There are two primary mental shifts that occur in the lives of all highly successful people. Many make the first, but very few make the second.
Yes, you HEARD right:
Both of these shifts require a great deal of mental stretching from conventional and societal ways of thinking.
In many ways, these shifts require you to unlearn the negative and sabotaging programming from your youth, public education, and even in adulthood.
So without further ado, let’s begin:
You are Responsible
In order to make the first shift, you must go from an external locus of control to an internal locus of control.
This is the scientific way of saying: you stop playing the victim to external circumstances and take responsibility for your life.
You are responsible for how you respond to life. No longer do you impulsively react.
No longer do you blame others for any lack on your part!
It’s all on you. If it fails, it was your fault. You made choices and now there are consequences.
Of course, others may be involved, but you can’t blame them for your choices.
Every choice has a cost and consequence
“Free-will” doesn’t exist.
You aren’t “free” to act however you want, unless you’re willing to accept the consequences of those actions.
The only way to avoid negative consequences, then, is to understand the principles governing natural consequences.
Hence, highly successful people are continually learning and striving to better understand the world around them.
You can’t be free to act if you don’t understand the consequences of your behavior.
Ignorance is not bliss, but bondage to negative consequences without understanding the source and reason for those consequences.
Combine this ignorance with a victim mentality and you have a destructive cocktail.
Success (and happiness) is a choice
Success, health, and happiness are all consequences. They are byproducts.
They are effects, not causes.
You can’t control the effects; principles control these. However, you can control the causes of these things, which are your behaviors.
Negative environmental factors? Change them.
For example, if you start your day well, you’re likely to have confidence throughout the rest of your day.
If you start poorly, that prior performance will sap your confidence, even subconsciously.
Get this clear: confidence is a direct reflection of past performance. Hence, yesterday is more important than today.
Luckily, today is tomorrow’s yesterday. So, even if your confidence today isn’t optimal, your confidence tomorrow is still within your control.