The Real Key to Success

The Real Key to Success

Dearests,

I have spent countless hours consuming content related to personal growth and success in hopes of applying those principles to my life to make a change for the better.  The general problem is, however, that there are so many different ideas, schemes and quick fixes out there, making it is hard to discern what to adopt and adding in too many different actions can quickly lead to burnout.  Not to mention that there are many different ideas of what success looks like that might not necessarily coincide with your own.

With all of that said I have come across two ideas which I believe are the foundation of building lasting success regardless of what your definition is.  They are a GROWTH MINDSET and GOOD HABITS.  It sounds simple, but if you can cultivate these, then I believe, that you really do have the key to success in your hands. The issue is that they are not something that can be implemented overnight, these need to be cultivated in your life and will undoubtedly lead growth in your future over time. 
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Let's dig deeper: 
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​Growth Mindset 

This is all about the process, or to look at it another way, it is like the "Operating System" of You.  It's the idea that your talents, IQ, ability to learn, etc. are not pre-determined or genetic but in fact, you can learn anything or gain any skill that you wish to have, you just need to be willing to work for it.  Your brain can actually grow connections and you can become smarter and attain skills by consistently putting yourself in challenging situations.  If you challenge yourself in order to build skills that you can use to contribute to society in your own unique way, the sky is the limit for what you could accomplish over your lifetime.  This also means that you can continue to learn and grow for your whole life if you wanted to. Inevitably, you will encounter challenging situations, but if you intentionally decide to make them ones that better yourself and society as a whole it makes the struggle much more worth it.  Further, as an added benefit, you will be more adept to handle challenging situations once you are practiced at it, and when you realize that this is all a part of learning you will suffer less along the way. Ultimately, you will be able to take any obstacle and turn it into an opportunity or a lesson that you will actually benefit from and then you can't lose.

You first put into place the "Operating System" aka, the right mindset, and this will act as the interface and determine how you interact with the outside world.

Characteristics of a Growth Mindset Include:

• Willingness to learn and to fail
• Understands that setbacks are a part of the process
• Mistakes help you learn
• Understanding that you can learn anything
• Willingness to put yourself in challenging and new situations
• Being ok with not always being right or looking smart
• Knowing that you will encounter obstacles along the way and that they can be turned into opportunities ​

To go deeper on this watch the below videos by the lady that literally wrote the book and coined the phrase "Growth Mindset",  Carol Dweck.  These videos are so insightful and are the basis to truly creating a life that you love. One where you are a continuous growth in progress, and that's ok…it's actually the point!  And what better lesson to teach your children than that of a growth mindset?  She also digs into this idea and how it relates to children, this is truly something that you don't want to miss! Sit back and enjoy! 

​Good Habits 

If a growth mindset is the "Operating System", then good habits would be the "Software".  If you are going to make a change in your life, either positive or negative, then habit is how you will do it. Your habits, and your discipline to stick to your habits, is truly, what dictates the person that you will become. It's about what you do, not what you think about, or dream about doing, but what you actually do, that brings the results.  If you want to be in-shape or get a six pack then you need to have a good fitness habit. If you want to learn a new language then you need a good study habit.  Whatever you want to accomplish you first need to put into place a habit or a set of consistent actions that will, over time, come together to help you achieve the goal and in turn, create the person who can accomplish them. The good news is that the more you repeat an action it will then develop into a habit meaning that, in time, it can be done with little effort as it is run on autopilot and managed by your subconscious instead of something that needs all your time, focus and energy. Isn't that amazing?! Just like riding a bike. 

Like compound interest, small improvements (achieved through habit) to your life can compound overtime to create huge gains. Just do the math, if you were to make a 1% gain each day for a year, at the end of the year you would be 37 times better then when you started. Small efforts can add up to make significant success in your life!  So it goes without saying that the more positive habits that you can develop and cultivate in your life, the more successful and happy you will become overall. From my own experience I found that just tracking the habits that I want to put in place in a planner or an app can make a huge difference in my follow- through, and it feels great when you get a streak going, which keeps you not wanting to break it. 
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Don’t take it from me, but take it from the author of the book Atomic Habits, James Clear, and learn why habits are fundamental to creating the life that you want and how you can proactively cultivate them to achieve your desires. 
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So with your "Operating System" (Mindset) in place, which is your interface from the hardware (You) and the outside world; and your "Software" downloaded (Habits) which is the application that actually performs the specific task, you now have the complete system to create the change in your life that you want to see.

Any change starts with your mindset first, followed by your actions. If you can get these both to match what you want in life then you have the real secret to success! If you like the content and want to dive into the subjects deeper check out some additional resources below. 

I would love to hear from you, let me know what good habits you are intentionally adding into your life and how you stick with them in the comments below. Remember, it is all up to you, will you change it?


Design Your Life ~ Be Authentic.  Be You.  Be Sharp

With Love.

Additional Resources:

• Get the Book ~ Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck ~ Click Here. 
• Get the Book ~ Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear ~ Click Here.
• ​Check out James Clear's website to sign up for a newsletter, check out more articles and more ~ Click Here. 

Keys to Success

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Sources:

• Follow Tom Bilyeu on YouTube ~ The Growth Mindset - Carol Dweck | Inside Quest #12
• Follow Stanford on YouTube ~ Teaching a Growth Mindset - Carol Dweck
• Follow TedX Talks on YouTube ~ The power of yet | Carol S Dweck | TEDxNorrköping 
• Follow Video Advice on YouTube ~ "Every Billionaire Uses It!"
• Follow Convertkit on YouTube ~ 1% Better Every Day - James Clear at ConvertKit Craft + Commerce 2017