Achieving the "Success Mindset"

Let's face it, life isn't easy. Between family issues, relationships, jobs, bills, traffic and lack of free time, most of us become what I like to call "the optimistic pessimist." We are always hopeful that things will get better, but rarely do we ever jump at the opportunity to initiate a change in our situations. We hope, but we doubt at the same time.

So why do you suppose that is? Is it that we're afraid of change? Afraid of confrontation? Are we lazy? Do we just not care anymore? The answer is actually all of the above.

Human beings are inquisitive but cautious by nature. We're unfortunately one of the few species on this earth that don't do the whole "adaptation" thing so well. Sure, we can cover up if it's cold outside. We have millions of different ways to cook a single piece of food. We can change our appearances to fit in with the dominant crowd. We can adapt on the outside. We can handle the primal needs. But what about adapting on the inside?

It's no secret that people are afraid of change. Just look at the way folks acted at the turn of the millennium. To many, change spells an unspoken evil far greater than any we have ever known. One theory is that humans are creatures that like to be in control. When a major change occurs, we feel as if we no longer have that control (though we probably never had it in the first place). The interesting thing is that, very often in our history, major change has brought about major benefits. Why then, are we still so adamantly opposed to going with the flow and adapting?

Our mindset is the biggest obstacle in our lives. Think about it. Our mindset determines how we interact with others, how we handle or resolve situations. That means our jobs, how much we earn, how much we learn, who we date, how well relationships turn out..all of it is directly connected to what frame of mind we choose to live in. With that said, are you achieving the things you want to in life? Are your family, personal and romantic relationships what you want them to be? Are you making the kind of money you want to make? Are you happy? If not, perhaps it's time to look in the mirror. I guarantee you that the reason you're not achieving your aspirations is directly related to your outlook on like

The first topic in our course will be "Assessing Your Current State of Mind." So I'd like to pose a question: What state is your mind in? Are you an optimistic pessimist? Afraid of change? Control freak? A worry wart? Nonchalant? Be honest, as the first step to helping yourself is admitting your weaknesses. We can't improve until we know and acknowledge what we're lacking in. So take the time to really think about that question. Chances are, if you're unhappy with your life, then you're one of the above. Starting today, all of that is going to change!

Ever noticed how being in a bad mood can ruin your whole day? When you're upset, the best-laid plans often go awry. Know why? Because you're no longer focused on your goals. Emotions are probably your worst enemy when it comes to focus and mindset. Even being extremely excited can remove your focus momentarily and throw a wrench in things.But the worst of all by far are doubt and negativity. They can be the killers of ambition!

Doubt can cause several problems. It causes us to question everything, from people's motives and actions to our own motives. It removes any bit of security from our minds. It puts us in a constant state of anxiety and worry.In short, it keeps us from seeing the good in life. And these can lead to chronic ill temperament (i.e. bad moods every day). The lower your mood is on a continual basis, the higher your chances of developing more serious conditions like depression.

Negativity can seriously affect the way you interact with bosses, co-workers, clients, family members, boyfriends, girlfriends, even your children. While happiness releases endorphins that cause a lift in your mood, being negative or angry does the opposite. It releases adrenaline and other hormones that tell your mind and body it's "fight or flight" time. Aggression spikes, blood pressure rises, and heart rate increases. While anger is a normal emotion that should be acknowledged and released (constructively, of course), it's not something you should allow to rule your life. Every situation that we encounter doesn't require aggression. In fact, most situations don't. That aggression is what makes it hard for individuals to get along with co-workers, take direction from bosses, take advice or accept help from loved ones, and ruin romantic relationships. That unnecessary aggression causes you to take out your anger on your children or spouse, and the more dents you put in your personal relationships, guess what? The lower your mood, and the more aggression ensues.

The hormones released by anger and stress can also cause other, more health-related problems, like weight gain, high blood pressure, depression, eating disorders and low self-esteem.

In our last meeting I asked a question; what's your current state of mind? Determining your mindset and how it's affecting your life is the first step to helping you turn things around. If you are or have been the type of person who angers easily, worries a lot, or is skeptical of everything, it is no doubt affecting your life negatively. If you're not happy, and you're not getting what you want out of life, it's because of your overall outlook. So take a deep breath, look in the mirror, and be as honest with yourself as possible. How do you handle stress? Do you allow it to upset you? Do you talk about it, try to solve the problems, or avoid them and keep your feelings bottled up? Regardless of what you've done in the past, make a promise to yourself that from this point forward, you will do what's necessary to achieve a more positive outlook on life. If that means smiling more (and you'd be surprised what a genuine smile can do for your mood), saying hello to everyone you pass, listening to upbeat music, writing in a journal (as a release for your negative energy), then so be it. But today is the start of your "mental makeover."

Each day I'm going to be exploring mental focus and how it alters situations. We're also going to be learning about the "millionaire mindset" and how your mental makeover can help you regain focus and even achieve financial freedom!

I'll be including excerpts of articles and insight from experts and motivational speakers, as well as suggestions on the best products to aid you on your journey of self-discovery. There will also be segments for you to add comments and feedback on what you're doing to make yourself over. The concept behind "The Success Mindset" is learning while sharing and implementing new positive-thinking tactics. So join me each day as we travel down the road of life, and get ready for a mind-blowing experience!

Need more than the average help when it comes to lifting your mood? Need a pick-me-up? We recommend a great new personal development course, loaded with audio and e-book courses on the powers of positive thinking, concentration, manifestation and more! Click below to learn more! Brought to you by our partner, Troy Shanks of RMTR.

I know this is a popular topic right now, especially with all the media coverage about the DVD due to Oprah, Larry Kind, Ellen and other talk show hosts. What I want to do here is take a look at the concepts within The Secret, and discuss the positives, the negatives, and what folks should be taking from its teachings.

For those that don't know (in case you haven't passed by a Barnes & Noble bookstore lately....), The Secret is a movie created by Rhonda Byrne. It centers on the concept of the "law of attraction" governing our universe, and the outcomes of every situation in our lives. According to this law, likes attract likes. So the focus of the movie? Think positive, inspiring thoughts, and envision your dreams becoming reality, and you will achieve the success you seek. Not too far fetched, really. It can be broken down into some key issues, which we'll be discussing in this course. Two of the main ones are goal-setting and focus. It is no secret that setting realistic goals helps a person to achieve their aspirations much faster than not having a plan. And being positive helps to even your mood, so that strong emotions don't interfere with your focus. For this reason, many of the teachings in The Secret can be great life guides to go by.

Associated Press just released an article to the contrary, entitled "Critics of 'The Secret' bemoan claims." Apparently, many professional critics believe that the concepts within The Secret can actually be very damaging and dangerous, especially to those who are unstable mentally or emotionally.

In the article, critics are calling the concepts behind the movie "a fad, embarrassingly materialistic or the latest example of an American propensity of wanting something for nothing." The reason being of course, that few of us really cared to look into the teachings of the "law of attraction" before we glimpsed it on the Oprah show. Though they may seem a bit harsh, these claims have so very strong basis. Humans (Americans in particular) tend to jump on the bandwagon as long as there are big names endorsing it, or at least taking the time to investigate it. Had Oprah not aired 2 shows dedicated to the topic back in Feb., and had it not come up as a conversation piece on Larry King Live around the same time, most of its followers would probably not have taken a second look at the book or DVD as it sat on shelves in stores across the country. The Secret definitely wouldn't have the popularity it does now without the help of the above celebrities and their interest in it.

It is also being argued that the teachings send the message that we don't have to work for what we want, only envision it to get it. Now of course, the whole concept is open to interpretation. But one thing that should be understood, regardless of what anyone says, is that you do in fact have to work for what you want in this world. It doesn't come freely, or without effort. Another argument is that the concept may lead to what psychotherapists are calling the "blame-the-victim" mentality. They claim that the book and movie dismiss health and genetics issues that can cause obesity and other issues, stating that such things only occur because of the way a person thinks. One such professional, Stacy Kaiser, is afraid that individuals with disturbing pasts may start to blame themselves for issues such as being abused or losing their jobs. She's also stated that many of her patients have adapted the feelings that their situations will change for the better overnight, without them having to put forth any effort.

While it is proven that problems like obesity can be linked to heredity, that is not the cause of obesity for many. Humans are gluttons. We are self-indulgent to the extreme. Many of us do things just because we can, or because it feels good, without regard to how it will affect our bodies. Many who are severely overweight have been observed, and noted to have erratic and unhealthy eating habits, given to binges, and seldom exercise. For many others, weight-gain can be linked to stress. And stress affects us all differently. Allowing stressful situations to govern your actions, and allowing stress and anger to consume your thoughts and rule your life, can lead to irregular eating patterns and eating disorders. It also follows that in some cases, how we let stress affect us is something that is completely controlled by us (I'm not talking about those that are suffering from depression or related illnesses, I'm referring to those that are said to be otherwise healthy). It is possible that the statements made in The Secret refer to these types of individuals, who allow gluttony, self-indulgence and materialism to rule their lives.

So then, if it's a fad and potentially harmful, are the teachings true, or do they have no basis? And is it ok to follow the teachings? Well, the truth is that the concept of the law of attraction has been around for centuries. The original book was written almost 100 years ago. The problem is that it wasn't deemed important by anyone other than avid philosophers and visionaries. Dissecting the concept itself, it can be applied to many situations in our lives. Thinking positively helps us to stay focused on our goals, and staying focused helps us to reach those goals faster. Likewise, likes in certain categories can attract likes. As humans, we tend to flock toward those who are like us, so as to feel we "fit in." You are far more likely to want to hang around someone who shares your ideals and interests, instead of someone who is drastically different. When a person becomes successful, they gain popularity. They become a topic of interest. People want to study them, to see what they're doing to be successful, and how others can copy what that person does to achieve the same results. And what do we have? Bam, the law of attraction in action!

You might be wondering what this does for you. How can you use this info to achieve your own goals? Well, you can start by tweaking your mindset. Learning to acknowledge and hold on to the good, while acknowledging and releasing the bad is a great way to do this. Having a positive outlook is the first step. After all, no one wants to hang around someone who's grumpy and negative all the time. If anything, The Secret can be used as a guide, a way to gain insight and ideas on how to think and stay positive. No such program should be followed blindly, of course. When used in moderation, and coupled with common sense (you do have free will, so use it), The Secret can be a great motivational tool!

A word to the wise though: utilize the teachings to adjust your mindset, not your actions. Achieving any amount of success will take effort on your part. There are no freebies in this life. However, staying positive can keep your mind open to receiving new ideas. New ideas can lead to success on different levels. Strive to keep yourself in a positive, receiving mind. Then you will be able to discern for yourself what is real and what isn't, and what will benefit you, and what won't.

If you could list the single most important aspect in the process of becoming successful, what do you think it would be? Money? Fame and Influence? How about none of the above? It's something much closer to home, and something you have absolute control over!

So what is the single most important thing you can do for yourself, to become successful? Set realistic goals for each aspiration that you have. Determine your most important goal, create a plan of action to reach it, and work on that plan a little bit every day! It's a well-known concept that goal-setting goes hand-in-hand with keeping yourself mentally focused. However, goal-setting can do so much more that you'd think, when you set realistic ones, and allow yourself to take the necessary steps to reach them.

One of my favorite speakers in Brian Tracy. If you've never heard of him, he's one of the self-empowerment industry's most widely-known mentors. In this short excerpt from his DVD, "Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires," Brian talks about goal-setting and how taking measured steps can help you reach goals faster than diving in with no plan. This is Achieving the Mindset's "Inspiring Clip of the Week."

We last talked about teamwork, and how important it can be in helping you stay focused. I have found it to be true in most cases, that working with and through a team, can help you reach your goals much faster, and with much more ease, than working alone. Why is that, do you suppose?

Well, for starters, seeing and hearing other like-minded individuals for yourself can prove to you that your goal isn't outrageous, that it's something that others deem important enough to work towards also. This can create more credibility for your goal within your own mind. Seeing and hearing others who have accomplished, and are accomplishing, similar goals can again validate the goals in our minds by showing us that others are succeeding, so it is possible for us to succeed also.

Next, like-minded individuals can bring unique points of view to any situation. Since we don't all have the same thought process, it can be enlightening to see how others cope with situations related to their goals. This can also give us ideas for how to cope with our own situations.

Furthermore, like-minded individuals can offer great advice based on personal experience. I'm a firm believer that personal experience is often the best teacher. Who better to learn from than someone who is going through exactly what you're going through? This can help you to avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes, and avoid unnecessary or distracting interferences.

So if teamwork is so important, and teams are so great to be a part of, then how can you find a team to help you? Well, there are several options. I mentioned a few, like Myspace and other social networking sites which have "group" which indiviudals just like you can join and discuss various topics. I have also created a new network which we're pushing to become the Web's newest training & development resource for entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.ibuild-branding.org!

There is a slogan which I firmly believe in: "Positive people are the keys to success!" Remember that staying positive can help you reach your goals, and bring you closer to others like you!