I was having an intense conversation with my roommate a few years ago. We always used to banter, it was what made our relationship interesting,

even though it did come with its own set of upheavals. I shook my head at her, my insides twisted and I wanted more than anything to tell her off.

“I don’t like change,” I stammered like a freshly new high school graduate even though I wasn’t at the time. I was in my second year at university.

“It isn’t about whether you like change or you don’t, it happens. It is part of life. You need to accept it,” she threw her hands in the air. I crossed my arms and shook my head.

“Yes, it happens, but just because it does that doesn’t mean I have to accept it.”

She shook her head and walked off. The irony of the situation was as a kid I jumped from so many schools that I was used to adapting to new environments. Most people would freak out at going to a new place, I relished in it to a certain extent.

That wasn’t the first time we disagreed, her believing that I needed to change and I refusing to do so. I spent the next few years, refusing to grow past where I was at. I was in the last year of university where it occurred to me I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had spent so much of my time trying my best to remain the same, I was now stuck in a weird place.

Having graduated and feeling empty as if I had spent the last couple of years idle. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t accomplished things in university, I had won

competitions and was at the top of my class, but there was something missing. I was miserable. I gasp as I write this because it took me a while to figure out why I was. 

Most people wonder why it is important to have a success mindset, how does it even help with the everyday routines that we need to do. What you need to understand first is that there are two main mindsets; the growth mindset and the fixed mindset. If all this seems a little foreign to you, I will explain.

I am here today because I realized if I didn’t change then I’d never move forward in life. The key to success is your mindset. It seems too simple to be true, but that is the thing, you either have a success mindset so you can be successful or you don’t. 

Growth mindset vs fixed mindset

You probably are wondering if they are two mindsets where does the success mindset come in? For many people, the success mindset is similar to the growth mindset and they are right there. Without growth, you can’t be successful because when you are willing to push the envelope, you do things differently. A perfect example is I used to hate criticism, it used to feel like a personal attack on my personality until I got a wake-up call and asked myself if I wanted to be successful what did I need to do in order for me to get there.

When you have a fixed mindset, you don’t want to change nor do you want to improve. You are trapped in this box where everyone sees your flaws and even you do, but you are unwilling to push out of the box. Even though you are trapped, you are okay with it. You enjoy being in your own world and not accepting that you need to change and figure out how you can do that.

Most of us have a fixed mindset because life happens and as a result of it, we have been bruised so much that we were broken. Many people with fixed mindsets don’t want to change because they think they don’t need to. I was in your shoes, not wanting to change because I was comfortable and leaving that comfort zone is terrifying. It is terrifying staring in the mirror and seeing all your flaws in red bold letters. It almost feels as if you are the biggest joke ever and changing somehow makes your doubts and fears true.

I didn’t want to change because I was afraid of my reality check and I spent so many years angry at the world. Changing meant I had to look in the mirror and realize that I didn’t love myself as much as I thought I did. It was brutal. There were a lot of pillows that were thrown around, tears and yells that happened as a result of it. 

When you have a fixed mindset you don’t go far in life, you never move past a certain stage and you will never be successful. You see in order to have a success mindset, you need to adopt a growth mindset. I will explain it a bit. I was walking one day in town, staring at people, I had graduated and I was jobless. That day I had a profound realization, I knew I had to change. To evolve or else I would never go anywhere in life. That was one of my defining moments because I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I needed to do it. 

Also Read: Fixed Mindset Vs Growth Mindset

Success mindset

Why are some people successful and others not? Usually, people always come up with a variety of reasons. Some say, they were given opportunities and others chime in that their work ethic is better than most people. These are all acceptable answers, but the truth is their mindset. Successful people think differently and you probably are rolling your eyes and saying that’s a given.

I have been doing an experiment, I have been pushing myself to think like someone who is extremely successful. The results have been profound. For one thing, all it takes is a switch for you to change your mindset. Though, it does take a while for you to keep thinking like this. Successful people do things even when they don’t want to do it. 

I am a big procrastinator and I have been implementing the success mindset to help me jump over that obstacle. And it has worked. Even if you aren’t successful, we all have some idea of how a successful person will act or behave.

We all know that successful people go for what they want even if it terrifies them. We know that successful people wake up super early and exercise consistently. We know successful people chase their dreams and they don’t allow their limiting beliefs to stop them from going after what they want.

A success mindset will help you in completing your goals because no matter how tedious or difficult, it may seem you push yourself to get it done. A negative mindset does the exact opposite and your limiting beliefs will stop you from going after what you really want in life. Remember this a fixed mindset encourages a negative mindset and a growth mindset encourages a success mindset. 

The Matrix and what it tells us about mindset

As a nineties baby, I grew up on the Matrix and watched every movie. Yes, we are not in the Matrix, but the concept is the same. In the Matrix, Neo is given a choice by Morpheus to chose two pills. The red pill will help Neo learn the real truth about the way the world works and the blue pill will give Neo the ability to forget he ever met Morpheus.

If you watched the Matrix, you know what happens, Neo picks the red pill and his life is never the same. When he enters the Matrix, he discovers that you can make anything happen in the Matrix. This is called the Placebo effect, it was conducted years ago when a group of participants were given a medication that would heal their ailments. Though in reality, it was nothing more than a sugar pill that did nothing, this was the placebo. Despite that the participants believed they were cured.

When it comes to achieving your goals, it all comes down to what you believe to be true. If you believe you can’t do something then you can’t, but if you have faith that you can then you will. A success mindset is a powerful tool to help you achieve your goals, but in order to be able to use it you have to believe that you can be successful.

Adopting a success mindset isn’t difficult

Have you ever watched those how to be more confident videos on YouTube. Usually people say the same thing, if you want to be successful you must do a superhero pose. Not sure, if it works never tried it. But the thing here is the more you act as something, the more you believe that it is true.

Most actors believe that they are the best and yes, some can’t act. That confidence though helps them land roles even if they didn’t deserve it. I am not saying you must have a big ego. As an actor, it might get you far, but if you are not going down another route all it will do is anger a lot of people. What I am saying is you need to believe you are successful before you actually become it.

So, your bank account is reflecting hundreds of zeroes. What would a successful person do about it? If you are late with a deadline, what would a successful person do to change that. What a lot of us don’t understand is the battle starts in our mind. If you want to change your life, you need to train yourself to act like a successful person.

Why you should work on a success mindset?

If you want your life to be better in the next few years than what it is now, you need to start thinking differently. Most of us hate change like we loathe the winter. However, having a success mindset will make your life a lot better and you will be happier. I know, it sounds like one of those commercials or one of Tom Cruise’s last movie.

I am not selling you an idea that doesn’t work. My life changed when I started adopting a growth mindset. I started spending more time trying to find solutions to problems rather than complaining about things. I picked up a few books that taught me how to think differently, watched motivational videos that inspired me and discovered that there’s so much you can do with the little you have in life.

Think of it like this when you focus on the good things, more doors open, but when you don’t doors close instantly.  The best thing about a success mindset is that you starting for your dreams. I could go on and on, about how your life changes when you have a success mindset, instead what I will tell you is that we all have choices and we make them as soon as we wake up.

As soon as our alarm clock rings we make a decision and that can impact our whole day. As an experiment, why don’t you wake up as soon as your alarm rings. To do this for 30 days and just see how your life drastically changes. It seems too simple, but when you start the day right, it rights your day. 

Also Read: On Dying, Losing and Fighting For your Dreams

What is your main takeaway from this blog post? Comment below

                                                                                                                     KEEP  PUSHING

                                                                                                       VANESSA