Being successful starts with your thoughts. Thinking habits drive behaviors. Good or bad, productive or useless thought precedes action. Self-defeating thoughts can derail a career whether it’s leadership, selling, entrepreneurship… you name it.
Clear, rational and optimistic thinking leads to eventual success. To reach your career goals, adopt the mindset of the top 5%. Develop these five thinking habits to advance your career:
1. Initiative
The super successful are self-starters. They wait for no one and they have no need for a cattle prod. Their minds crystallize their vision and they are emotionally connected to it. They are self-motivated to initiate each activity. They intuitively adapt to difficult situations and navigate around unforeseen obstacles without waiting for supervisory instruction.
How well have you developed your vision for your career?
Are you excited about your goals?
What drives you to achieve?
2. Personal Accountability
This thinking habit prevents making excuses for a bad decision. The superstar’s brain enables them to be transparent with themselves. They make every effort to try and identify the cause of that bad decision. Their focus is more on correcting the problem to ensure future success than on protecting themselves from other people’s opinions. The focus is on learning from their mistake. Saving face is not relevant. Not making the sales mistake and doing better the next time rules the day.
Do you shy away from transparency?
Who in your life will tell you the truth about yourself?
Can you handle the truth about your areas of development?
3. Integrative Processing
They have the cognitive ability to break down each problem into manageable pieces and discern which are the critical components. They can assimilate all the variables of a situation into a single homogenous image and then use this understanding to make decisions regarding planning, resource allocation, and solving problems.
What is your process for breaking down a problem?
Do you struggle with being overwhelmed by problems?
Who do you trust to help walk you through problem-solving?
4. Emotional Distance
Mega successful people can remain emotionally neutral (unaffected) by positive or negative experiences with others. Their mind does not internalize flattery or rejection. They are largely indifferent to surface level emotions directed at them. Instead, they focus their attention on the mission, following their plan, listening, learning and problem solving.
Are you easily derailed when hearing criticism from others?
Do you seek validation or affirmation from others?
How is this affecting your ability to stay focused on your goals?
5. Self-Belief
Their mind communicates success. They visualize succeeding at each step of plan. For example, a superstar salesperson believes in their ability to execute the sales process – prospecting, building trust, qualifying, analyzing needs, presenting solutions, negotiation, closing sales, etc.
They believe in their abilities with accuracy. Their mind is absolutely convinced they will succeed – regardless if the prospect buys or not.
Does your belief system reinforce achievement or defeat?
What skills do you need to develop to achieve your goals?
What do you believe about yourself that is not true… and is holding you back?
Take time to think through your thinking.
What you feed your mind feeds you … and will reveal itself in the person you become.
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This article was written by Barrett Riddleberger who is a founder and CEO of xPotential Selling, and the author of Blueprint of a Sales Champion: How to Recruit, Refine, and Retain Top Sales Performers.
