The power of habits

14 Jun The power of habits

Why is having the right mindset so important to achieve the fulfilling life we all dream about?

Isn’t your life determined by external factors such as where you live, your upbringing, your income etc.…? Are we not just a product of our circumstances with some of us having more luck than others?

Unfortunately, that’s what most people like to believe. Because that’s the easy option, it gives us a valid excuse as to why we haven’t achieved the things we really want.

We are creatures of habit and usually prefer to stick to the familiar ones. So, even though our everyday routine may not be fulfilling us, it feels easier and safer to stick with it instead of trying to change. Change can be scary and risky, some we think!

But in the long term, this negative mindset results in a deep dissatisfaction with how our life have turned out. So, the question is how do we change that? How do we transform our thinking and ultimately ourselves so that we can start to feel happy and start taking steps towards our goals?

What do we need to do to make our dreams and ambitions feel achievable?

If we study successful people, we will find that there are few things that they do differently: – We will talk about defining success in a separate post –

1 – They take full accountability and responsibility for everything that happens and how they respond to the world.

Whilst it’s easy to blame someone or something else for our misfortune – and this may well be correct sometimes – this type of thinking only limits our success. It also makes us less giving and more selfish.

For example, person A and person B are both facing a potential redundancy at work. Person A blames the company, the boss, other colleagues and refuses to do anything but be miserable about the process. Person B, on the other hand, responds by taking responsibility for finding new ways that they can add value either to the company or to another company, admitting it may be time to obtain new qualifications and talking to their boss to fully understand the situation.

Which person do you think will have a better outlook and overall become more successful in life?

2 – They focus on positive thoughts: Successful people understand that it is our thoughts that determine our actions.

The type of people and opportunities that we attract and bring into our lives determine the quality of our life. So, rich people make it a habit to only focus on positive things and, also to use negative experiences to create positive outcomes.

3 – They have daily habits: dreams are not achieved overnight, but happen due to the small things we do everyday.

Sometimes, particularly with the way success stories are presented in the media, it often appears that people have built million dollar companies overnight, or lost 2 stone of weight by simply waving around a pair of dumbbells.

Successful people seem to have some kind of magic whereby they generate amazing results in very little time and with very little effort. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a saying: “It takes 20 years of hard work to become an overnight success” Which is by far much more accurate.

It may not take as long as 20 years to reach your goals, but the general meaning is that things do take time, and it is the accumulation of things that we do each day that lead to our success or failure. They understand this and so ensure that everyday, they are doing at least one thing that will take them a step closer to their goal.

4 – The have determination: you have to want what you are aiming for with every cell in your body.

 Every single person who has achieved great things has most likely at some stage in their life, had to overcome at least one of the following: rejection, doubt, failure, betrayal and confusion.

We need to understand that these things are simply part of the journey. They can really set us back and even throw us off course at times, making us reach our lowest point. But, those are the times where we have to remind ourselves why we do what we do, get up again and carry on.

Once we understand those important principles, the next step is to start implementing them. This isn’t easy, it requires changing a lifetime of learned habits and retraining our brain to think differently. That is why there are many people out there who know they have the wrong mindset, but lack the drive and persistence to change it.

Here at the Academy, we can show you how to form new habits that will help you change your mindset with our Mindset Program.

We offer a free 30 minutes consultation to listen to your current situation and offer some advice on how you can get started on achieving your dream.