Mindset Motivation

Your Mindset determines your success or failure in anything you do.  And Mindset motivation is therefore critical to your success.

I have lost count of the number of times that I have heard people express surprise when things do not go as planned, they lose out on something or do not achieve what they hoped for or expected.  They then look for excuses and seek to blame X, Y and Z, when the answer lies closer to home.

Yes, I know that seemingly bad luck can strike and influence life, but in my experience any such luck very, very rarely is the determining factor.

But I wanted to do well!

It sounds really harsh when you say to someone who has just failed to achieve what they wanted that it was down to them, but it really is.

I usually hear in response ‘But I wanted to do well!’.

Hmmmmm.  There is a difference between wanting to do well and making a commitment that there is no compromise on doing well.

Let me explain.

It’s all in the game

A few years ago one of my sons played in a football team.  My lad loved it because many of his mates from school also played in the team.  It was fun for him, as he went training each Saturday and then played each Sunday morning.

Unfortunately, my son’s team was not very good.  They were in the bottom league of six, and in the first season my son was involved they came bottom of the league.  As a parent it was disappointing as they went on the pitch for each came excited and eager, and came off in all but one game losing.  They drew the other game.  Yep.  Just one draw in a whole season.

The Manager and Coach’s response was always the same, ‘Never mind lads you did your best’.  It wasn’t always true, but they said it to pick the kids up as they became more and more despondent as the weeks and months passed.

I recall the manager saying, ‘I cannot understand it.  I went on that Football Association Training Course, we do all they suggest and yet we just do not see any improvement in the results.  I so want us to win’.

On the face of it his Mindset was right, but was it?

Don’t be Fooled

The reality is, if you had been a parent on the sidelines you would have seen the issues.

The training sessions were relaxed, the kids were having fun, which given they were not winning was what it was all about wasn’t it?

Errrrr. No actually.  Because come Sunday lunchtime they were all disappointed at yet another defeat.

Failure leads to more Failure

The problem we had was that the Coach and Manager were lovely guys, both had sons in the team and they just wanted friendship and harmony in the group.  They volunteered their time when some of us did not have the personal availability to be able to do so.

The second year we came last but one in the bottom league.  Yes an improvement but, let’s be honest, not much of one.

Change ‘I want’ into ‘I will

Then came the change.  The Manager could no longer run the team due to work and another parent stepped up, and what a difference in mindset.

On the first day of pre-season training the new Manager announced we would not only start winning games but we would win the league. Some of the parents laughed, the kids looked at each other as if to say ‘how’ but I loved the attitude.

He advised there would be no more messing around and playing before and during training.  When the kids arrived they had a disciplined routine.  Those who did mess around, and there were a couple, were excluded from the session and did not play for the team that week.  All the kids soon learned.

Incredibly he used his contacts to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the other local teams.

The Manager and revitalised coach then game up with game plans, tactics that changed with each opposition, and he worked with each player to develop their skills and effectiveness.

Success leads to success

The turnaround was incredible.

We won our first game of the season, then the next, and the next.  We actually came second in the division that season, narrowly missing out on first, but we got promoted!

The kids were ecstatic, whilst the other teams in the division wondered what had happened to this group of ‘pushovers’.

That team got promoted the next two seasons too, and were so good that the league decided one year to move them up two divisions. When my son left for personal reasons the team was at a different level.

What was the difference?

So what was the determining factor?

Planning? Yes.

Discipline? Essential.

Determination? Definitely.

Organisation?  Without a doubt.

Individual Investment? For sure.

But what underpinned all of the above was an uncompromising MINDSET.

Mindset is a choice

This true story explains exactly the point I want to make.  Your mindset really does determine your success or failure.

Both Manager’s ‘wanted’ to win, but only one was determined and focussed enough to be uncompromising.  Trust me, the children were happier winning than losing too.  Their attitude shifted also.

The same players achieved incredible things under different guidance and leadership.

What are you going to choose?

So, what are you going to choose to do?  Do you want to succeed or DO YOU WANT TO SUCCEED?

Get clarity on what you want to achieve and what needs to happen for that to become a reality.  Focus on each element with a determination to deliver.

Oh, and just a final point on the turnaround for this football team.  It did not always run smoothly.

I remember one game distinctly, where the our team was so much in the ascendancy that it was ridiculous.  Our kids peppered the opposing goal with shots.  We hit the post, the crossbar and their goalkeeper played brilliantly.  We just could not score.

Their whole team apart from one player who they pushed ‘up front’ (he stood motionless for most of the game, as the ball never reached him) were in defence. The ball then broke out to their one player up front, he shot and it went in off the post.  1 – 0 to them.

Next, our goalkeeper who had been fantastic all season, brought his arm back to throw the ball out and somehow threw the ball into our own net. 2-0 down.

At half-time there was no panic, just a calm focus about the team talk.  The Manager said ‘Ignore what has gone.  We cannot change it, so keep doing what you are doing and your luck will change’.

It did and we won 4-2.

So be prepared to be tenacious because at certain times the world will seemingly conspire against you, but you can still succeed.

Mindset really does equate to Success or Failure.

I would love to hear of your success stories.  Ping me an email or post them to my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheBusinessSuccessConsultant/?ref=bookmarks