The heavy equipment rolled in.
There was digging, blasting, more digging, and more blasting.
The engineers were on site to make sure the excavation for the new bridge across the rocky ravine was progressing along and the obstacles were being removed so they could lay the firm foundation.
Before building a bridge, the ground gets excavated so the foundation can be properly laid.
It is no different if we are going to build the mindset of a champion bridge that will allow you to easily leave the land of quiet desperation and move to the land of success and contentment.
Before trying to build that mindset, clearing obstacles needs to be done.
A growth mindset is essential to live in this land of success and contentment and is characterized by the following traits:
Core belief: Intelligence can be developed
Which leads to a desire to learn and therefor a tendency to…
- Embrace challenges
- Persist in the face of setbacks
- Sees effort as a path to mastery
- Learns from criticism
- Finds lessons and inspiration in the success of others
As a result people with a growth mindset attain higher levels of achievement.
At Success Institutes we argue that the core belief goes beyond the idea that intelligence can be developed.
That is too narrow.
The core belief really is that I am at cause.
In other words, I am the one who determines what I do about whatever situation I find myself in whether that situation was brought on by my own actions and decisions or whether I am where I am because of something that happened outside my control.
The person with a mindset of a champion says: it doesn’t matter how I got here, what matters is what I do with it.
That is a profound shift in thinking from someone who has what Carol Dwek calls a fixed mindset.
If someone wants to build that growth mindset or mindset of a champion, it is obviously best to first “clear the ground” so they can properly lay the foundation and then build the bridge (mindset).
Clearing The Ground to Build The Bridge
Mindset transformation begins with removing the unconscious obstacles that prevent people from optimizing their potential.
In fact, simply clearing the ground is often enough for a person to begin experiencing those characteristics listed above.
Our argument is that there is much more to being a champion than just those traits, but you most definitely can’t go wrong with those alone.
The success of our Mindset Transformation programs, as well as our other programs, is due to the fact we apply HEAT to the problem.
Applying HEAT
HEAT stands for Habits, Emotions, Attitude, Training.
The approach is designed to train the habits, emotional management, and attitude that makes up the mindset of a champion.
Over seventy days, the Transformative Habits Integration program will focus on building morning and evening rituals that provide components essential for first attaining and them maintaining emotional mastery while then providing a structured time for further mindset training.
Most approaches to personal achievement and growth focus on tools of motivation and goal setting.
These are very important tools which need to be taught, but if you don’t first clear the ground you are laying the foundation on, the improperly prepared ground can cause disastrous consequences in the long run.
The metaphor we use is that all of us, like the ghost Marley from A Christmas Carol, carry an invisible chain of all the limiting decisions or beliefs and undealt negative emotions.
The old approach provides us a vehicle (some better than others) to move forward, but doesn’t typically address the chain that we are lugging around.
Our Mindset Transformation trainings are about locating and removing all these invisible chains and giving you a vehicle to move you forward.
The process we use can reap great rewards.
Take The Case of Andy.
Andy was a student who did poorly in school academically and was socially awkward.
By using the HEAT method and reframing his limiting decisions around school, in particular math, he was able to gain two math grades in less than a year and went from the 10th percentile (90% of his peers scored higher) on a nationally normed math test to the 50th percentile.
He also “made way more friends” than he ever did before and started competing on the track team.
The process is incredibly affective with athletes as well.
Take The Case of Mark
Mark, who was went from being an “average” pitcher on a Division III program in his first two years of college to being the ace of the staff and not losing a game over his last two years.
Mark even played two years of professional baseball.
Mark had some serious limiting decisions that were literally sabotaging his success.
His coach saw his potential but couldn’t seem to untap it.
By reframing and clearing past limiting beliefs (in this case it was the belief that a small town kids would never really be able to compete with the “big boys from away”) and negative emotions (fear), Mark was able to maximize his God given abilities.
Imagine the impact releasing the deeply held unconscious beliefs that so many students develop which limit their ability.
Beliefs like, “I’m not good at…”, “I am a [negative]…” “I can’t do…” and so on.
Most teens and most adults, don’t even know most of their “I am not” or “I cannot statements”.
Most people also are never taught how to use some powerful emotional management tools to healthily deal with stress, so they can be much more productive.
The “Snowflake” Generation
The American Psychological Association reports that:
- 10% of teens say stress causes them to get lower grades than they think they can get
- 59% say balancing all their activities causes stress
- 40% say they neglect home responsibilities due to stress.
- 40% say they’re irritable due to stress
- 37% said stress causes them to feel overwhelmed
- 36% say they feel tired because of stress.
- 30% say they feel sad or depressed because of stress.
Think about those numbers for a minute and then think about your own life.
Stress is a part of life, yet stress can have devastating consequences for your health and your performance at school, on the job, or any area of your life.
Unfortunately, there are too many people out there who think that removing the stressors or giving students a place to “feel safe” is the solution…
It isn’t.
In fact, it is crippling teens.
Far too many teens feel fear and fold, feel worry and wilt, feel sad and surrender.
This phenomena is why the term “snowflake” came into being.
The solution is to train them to appropriately deal with the stressors.
That is what builds champions.
We Need Change In The Educational System
The personal development industry is a billion dollar industry.
High achievers spend thousands of dollars on coaches and seminars and training programs.
If high achievers know it is vital for their success, why do we ignore it as part of the educational development of teens?
Shouldn’t it be a foundational component like math, science, social studies, and English Language Arts?
When school is supposed to be their priority, their profession, wouldn’t that be the BEST opportunity for them to partake of this type of training?
Of course it would!
If you are a parent wouldn’t a training program that helps prepare your child mentally to deal with life’s challenges be priceless?!
You know it would.
You also know it would be worth at least as much as your average college level class, don’t you?
If you are going to invest on average over $160,000 on their four year college education, wouldn’t it be wise to hedge your investment with mindset training, the real key for getting the most value out of your education?
We certainly think so.
