Written by: Paul Corke, 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.
“Believe in your dreams and that anything is possible.” – Usain Bolt
In life and work your mindset is critical to your success. Whether you are starting out in your chosen endeavour, to being experienced at what you do, how you think and the beliefs you have will drive the behaviours you display and your outcomes in life.
Mindset = ‘A set of beliefs or way of thinking that determines one’s behaviour, outlook and mental attitude.’
What we now understand from researching and studying the most successful people is that the mental side of what they do is just as important as the knowledge or skills that they have.
Your mindset will have been shaped by your experiences in life and what you have been told by the people you have trusted in your life. Your mindset is a collection of thoughts and beliefs that define your mental attitude, disposition, habits, that then predetermine your behaviour, reactions and responses to the events and circumstances you face in life. If we don’t step back to think about our mindset and how our mental attitude is shaping what we do, then your predominant thoughts at the time will shape your life.
This can be good dependent upon what those thoughts are, but it can also be bad if those thoughts are based on negative or disempowering beliefs about yourself, others or the world.
Where Mindsets come into play…
In everything, we do we will have beliefs about what is possible, our chances of success and the outcomes of any given situation. Our mindset will impact everything we do, how we think about a situation, which in turn will influence the outcome.
And when we control our mindset we can then truly understand the art of what is possible…
In the 1950s, Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins, placed rats in a pool of water to test how long they could tread water which was the famous drowning rats psychology experiment. This experiment although deemed cruel demonstrated the power of a change in mindset and thinking.
In his initial experiments, the rats would explore the bucket of water before treading water for roughly 15 minutes before they gave up with exhaustion and sadly would then drown.
In another round of the experiment before they gave up the scientists would take them out of the water, dry them off and let them rest before putting them back in the bucket. And on this second attempt how long do you think they lasted? Most would probably think after being close to exhaustion maybe another 15 minutes or less but no they could tread water for up to 60 hours!
Curt Richter said “the rats quickly learn that the situation is not actually hopeless and after elimination of hopelessness the rats do not die.”
Because of what the rats thought was possible and their belief that they would be rescued they could push their bodies so much further than before. The art of what is possible is what you think is possible.
Translate this to Humans…
So then we take an explorer and no ordinary explorer in Erik Weihenmayer and let me tell you what he has achieved. Erik Weihenmayer, born in New Jersey in 1968, and has conquered the seven summits amongst other adventures. On May 25, 2001, Weihenmayer climbed Mount Everest and for this feat, he was honoured on the cover of Time Magazine.
Time stated, "There is no way to put what Erik has done in perspective because no one has ever done anything like it. It is a unique achievement, one that in the truest sense pushes the limits of what man is capable of."
Why when so many climbers have done the same thing?
When Erik was just four years old when he was diagnosed with retinoschisis, a rare disease (sometimes hereditary, sometimes of unknown origin) resulting in the progressive loss of sight.
By the time he was just 14, Weihenmayer was completely blind.
Yes, Erik has climbed most of the highest peaks in the world and he is blind!!!
The art of what is possible.
We are continually evaluating our life and what we think is possible which in turn shapes our beliefs about ourselves, others and the world we live in. Having the right mindset for any given task along with an empowering and positive outlook will enable us to overcome any obstacles in our way especially if we believe we can achieve so much more. What we do need to do is remove any negative default settings and beliefs we have about what is possible.
And by taking the time to consider and enhance your mindset on the art of what is possible, it is then possible to change the actual results you want to achieve in your life.
“What’s within us is stronger than what’s in our way.” – Erik Weihenmayer
Paul Corke, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Paul Corke is an author, keynote speaker and considered to be a leading expert on mindset, innovation and leadership. He is currently recognised as No 1 Health and Wellness Thought Leader & Influencer with @Thinkers360 and is also the Managing Director of Leadership Innovators an innovative leadership consultancy. He previously spent 25 years in the corporate world with award winning results specialising in organisational effectiveness, employee engagement, talent management and leadership development with experience in UK, Ireland, Europe, US and Middle East.
Paul is the author of Reframe Your Mindset: Redefine Your Success, has a podcast series to support the book and has created The Mindset Journal all based on what he calls ‘The Mindset Equation for Success.’ Paul uses his research into mindset and positive psychology along with the thinking from his books to provide thought leadership, leadership model design, leadership assessment and solutions to help organisations build their leadership capability.
Paul has successfully built leadership development strategy and provided solutions in the industries of Financial Services, Retail, Automobile, Charity, Information Technology, Education and Local Government. His mission is to develop leaders the world now wants to see whilst also making a difference through B1G1working towards the UN Global Goals to help those in need across the world.
