Wouldn’t life be easy if the path to success was a nice straight line?
Unfortunately, it’s more like a long and winding road, with plenty of twists, turns, and unexpected surprises along the way! Even for the most motivated and determined among us, it can be incredibly difficult to stay the course and not feel defeated on your journey to success.
So, in this two-part series, I’m sharing 7 mindset hacks to help you achieve your goals. I reveal the 7 mindset approaches you can use every day to stay focused on getting what you desire and include some exercises to get you on the right track.
Grab your pen and paper, and press play to listen to part one of this two-part podcast episode. Or read on to discover the first three mindset hacks…
1. I am in charge of my mind, and therefore I’m in charge of my results
The first mindset hack is all about your mindset itself. It’s the most powerful tool you have for driving results. But what is mindset? In my episode on mindset and coaching, I talked about how your mindset isn’t limited to your thoughts, it’s also your reaction and responses.
The way you interpret external events can trigger positive or negative behaviours. These may help or hinder you on your quest to achieving your desired outcome. This is why it’s vital to remember that everything is a choice.
You choose how you respond to and interpret things. Now, it may not always feel like a conscious choice, but by being more aware of your reactions, you can start to think more mindfully about them. Are your reactions pushing you closer to or further from your end goal?
If you’re not getting the results you desire, it’s time to make a change. I’ve spoken before about the Law of Attraction and how you have to conceive an idea, believe in it fully, and be ready to receive before the universe grants you what you want. Use these to take stock of how you’re approaching your goals and see if anything is blocking your beliefs.
As a coach, it’s necessary to understand your own beliefs about your desires and also your clients’. If there is a blockage there, you can start to use conscious and unconscious belief change tools to help them create change. Here are three questions to think about as a starting point:
- Do I really believe it is possible to achieve this goal?
- Am I able to achieve this goal?
- Do I deserve to achieve this goal?
You can make some notes on your responses to these questions, or just think about them and see what reactions come up.
2. Focus on the road, not on the wall
Mindset hack number two is all about staying focused on your end goal and not getting distracted by the obstacles along the way.
Think about it like you’re driving a car. If you’re watching the road, you’ll have no trouble following it. But if you can’t take your eyes off the wall, you may crash right into it!
Focus on what you want. Not on what you don’t want. Another way to put it is the classic mantra:
“Where your attention goes, your energy flows.”
If I say to you, “don’t think of a pink elephant”, what’s going to happen? You’re probably going to picture a pink elephant. This is why you need to be mindful of the language you use with yourself. For example, when you’re thinking about your goals and desires, how much of it is concerned with what you don’t want to happen?
The answer to this question will always determine your ultimate success. The secret is to stay focused on exactly what you want, regardless of what else is happening or the obstacles that might be in your way.
Your brain is cleverly programmed to search for opportunities to turn your dreams into reality. But you need to identify these goals first and focus on them in a positive way to help your brain spot those patterns and opportunities.
To help with the identification part, ask yourself these two questions:
- What do I want to do, be or have?
- Why do I want it?
The first helps you to get clarity. It’s key to state this desire in a positive way to focus on what you do want, not what you don’t want. The second question elicits motivation. It gets you thinking about the values that guide you and what it’ll enable you to do, be or have.
Framing your goals in this way activates your reticular activating system (RAS), engaging the incredible power of your mind to guide you to success. Then, it’s up to you to take deliberate action to move towards that desired outcome.
Again, you can write down your responses to these questions or meditate on them. But remember, focus on the road, not the wall.
3. There is no failure, only feedback
In life and business, things don’t always go the way you plan. It’s common for challenges and obstacles to arise and force you to take an unexpected detour on your path to success. No matter how many times you get knocked off course, it’s essential to remember that you’re the navigator.
The key is to develop resilience and agility so that when these situations happen, you can keep moving toward your ultimate desires. You can do this by paying attention to what’s going on and making changes as necessary. Think about the inner and outer metrics you’ve got in place. What are they telling you about your progress? Are you moving forward? Or do you need to make some changes?
Your metrics are constantly giving you feedback which helps you modify your approach to reach success. Think of it this way – there is no failure, only feedback. I love this quote by Elizabeth Edwards, which sums it up nicely:
“She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.”
Flexibility and resilience are so powerful for achieving your goals because they keep you moving, even in difficult times. This works most effectively when your mindset helps you see failure as an opportunity rather than a threat to success.
If you only view your progress in terms of success or failure, you’re not utilising the true power of your mindset. Perceived failure is a chance to learn and develop. But if you’re avoiding or hiding from your mistakes, you may continue to make them.
Only when you adopt a learning attitude to challenges and obstacles can you start to build resilience. Then, when you stumble, you can make it part of the dance.
For your business, I want you to think about what feedback loops you have that allow you to measure your progress. If you don’t have any, consider what metrics you can track to get that feedback. I also want you to think about your own internal feedback and how you feel about certain situations and circumstances. For example, how do you know when you’ve done a good job? It’s up to you to figure out what is and isn’t working.
- … stop doing?
- … start doing?
- … continue doing?
- And, what have you learned today?
These can help you understand where you’re growing, what’s not going so well, what you need to do to move forward, and what’s keeping you on your path to success. Give them a go and let me know how you get on!
That’s all for part one. Check back next week for part two and discover four more mindset hacks you need to succeed!
If you want to learn more mindset hacks and find out the best ways to teach them to your clients, check out The Mindset Coach Academy!