Increase your chances of success by changing your mindset.
In setting a self-improvement goal, strategic assessment of your chances of success can be a
huge motivator, says philosopher Jim Stone, Ph.D., who develops personal productivity
software and workshops. Say you want to give up smoking (or another vice): You’d typically
think, If I smoke, I have failed. But if you mentally open yourself to many ways not to smoke
(versus that one singular failure scenario), you view success as likelier: I will do push-ups
instead of smoking, I will call a friend instead of smoking, I will read a magazine instead of
smoking, or I will drink coffee instead of smoking. In other words, there’s only one way to
fail and so many ways to succeed. Your success chances seem much stronger, and you
harness the power of self-fulfilling prophecy. The same mindset can aid the launch of a
positive habit, such as logging 20 minutes of exercise a day. Think of failure as I won’t get
20 minutes of exercise today. Then embrace the many favorable outcomes (I will walk for
20 minutes at lunch, I will jog around the block twice before breakfast, I will ride my
stationary bicycle during my favorite sitcom, or I will review my printouts while I walk the
treadmill at the gym), and your willpower—and your odds—improve. Let your mind play
tricks on you… in a good way!
No comments:
Post a Comment