“Mindset” has certainly moved into the forefront of popular culture in today’s day and age, with many people advocating for mental health and the ability to totally take control of your own life via your thought processes. The definition seems to differ based on schools of thought and perceptions – to some ‘mindset’ is maintaining a positive attitude towards life. To others, it is a deeply personal inquiry into why they function and perceive the world in a certain way.
Indeed, mindset has become a buzzword; splashed all over Instagram accounts worldwide and a trending topic among speakers and entrepreneurs.
But what does ‘mindset’ actually deal with and how can we use it to our advantage? How can we create a ‘better’ mindset?
To Joe Trodden, who we caught up with on our latest podcast episode, mindset is the biggest factor of success in entrepreneurs. “Mindset for me is everything – your full cognitive function. It’s not just a positive mental attitude, it’s everything that’s going on inside your head.”
Joe is the mindset king – founder of Mindset Experts and has personally coached over 300 entrepreneurs over the past few years to figure out what their exact strategy to scale is.
According to Joe, “we are born with predispositions to particular ways of thinking and that’s part of what mindset is all about… when you understand your approach to life then you can understand and appreciate other people’s approaches much more… when you find what your groove is… how you think… understanding yourself at that level is what mindset means to me.”
We asked Joe to give us some tips on how to start a mindset overhaul for someone who has never really delved into this topic before.
Open the door
According to Joe, most people have never even stopped to reflect on their cognitive style, their personality type or why they behave the way they do. “At the base level a lot of people are not ever even asked those questions… people have not thought in any depth about their particular thinking style… their mission on this planet…”
The first step is simply opening an honest and open inquiry and starting to ask yourself some questions about yourself, how you think, what your personality strengths and weaknesses are.
Do some personality tests online and see what you learn about yourself. Ask yourself; who am I? How do I perceive the world? What archetype does my personality and way of thinking fall under? Myers-Briggs is a great place to start, Human Design for those of you who are also into astrology and Carl Jung’s archetypes.
Get clear on your mission
Once you’ve established your current mindset, the next thing to do is to really hone in on what you want to create in this life. What is your personal mission or vision or direction that you want to go in? Who would you like to become ultimately? Map out this vision for yourself.
Now, look at the gaps between where you are and where you want to be. What sorts of actions do you need to take, what behaviors can you cut out, in order to be aligned?
Joe says, “when you’re clear on ‘I want to take another step’, then you’ll start looking, you’ll notice things that you didn’t notice before and you’ll take another little half step towards it.”
Call yourself out
Many people want to create a better mindset or a better life, but do not hold themselves accountable or have someone in their life to hold them accountable. This is where Joe works his magic with his clients, “being able to point out those blind spots that you just can’t see”.
In order to grow, you need to be prepared to acknowledge that you do not see the whole picture and to give someone else explicit permission to challenge you and question you. It’s important to take things personally, and enlisting the help of a friend or a coach is a great way to hold yourself accountable.
The next step is taking that information and reflecting on it, at the very least on a weekly basis –“when you look at the gaps of people reaching their next level, it’s the awareness first, to reflect on their behaviors…”
Giveaway!
Joe is offering one lucky reader (who is about 2-4 years into their entrepreneurial journey with a team of less than 20) a free coaching session to think about the strategic approach in your business as a leader and enabling you to take things to the next level in your business. You can apply to win here, a winner will be announced next week.
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