First of all – Happy New Year!
Although the world around us is uncertain at the best of times, we essentially define our own future and outcome.
What we put in, we get out – When we apply the right mindset and attitude.
So to help you start your new year with a bang I wanted to share 5 mindset practices that you can apply to make 2022 a successful year for you.
Have Goals
The first one is to have goals. Goals give us direction in life and without them we would merely be stagnating, procrastinating and spending too much time on the wrong things.
Goals lead us to a sense of achievement and it’s important for us to get excited about our goals. When we get excited about the prospect of reaching our goals, we enjoy the journey more.
When we enjoy the journey, we’re ‘doing what we love’. So find passion in what you do and work towards your goals.
Believe in Yourself
Believing in yourself is important. We live in a world where others pull apart your dreams because they have none of their own.
It’s easy to be influenced by the opinions of others, and often it is by those closest to us. If every successful person listened to the opinions of others, they wouldn’t be where they are now.
Set your goals, get passionate about them, grow a thick skin and consistently push forward. It’s okay to make mistakes – It’s normal. But don’t let people sat on the sidelines pull you down to their ‘comfort zone’.
Stay Motivated
I recently wrote a blog post about motivation. We all need ‘Motivation’ to start something, but it’s not enough to ‘finish’ it.
It’s good practice to stay as motivated as you possibly can, even though you’ll have days that you won’t feel motivated at all – and that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about it.
A good way to keep motivated is to keep reminding yourself of your goals and track your progress. Add in small rewards when you reach certain markers, or complete a set of ‘micro tasks’.
Rewarding yourself is good as it adds a sense of gamification to your work. This could be a new watch if you hit your monthly target, a night away with your significant other, or even a nice takeaway. It will encourage you to work towards your goals.
Be Disciplined
Motivation helps you to start something and DISCIPLINE helps you to finish it.
Discipline is vital if you want to succeed at anything. If you have no discipline you won’t make progress.
Discipline is doing something no matter what, even if you don’t feel like doing it. When you master this mindset, you’ll be unstoppable.
The best way to keep disciplined is to break down larger tasks into smaller tasks, and only commit to the next smaller task.
Large tasks can overwhelm us and they can be mentally tiring just thinking about them – Whilst small, simple tasks don’t carry the same burden.
Make a list of micro-tasks and commit to them one at a time. When we complete one, we’re more than likely to move onto the next one with ease.
Be Willing to Adjust and Adapt
This is one of the most important practices to apply in your life.
None of us are perfect and when we’re building a business or working towards a goal – we get things wrong.
It’s normal. However, if we keep doing the same thing when things aren’t working out, we’ll never get it right.
We’re essentially swimming upstream and getting nowhere.
That’s why it is vital to down tools and evaluate what could be going wrong, and look at ways to change it.
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb back in 1879 and it took him over 1,000 unsuccessful attempts before he succeeded.
It’s also noted that his teachers famously said that he was “too stupid to learn anything”.
Well, it was a good job he didn’t let others diminish the belief he had in himself, and was willing to adjust and adapt with his quest to invent the lightbulb.
Remember, we all learn on the job. If we were meant to get it right first time, everyone would be a millionaire and highly successful.
The truth is, we will fail more times than we succeed – But that is what creates our journey. Pretty exciting, right?
Final Thoughts
The world is your oyster and you steer your own boat in life.
Those that have reached a high level of success have often battled through high levels of adversity to get there.
You can do the same!
Carve out your plan – Set your goals – Get excited – But most importantly, enjoy the journey.
Here’s to a successful, happy and prosperous 2022.
Andy Black