Why Your Mindset is Everything for More Success and Happiness

Do you know why your mindset is everything for success and happiness in life?

Though mindset has become a little bit of a buzzword, it’s still underestimated…

Your mindset determines how you see the world. 

It impacts how you think, feel, and act.

People with a positive mindset see the glass as half full rather than half empty. They see opportunities where others see disasters. And they can more easily tap into the Law of Abundance.

Your mindset is everything when it comes to building the foundation for a good life. And in this article, you’ll learn how you can take the first steps to develop a successful mindset.

So let’s dive in!

What is a Mindset?

What you look for is what you will find.

Are you looking for the negative? You won’t have any trouble finding it. There is plenty of bad stuff happening around you all the time. Open any news app on your phone to find proof…

The flipside is also true.

If you look for something positive, you will find it too. Perhaps not on the news though. But there’s always something happening that you can be cheerful about. Even the bad stuff that happened today could have a positive lesson in it.

The question is: what do you focus on?

That’s what a mindset is all about. 

Your mindset is everything and it works like glasses through which you see the world. Your glasses could have a darkish shade. Or they can be completely pink. 

Of course, overoptimism and overconfidence aren’t too helpful either – and could even hurt you.

While many people claim to be realists, most get stuck in the negative. 

There’s a good reason for that:

Your mind is wired to pick up negative things. Because a thousand years ago, when something negative appeared it was often a life or death situation.

This is no longer the case. 

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to change your mindset. Quite the contrary. Getting out of the primitive mind and seeing the positive and opportunity is challenging.

And since mindsets develop over time, you can’t unlearn yours in a day.

It takes time and effort to change your beliefs. 

To see life from a different perspective.

The problem is that most people don’t have the patience.

As soon as something happens that triggers an old belief, they say: You see, I was right. And rather than questioning that thought, they get stuck in the same patterns.

Why a Strong Mindset Matters

Have you ever heard about a growth mindset? 

Carol Dweck studied six-grade students to understand how mindsets made a difference in their development. And she found an important distinction between what’s called the fixed and the growth mindset.

• Growth mindset: those kids believed they could learn anything, as long as they were willing to put the time and effort into it.
• Fixed mindset: those kids believed that their talents were fixed. In other words, if you’re not good at something, you’ll have a hard time learning it.

The difference between the two mindsets is that those with a fixed one won’t bother trying. When they get the opportunity to learn something new, they’ll reject it because they don’t believe they can learn it.

Unsurprisingly, research shows that students with a growth mindset achieve more.

Your view of the world also dictates: 

• How you look towards situations and challenges;
• How you feel about them;
• And how you act consequently.

Your mindset is everything when it comes to how you live your life. 

A poor mindset could be the force that keeps you from going after your dreams and desires. And if you feel stuck and upset, your mindset could play a big role in that too.

But the opposite is also true.

A good mindset helps you to overcome challenges and setbacks. Seeing the world with a better mindset can change how you feel about yourself and life in general.

The difference between these mindsets is that one enables you to find solutions despite the challenges. Whereas with a poor mindset, you would focus on finding excuses instead.

Wouldn’t that alone make your life much more fun?

Related: Scarcity vs abundance mindset: A quick test

How to Build a Successful Mindset

I hope you understand the power of having a better and more successful mindset. It’s essentially the groundwork on which you build your life. 

So if your mindset is everything, how to improve it?

We already mentioned that it takes time to change your mindset. This also means that changing it won’t be an overnight thing. 

The most important lesson is this: take small steps and stay patient with yourself.

It’s like working out. You build muscle not by going to the gym once. Only if you keep showing up, will your muscles grow. And the more consistent you are, the more you see its effects. 

The following tips will help you to change your mindset. 

Whether you find success in it depends on your ability to stick with the consistent practice of these tips.

Repetition is the mother of skill

– Tony Robbins

Tip 1: Have a Clear Vision

A personal vision gives clarity to what you want, where you want to go, and who you want to become in the process. This gives you a clear path to follow that also fills you with purpose.

Your vision could mean anything. 

From becoming healthier to learning new skills. Perhaps you want to travel around the world and see places. Or it could mean adding more value at work or starting your own side-hustle.

The question is: what is most important to you in life?

Focus on that thing first.

Do you know what happens when you focus energy on your vision?

You no longer have any energy left to focus on other stuff. Small mistakes or negative things that happen around you no longer affect you as much.

Having a vision for yourself helps you to get a better mindset.

Tip 2: Set Empowering Goals

Goals are the stepping stones that help you to get where you want to go. 

The reason why goals help to improve your mindset is similar to the first tip. Goals direct your focus towards something important to you. 

You can set goals for anything. 

For example, you can tie your goals into your vision. 

But you can also set goals for many other things, like your health or finances. Maybe there’s a skill you want to learn? Or a business you want to start? What about dating or your relationship?

If you’re just starting with goals, start with a small one. 

Achieve it.

And then set some new ones.

Build it up until you get to a point where you can set many goals without feeling overwhelmed.

Also, make sure to set different types of goals:

• Long-term goals of about 1+ years in the future.
• Short-term goals for this quarter and the rest of the year.
• And micro-goals for this week and tomorrow.

Do that and you’ll find it much easier to focus. If a mindset is everything, goals are the glue that helps you to focus on what’s most important to you every day.

Learn more about goal setting.

Tip 3: Focus on What You Control

The Stoic philosopher Seneca and the greatest Romain Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, understood that your personal power lies within the things you can control. 

What are some of those things you control?

• Your beliefs
• Your perception of situations and events
• The questions you ask yourself
• The way you talk to yourself
• How you think
• Your energy

Most other things outside this list, you cannot control.

You have only limited influence in most situations in life. Shit happens and stuff will go wrong. Life is not always about happiness.

Yet, you do control how you think, feel, and act.

You control how you feel about a situation. You can choose to see the good in every bad. And you can learn to gain full control over yourself, even if people treat you terribly.

Why learn that?

Because only if you master yourself, you gain real freedom.

Learn here how you can control your thoughts.

Secret 4: Take Care of Yourself

What happens when you don’t take care of yourself?

You start feeling bad about yourself.

Then, one thing leads to the next.

For instance, say something happens at work that drains your energy. You want to go to the gym, but decide not to. While driving past a McDonald’s, you tell yourself: what the heck, I’ll just have a cheat meal…

It’s a vicious cycle.

Though it’s a clear physical example, we beat ourselves up mentally as well. I’ve talked bad about myself, which instilled negative beliefs and shaped my mindset. My mindset then caused me to have more negative thoughts and the loop continued.

Somewhere down the line, you have to break the bad pattern. And taking better care of yourself is one of the best ways to do that.

Why?

Because it’s fairly simple. You can start with something small. Maybe you start with one better meal a day. Or you drink more water instead of soda. Or what about just making up your bed in the morning?

Everyone can start taking better care of themselves. That’s what makes this method so great if you want to improve your mindset and change your life.

Secret 5: Start the Day Positive

You attract what you think about most of the time. 

What you focus on, becomes your reality.

This doesn’t mean you just think happy thoughts and your life fills with happiness. Life doesn’t work that way. Sometimes you have to face the ugly and the difficult stuff.

However, most people get stuck in negative loops. They end up giving too much energy to the small stuff that sucks up their energy.

That’s where a morning practice can help.

A way to put your mind in the right place after you wake up.

Try some of the following things:

• Use morning affirmations
• Visualizing your perfect future
• Set some micro-goals for today
• Engage in a journaling practice
• Do a brief (or a long) workout
• Read a book

None of these things have to take a lot of time from your morning. Yet, they can all help you to focus your mind on a positive thing.

There is no secret to building a better mindset. You just have to do it.

Secret 6: Focus on Your Journey

We compare ourselves in almost every area of our life. And social media has only accelerated the feeling that you are behind your peers.

Today, we live with the unrealistic expectation that you should have your life figured out in your 20’s. That you should have your life figured out, made it in your career, and have plenty of experience in relationships.

Yet, it’s this exact feeling that holds people back.

Unrealistic expectations put you in a bad mindset. It sets you up for anxiety and makes you feel overwhelmed. 

And the result is that you won’t take any action.

But the truth is that you’ve got time.

You can fuck up in a big way and still have plenty of time to make something of your life. People have changed their life around in their 70’s and 80’s. Yet, most 30-year-olds have already thrown the towel in the ring.

Start focusing on your journey.

Start doing what interests you. Try new stuff. Learn a new skill. Try a new career. Start a business if you want to. Let it fail. Start another one. 

Who cares?

That’s how you learn what you like after all, right?

Here’s the key: stop focusing on results and start focusing on growth.

Yes, you want more success in your life, I get it. But wouldn’t it be much better to first learn what you enjoy and then learn everything about it? 

If you want success, then your mindset is everything – figure that part out first. 

It all starts between your ears. If you feel like you’re behind, it will be hard to catch up. But if you feel like you’re perfectly on where you’re supposed to be, you can take a step forward.

Stop caring so much about what others think and stop comparing yourself to them.

Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life

Your mindset is the mechanism that impacts how you view the world. And your perspective of life determines the actions you take. 

In other words, a better mindset helps you to take more action. 

It helps you to conquer challenges and setbacks. To get back up after you’ve been knocked down. And it even influences your self-confidence.

Isn’t that great?

The downside of developing a mindset for success?

It takes time and effort. 

You have to take consistent action to put yourself in the right state of mind. Just like how you want to build your muscle, so you want to build your mind. 

And if you can improve your mindset, you improve your life.

If you’re serious about this, I also recommend these books for a growth mindset.

Or check out some of these articles:

• Improve your self-management skills
• Simple steps to control your thinking

FAQ

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions and quick answers about the mindset.