99 Cool Things

Your psychology strongly affects your success.  In fact, many people have gone out of their way to hone their own psyche to a sharp point, and then move onto bigger things.  Today, I want to talk about another aspect of psychology that will help you move forward.  I want you to remove the word “can’t” from your vocabulary.  How often have you said you can’t do something?  “I can’t do that.  It’s too hard.”  First, notice the word “that.”  It implies that you aren’t even near the subject you’re talking about, an effect of the word “can’t,” and the word “can’t” implies that you are not capable of the task.

For me, I’ve morphed my mind to the point where saying that I “can’t” is an insult.  If it is possible, than I can do it, and if you tell me otherwise, I may have to prove you wrong.  This brings another factor to the table, pride.  In western culture, pride is usually frowned upon.  Our connotation is that anyone with too much pride tends to be an asshole because of it, but according to other cultures, pride is confidence in your abilities, and you don’t have to be a pompous douche to have it.  In fact the lack of pride is frowned upon and often carries the connotation of a lack of motivation.

The answer is never that you can’t; thinking that means you won’t even challenge yourself to try.  If there’s something you think is difficult, than challenge yourself, and work at it.  When you succeed, you can feel great about what you did.  Suddenly you’re knocking down mental barriers that limited you before.  Remember those things that you thought were hard?  Well they’re all accomplishments or goals by now, and none are too difficult!  Now stop asking yourself if you can.  You know the answer to that.  Go out there and challenge the world!

The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.
Solomon Ibn Gabriol

This is one of my favorite quotes.  Your mind is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal, and learning to use it better can put you lightyears ahead of your competition.  This is true not only in learning about yourself, but learning how to help others.  The more you understand about motivation, cognitive thought, and how those thoughts are translated into actions, the more you can structure your business around those concepts, increasing both productivity, performance, and creative problem solving.

I happened across a book that talks about just this.  Heck some of the concepts even caught me a little off guard.  That makes it a must read, in my book.  The book is titled “Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders” by Srinivasan S. Pillay.  Dr. Pillay, Psychiatrist, brain-imaging researcher, Harvard clinician,  speaker, and executive coach, has a talent for connecting logical, articulate explanations of how the brain works and melding it together with concepts relevant to business as well as other parts of your life like relationships.

This book is filled with interesting snippets, and I’ve assembled 7 of them below:

1- Set numerous short term goals. Say you are a new comer to a new program or tool that will help your business. You may feel just like a fool, but set aside the time to learn the new program or method, and use it.  Treat yourself with each success, and enjoy it.

2- You’re bound to create mistakes. Don’t dwell on  it. Instead, understand that you have another chance. In truth, you have many chances to succeed. Become success-oriented instead of mistake-focused. The mistakes are just part of learning.  Try again.

3- In the event that, against all odds, you can’t manage the new method, walk away. Exercise, alter your activity. The more your beat yourself up over it, the more cortisol accumulates in your brain as well as, when this happens, it becomes almost impossible to expand your mental horizon. Doing something fun or refreshing to take your mind off your task for a little while will allow you to think outside the box you were in earlier.

4- Rinse and Repeat. If you’ve ever used a golf lesson, you’ll know about the term, “muscle memory. ” When we replicate a physical motion again and again, our muscles somehow “remember” the actual action and, in the near future, repeat it unconsciously. Repetition may be the key to muscle storage. Likewise, repetition will make the task easier.  After all, you’ve done it a million times right?

5- Commemorate and reward success (both your’s and other’s). Set your objectives, along with the reward (regardless of how small) you’ll receive whenever you reach that goal. Understanding how to tweet might get a slice of pie. Making your first sale may be a good reason to go to dinner. Reaching the very best tier may deserve a holiday (though, you should practice while the dopamine is actually flowing).

6- Motivate instead of punish. If you are creating a team, don’t focus on the mistakes made on the way (remember the cortisol?). Rather, recognize small successes, provide positive feedback. Let pleasure from that feedback propel you and your team on to higher success. And, make sure you provide the feedback/reinforcement immediately, while the mind still remembers how it’s success was achieved and can repeat it.

7- Lastly, build on your achievements. Have you ever realized that successful people often appear to be on a good streak, that they move from one success to another? Dopamine, rewards; that’s what gets them there.

I would recommend this book to anyone that’s willing to learn to become successful.

Welcome to your destination and my new home, nested in an intertwined network of tubes we call the internet.  You’ve wandered the internet in search of snippets of information that interest you, and you were met with witty cats, Rick Astley, and a seemingly infinite world of things that may eventually lead you to question your sanity once you return to your real life.  Well you’ve happened on another one of those things!  Look at this guy!

He’s a successful man doing successful things.  What are you willing to do to get there?  Well let me do the thinking for you, you cynical twisted nut.

You can:

a. Harvest his skin, wear it, and assume his identity.

b. Ask him politely how he got there.  What inspired him to become the man he is today?

If you chose a, congratulations!  You’re a serial killer!  If you chose b, you’re already thinking your way into a fancy cubicle (or better).  A healthy appetite for information and success is a great start towards getting there, but most of what you need to become successful is psychological.  You need to believe that you’re on the right path, and you need to stick to it not because it’s easy but because the end goal is always in sight.

Goals are a fundamental part of being successful.  So set them and stick to them.  You’ve probably heard this a million times so, moving right along.

The important thing I want to talk about is your mindset.  If this is work to you, then stop right here.  Focus.  I’m talking to you.  You need to add a little bit of fun to what you do.  Emotional inhibition is probably the biggest factor holding you back.  If you look at all the successful people, you’ll begin to find common denominators between them.  When was the last time you heard a CEO say “I hate my job!”?  Never?  Well that’s important, and one reason for that is because they decided to take the reigns in life.  They decided that their efforts would determine their success, and they proved it.  This allows them accomplish whatever is necessary to reach their goals.

Take obstacles like you take speedbumps, full speed ahead!  Or maybe that’s just me and my slight insanity.  The point is that once you run over enough obstacles like that, then you won’t think anything of it.  The obstacles become no different from the road.

Enjoy life.  If you don’t enjoy it, that means you’re missing something.  Keep looking.  Find a reason for your existence that’s more than just money and accomplishments, lest you become a one dimensional man.  That’s not terribly healthy, especially for a marketer, but it applies to every business.

Once you reach success, that too is just a goal.  Somewhere along the line, you’ll realize that the sky’s the limit.  Your future is entirely dependent on you.  Some may find that hard to accept simply because they won’t take the initiative to prove it to themselves, but for you and me, that just means less competition.  That difference in perception is the difference between the top and the bottom.  It’s simply a way of thinking, and the rest is a manifestation of that difference.  The most valuable tool you have is your mind.