A is for Attitude
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” — Thomas Jefferson
Attitude is key.
You have probably heard this in one form or another many times throughout your life, ranging from when you were in kindergarten to when you got your first job, and it may seem kind of corny at this point. But there is more truth behind it than many people like to admit. It comes through in many different forms from teachings of all kinds of famous speakers and entrepreneurs. It might also come in the form of “change always comes from within” or “to make a difference in the world, you must first start with yourself”, but in reality they all teach the same concept: That how you perceive the world affects how the world really is.
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What this means is that if you really want something, you have to truly believe that you can get it. You have to make the change inside your head from an idle wish to a concrete goal. Many people live their whole life with “goals” that are in reality just dreams — fleeting wishes with no substance to them. Not to say that dreaming is bad; it is a useful tool for figuring out where you want to be. But once you dream of something you really want, you have to take steps to accomplish it. Once you complete these steps, the mental pathways between start and finish begin to connect automatically in your brain, and that is the key that is so often spoken of by the greatest leaders around the world.
The steps to achieving the right mindset, and therefore achieving your goal, are as follows:
Find Your Dream — Feel its power as it courses through your mind, elevating your heart rate as you imagine its every effect on your life. Then, pluck it out of the world of dreams so you can think about it in more concrete terms.
Define Your Dream — After you have found what it is you are looking for, flush it out by finding where it ends and where it begins, bringing it into the real world and turning it from a dream into a goal.
Imagine the Fulfillment — Put your mind momentarily into a state where you have already fulfilled the dream and are enjoying its benefits. Feel the emotions that you would feel if you had accomplished it to its fullest extent.
Get to Work — With the inspiration you received from this process, divert that energy and immediately start working on the simplest step you can do to achieve your goal. It is through the combination of all these simple steps that will take you further than you ever could have dreamed.
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Thomas Jefferson hit the nail on the head with this one, except for one thing. There is something on Earth that can help the man with the wrong mental attitude, and it is himself.
