Success is built mainly around our own perceptions and attitudes. If we want to reach our goals, excel, and receive our desired outcome, we must accept that, as individuals, we create the lives we want. It's not up to anybody else, so take responsibility for the mindset you have, the words you speak, and the actions you take.

When you develop the habit of mind that you are personally liable for the quality of the outcomes you create, then you set yourself on the path of resilience – allowing yourself to accept and grow with whatever life throws at you.

Whether working on your own or as a team, the right mindset will make a world of difference in how far you go.

In this article, we will provide you with a guide that can help you on your growth and success journey.

Habit of Mind

How do you react if you face adversity or are forced to make difficult decisions? If you're running behind, who is there to blame? If your boss is less than pleased with your performance, do you allow yourself to dwell on what others are doing wrong? While many things in life are out of our control, how we respond in good and bad situations is entirely under our own power.

Taking control of our actions means owning up to our successes just as much as our failures. When you focus on accountability, you empower yourself to evaluate and take action for the better so that you constantly strive for improvement.

If you blame others for a less than favorable result, it's time to take a step back and evaluate the situation. What can you improve upon or do better next time? Remember, you are the driving force behind your mindset and, ultimately, your achievements.

Set Clear Goals

Your 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year plan are more than a high school or college graduation requirement set forth by your school counselor. The goals you set for yourself are the foundation for the subsequent steps you take day in and day out.

For example, most people wouldn't buy a car without researching its reliability and value first, so take the time to explore your options and develop a plan for what you'd like to accomplish in 1-year, 5-years, and 10-years and how you can best go about meeting those accomplishments.

Will there be setbacks? Absolutely. Life never goes as planned, so you should always expect the unexpected. However, if you want to advance professionally, you can't live in a constant state of spontaneity.

Professional accomplishments take time. Some things will require you to work towards a special certification or a degree, while others will require you to build a solid reputation and a strong network, save a specific amount of money, or maybe even relocate. Decide what you want to accomplish and then work for it.

Find Comfort in the Uncomfortable

Step out of your comfort zone and approach your fears head-on. Struggles are a place of strength and personal growth. When you feel like quitting, remember what you're working for and who you're working for.

Your dreams won't happen if you quit. Your family won't get what you desire to give if you give up. You can't meet your greatest potential if you choose to quit when the going gets tough.

So, evaluate the risks, create an action plan, and face your fears to move forward. You will be amazed at what you ARE capable of.

Find Your Motivation

Motivation is our commitment to succeed fervently. It acts as a driving force to achieve greatness, meet our most significant potential, and realize our purpose in life.

What brings you joy and gets you going in the morning? What makes you excited for the future? Focus on those things that get you excited and run with it. If you lack motivation, maybe you're not aiming high enough or letting your fear of failure get in the way or feeling overwhelmed, causing you to procrastinate or feel burnt out.

When you need a pick me up to reactivate your passion and motivation consider focusing on one to two things that you consider strengths to rebuild your confidence and slow yourself down. You can also read or watch something motivational. Sometimes a quick YouTube search can give you exactly what you need to hear at precisely the right time.

Focus and Manage Your Priorities

Success requires focus. Highly successful people don't sit around endlessly scrolling social media or wasting time on the things that don't matter. Instead, they look at their to-do list, prioritize their tasks, and get to work, knocking one thing out at a time.

According to brain and behavior experts, the human brain isn't designed to handle more than two complex tasks at any given time. This means that bouncing back and forth between multiple tasks reduces our overall performance, so contrary to popular belief, if you want to be at your best in all that you do and efficiently expend your energy, it is best not to split your focus between a variety of tasks.

This may seem counterproductive, as many of us have jobs, family, children, and many responsibilities to tend to, so we suggest setting aside a specific amount of time each day to take care of your priorities, one checkmark at a time. When it is time to say, network on LinkedIn, put your phone away (or other distractions) and set a timer for 30 minutes to an hour, focusing only on the task at hand. Then, once the timer goes off, you can get up, stretch, grab a snack, take care of the kids, etc. You will then start the routine again until your daily list of tasks is knocked out or until you're ready to wrap up for the day. And if you're thrown off your schedule or interrupted, take a deep breath and decide if the interruption requires immediate attention or if it can wait a bit. Then, get back to your regularly scheduled agenda.

Be Intentional

Intentionality epitomizes what you deem valuable and important. No matter what you're working for, your outcome will revolve around the work you put into it. To grow as a thought leader, you must be intentional about your conversations with others and the content you create. If you're trying to advance through your company's ranks, you need to remain intentional about the relationships you make and the work you output. If you're building a business, you need to be intentional about the value you bring to your clients.

Practice Self Care

Studies have found that those who engage in a regular self-care routine experience improved concentration and energy, reduced stress, and increased happiness. Remember, you are ultimately responsible for your own outcomes and the attitude you greet each new day/situation, so take care of yourself by maintaining your physical, mental, and emotional health. This will allow you to be at your a-game more times than not.

You can do this through:

👉 Exercise

👉 Sleeping well

👉 Reading daily

👉 Taking breaks

If you're looking to offset some of your responsibility to focus on other goals, consider hiring Linkability to take care of all your LinkedIn needs. Our team of experts can help you advance your career and get you in front of your ideal company or professional.

The Moving Forward Newsletter is a bi-weekly advice column by Kim Peterson Stone, the CEO of Linkability.us where we give you a peek behind the curtains into what it takes to put together campaigns that help you grow your business and career on LinkedIn and in Real Life.

If you have friends or peers that you believe would benefit from this content, please feel free to share it!

Moving Forward by Kim Peterson Stone

How to Master Your Mindset and Maximize…