What if I told you that some of you have a small part of your mind that acts as a barrier to success. That barrier may be relatively small or minor or it can be a whopping big obstacle that we can’t see to navigate around. If we never discover what it is or why it is there we stay in our comfort zones. No matter how hard you want to build a success mindset you never quite get there because some part of you always stays in your safety zone.

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Mindset Meaning and Theory

Mindset relates to the way that we think about ourselves. Do we believe that we were born a certain way therefore it is impossible to change or do we accept that with work, practice and education we can change our circumstances? For some people that thought process means that you will give up on things long before you should simply because you believe you are not intelligent, confident or talented enough. When you give up or don’t bother trying you won’t achieve success. That of course compounds your original beliefs meaning that you become stuck in an unhelpful way of thinking.

In mindset theory, there are two types of people. Those with a Growth Mindset or people who have a Fixed Mindset.

Growth Mindset

If you are a person with a growth mindset you believe that it is possible to change your circumstances and take control over your life. You will think to yourself:

• I can learn
• I like to try new things
• My efforts determine where I go next
• I will try something until I get it right
• Failure is an opportunity to learn to do things better

When you have a growth mindset you are creating a world of potential that will allow you to create opportunities for yourself. This success mindset means that you are able to achieve things that those people with a Fixed Mindset could never dream of.

Fixed Mindset

When you have a Fixed Mindset the opposite is true. There is a belief system that keeps you trapped and tells you that this is who you are and that it is impossible to change. If you have a fixed mindset you might think:

• I’m either good at something or I’m not
• I will stick to what I know
• There is a limit to what I can do
• I give up when things get difficult
• If I experience failure I stop and don’t try again

As you can imagine there is no success mindset here just a thought process that limits everything you do. The more you limit yourself the more it confirms that you are incapable of creating change leaving you trapped and stuck.

Mindset The New Psychology of Success

This theory was created by Carol Dweck in her book “Mindset the New Psychology of Success. She concluded in her work that people could be split into either those who had the growth mindset or those who had a fixed mindset. Her research showed that how we are brought up as a child has a great impact on how we are when we are older.

If you have a fixed mindset then your upbringing and experiences created this thought process. So you might have been worried about expectations or felt anxious about embarrassing yourself in front of others so decided to stay in your comfort zone.

Children who had a growth mindset were probably told not to worry about their mistakes but to keep on giving things a go. They would have been helped to explore their potential without fear of criticism.

Carol believes that it is possible to change your mindset and become a person with the growth belief system. This mindset for success can be taught to children but also to adults.

Mindset Therapy

My mindset therapy and confidence coaching teach the same principles. I work with my clients to help them understand where their limiting beliefs may have come from and then help them to challenge old outdated methods of behaviour. I know from experience that the reason we often never reach our potential is because of childhood experiences that stopped us in our tracks. These can include:

• Criticism from a teacher
• High expectations from a parent
• Comparisons with a sibling
• Embarrassment in front of friends
• Traumas that made us seek safety behaviours
• Failures that made us believe we can’t do something

I tell my clients I can’t turn you into a Prime Minister or Einstein but I can help you to reach your potential. That could include getting a better job, pay rise, living abroad, taking a calculated risk, working for yourself and so on.

A recent client of mine was a sportsman who was having problems winning at his chosen sport. His belief system told him that he may as well give up because he would never be fast enough. A few sessions later and this person is now achieving personal bests and going so fast that he would have been drug tested if he had been in competition. I simply changed his mindset from a fixed one to that of growth and it has changed his entire attitude and success.

Mindset of Abundance

When you understand where your unhelpful thought patterns have come from it becomes easier to undermine them or ignore them completely. As you start to do this the old behaviours begin to crumble and you step outside of your comfort zone and try new things. As you build your confidence it becomes easier and easier to create a successful mindset.

The law of attraction is not some new-age hippy nonsense it lives inside of all of us if we allow it out. Now I can’t promise you that you will win the lottery but I can help you to be more willing to apply for promotions or to try new things which could lead you to greater happiness. As you build your growth mindset you create opportunities that previously you would have shut down without even trying.

Weight Loss Mindset

It is worth briefly looking at how helping a client achieve a growth mindset can help to change their life. One great example of this is with mindset for weight loss. I can’t even begin to count the number of my clients who turn up for weight loss therapy stuck in old thought patterns:

• I’m lazy
• I’ll always be fat
• I can’t say no to food
• I’m never going to lose weight
• It’s impossible to change

If you think like this well of course you are never going to lose any weight or change your eating patterns. This is because your fixed mindset is taking charge and not allowing you to make alterations to your lifestyle.

Yet with therapy for mindset it is possible to create changes in those thought patterns:

• I can change my food choices when I change my priorities
• I learned to eat to comfort myself I can now choose a better way of making myself feel better
• I can say no when I have had enough to eat
• I will lose weight and I am setting myself small achievable goals
• Change can be easy when you put your mind to it.

Patterns for Success

Creating a success mindset is perfectly achievable with therapy as it helps you to explore your inner thoughts. It helps you recognise why they were created in the first place and allows you to see things in a new light. When you have a different perspective it is almost impossible to think in the same way. Breaking this old way of thinking allows new patterns to be created that change the way you are.

Mindset Coaching

If you would like to explore any unhelpful thought patterns then our success mindset coaching can help. Simply contact me via the email form below and I will be happy to discuss my programs to help my clients achieve their goals.

You Might Also Want to Read:

Unbreakable Confidence. How to Get it.

How to Build Confidence at Work

Online Therapy for Anxiety. Why it Works

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