Written by: Henrik Pettersson, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
"I've never tried that before, so I can do it for sure!"
Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking saw everything that came her way as opportunities. The word "impossible" was not in her vocabulary.
The adults failed to control her, the police officers Kling and Klang begged to get her into an orphanage, and Dunder-Karlsson and Blom gave up when they were trying to steal her bag with gold money.
Pippi's dynamic mindset and mentality shattered the old static views, the ones that so often chain our belief in success to rusty old ideas. A lock that kills your creativity, your forward-thinking, your will, and ability to take action.
Let me therefore provide you with the keys to a positive, dynamic, and energy-generating Mindset, which steers you towards success and calibrates you for strong results while at the same time preparing you for the efforts required to reach all the way forward.
Key number 1: Know yourself!
Or 'gnothi aefthon' as it stood on the walls of the ancient Greek schools of philosophy
Getting to know yourself, your strengths, and your weaknesses was - and is - a key factor for success. To find out who you are and how you react in different situations while finding your own "sound,"; your Mindset that is linked to your goals and identity, much like ABBA did when, after many years of hard work, they finally found their special sound.
What is your dominant trait, which you can trust in any weather? Is it, for example, "efficiency," "sense of responsibility," "speed," or perhaps "Strategic"? To develop further, it is important to find out what you are good at - and less good at.
Do not expect anyone else to support your personal development. Start investing in yourself and choose an area to peak - and strengthen your skills in.
Which wave is most suitable for surfing?
At the same time, our different roles provide different conditions.
As a manager and leader, you should, for example, put the will to learn and develop - before talent. And give positive feedback on what benefits forward-thinking and the ability to take action.
Regardless of results.
As a parent, you should praise efforts that develop their willingness to never give up and constantly acquire knowledge, primarily focus on their activities and secondarily on results.
Get to know yourself, so you also get to know others. Like you are playing chess, rather than being a piece, for others to move around.
Key number 2: Be open to everything!
Then your chances of a positive Mindset increase. Dare to challenge programmed, static truths. Trying to sit on the other side of the table and think the other way around. The law of polarity; there is nothing left if there is no right, nothing up if there is nothing down. No inside if there is no outside.
Try to see opportunities before difficulties. Do not judge ideas casually; "We have already tried that, ""we have never done it," "it is outside our business concept," "it requires too much," "we do not have time for it," "we can’t afford it" and so on.
And that usually ends with "it never works."
Do not close doors until you have carefully analyzed them; become dynamic and evolutionary rather than static and anti-progressive.
Key number 3. Load with faith in success!
Faith in the future, is that something you can train yourself to get?
First, you should make clear what success is for you. Is it money or fame? Is it to fulfill one's mission/purpose, whatever happens, and regardless of the result? Or success is about creating the reality of your goals, and that starts with your thoughts, which lead to action?
The great feeling that makes you take ACTION.
Also, think about what, in addition to success - that motivates you. Research on mindfulness at UCLA shows that a grateful attitude changes the brain's molecular structure, making us healthier, happier, and more proactive than reactive.
Can you start the day by thinking about what you have to be grateful for? I promise you a positive mindset, which you are happy to reinforce with things that make you proud; for example, when you advanced at work, came back after an adversity, were involved in the development of a business. When you met your spouse, when the children were born, they graduated or got their first jobs when they started school.
Play the "movies" on your screen when you need a kick.
Faith in success, is it a feeling you can train to get?
The answer is unconditional - YES!
Key number 4: Control your mind - and let your mind control you.
According to psychology professor Carol Dweck, you have more influence over your brain than you think because it works like any muscle, which gets stronger the more you practice. When you become fully aware of the possibility, you can change your attitude, mentality, and attitude to life.
If you choose to look for gray hair when you look in the mirror, you will find them. Are you looking for reasons to procrastinate difficult things as well, just like reasons not to take action?
Alternatively, you can meet challenges with a smile on your face, treat your fellow human beings with care - and express a positive outlook on life.
You choose how you shape your thoughts, connect a positive Mindset and an emotionally beautiful picture of the future, and strong results will come to you over time.
Control your mind, and let it control you.
Then it will be as you think.
Key number 5: Do not waste energy on things that do not take you forward.
First, try to surround yourself with people who give you energy. Positive key people who help you on the way to a Mindset that strives forward. Caring and honest people who make you grow.
Evaluate your surroundings and be careful about who you let in.
Second, try to minimize energy-intensive irritations. Do not get upset over injustices, "idiots" who disturb you in traffic, TV, or Facebook.
Third, keep in mind that you are responsible as an employee, leader, and parent to create hope, commitment, and enthusiasm in your co-workers and loved ones.
A commitment that, together with your own development, does not allow wrong prioritization or unnecessary energy losses.
At the same time, the realization that life is not about ticking off a to-do list, but living in the present, focuses on the future.
Key number 6: Put dynamic approaches before static ones.
Generate energy before stagnation—activity over passivity. And hard work in front of talent.
Research shows that children who are praised for good grades or are told that they are smart tend to get stuck around a fixed way of thinking. While those praised for good efforts or high activity levels tend to develop dynamic mindsets that make the wheels spin faster.
Mindset reminded me of my childhood when a dynamo was connected to the bike to generate the energy needed for the lamp to light the way forward.
And like you need to pedal to move the wheels for the lights to shine. And the stronger the resistance, the heavier the loads you lift, the stronger you become.
Just like dynamic Mindset produces people with fighting spirit. At the same time, static thinking avoids challenges and resistance.
Put dynamic approaches before static ones. Fade down the focus on results (even if it’s important) and highlight focus on activities. And create stronger results in the long run.
Key 7: See failures as opportunities.
As J. K. Rowling did when the book about the wizard Harry Potter was rejected twelve times before the first book was published. Adversity she summed up with: "Nothing is impossible if you see failures as benefits, work on your weaknesses - and focus on your strengths."
She saw the rejections as driving forces. And turned frustration into success.
Some people seem to have it in them, the mindset that is usually called "Blessing In Disguise." Success is disguised as adversity. To turn trouble into triumph.
"What are the benefits of failure?" This is the question that your positive Mindset asks.
"There is no bad that does not bring anything good," as the old saying goes. When doors close, new ones often open.
Life is a result of how we choose to think.
If you have the right attitude, you can apply the liberating mindset regardless of the situation; bring a higher level of positive thinking, which increases the reward. And the more often you practice it, the stronger results you will get.
Seeing failure as an opportunity, can there be a better mindset?
To unlock doors to success take these keys:
Key number 1: Know yourself!
Key number 2: Be open to everything!
Key number 3: Charge yourself with faith in success!
Key number 4: Control your mind - and let your mind control you.
Key number 5: Do not waste energy on things that don’t take you forward.
Key number 6: Put dynamic approaches before static ones.
Key number 7: See failures as opportunities.
If you only follow half of the tips, I can guarantee that you will open the locks that have so far prevented you from reaching all the way.
Therefore, click here to download the Mindset Indicator. But if you want to test immediately, use the indicator on the next page.
Mindset Indicator for stronger results.
For each of the 7 parts below, add your self-assessment score and multiply by 4 (minimum 1, maximum 5). It will give you a score based on 100%. Whatever your score, try to improve yourself in these areas because they significantly impact your future success and deliver strong results.
Know yourself
To what extent do you feel 100% confident in yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, and dominant qualities?
1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5
Total *20= of 100 %
Open for ”everything” and attached to nothing?
To what extent does that way of thinking fit you?
1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5
Total *20 = of 100 %
Faith in success
To what extent do you tend to have hope in the future?
1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5
Total *20 = of 100 % %
Influence over your mind
I often direct my thoughts towards the positive and the emotionally good images?
1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5
Total *20 = of 100 %
Surround yourself with ”right” people
To what extent do you consciously choose how much time and energy you invest in the "right" type of people who give you energy?
1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5
Total *20 = of 100 %
Growth Mindset
Praise yourself and others for efforts/activities to a greater degree than the result. To what extent do you do that today?
1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5
Total *20 = of 100 %
Blessing In Disguise
To what extent do you have the ability to see the benefits in adversity? (When one door closes - another opens)
1---------------------- 2---------------------- 3---------------------- 4---------------------- 5
Total *20 = of 100 %
Henrik Pettersson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Since 2004, Henrik has been working as a coach, educator, and motivational speaker around Europe. Life is about growth. The challenge to growth is to gain boldness to handle our fears and vulnerability. To strengthen your spine - to be able to manage your challenges towards stronger results. Life’s tough at times, and the formula for gaining more boldness, and dig deep into, is: Faith – Energy – Focus. His new book is built on the three pillars above and is called: program yourself to success. Henrik is frequently hired by large companies like Volvo, H&M, and Avis.
