The Fundamentals of Successful Thinking People who have developed the right mental disciplines make more money, stretch their abilities more than their peers, enjoy higher positions at work, command more respect and form more meaningful professional and personal relationships.
By Ken Sundheim
This story originally appeared on Personal Branding Blog
The simple truth is that our control over our consciousness determines the quality of our lives as well as our ability to reach our full potential.
People who have developed the right mental disciplines make more money, stretch their abilities more than their peers, enjoy higher positions at work, command more respect and form more meaningful professional and personal relationships.
Conversely, those who cannot control their thoughts fight inner battles that sabotage their abilities for focused work and clear thought. Thus, they damage their earning capacity and, until change is recognized, hinder their overall competency, focus and professional progression.
Related: The Mentality of a Successful Career
Because our inner-monologue is paramount to our ability to succeed at work, it's important to further analyze the benefits of improved mind control, how thought process affects our ability to lead as well as touch upon workable strategies in order to start cultivating a successful frame of mind.
The Benefits of Improved Mind Control
It's hard to overstate the value of changing your thinking. Only when we are able to filter out self-defeating thoughts (i.e. focusing on what is not possible) can we begin to realize the benefits that are derived from improved mind control.
In conjunction with heightened creativity, awareness and revenue generating potential, the rewards for positive, successful thinking include:
1. Resiliency. Successful thinkers are more likely to transform hopeless situations into challenges to be overcome.
2. Intuition. Successful thinkers are able to set aside daily distractions and mental clutter and see beyond their own point of view.
3. Learning Capacity. Controlled thinking allows one to reflect upon and learn from past successes and failures in a nonjudgmental, thus productive manner.
Change in Thought Process in Relation to Leadership
For managers and aspiring future leaders, our recruiters have seen that controlled thinking propels leadership acumen in numerous ways including:
– Allows a person to see a vision and in a clear, compelling manner convey those goals to their subordinates.
– Allows a person to more successfully and confidentially anticipate any upcoming challenges.
– Allows a person to seize opportunities when the timing is right.
Related: 5 Steps for Becoming an Indispensable Leader
Beginning the Transformation
All changes in mindset come from the acknowledgement that power to transform your thinking comes from you.
1. Take responsibility. The sooner you learn to take responsibility for the choices you make, the thoughts you have, and the attitudes you embrace, the sooner you can have the life you want.
2. Invest yourself in whatever you do. Often, feelings of boredom, being overwhelmed or allowing negative thinking to filter in our consciousness will make a person detach from daily work duties. Once the individual detaches, they leave themselves open to thoughts that are counterproductive. Beginning to take pride in each and every thing that you do will go a long way to cultivating a mindset conducive to success.
3. Dream one size bigger. By pushing yourself to dream more expansively, to imagine your organization as one size bigger, to make your professional goals at least a step beyond what makes you comfortable, your mental prowess will be forced to grow.
4. Learn continually. Never be satisfied with what you already know. Part of cultivating a successful frame of mind entails consistently meeting new people, learning new skills, reading new books and engaging with others who can do things you cannot.
Practice, Repetition and Dedication – It is not enough to know how to cultivate a successful frame of mind. Knowledge is of little benefit without the discipline and unrelenting desire to implement that knowledge.
In order to cultivate a thought process that promotes success and fosters achievement, one must practice consistently in the same way that athletes or musicians practice their craft.
In the End
The truth is that the human mind has enormous untapped potential. In order to achieve our goals, it is imperative to learn how to tap into these reserves and leverage them in order to have a better career and more fulfilling personal existence.
