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Business Articles from the MakingIt! Digest:

Business Articles aimed to equip and guide you down a successful business path

Business Insight and Beyond

Mindset Exercises

Reaching your full transformation potential requires you to "program" your mind so you can create a clear and exciting vision of your future. The clearer that vision, the more you will desire to make it a reality. If you don’t have a clear picture of what you want, you’ll find trying anything new very difficult. It all comes down to your "mindset."

Three Mindsets

We all have three mindsets: a history-based mindset, a future-based mindset, and a present-based mindset. What type of person you are and how successful you are at any endeavor has a lot to do with what mindset you allow to dominate your thoughts, decisions, communications, and actions. You can change your mindset, but you have to decide to do so. Your mindset determines who you are and what you can and can’t do!

1. History-based mindset.
People whose actions are dominated by a history-based mindset believe most everything that is important, pleasurable, or meaningful in their lives has already occurred. Their goal is to return to their past. They spend a lot of time reflecting on "the good old days," looking backwards, because it’s easier to reminisce about where they’ve been than to figure out where they’re going. They are reluctant to accept new ideas or opportunities, and they have trouble sticking with anything challenging; hence, they hardly ever progress. They are also very uncomfortable with the growth of others because it threatens their devotion to activities that do not produce a positive group. Their lives are filled with non-productive activities—they basically waste their lives.

2. Present-based mindset.
You would not even be reading this article if you weren’t serious about improving yourself. However, you may be dominated by your present-based mindset—you aren’t obsessed about going back in time, but you aren’t nearly focused enough on the future. You have tremendous potential to improve, rapidly! You just need a push in the right direction—you need to decide to look forward instead of focusing so much on the here and now.

3. Future-based mindset.
People whose daily actions are governed by a future-based mindset are continually growing and taking on new and bigger challenges. They are always creating, modifying, and improving their future vision. What has happened to these people in the past is not to be ignored or denied, but those experiences are used to develop skills that help them get where they want to go.

When you develop a strong future-based mindset, your subconscious propels you toward constant growth and improvement. You don’t have to force yourself to set goals; you just automatically do it. And every time you accomplish an objective, it’s not the end—it’s the beginning—the starting point for future progress and improvement.

I invite you to write down 10 specific things that have to happen in the next year for you to be satisfied with your progress in life. This will help you develop a strong future-based mindset.

Brainstorming Exercise

If you don’t have a strong future mindset already, how do you get one? One way is to write down what comes to mind when you answer this question: What would you want to have accomplished within the next year if nothing were out of reach?

Start scribbling down words that excite you. The things you really want will come to mind quickly. Now put those thoughts into affirmative, narrative sentences. What you are doing is developing a "future-mindset statement." After you’ve written your paragraph, reread it. The words should conjure up emotion and make you excited about your future. Read your future-mindset statement first thing in the morning, and again at night, every day. Recite this statement as if you were describing your own future to someone else. Speak with confidence and excitement! Remember, you are creating your future-mindset reality.

When you do this, eliminate fear, negative emotion, and doubt from your thoughts. Also, don’t describe your future success as things you "hope" to achieve—describe them as things you will accomplish. Hope is not a strong enough emotion to create the mindset you want. You must believe, with certainty, that what your imagine is your future reality.

You may upgrade or modify your future vision every month. Feel free to get creative and imagine the best future you possibly can. If your progress is hindered by simple things, the problem is not that you’re too busy, or have poor discipline—the problem is you don’t really want it because you haven’t yet developed an exciting vision of your future self.

Once you commit your future-mindset statement to memory, your mind will lead you toward this future-based vision—you will develop a burning desire to make it a reality. You will feel and be in control, maybe for the first time ever!

By practicing this skill—by teaching yourself to believe in your future vision—you don’t just accomplish one thing; you accomplish everything. When things don’t go your way, you’ll pick yourself up, because more powerful than any failure is this vision you have. Eventually, you won’t even have to plan each day’s activities because you will do the things you should be doing—you’ll be moving toward that vision. Deep down inside, you’ll know, one day you will get there—it’s a faith and a feeling that whatever happens will happen, but you know, in the end, you will get where you want to go.

Most people never develop a strong future-based mindset; hence, they never harness their true potential. If they aren’t focused on their futures—if they’re not consciously creating their lives, they’re living accidentally, not intentionally. They’re merely reacting to life.

We could sit back and let things just happen to us and live, day to day however we please. But we were meant to grow—to elevate ourselves. When you determine what you want your future to be, you have decided to grow—to live—not just exist! The ball is in your court—the power to succeed or fail is yours—no one can take that away.

Excellence in Action: Take four minutes and complete the mindset exercise above. 

Source: Success Magazine