Author: cbarney.45

“Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.” – Washington Irving

Adapt and overcome. Plan for the worst case scenario, but hope for the best. View a challenge as an opportunity. Have a positive mindset no matter the outcome – setbacks will happen, but it’s all part of the path to success.

Do you want to have a little mind that can be so easily defeated? Or do you want to have a strong, resilient mind? Do you want to show panic and fear in the face of the storm or do you want to be calm?

Next time misfortune comes your way, ask yourself, am I going to be tamed by this? Is it going to stop me from reaching my goals? Listen to your answer (NO) and go face it. You will grow and be better for it.

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Even the greatest individual performers and the greatest teams miss on their goals or “fail” sometimes. But failure is not final unless you give up. If you get to the point where you don’t even try to do something for fear of failure, that is when you’ve truly lost.

Giving up or not trying is the only true failure. Mistakes become our best teachers. If we avoid making mistakes then we limit our learning capacity.

“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki

The best managers are leaders. Leaders care. They take the time to understand the people that they manage. Leaders understand that because people respond differently to how they are treated and have different motivations, they must use different styles of communication to get that employee to do their best work. They don’t try to manage everyone the same way.

Some team members are motivated by a challenge and can be called out. To others, that is the worst thing that a manager can do to them. They take criticism as a personal attack. For them, they may want their manager to come alongside them and more gently guide them. Some team members will want and require more of the manager’s time to do their best work, while others will feel micromanaged if the manager is constantly trying to “help.”

Learning the different personality types of their team is crucial to being a good leader. If leaders know how their team likes to communicate, and what their team responds most positively to, they can help them be as productive as possible. If the team members feel misunderstood, they probably won’t do their best work. It is up to the leader/manager to help them feel understood.

Your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, and your actions dictate your destiny. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. What you tell yourself is so incredibly important to what you see in life.

Where others see adversity, you see opportunity. If you change your perception of the happenings around you, you can start off with an advantage. A positive mindset will produce a better outcome than a negative one, even if it’s only in your head (similar to a placebo effect).

Whatever you focus on, your mind will look for more of…if you focus on the positive, your mind will notice other positive things happening around you and you will build momentum. If you focus on the negative, your mind will find other negative things to focus on. Suddenly, you shift from being happy to being upset.

Change your mindset and you can change your future.

Tom Morris’s 7 keys to success:

1. A clear CONCEPTION of what we want, a vivid vision, a goal clearly imagined.

2. A strong CONFIDENCE that we can attain that goal.

3. A focused CONCENTRATION on what it takes to reach our goal.

4. A stubborn CONSISTENCY in pursuing our vision.

5. An emotional COMMITMENT to the importance of what we’re doing.

6. A good CHARACTER to guide us and keep us on a proper course.

7. A CAPACITY TO ENJOY the process along the way.