Tools and processes are great but it pays to constantly sharpen the mindset as a priority to ensure greater success.

How we think, how we think about ourselves, what we think we’re capable of, has so much more impact on our performance or desired future then we understand. In fact we are limited by this internal image of ourselves because it equates to what we believe we’re worth and what we can achieve. Thus while we might set a new high bar or goal, subconsciously our level is set based on what we’re achieving now or the highest level in the past. We’re caught in this loop, never realising our desired future unless we sharpen the mindset and take on that uncomfortable feeling holding us back. 

So Mr. Subconscious let's set a new target and hold ourselves to a new mountainous target of increasing revenue by 50%! The response is, (that uncomfortable feeling in your gut) are you crazy? It was hard enough to hit the current run rate let alone double it. That sort of thinking is for behemoth corporations or super stars. 

So what do we do after setting this 50% increased target? We duck, dodge and dive, working on all the usual areas of life or business that are comfortable, we put things off and continue to do so, convincing ourselves then it's too late to start. Take a situation where you intend to contact an old buddy but you keep putting it off. Your intentions are good, you want to do it, you feel honorable because you have good intentions, but you’ve put it off with one excuse after another until contact never happens. It's been so long now that there is no way you will ever contact your buddy. You lose the connection, but justify having good intentions and sweep the whole thing under the rug. A good intention unsaid or unrealised is the same as having none at all, or so they say.

How many self help books are bought every year? How many have we read? How often have we started the book's exercises and committed to changing and achieving a new result? The answer is so, so, so, so, so often. But what can be hidden or conveniently read over are the testimonials that show the first step in achieving success is from a mindset shift either catastrophic or deliberately nurtured that made the tools in those new minds very powerful. For the rest that didn’t have a mindset shift, well they bought the next book, dabbled in some exercises and still buy books.

Let's outline this another way because you’ve never bought a self-help book. You buy gym membership in January but come April you've used the gym three times. Or you buy a new tennis racket, shoes and gear and are determined to play, but the racket has one outing before it's put into the closet with the exercise bike and the rowing machine. Absolutely nothing wrong with the rowing machine or bike either (the tool/exercise), it's not that you don’t have will power, you are great at paying every month for gym membership, great at feeling guilty because you’re not using it, great at making another commitment to exercise this week and super at harnessing willpower to still do nothing. Someone should shadow you to deduce why you are so good at not going to the gym, you’d sell millions of books.

Right, so now the definition of madness has just clicked with you, is it time to stop?

There is only one way forward and you know what it is? That thing you know you should do but don’t. It’s the thing that brings on the gut wrenching feeling that you immediately put off to your procrastination list. The first step to fixing this is taking immediate action. There are many approaches to try but perhaps when you feel the urge deep down to avoid something, try the simple 5 second rule technique (Mel Robbins) and count down from 5 to 1 but start doing that thing you don’t want to before you get to 1. E.g. You want to shout out your idea in a meeting but you get that uncomfortable feeling in your gut to hold back, count 5, 4, 3, shout your idea.

Success is on the other side of courage after the first step of new action. Then once you have success moving in a new way, repeat, repeat and repeat so you reprogram your mind to operate at a new level and see yourself on a higher step of the success ladder. It's so simple but so hard too as you cannot reprogram your mind by thinking only, it has way too many years conditioning so you need to physically show it and so tell it there is a new way and repeat until things change.