‘Mindset’ is the one common trait that is preventing people from achieving ultimate success, says Sandro Forte, and the best way to exercise and establish true mental toughness is by combining consistency and persistence
At the age of nine, my father passed away leaving my mother widowed at the age of 29 with four children.
Though my father was a successful businessman, family agreements dictated that the business was handed to his sister, my aunt, leaving my Mother with no choice but to move from the family home into welfare housing.
Fast forward several years later and my mother was fortunate to find love again and went on to have two additional children with her husband Dave. However, ill fate struck twice, and Dave sadly passed away from cancer when I was 24 years old.
The difference, however, in these two situations is that two months prior to Dave’s cancer diagnosis I had commenced a career within financial services and persuaded both Dave and my mother to take out a life insurance policy. This was a decision I procrastinated over for a while, unsure if I should involve family members in my work life, but if I hadn’t my mother would have experienced the same financial disarray once more.
Though tragic, this experience inspired me to do two things:
- Establish a successful career within wealth management, where I worked incredibly hard to ensure my clients were protected and financially secure under all eventualities.
- Help others to achieve their true potential through personal development and success coaching, after experiencing first-hand the limitations of time and devastating impact procrastination can have.
Having continued to provide personal development coaching for many years, there is one common trait that is preventing people from achieving ultimate success and that is mindset.
To succeeed, you have to believe
Anyone who has ever succeeded in achieving their goals, would have first believed that it was possible. By this, I mean that in order to really achieve success you have to have an unwavering belief that it’s not only possible, but that it is going to happen – it is just a matter of time.
Without this conviction toward a successful future, not only are you more likely to throw in the towel when things get hard – because they will – but on a subconscious level, you don’t truly believe it is going to happen, which means it won’t.
In the famous words of Napoleon Hill: “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”
Mind changers
It may sound simple to say: ‘believe in your goals and you will achieve them’, but in practice we all know it is much harder. One of the key methods that I have used and taught others to use in order to develop self-belief and train their mindset for success is the use of mind changers.
Mind changers are a set of tools that emerged from the world’s number one business associated with winning – the world of sports. Sports coaches and psychologists over time have contributed to creating a tool kit that can be used by anyone to dramatically change their results.
The one that I feel is most effective is the use of flip cards. Think about 10 statements that you want to believe about yourself and your business and write them as if they have already happened. For example: ‘It feels amazing to have won five new clients in two weeks.’
Read these flip cards at least twice per day, once in the morning and once in the evening for at least 28 days – the length of time it takes for any mental programming to take full effect.
This sounds simplistic but believe me it works. By thinking about all of these statements in the past tense – believing that you are already successful – you will start to make them happen, enabling you achieve your goals.
Mental toughness
To truly train your mind for success, you need to establish mental toughness. This means the capability to continue to focus on your goals – knowing and believing you will be successful – no matter what challenges you face. The best way to exercise and establish true mental toughness is by combining consistency and persistence.
Being consistent means knowing what new habits you have to create and activate on a regular basis. Being persistent means whenever you fall over, stand up, dust yourself off and go for it again.
Sandro Forte is a Wealth Manager, Personal Development Coach, Podcast Host and Public Speaker
