Do you have a Positive Mindset?

If you read my blog What’s Your Vision, you’ll know that when it comes to creating success in business, I place huge importance on having a vision that motivates you to take action.

In addition to that, you also need a Positive Mindset, and, I am not just talking about positive thinking.

It’s true that there is tremendous power in thinking positively.  Like attracts like and so our thoughts (and feelings) determine the reality we experience.  If our mind is occupied with negative thoughts and expectations of struggle and problems, this is how we experience life.  Conversely, if our mind is occupied with positive thoughts and expectations of success, we experience life in that way.

So, clearly the more positive our thoughts are, the better we feel, the better we relate and the more bright and promising life looks.

But a Positive Mind-set is more than ‘thinking’ positively.  A Positive Mind-set is a predominant mental attitude which occurs when your positive thinking is aligned with your vision.

Think about it.  The word ‘positive’ means to affirm or to be certain.  And Mind-set is essentially about attitude and intent.  So, to have a Positive Mindset is to ‘affirm’ with ‘intent’.  And, your positivity has real intent when it’s aligned with your vision.

I work with lots of people in business with a vision and passion for what they do and who are aware of the power of positive thinking.  But, what I am concerned with is creating an entire mind-set where thoughts, feelings and beliefs are aligned with an intended outcome.

What happens then is that in addition to feeling good, they begin to align their activity with their vision, attract opportunities that are relevant to their goals and create the success they intended.

So, how do you create a Positive Mind-set?

First you need to choose voluntarily to apply short-term conscious effort in order to gain long-term psychological benefit.  This means in the short-term, consciously and consistently taking actions that are not usual for you but which serve to embed the new mind-set.

These are the steps I use with my clients:

Visualise your future.  The power of visualisation is immense.  By creating an internal image of the outcome, you give your positive thoughts a picture to attach to.

Using your imagination, visualise the outcome:  imagine what it looks like when you are there, including people, colours, lighting and shapes.  Imagine how it feels too, both internally and to the touch.  And imagine the sounds, including what people are saying to you when it’s reality.

Re-frame your Self-Talk Language.  The power of language is often underestimated.  By changing the language you use, you can make a significant difference to the quality of your thoughts.

Start by simply becoming aware of the words you use and simply ceasing to use certain negatives, like ‘don’t’ and ‘won’t’.  These words get subtracted from sentences by the mind and so, “I don’t want to fail” literally becomes “I want to fail”.  Replace “I don’t want to fail with “I want to succeed”.

Affirm your future.  Remember, to have a Positive Mind-set is to affirm with intent.  Positive Affirmations are designed to do just that.  They are statements framed in positive language that describe the intended outcome.  When these statements are repeated frequently with attention and belief, they literally transform the way you think and feel.

Write or type a statement which is relevant to your vision and framed with positive language and then place it where it is constantly visible (by the kettle, in your car, on your computer screen), so that you are confronted with it daily.  And then say it to yourself and to others every day.  After a period of between one and three months of conscious effort, you will find that your new mind-set is formed.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about mind-set and your feedback if you do choose to try this and if you enjoyed this blog, please share it!