You are NOT your mindset – but your mindset rules your life!

A mindset is simply a collection of beliefs and thought patterns, and while it seems like they rule our lives the great news is that your mindset can be shifted.

Essentially, there are two core mindset patterns: fixed or growth.

Your mindset is never fixed forever – it’s merely a collection of beliefs and thoughts that have somehow been joined by your childhood environment, your experiences and the people you hang around with.

While it may seem like ‘fixed’ is set in stone, the good news is that you can change it if you want to!

A growth mindset is one where you’re open to learning and willing to change – in fact, you’re an early adopter of change and take responsibility for yourself.

You seek new opportunities, you’re enthusiastic, and you’re always seeking to become the best version of yourself.

At MYOB Partner Connect this year, I was honoured to spend a lot of time with the MYOB team who all have fantastic growth mindsets! And you want a growth mindset in the people you connect to and partner with!

People with fixed mindsets often stay stuck in the past; they blame others and don’t take responsibility for themselves; they like being ‘victims’; they’re inflexible and find change an extraordinary challenge; they’re ‘it’s not my job’ kind of people!

One of the key secrets we covered at Partner Connect was how to change a mindset – which is relatively simple (not so easy) to do if you begin to observe your thinking.

How to change your thinking

Ninety-five to ninety-nine percent of the time we’re oblivious to our own thoughts, but they’re always running in the background, controlling how you feel.

Therefore feelings are indicators of what you’re thinking.

If becoming conscious of what you’re thinking, try stopping when you notice you’re feeling something.

Ask ‘what is it in me that is making me feel this way?’

For example, if you believe someone has done the wrong thing or offended you, stop and notice your feelings. Then ask yourself ‘what is it in me, that is making me feel this way?’

Once you have that information, you’ll have a better sense of what you’re really dealing with.

It’s never anybody else who controls how you feel: it’s your thoughts which determine your feelings.

Make a commitment today to begin observing your thinking. What are you saying to yourself about everything that makes you feel a certain way?

It only takes a second to recognise what you are thinking or saying to yourself, but doing the observing takes a lot of practice before it becomes a habit!

Getting into the habit

Listen not only to what you say to yourself, but also what comes out of your mouth.

If you hear self-limiting beliefs and thoughts coming out – like ‘I am no good at ‘blah’’…add the word ‘yet’.

It’s a very powerful word and changes the meaning of what you just said – so your unconscious mind hears you are not good at ‘blah’ yet, which implies that you’ll soon be good at it.

These are two simple but powerful techniques that really work.  I love how MYOB has such a corporate growth mindset that they allow someone like me to present to all the (very fun!) partners.

This information really does help the typical entrepreneur partner to become more successful in whatever way they like – not to mention be wiser parents and grandparents!

The last and still very significant element of truly living – as you can do with a growth mindset – is gratitude.

It is the master re-framer. If you can consciously choose to look at everything that happens to you through gratitude glasses, life changes for the better.

No matter how terrible something seems, if you can will yourself to look for things to be grateful for, you’ll not only feel differently but also transform how the memory is embedded into your cells. So there you have it! A three-step process to thrive with a growth mindset!

1. Become an observer of your thoughts, so you make conscious choices
2. Add the word ‘yet’ to any thought or sentence that implies you are not good at something or has a negative connotation
3. Find gratitude every day, in everything

And lastly – a huge TA DAAAA to MYOB for allowing me to become part of the family – it’s a fun family! I am full of gratitude for the opportunity.