When we train our minds to think clearly about our goals, we achieve more.
It is self-evident that we are all different. We can look right within our companies, the offices in which we work, within our own households and families, and see that there are some people that seem to almost mystically have a Midas touch. No matter what, they seem to succeed practically without even trying. There are other people who work hard, put forward their best efforts and on the surface at least they look as if they have success right within their grasp, only to have it not work out quite as planned.
So, is success in the blood? I don’t think so. I believe that success is in the mind. If some people seem to succeed naturally while others fail, it is because the successful person has accepted a responsibility for managing themselves, controlling their actions and how they think.
There are endless discussions and jokes made in homes and offices everywhere around multi tasking vs mono-tasking. However it is scientifically proven and widely accepted that each of us can only sustain one individual thought in our brains at a time. Some of us have faster thought patterns than others, and some are more creative, lateral, linear or deeper thinkers than others. It is arguably our greatest responsibility to control our thinking.
When we say that ‘success is in the mind’ what we really mean is that some people have determined they will accept personal accountability for their own success or failure. These people will make conscious decisions about their outcomes, and live their lives with an intent to control the internal causes of failure.
For much of my life working with people in groups, I’ve been somewhat hesitant to discuss goals with people. This is because many of the people we meet, particularly in the capacity of selling, hear so much about goals and the necessity for goal setting within their organization. There is so much conversation about goals that I think even the term ‘goal’ has become a turn-off to some people.
The fact of the matter is this: Everyone has goals! We have no choice in the matter as to whether we have goals. The only choice we therefore have in this regard, is whether we pre-determine what our goals are vs what we simply dream of.
Now, for human beings, success is an internal feeling we have. Every one of us is provided with an automatic success mechanism that will provide whatever it is that we choose to aspire to. But what we must recognize, what determines how the automatic success mechanism motivates us, and what we seek, is a conscious mind. The automatic success mechanism is directed by our conscious thoughts. So, the greatest responsibility each of us has is to control our thinking; to the extent that if we will concentrate on our objectives, we will succeed, but if we concentrate on failure, we will fail.
For more about the many reasons we fail, what we can do about this, and overcoming the things that hold us back, please view our other articles on www.smart-train.co.nz