Mindset is the key to everything that you want to achieve in your leadership journey and life. And today, I’m going to make a case for why.
You have a conscious thinking mind and an unconscious or subconscious thinking mind. Your conscious thinking is the thoughts you are aware of. Your unconscious thinking is the thoughts you are not aware of. Your Mindset is your thinking habits with both of these minds.
But here’s the deal; 95 percent of your thinking is unconscious. That’s right, the majority of your thinking happens without you even knowing about it.
Right now, wherever you are, whether you’re sitting in your chair, at your office, or home, your mind is running your body. Meaning, you are breathing, your eyes are blinking, your heart is beating, and you don’t have to consciously remember to tell your body to make these things happen. It happens automatically. Your mind has so much power that it can heal your body.
And the thing is, what most people don’t realize and is where you have real influence in your leadership in life is with your Mindset. It is a powerful tool. If you give it the right instructions, it’s a powerful tool to achieve the goals and dreams you desire.
That’s if you give it the proper instructions. Your mind is easy to program, and similar to a computer, what you input affects the output you get.
So let me give you an example. If you have ever seen a commercial for something and you stopped, and you paid attention to that commercial and thought, “Oh, I really want that.” Say, for instance, it is the Season of Audi event, and you see this car in a beautiful shade of red! Yes!
And you’re looking at that car, and you’re thinking, oh wow, that is a nice car. And then you start thinking, oh, I’d really like to have a car like that. And you begin to imagine what it would be like sitting in the cockpit of that car, how the door closes softly and how that new leather smells. And, you get excited thinking about this car. “Hmmm, wouldn’t it be cool if I could have one of those cars?” But then the commercial ends, and you forget about the car.
A couple of days later, you’re coming out of the grocery store, and there is that red Audi S5 in the corner of the parking lot. And again, you see that car, and you think, “Oh, gee, that’s a great car. I would love to have one of those cars!” So now you’re driving home, and at a stoplight, you look over at the bank drive through and see another one of those cars. Even when you pull in your driveway, there’s one at your neighbors, two doors down.
It’s like this car is everywhere!
It existed before you saw it, but when you saw the commercial, you stopped, and you paid attention to the commercial. When you started having feelings about the car in the commercial (the new leather smell and wouldn’t I look good driving that car?), you planted a seed in your mind, and you said, this is what I want to find.
It’s your reticular activating system, and it’s how you sort information according to what is relevant for you, not for anybody else. So in the case of this car, your mind eliminated the vans and the trucks, and it eliminated the blue cars and the yellow cars, and it brought you that red Audi S5.
So how can you do it intentionally in your leadership and life? Define it. You might be in the C-Suite, or you might work for someone else. Maybe you have your own business. Perhaps you dedicate your time to a heartfelt passion, a nonprofit in your area, head of household. It doesn’t matter. All of this is leadership, and self-leadership is when you lead yourself first.
Mindset is such a massive piece of that. So, get yourself aligned with what you want to focus on and define what you want your next level to look like. Having that Clarity is how you create a mindset that works for you, not against you, in your leadership in life.
Your job is to get more Clarity about what that next level looks like for you. If you’re in a place where you’re thinking,
“I’m not making an impact like I thought I would”
“I don’t have the influence that I want” or
“I’m just not feeling about my work like I used to,”
Then what is it that you want instead?
Get focused on that. Try brainstorming what it might look like if you had greater influence, and then look for the people that have the sort of influence you want. You could connect with other people who you know have meaning in their jobs and ask what makes it so for them.
So focusing on what you do want instead of what you don’t is a huge way for you to take this powerful tool, the six inches between your own two ears, and put it to work for you.
And when you find yourself thinking in a direction that doesn’t support you (as we all do), ask yourself what it is that you want instead and focus on that.
Until next time, here’s wishing you the Clarity you deserve!
