn to believe that a good education is the only path to success.
Work hard, do your study, get good grades, and you will be successful. However, in The Magic of Thinking Big, David J Schwartz PH.D. introduces another element to success with his phrase, “Success is determined not so much by the size of one’s brain, as it is by the size of one’s thinking.”
Professor Schwartz penned those words more than six decades ago, but their meaning still holds as true today as they did then. One simple phrase tells us that the potential for success is in all of us if we would just change our way of thinking. In other words, developing a winning mindset is more critical to success than acquiring book smarts.
Dictionary.com defines mindset as “a fixed attitude, disposition, or mood.” Your mindset predetermines your interpretation of events and your response to those events. In short, how you think has a significant role to play in your life’s outcomes.
A winning mindset is a way of thinking that supports your endeavors and keeps you motivated to reach your goals. In your quest to develop a winning mindset, you will often hear terms like “positive thinking, or success mindset,” but they all refer to the same concept of thinking in a way that supports your endeavors.
The official definition of a mindset alludes to it as being fixed and immutable, but I have seen firsthand that it is possible to change your attitude, think big, and build a successful life. Here are a few strategies you can use to develop a winning mindset.
- Know Yourself
We are all creatures of habit, and your mindset determines a lot of the actions you perform and the way you think about yourself every day. Part of creating a winning mindset involves critically examining your patterns, sorting through what’s good and bad, and resolving to eliminate or circumnavigate the bad ones.
For example, are you a punctual person, or do you regularly miss appointments? If you dislike being late or hate feeling rushed, then there are tools available to help you deal with timelines, schedules, and deadlines efficiently.
A lot of my clients have trouble when it comes to saying nice things about themselves. Praising yourself without cringing is a critical skill for success, especially when it comes to job interviews or asking for a much-deserved raise.
Knowing your true worth is also vital when starting your own business. You want to charge a fair value without lowballing yourself and devaluing your skills.
Many of my clients find putting a price tag on themselves very uncomfortable, but eliminating this negative trait is an essential step towards changing your mindset to a winning one. There’s no harm in faking it until you make it. Eventually, you will feel comfortable charging what you know you are worth.
- Feed Your Mind
It’s impossible to change the mindset you’ve had for decades overnight. Instead, think of it as a journey you will be practicing for a lifetime. Even when you do successfully change your attitude and perspective, you will still have to work at it. Otherwise, your mind will quickly slip back into old habits.
Every day take some time to feed your mind with positive input. You could read inspirational books, take up meditation and positive affirmations, listen to podcasts (great for the morning commute), or watch educational videos. There is a medium for everybody who desires more success and happiness in their lives to feed their mind, but it will need to become a regular part of your routine.
- Hang Around Positive People
Your environment and the people who regularly occupy it will have a significant influence on your mindset. If you continuously surround yourself with people possessing loser attitudes, your subconscious will pick up on those vibes and adopt a similar outlook.
Fortunately, the same mechanisms are at play when you surround yourself with individuals possessing a more positive mental attitude. You will find it much easier to condition your mind to think with a winning mindset when you mingle with people who have minds similarly conditioned for success.
Take an honest look at your circle of regular acquaintances. Are they uplifting and positive in their outlook? Or do they bring you down with negative vibes? The digital age makes it easy for you to mingle with positive thinkers through Facebook groups and online forums. If you prefer face-to-face interactions, then a site like Meetup.com is a fantastic resource.
If your regular circle of acquaintances doesn’t give you the lift you need, trying to spend less time with them and enjoy more quality time with your family. Your family can be a strong pillar of support when you are trying to change direction in your life, especially during those times when you are feeling overwhelmed.
- Be Open to Prosperity
You could ask a hundred people, and not even one would say they want a life of mediocrity. However, their way of thinking often tells a different story. Consider your response when someone pays you a compliment or they present you with a surprise gift.
Do these actions make you feel awkward and uncomfortable? Do you respond negatively and feel guilty because you have nothing to give in return, or do you graciously accept with a smile and a thank you?
If you are more inclined to do the former than the latter, then you will need to learn to accept good things into your life and that you deserve them.
- Get a Professional Coach
If you want to create a more successful mindset, then a professional coach is highly recommended. Books, videos, and podcasts can help you go a long way, but they can’t provide feedback. Professional life-coaches are trained to help you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. With this information, they can deliver tailored solutions so you can work more effectively at developing a winning mindset.
