“If you want to be successful, you have to change your mindset”
It’s something I hear a lot when I’m out and about on the circuit listening to other speakers.
“With a change in mindset you can achieve x.”
“It’s only possible to move forward with a change in mindset.”
“If you want to be successful, you have to change your mindset.”
In my opinion, what a load of bunkum.
You don’t need to change a thing about yourself. I’m not even certain you can change your own, personal, unique mindset. It’s what makes you… well, you. Enhance, yes. Ignite, yes. Adapt, yes. Change, probably not.
You are a person based upon unique genetic coding and that includes your brain ergo your mind.
True you can create new neural pathways through deliberate thoughts and actions that, in turn, then enforce these new pathways through repetition. However, that will always be down to you creating them.
Creation of these new neural networks, I agree, are based upon the experiences you encounter and have. These can be influenced by other people and may indeed be based upon what you hear/read/see. However, it’ll be your choice what to follow or adopt based upon what you decide is important for you or which bit is relevant for you. No outside force is going to give it to you – and following someone else’s thought processes won’t necessarily lead to the same results. You have to work out what works for you and what doesn’t.
Some of us are lucky enough to have an inbuilt way of dealing with things and circumstances where things work out well as a result. Or, when we are tested it sparks something in our own genetic code that was dormant until that point in time. Or, someone can say something that really resonates within us and ignites a new mind pathway that will prove to be beneficial for us.
That’s why I believe enhance, yes. Ignite, yes. Adapt, yes. Change, no. And don’t feel railroaded into thinking otherwise by people out there who are, however it is dressed up, bullying you into believing something you’re doing/not doing is wrong. Who are they to judge?
Sure it is possible to focus and work on how we perceive and react to things but I’d call this self-work or self-improvement. Just as it is possible to grit your teeth and keep going – but I’d call this willpower or determination.
When we were babies with a fairly blank canvas in terms of our minds, I don’t recall our parents, teachers or mentors worrying about our ‘mindset’. We were taught and advised on various skills that might see us through our lifetime but our opinions, views and problem solving skills were pretty much left to our own thought processes and actions to work out (or those who tried to impose these from the outside were more than likely to be met with rebellion). I, like many before and after me, remember sticking my fingers in a plug socket and discovering the painful power of electricity despite being told categorically not to do so.
Turning back to my main beef – I’d also like to hear those that espouse the idea of changing mindset to explain exactly what they mean by mindset…Are they privy to the current brainwaves of their audience that they know a change is required? How would they describe their own mindset without all the trendy waffle? And ultimately, what problem do they have with you having a differing opinion from them about something that affects your own life?
BTW, exactly what is a mindset in any case?
My advice – keep your own ‘mindset’ and adapt it as you see and deem fit for your own purposes using whatever you feel helps and aids you. And that is all down to you and no-one else so they should just mind their own beeswax.
Mindset: Enhance - yes. Ignite - yes. Adapt - yes. Change, No!
