There is no a human who has not become stuck at some point in reaching their goals. Those that move on and progress have uncovered ways to change their mindset. The others stay in the same place for decades, repeating the same actions, mistakes and insanely believing things will change.
Having a particular mindset is just a point of view, such as believing the world is flat. Most people had that mindset at one time and this prohibited those people from taking effective action, like getting in a ship to sail "around" the world.
There are a few ways to get unstuck in your business or personal life and alter your mindset about a particular issue.
Talk to Others Who Are Where you Want to Be
If you're currently in a dis-empowering or negative mindset, you likely say, "but I don't know anybody like that." The good news is that in this age of social networking, you can locate such people quickly. Just ask your Facebook friends, people in your LinkedIn groups, people who work for your firm or check the forums of the industry magazines such as wealthmanagement.com, financial-planning.com investmentadvisor.com. Once you locate that person, ask for a few minutes of their time on the phone. Explain to them that you understand they've accomplished such and such and you would like to do the same.
Ask how they accomplished what you desire and listen not so much to their tactics, listen for how they think. Tell them your goal is to change your mindset about this issue as they may also have made a change they can share with you. Ask if you can call them or e-mail them in the future for some additional advice. Also ask them who else would be good for you to talk to. The more people you talk to about this issue, the more your mindset will change to facilitate your goal.
Brainwash Yourself - Read
You may never have heard this but reading is self-brainwashing. Specifically, read books. It is not sufficient to read posts on the Internet or articles in a magazine as they are too short to create the needed brainwashing. Let me give you a pedestrian example. If you want to lose weight, read five books about healthy eating. Naturally, without even trying, you will begin to eat better foods and lose weight solely because you allow the reading to brainwash yourself. So in the case when you want to change your mindset, obtain books that are about reaching your specific goal or written by people who have achieved this goal. The more books you read the better.
Videos and Documentaries
If possible, watch videos about your issue. I watched a video lasting less than two hours about people who had become vegan. While I have not become a vegan, I have stopped eating beef. This was something that had been on my mind for quite some time because eating beef takes a tremendous toll on the environment (it takes a tremendous amount of energy to grow beef) by significantly contributing to global warming. So in a very short period of time, I allowed the video to brainwash me toward a goal I had desired.
After each of the above steps, take some action no matter how small. For example, let's say you talk to somebody in the financial services business that is successfully doing seminars to gain new clients. You want to do the same. After your conversation of how they do it, take the first step and either create or buy some PowerPoint slides, schedule a seminar by reserving the room or buy a list of the people you want to mail invitations. If you don't take immediate action, any small change in mindset won't last.
Here's to a great New Year and a great new you!
