What do successful people believe?

December 08, 2014 at 11:00 PM
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Successful businesspeople (and those on the path to success) are easy to identify. They're the ones with a growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed one. So what's required for a growth mindset? Here are 4 beliefs that distinguish the growth-minded:

1.     Hard work wins the day. Success comes from doing your best and having the basic goal of learning and improving. The goal is not simply to look good or achieve success effortlessly. It's to act on the belief that, ultimately, only hard work and continuous learning bring success.

2.     Never stop learning. Those with a growth mindset find setbacks motivating. Setbacks are informative­—a wake-up call. We learn much more from our failures than our triumphs. Great success is built on the foundation of learning from (and not lamenting) our failures.

3.     Focus is key. People with a growth mindset take charge of the process of growing. They know success only comes when we pay attention to our actions. People with a growth mindset pay attention to their actions and make the changes necessary to improve.

Perhaps important, people with a growth mindset believe one can move away from a fixed mindset. It requires only a modest amount of courage and a willingness to adjust your thinking. These people tell themselves "I'll give it a try. I'll work harder to achieve what is really important to me. I won't give up."

It's amazing the difference a slight realignment of your thinking can have. If you want to achieve success, you must first think like a successful person. Making these small changes in the way you think can have powerful, lasting effects.

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Nick Ray is a business coach who specializes in working with financial services professionals. He is the author of There's More to Selling than Making the Sale as well as a workbook on target marketing. He can be reached at [email protected].

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