Successful People all have a Success-Mindset to Succeed, Here’s How to Build Your Own

By Jack J. Kelly

Having a positive success-oriented mindset is one of the most important assets to have to when you are interviewing for a new job.

Mindset is a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations. Most people possess a static mindset in which they resign themselves to the perceived notion that their innate intelligence and talents are fixed unalterable traits. This closed-end set-in-stone mindset is all you have to work with.

People who are successful forsake this theory and learn how to effectively cultivate a success mindset. This is a thought practice in which you can build upon your God-given talents and are not held prisoner and victim of the limited tools you were born with. Rather, your innate abilities are merely the starting point towards building the best version of yourself.

Mindset can also be understood as taking active control over how you view the world around you, process this information, and develop a healthy, productive and beneficial way of responding to these events. For most people, we intuitively react to events in a knee-jerk fashion as if it is instinctively mandated and we have no choice in the matter. If someone says something mean or hurtful to you the natural reaction will be for you to feel badly about yourself, and allow the comment to ruin your day and reinforce your preexisting feelings of low self-esteem. It does not have to be this way. You can learn how to take assertive control of how you react to outside events in a positive manner. Successful people have mastered this art which enables them to greatly improve their careers and lives.

This is not a new concept. This theory has been discussed over the years by much smarter people than me. For instance, the practice of “Stoicism”, a school of ancient Greek philosophy took root in the ancient Roman and Greek world. Stoicism is predominantly a philosophy of maintaining a code of personal ethics which is informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world. According to its teachings, as social beings, the path to happiness for humans is found in accepting this moment as it presents itself, by not allowing ourselves to be controlled by our desires or our fear of pain, by using our minds to understand the world around us as it is, and then formulating a plan to succeed within this environment – regardless of the circumstances being good or dire.

Observing individuals who have succeeded in life; we can identify elements of expertise, grit, understanding, and passion. What’s easy to overlook is the inner system within an individual—the set of principles that govern their mind and behavior. When failure ensues or the need to adapt is necessary, how does one respond? What do they tell themselves? In other words, what’s their philosophy to cope and then thrive?

This philosophy teaches how to overcome life’s trials and tribulations. The goal of Stoicism is to attain inner peace by overcoming adversity, practicing self-control, being conscious of our impulses, realizing our ephemeral nature and the short time allotted—these were all meditative practices that helped them live with their nature and not against it. It’s important that we understand the obstacles that we face and not run from them; it’s vital that we learn to transmute them into fuel to feed our fire.

It is possible to control how you think. Instead of impulsively reacting to or acting out of habit, you could actually change the way you both mentally view these events and then proceed in a positive direction. You may not be able to change other people or external events, no matter how difficult they are, but you can certainly have mental control over the way in which you process this information and how you react.

This is vitally important in interviewing as it is easy to get hurt, offended, have your pride wounded, and give-up if you take things personally. If you are able to rise above the crowd, develop a positive way to respond to rejection, use it to drive you forward, then you could spectacularly succeed.

The successful mindset is hard to achieve but it is achievable. Most people succumb to the negative voices in their head that have been drummed into them since childhood. These voices, played on endless loops, beat you up with negativity, anxiety, fear of failure and the unknown and it becomes easier to do nothing, than to act. Let’s be honest here, don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about. We all feel insecure, anxiety, nervousness, worry, and fear. Some more so than others and it may change on the spectrum depending upon the situation but we all have to deal with this. In my experience, the only people who go through life without worry or fear are people too stupid to know what is happening around them, psychopaths and liars.

To be successful, it is crucial to develop and cultivate the mindset and desire to be great, or at the very least a wish to improve their current situation. Without this mindset there would be no motivation or cause for action. Simple waiting and hoping for a change to miraculously happen on its own is not a sound plan. Wanting, waiting and wishing will not produce results. What is needed is a deep burning desire to achieve a goal, coupled with assertive actions that will bring results. For true success, desire is necessary as wishes will only result in frustration. Desire focuses on the presence of something or the addition of something, whereas wanting focuses on the lack of something.

Whenever you focus on the lacking part, you attract more lack into your life subconsciously. When you focus on the desire, you are consumed by the feeling of having that thing in your life to the extent that you are already picturing what it would feel like to have it in your life. It is this desire that catapults you into action that brings results. Desire pushes you out of your comfort zone because when you desire something, you will not sit idly without doing everything possible to attain the object of your desire. This creates the attraction and brings into your life everything you desire.

I would like to build upon my personal experiences to help you develop a successful mindset to help you thrive in the interviewing process.

I have failed too many times to count, sometimes in epic fashion. I have also succeeded. As a Recruiter, founder of and Chief Executive Officer of an Executive Search firm, in the midst of building a start-up job board, newsletter and media site, I was fortunate to place thousands of people in great jobs over the last twenty years and take immense joy in watching their lives financially and personally flourish. Also, I was able to build a solid life for my family and accumulate a substantial nest egg.

By helping thousands of people go through the interview process, I have learned how having a successful mindset helps people win. Conversely, those with a negative outlook tend to flame out.

When it comes to interviewing write down all your goals and design a plan to achieve them. For instance, update your resume to look sharp and capture all your amazing skills, experience and education, ensure that your LinkedIn profile catches the attention of recruiters, hiring managers, and human resource professionals, meet with recruiters, attend conferences to network, speak with trusted colleagues to get ideas, work on your elevator pitch, and read about your industry to learn about who is hiring and who is not.

Push yourself to work every day on aspects of your interview success plan. Stick with your plan on a daily basis and remain steadfast and focused. Remind yourself why you are looking for a new job; perhaps it is to earn more money to improve the life of your family, maybe it is to find better growth opportunities, or you may feel unappreciated or worse, mistreated. Keep in mind these drivers to push you forward as you hit roadblocks and rejections – which will inevitably happen.

It is important to take inventory of your prior successes to counterbalance the negativity and rejection associated with interviewing. Think of all the times you prevailed. Most people sprinkle their successes like dust scattered everywhere and pile up their losses into a mountain. They then point to this mountain and lament about their failures and cannot find the triumphs. Do the opposite, collect all your good, positive and winning moments and build them up to a large New York skyscraper. When the negative thoughts kick in, look to the gleaming skyscraper and think that you will add a new job to it.

When the negative talk loop kicks in, substitute positive thoughts to guide you through the rough patch. Here are some examples from Napoleon Hill, the author of “Think and Grow Rich”.

“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.” 

                 “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” 

                “You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” 

                “When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.” 

                “If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way.” 

                “Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is   to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do. More than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever known told the author their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them.” 

                “Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.” 

                “Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.” 

                “When your desires are strong enough, you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.” 

                “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” 

                “A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.” 

                “Our only limitations are those we set up in our own minds” 

                “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” 

                “The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.” 

                “Action is the real measure of intelligence.” 

                “Every adversity, every failure, every heartbreak, carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” 

                “An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.” 

                “A goal is a dream with a deadline” 

                “Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” 

                “When you are able to maintain your own highest standards of integrity – regardless of what others may do – you are destined for greatness.” 

                “To win the big stakes in this changed world, you must catch the spirit of the great pioneers of the past, whose dreams have given to civilization all that it has of value, the spirit that serves as   the life-blood of our own country – your opportunity and mine, to develop and market our talents.” 

Accept who you are. If you have certain deficiencies, don’t let them define you. Work from your strengths, and minimize the weaknesses. Use positive self-talk to remind yourself of all your good qualities. There are enough people out there who try to make yourself miserable, you don’t have to do it to yourself too.

There is a strong reason why we sometimes do not believe in our own wishes. Even though we want something, we feel we don’t deserve it. This is a state of being brainwashed since childhood. We have been taught by society to be cautious, know our place, stay within our lane, don’t be a dreamer and end up believing that we are unworthy of what we desire.

To get rid of these beliefs, you need to reprogram yourself. Go somewhere quiet, relax your mind and repeat the beliefs you want to plant within you. Focus on your worthiness and having faith. With time, the seeds you plant during your meditative stage using affirmations will transform into beliefs. Additionally, start writing things you desire in a journal and read them several times a day in order to remember what you want and place them firmly in your subconscious mind.

This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way — in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments — everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”

With a growth mindset, you believe change is possible and even necessary. You don’t view failures as the end of the world — you see them as opportunities for learning. You are comfortable with taking risks, and you even seek out calculated risk opportunities. 

You want to challenge yourself to try something harder, stretch beyond your perceived limits, and go for things others might not think you’re capable of achieving.

#Success #Mindset #Hire #Resume #Interview #GrowthMindSet #Career #CareerAdvice #Jobs #LinkedIn