The further in I travel in my business and life, the more I realise the value of being able to master your mindset.
What the heck does that actually mean anyway??
Here are some classic definitions of Mindset.
“The established set of attitudes you hold”
“The ideas and attitudes with which a person approaches a situation”
“Habits of mind formed by previous experience”
“A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person’s responses to and interpretations of situations”
“An inclination or a habit”
When I look at those definitions what occurs to me is that there seems to be different schools of thought around the topic of mindset. Is it fixed or fluid? Is it something that is developed because of your experience and is therefore, individually hard wired, or is it more of a simple habit that can be changed?
Looks like you can have a mindset about your mindset!
I know from my own experience and those of my friends, colleagues and clients, that working on your mindset is one of the most important commitments you can make.
Expanding it, opening it up, weeding out the thoughts that can keep you constrained and playing small will have the single biggest impact on you and your business, far more so than any fancy marketing strategy or online tactics (and that is a big statement coming from a marketer!)
Because here’s the thing.
We have access to more information about creating and growing a business then ever before. The internet is exploding with it.
And yet the great majority of women in business, especially in the area of delivering services, are not creating the freedom, fulfilment and financial abundance they seek.
A huge number of them are stuck. Wishing and hoping. Doubting and stopping.
What’s holding you back?
Their self-belief. In other words, their mindset – the set of attitudes or beliefs they have about themselves, especially in relation to their ability to succeed in business.
Here are some of the thoughts women who completed a survey I conducted earlier in the year were saying when I asked “what has stopped you from creating the results you desire”.
- I don’t know if deep down I truly believe I can create the business of my dreams.
- Belief in myself and my skills!
- Self-belief. Have always thought I needed to have a “partner” to fully reach my own potential. Have done well without the partner but know I could have achieved more. Need to trust myself more.
- Procrastinating and self-confidence
- I have to have faith in myself that I am just as good as everyone else in my field
- I am my own worst enemy. I have a terrible case of perfectionism paralysis. I don’t trust myself. I have a very hard time writing and when I do I am very critical and don’t want the world to see it.
- Self-doubt! Comparing myself to others and to other businesses.
- Not believing I can actually make money doing what I love
- Fear of failure and of making a fool of myself
- Fear that it or I won’t be good enough
- Fear of failure.
- Low self-esteem.
- My doubting that I can really do this. I have time constraints but I also know I self sabotage myself by busying myself with everything else first instead of prioritising my business.
- Self-doubt
- Belief in myself, my skills, and my experience/knowledge. Although I’ve had some wonderful experiences lately that have shown me that there’s no reason not to believe in myself
- Self-confidence.
- And those are just the tip of the iceberg of all the comments I received.
In all, almost 90% of respondents pinpointed their confidence, their self-belief, in other words, an unsupportive mindset, as the thing that is holding them back from following their hearts and creating the successful business they envisage.
So you see, you are not alone if you have doubted your own ability.
Here’s the good news!
If you are willing to entertain the idea that your Mindset is not a fixed thing, that it is simply an opinion, a habit of thinking in a certain way, then it can be changed.
If you are ready to make a commitment to changing the focus of your default thinking, a whole new future awaits you.
When your thoughts and emotions become habitual, they form a neural network that keeps your mindset firmly in place, wherever it plays a supportive or unsupportive role.
You are, literally, on automatic. That’s why when you master a habit, like driving your car, you don’t have to think about it much anymore. The neural pathways are in place, like a groove in a record. And as you continue the thought or the behaviour, the deeper the grooves become.
So, if you have been telling yourself that you lack confidence, that you’re not as good as someone else, that you’re confused, that you don’t have clarity, that you’re afraid and can’t be successful for quite some time, you’re in the groove, but it’s time to change the record!
So, how can you change your mindset?
I’m not going to go back in time and attempt to ascertain all the experiences that have brought you to this point in this article.
Instead, I simply want to give you a few simple steps to take that you can put into action right away to begin to shift your perception of yourself, to back yourself.
Step One – Be aware and willing
Be 100% aware that since these are your thoughts, you can change them. This is the essence of personal power: choice and responsibility. Be willing to change. Be willing to support yourself. Be willing to commit to regular weeding of your mindset and to filter for positive, supportive thoughts.
Step Two -Nourish the mindset that you want to own
The most successful way to change your mindset is to nourish the one you want to create. Every time you focus on and feed a positive mindset, it weakens the negative one.
Every time you focus on and feed a positive mindset it creates another tendril that adds to the strength of this new way of thinking, feeling, being. It lays down another layer in the new neural pathway of positivity.
Step Three – Commit to your new mindset every day
You have no doubt heard of how important it is to “think positively”.
And you may have even created some affirmations or intentions and meditated on them. But you’ve lost momentum after a few days.
To really change your mindset, to adopt a new way of thinking, a new set of beliefs, a new vision for you that you can FEEL yourself step into you need to consciously recommit to that new mindset each and every day.
Old habits die hard, yes it’s true. There is no magic here, honestly, it is simply and purely a case of each and every day recommitting to the new you. Consistently. Whenever the old thoughts begin to emerge, recommit to the new vision of you. Whenever self-doubt shows up, recommit to your decision to the new vision of you.
Every morning, spend just 3 minutes in quiet, reflective visualisation of the vision you have that you are working towards.
Remind yourself that everything you have experienced in life up to this point has perfectly prepared you to serve your clients.
Assure yourself that you can bring your vision to life.
Dream big.
Back yourself.
And then take the small inspired and aligned action steps each and every day that take you closer to your goal.
The power is within you.
