Life Hack: Change Your Mindset
“The last thing you think is the first thing you will do.”
- Derek Jeter
I was in the gym today and a guy asked me to spot him. I asked how many reps. His response was, “I’m going to TRY to get four, maybe six, but I don’t know if I feel it.”
My first thought was: “He’s screwed!”
He got three and I “Johnny Spotted” him for his last three (Johnny Spot is a term that means you lifted the weight off of the persons chest to make them feel good. Long Story!).
He sat up and said, “That was a bunch of shit!” I went right after him, “What was “shit about it?” I asked.
He said he “should” be able to get that. I went for the kill shot, “Not the way you went into that lift, you weren’t sure of “shit” and you reaped what you sowed.”
He was stunned that some random guy was going after him. But after he tried to talk his way out of his weak mindset, he began to listen.
What You Think - You Become
Derek Jeter once said, “The last thing you think is the first thing you will do.”
If you think you will fail, you will most likely fail.
Your mind will not just “play along”. It will go where you want to take it. When you set a positive mindset, you will succeed more times than not.
I’m not saying you can go out and bench press 600-pounds. That is unless you have done 590 for a double. What I am saying is that when you get to your “walls”, or struggle points, and you know you have done the work to get over these obstacles. Set your mind, not on the wall, but what you will feel like when you get over it.
The wall concept comes from Randy Pausch in his book the “Last Lecture”, where he tells us that the walls in front of us aren’t there to stop us but only to see how badly we want which is on the other side. When we look at our obstacles in this light, we begin to become more positive in our outlook.
Finding The Holes in The Wall
We can start on your mindset right now:
· Get rid of the word “Good”, replace it with the word “Great”. “But I don’t feel great.” Then change whatever it is in your life that prevents you from being GREAT all of the time. Do this with other negative sounding words, or words that don’t inspire you to move forward. The Voices that surround us will lead us to the Choices that we make. Lean into positive Voices and your Choices will begin to be positive.
· Make sure you have a GET TO mindset when you go to bed. Too many people go to bed with a GOT TO mentality, so they dread getting up. Always have something scheduled in your day that you GET TO do so that you have something to look forward to. It may be as simple as having your favorite lunch. It might be looking forward to a workout. It might be a phone call or an email or text. Find GET TO’s in your life. Do the GOT TO’s first and get them out of the way. THEN you GET TO enjoy the rest of the day.
· Prepare your clothes and breakfast set up the night before. When you get up you have all this ready to go. This way you aren’t hurrying around. You are now in control of your pace in the beginning of your morning. When you prepare for success, you remove several of the GOT TO’s in your life. With fewer GOT TO’s you will have more room for the GET TO’s!
· Remove negative people from your daily communication list. If there are people who bring nothing but negatives into your life, cut them out. Stop letting them drag you down to their level. If it is at work, be cordial but brief with your dealing with them. If it is a “friend” walk away. If it is family, lean away. Instead, replace these negatives with positive people who lift you and push you to be your best, through supporting you.
· Don’t quit on yourself. Remind yourself of your strengths. Remind yourself of your passions. Remind yourself that it is up to you to obtain all the things that you are meant to have. Too many “accept” who and where they are as their place in this world. They want to blame everybody and everything for their plight. They don’t blame the right person. The one who looks at them in the mirror every day. Believe in that person. Inspire that person. Work for that person. In the end, if we don’t care about that person, we can’t care for anyone else around us. Success starts with you. When you are successful, everyone around you will have a shining star to shoot for.
These are five simple ways to set your positive mindset that will get you over, around, through and under any wall (obstacle) that you have thrown at you.
I use these daily. I have beat cancer. I have climbed the ladder from the lowest level of football to the highest and won at each step. I get up every day with an attitude of “thankfulness” that I GET another opportunity to leave a mark on this world. To move the needle forward by putting these words out there in hopes that people who need the push will put them to good use!
You are “the master of your fate, the captain of your soul” (Wm E Henley, Invictus) so start living like it … TODAY!
Have an amazing day!
