Insights : Mindset keys are within our hands

I usually feel annoyed by friends who openly tell me that I am over ambitious. I wonder what instrument they use to measure my ambitions. I would have deleted them out of my world but some are my relatives and workmates. I have to live with them whether I want or not. Think of a teacher who openly tells his or her student that he or she is a failure when fellow students are listening. Imagine what could be the fate of that student if he or she believes in the teacher’s words. Mindset is a simple idea which was discovered by the world renowned Standford University psychologist, Carol Dweck, after decades of research on achievement and success-a simple idea that makes all the difference. Mindsets are beliefs about us and our most basic qualities. According to Carol Dweck, there are two types of mindsets. The first is a fixed mindset. People with fixed mindsets believe that their best qualities, like their intelligence or talents, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talents instead of developing them. They also believe that talents alone, without effort, create success. The second is a growth mindset. People with growth mindsets believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work and that brains and talents are just the starting point. Their views create a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities. The other truth is that most of us are just too busy being comfortable with where we are, as opposed to taking the risks necessary to be successful. Most of us dream of success on one hand and consider it to be impossible on the other. We always create endless streams of excuses in response to why we haven’t even made the first move towards realizing our dreams. We can be as successful as we want to be. The key is to want it with all our hearts and minds. When one has a positive mind set, it is easy to feel the energetic stirring of personal achievement that lies just around the corner. We have to completely desire success in order to attract it into our lives completely. Otherwise we will always find ourselves falling short of our potentials. Imagine 19 years of intensive schooling with knowledge that span almost the whole globe but one cannot write a professional report, develop a project plan, use a computer, facilitate training or even write meeting minutes. Those are typical graduates our universities have been producing for years. The reason as to why this happens is that when we are in school, we are always taught to depend on our teachers, lecturers and professors never minding about value-added courses outside the curriculum. The bitter truth, however, is that there is more to work performance than one’s intellectual and technical expertise. While a degree or diploma is important, it only indicates how well one has done in studies. They do not indicate how one will perform at work. By the way, there is no clear -cut link between grades and work performance. What really matters is one’s ability to appeal to people’s thoughts and feelings. What counts in the modern job market is emotional intelligence, not intelligence quotient. We just want to think of ourselves in a particular successful way and yet we could just humbly do things each day to make sure that we are successful. The time between maturity and immaturity is immaterial. It’s what we do between now and then that counts, everything has a time and a place. What separates the haves and have-nots is the action of transforming success from a yearning into a knowing and finally, a doing. Being successful is within our grasp, and the more we embody a positive mindset fast, we will manifest our own personal dreams of wealth and happiness. ndungutse.apollo@yahoo.com

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Insights : Mindset keys are within our hands