Success Mindset

We all set goals in different stages of life, and they can be in the form of finance, health, relationship, and many others. But even with the right amount of motivation to reach these goals, we often fail to develop the right mindset or system to achieve them. To make it even more difficult, life is simply full of obstacles and challenges whether we like them or not. What do we do?

The first thing is we need to start with is our mindset. A simple change, a child-like mindset, can reverse a lot of negativity when we're faced with difficulties. The universe is not here to get us or to watch us fail, but more of a playground for us to learn and explore. Let's imagine a scenario where a 3-year-old boy sees a swing at a playground, and he really wants to try it. First he runs across the lawn and trips a few times, gets up and runs again, bumps into a few older kids, gets up and runs again, and he finally reaches the swing. The swing seems so fun, but he is not strong or tall enough to get on, so he uses all his strength to pull himself up the swing, and he falls off and cries. But he gets up again and keeps trying, and once he's on the swing, he doesn't quite know how to swing back and forth, so he asks for help from the parents, and in a few minutes, there he is, finally, playing on the swing. 

Let's break this scenario up and analyze what's going through the mind of the little boy:

1. Goals: his one and only goal is to play on the swing, so he ignores everything else and runs toward it. He's not distracted by the slide, the soccer ball, but sets his eyes on the swing. 
2. Obstacles: he trips but he gets up every time. He saw other bigger kids, but he doesn't mind. His strength is not all there, and he lacks the skills to play on the swing, but he keeps going and keeps overcoming all obstacles. 
3. Help: he realizes his limitation, so he asks for help. Help happens to be there because his parents are there, and he's not shy because he knows his goal and trusts his parents. 

For us, it's not a swing we try to get on anymore, as our goals are more complicated and difficult, but the mindset should still be the same as that of a little boy's. Jim Carrey has a very interesting quote: "So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect, so we never dare to ask the universe for it.” "A promotion means less time hanging out with my friends", "stock investment means there's risk of losing 20% a week", "Going to school at night means less energy for work the next day", and our excuses pile on, because we choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. 

Did you lose the desire to do everything you can to reach the swing, or are you too tired of the challenges that you choose to stay still, or too afraid of asking for help because of your ego? Be a 3-year-old and reach for that swing, no matter what...