4 Ways to Develop a Winning Mindset
Developing a winning mindset is easier than you may think. It will take some effort and you need to be consistent with the tactics revealed in this article. But after a short period of time, you will start to see good results and this will motivate you to continue.
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Change your Self Talk
Your “self-talk” is about the things you say to yourself, out loud or in your head. It is a bit like the 2 little devils sat on your shoulders! One saying positive things, the other goes on and on with its negative mind chatter! You can use it to motivate yourself or control your emotions.
Often, to motivate or self-congratulate, we tend to say this:
“I will be successful because I have the talent and I am the very best”.
“I succeeded because of my intelligence/talent”.
Science shows that this type of affirmation strengthens your fixed mindset, and will reduce your performance when you have a more difficult problem to solve.
But when working with your subconscious mind you should always speak as if you already have what you want to achieve.
So, instead, it is better to say this to yourself:
“I am successful due to hard work and persistence”.
“I succeed because I work hard and am persistent”.
This kind of self-talk will strengthen your winning mindset, and you will put in a better performance when you are confronted by more difficult setbacks.
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Refuse Labels and Educate those around you
We have just seen that it is better not to congratulate yourself by praising your intelligence/talent.
Likewise:
Refuse all labels, whether positive (you are really great) or negative (you are off the wall).
Here are some concrete examples.
If you are told:
You are really great / You are number 1!
Answer:
Nuance: I succeed because I work hard.
If you are told:
You cannot draw. You are not an artist but a scientist!
Answer:
No. I may not be as good as some at drawing, but practice will improve me.
After you politely decline a label from someone, you can explain the winning mindset to them. The more aware those around you are, the more it will be conducive to your development
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Study the Brain and Intelligence
When school children understand how their brains work, their academic performance increases. So you can spend a small amount of time each day reading about neurons and 
neurotransmitters. This is a fascinating subject and you will grow from learning this as well.
If you don’t have time to read, remember these 3 essential points:
- With good habits, you improve your intelligence
- Throughout your life, your brain will change and develop
- You form new neural paths and connections when you work on difficult problems
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Make the most of your Failures
If you have a fixed mindset then you are more likely to hide the problems you are having and run away from any problems. You are also more likely to blame other people for your failings. People with a winning mindset will face their weaknesses and proactively work on them.
Use these 5 steps to take full advantage of your failures:
- Treat failures as feedback and don’t be ashamed of them. Someone once asked Thomas Edison after he finally invented the lightbulb. “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
- Be calm when you analyze any failures
- If you failed because you didn’t possess a skill then learn that skill
- If you used the wrong approach then change it and move forward
- Be aware that you haven’t yet found all of the answers and it is OK to ask for help
These 4 ways to develop a winning mindset are all easy to implement and will assist you in developing your winning mindset. Start using them today and be consistent.