Exploring the concept of boosting your success in other areas of your life, after transforming your physique and health is something which fascinates me. There are many parallels which can be drawn between the process of getting healthy and increasing your chances of success in a professional capacity. So what follows are the seven essential psychological practices I insist all of my online coaching clients use as part of their mindset overhaul. Once you have these engrained into your daily thought process, other parts of your life will also benefit.
#1 Take 100% Responsibility
This is the golden rule for adjusting your mindset for success – take responsibility for everything in your life because it empowers you. When you look to make excuses, which mitigate your own responsibility it also means you’re losing power over your outcome because you’re willing to relinquish control over your results. Winners don’t do this because they know accepting responsibility is imperative to all positive outcomes. When you learn that transforming your body is largely based on you taking responsibility for your dietary choices, training, cardio, lifestyle choices, daily planning as well as handling the obstacles life throws at you, results suddenly begin to happen. The same goes for your career – progress only comes when you take full responsibility.
#2 Solutions Not Obstacles
Become solution-focused rather than obstacle-orientated. If you focus on the obstacle in front of you, it kills momentum and quickly leads to justifications for inaction – this is not acceptable if you’re serious about making changes within a defined period of time. This very same mindset is crucial in creating success throughout your career as well because those who thrive are the people who create solutions, not focus on problems.
#3 Obsess Over Progression
Making progression your obsession is essential because if you don’t, there will always be a reason as to why “now isn’t quite the right time.” The amount of people who enquire about coaching online, yet caveat their interest with statements like, “I am just waiting for the right time” is astounding. Guess what? They very rarely ever get the results they want because their mindset isn’t obsessed with achieving their results or even making progress – it is already putting obstacles up.
#4 Always Plan Ahead
Being disciplined, organized and having the ability to plan every day in an efficient manner is something any person who wants to achieve dramatic transformation requires. It is also a trait which anybody who wants to develop a successful career must possess because without it, you will waste time on being inefficient, miss deadlines and allow “life” to get in the way.
If you are naturally a disorganized person (I mainly coach men and find they are naturally less organized) then you must create a structure which accounts for this. Use a calendar to plan every day in hour blocks – ensure you set reminders for deadlines and give yourself appropriate amounts of time to get tasks done in. This ranges from food prep, cardio and work deadlines – it is all the same mindset! Over time, the mind will develop habits which become sub-conscious, but until then you must create a winning framework to live by.
#5 Own Your Mistakes and React
Of course, the aim is to never drop the ball or fall off but sometimes it happens because we are human beings, not machines. In the event you make a mistake, own it, make no excuses, react in the most positive way possible and aim to rectify the issue. If you cheat on your diet, give yourself a hard time over it, diet even harder over the coming days and do extra cardio. In work, if you ever fall short, give even more value to ensure this is fixed – we aren’t defined by the errors we make, but the way in which we react to them!
#6 Create New Goals
Propelling yourself forward and ensuring you don’t regress is reliant upon setting new goals and this goes for both your physical and mental evolution. This very same mindset will help you thrive professionally as well. One thing I can guarantee is that once you conquer the existing goal you’re aiming for, you will suddenly crave a bigger achievement. That is the nature of the beast. With this in mind, to keep the mind engaged and focused on momentum it is crucial we always set new goals otherwise you risk falling into negative behavior patterns, which invite regression into your life. Humans are not very good at maintaining the status quo – the mind requires momentum which is why you must feed that with evolving goals!
#7 Don’t Compromise Your Minimum Standards
This is all about raising your personal standards to a point whereby you refuse at all costs to lower them, no matter what. In doing so, you automatically have higher expectations of yourself and others around you – by default, you start to design an environment around you which is conducive to success. For example, if you don’t tolerate people being late for meetings or calls with you and are completely belligerent about this, they will soon realize they must be on time. You have suddenly made your life easier because you don’t wait around, thus freeing up your own time while also having a positive impact on associates.
Similarly, with your nutrition, if you refuse to consume processed junk those around you start to conform which has a far-reaching impact. Create your new boundaries and refuse to bend them, no matter what.
It is quite extraordinary how life-changing going through a physical transformation can be, not just to your mindset but to your outcomes in other areas of life such as your career. Time and time again you will find that following this you’ll grab a hold of yourself, take action and suddenly find as your body is transforming with your new mindset, your career begins to take off as well. This is no coincidence!
