Are You Success or Failure Conscious?

Have you ever felt your ideal life was somewhere lost among the clouds? Or have you felt like every time you tried to grab at success, or even basic stability, it eluded you? If so, chances are, sometimes you have a hard time feeling optimistic about your future. All you seem to experience is failure and struggle. Things seem bleak, but maybe if you work as hard as you can at everything you do, you’ll finally succeed, right?

Unfortunately, your internal state of mind has more influence on your external success that you might have first thought. Napoleon Hill, author of Think & Grow Rich, one of the top ten best-selling self-help books of all time, refers to the phenomenon of our thoughts and attitudes hindering our achievements as a person’s being “Failure Conscious” versus “Success Conscious.”

If someone is failure conscious, their tendency is to perceive and hold on to the negatives of a situation, whether it be in the form of a criticism of our own performance, or the self-esteem sinking belief that something you desire is “impossible.” Hill, in fact, recommends you strike “impossible” from your vocabulary all together!

Here are three things you need to know about a mindset of failure versus a mindset of success, and the ways they impact your ability to steer toward your desired future:

Your Thoughts Affect Professional Performance: For example, if you believe you will not be able to handle a prospective client as well as a competitor, and perhaps feel intimidated, so you don’t put a lot of effort into your pitch.

Or, you might believe there is no way you’ll be able to meet this month’s sales goal, but guess you’ll kind of try anyway.

In both of these instances, you have started with the belief that you cannot conquer a task. These types of thoughts literally and figuratively sink us. We bury our mental feet in the sand, before we even take one step on the road. A major element of your journey to success consciousness is having faith, in both your future, and yourself. Give yourself permission to feel proud of yourself, or, to believe you can make real improvements.

Your Mindset Affects Your Money: Unfortunately, our focus on failure can also fill us with a fear that can stunt our financial growth before it even blossoms. You may feel like you’re doomed to lug around thousands in credit card debt, or think it’s impossible to save enough for an emergency. In these instances, a major factor in your not meeting these goals is that you’ve already told your subconscious “no.”
Realize a major part of both personal and financial growth is time, and again, faith in your own determination.

It Goes Both Ways: Your external environment can absolutely influence your mental climate! Consider surrounding yourself with success-minded friends and colleagues, reading books that promote your growth, and participating in activities that encourage a positive mindset.

You will of course encounter moments of frustration, unpleasant surprises, and downright failure. This is when it is crucial to have faith in yourself, and focus on success. You cannot look ahead of and behind you at the same time!

To learn about more ways to improve your financial life, visit the Syncis blog at Syncis.com/blog.