Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking - Part 1
“Perceived failure is oftentimes success trying to be born in a bigger way.”
Chinese Fortune Cookie
PART I
As either a speaker or leader, the possibility of your success is ever present, ever changing, and never ending. The one certain thing I know, is that you will take and remain in control of that success potential when you discover how to define and refine your success mindset. The seeds of success must be planted and nurtured in the mind of the achiever if they are to have any possibility of taking root and reaching maturity.
If you’re looking for the most direct route to achieving success, look between your ears. Examine your current state of thinking toward your destination and become intimately aware of both the natural Enemies and the Allies of your promise.
THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF PROMISE
It might be hard for you to imagine (or not) that lying within the same fabric of energy from which you weave the dream, desire and eventual positive outcome of a promise are the same threads from which you may sew its destruction. These natural enemies of promise lurk beneath the surface of your positive energy waiting for that moment when the slightest crack in your resolve presents the opportunity for them to insidiously strike at the heart of your desire.
Without any fanfare or warning they will inject their venom into your thinking system causing the possibility of your promise to D.I.E.
The natural enemies of promise are Doubt, Indecision and Entropy. Let’s briefly examine each’s role as a natural enemy of promise.
Doubt
You’ve may have heard the expression, “sowing the seeds of doubt.” It’s true. Doubt is an easily planted, quick-rooting seed. Once planted it becomes self-nurturing, feeding upon a growing bed of uncertainty about the outcome of a possibility. Doubt can cause the deeply convicted to consider questionable or unlikely the strength of their conviction. Doubt is that critical moment when you hesitate to believe the possibility of your promise. Doubt is never an ally of the bold, the innovative, or the achiever.
The purveyors of Doubt are all around you. Even in places you might consider “safe”. Eliminate doubters from all facets of your endeavor. This might include friends, family, peers, superiors and subordinates, partners and patrons. If your goal is to succeed at achieving the possibility of your promise, you must build a wall of resistance and learn to cast away all signs of doubt. Steel yourself to the struggles ahead while learning to plant seeds of positivity nurtured by the faith of your conviction.
Indecision
My dad was one heck of a very successful salesman. Not only was he a success, but many of the people who worked for him were successful as well. One of the favorite expressions he used to inspire and instruct his sales force in helping them learn how to close for the benefit of the customer was, “Not to decide, is to decide.”
Indecision is an infectiously paralytic mindset that inflicts upon a person’s possibility of promise the inability to decide in both initial and critical situations. Unlike doubt that causes one to reconsider a belief, indecision robs the possibility of promise of its right to exist by shutting down all forward momentum. Indecision is the quicksand of the mind in which a current state of sinking in overwhelm becomes the accepted norm. Indecision is treading water with no apparent safe shore in sight.
Your goal in dispelling indecision is latch on to your resolve. See the possibility of your promise for all of the wonderous reasons that initially inspired you. Deepen your intention and take the leap of faith you dreamed of at the start.
Entropy
All endeavors exist on the same basic ingredient, energy. For most speakers and leaders this energy is limitless. It is culled from the intensity of their vision and the desire to share their vision with a wider, deeper impact.
Entropy is a doctrine of inevitable decline and degeneration. It tells us that, universally, reaching the possibility of your promise is an uphill battle. Things have a tendency toward deterioration. When pursuing the possibility of your promise you must know that whatever energy (enthusiasm) you amassed to begin will not be sufficient to sustain. To overcome the forces of entropy you will need to find ways to continually add to your supply of energy.
It’s not easy, but it is possible. Positive mindset techniques like expanding your vision, increasing the scope of your pursuit, and increasing the number of people that are aware of your promise are all ways you can add energy to your endeavor to counter the effects of entropy.
DON’T LET YOUR PROMISE D.I.E.
The natural enemies of promise are formidable, but not controllable. To become the master of the enemies you will need to intensify and solidify your positive mindset. When doubt, indecision or entropy begin to surface, you will need to learn how to adeptly hit the reset button without losing momentum. Remember, the solution lies between your ears.
TO BE CONTINUED…
This is the first of a two-part blog that will examine how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking.” In this part we examined “The Natural Enemies of Promise” - Doubt, Indecision and Entropy. If you cannot defeat the Natural Enemies of Promise by changing how you think, the possibility of your promise will D.I.E.
In part two of how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking”, we will examine the Natural Allies of Promise that will enable you to L.I.V.E. the possibility of your promise.
Thanks for your support as a reader of my blog and I eagerly welcome any comments on this post or suggestions you might have for a future blog on a topic near and dear to you in the comments section below. As always, please feel free to share this post with a friend or colleague.
Bringing Positivity to Everything,
The Brain Tamer
