“Mindsets are those collections of beliefs and thoughts that make up the mental attitude, inclination, habit or disposition that predetermines a person’s interpretations and responses to events, circumstances, and situations.”

Most people are not (as cliche as it sounds) “the best version of themselves” and it’s not because they have a lower IQ than the successful person or don’t have the right tactics.

It’s usually caused by self-imposed limitations about what you are and are not capable of.

You put an artificial limiter in your mind that limits:

1. How hard you can work 
2. How successful you can be 
3. What sort of partner do you deserve 
4. How much money you can make 

And countless others.

Those limiting mental positions will keep you stuck in the same spot and if you don’t replace them with mindsets that facilitate growth this current life situation you’re in right now is going to be as good as it gets.

Let’s first identify 5 of the deadliest mindsets of all time that may currently keep you stuck so we can replace them with mindsets that will help you grow.

#1 – Fixed Mindset

This is one of the deadliest mindsets to adapt and it’s founded on the belief that you simply can’t change. You are who you are and that’s set.

If who you are is final, then that means that you can never break out of the self-imposed limitations and become who you want to be. The opposite of a fixed mindset is The Growth Mindset.

#2 – Victim Mentality

This is the mother of all mediocrity. The victim mentality is characterized by a belief that life is not only beyond your control, but is out to deliberately hurt you.

This belief results in constant blame, finger-pointing, and pity parties that are fueled by pessimism, fear, and anger. The opposite of a victim is Accepting Responsibility.

#3 – Scarcity Mindset

This mindset goes something like this: “It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and it’s never enough for everyone so you better take what you can, and run!”

This competitive frame of mind puts you at odds with the world. There is only one pie to fight over and you must fight every day to survive. It’s a depressing and exhausting way to live even if you win. The opposite of this mindset is the Abundance Mindset.

#4 – Pleasure Seeking

Most people place a lot of importance on pleasure and comfort and confuse it for happiness. Pleasure isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it can turn nasty if you make it a #1 priority in your life.

If you live a life of pleasure you will never be satisfied and your hunger for more and more pleasure will grow the more you consume.

#5 – Seeking Completion

Do you really think that something outside of you can complete you? Or maybe even you will arrive at some point in your self-improvement journey at a point that you will finally make it.

The problem with this “I’ll be happy when…” mentality is that “beyond mountains, there are more mountains” – as the Haitian proverb says.

As you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.

“The problem with this “I’ll be happy when…” mentality is that “beyond mountains, there are more mountains” – as the Haitian proverb says. As you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.”

That means, you will never arrive, but if you flip that mentality on its head it may mean that you arrived every second of every day, so you may as well enjoy the journey.

7 Mindsets That Will Make You Limitless

#1 – Accepting Responsibility

This is a cure for the victim mentality. Taking responsibility for everything in your life (good and bad) means that now you have the power to change it. Here is what taking responsibility means in a nutshell:

1. Focus on solutions, not problems
2. Avoid blaming others
3. Focus on what you can influence
4. Taking ownership of your problems

#2 – Growth Mindset

This is the antidote to a fixed mindset. Also known as the “becoming mindset”

It allows you to see yourself as a fluid and malleable being. You see yourself more as a process than a “thing” that has fixed properties that can’t be changed.

This way of thinking is incredibly powerful because it allows you to fully accept who you are now – knowing that what you are now are the building blocks of what you will be in the future.

It allows you to change and upgrade every part of you, without feeling like you are broken in some fundamental way. 

This mindset allows you to bridge the gap in the apparent paradox between “you’re perfect as you are”(self-acceptance) and you’re always under construction (self-improvement).

#3 – The Art of Kaizen

This is more of a principle than a mindset but I thought I’d include it here What is kaizen?

“Kaizen is an effective, enjoyable way to achieve a specific goal, but it also extends a more profound challenge: to meet life’s constant demands for change by seeking out continual—but always small—improvement.” – Robert Maurer Ph.D.

The Japanese practice of taking small steps to continuously improve a process or product.

Why is kaizen an effective personal development strategy?

“Attempts to reach goals through radical or revolutionary means often fail because they heighten fear. But the small steps of kaizen disarm the brain’s fear response, stimulating rational thought and creative play.” – Robert Maurer Ph.D.

Setting a big goal is exciting. But it’s also scary. The larger the change we want to make, the more fear we experience (fear of the unknown and fear of failure).

When a region of the brain called the amygdala detects fear, it triggers our fight-or-flight response in the body. When our fight-or-flight response is active, we instinctively seek out comfort, and it is hard to concentrate on our long-term goals.

However, when we use kaizen and take embarrassingly small steps towards a goal, we tiptoe past the amygdala’s fear detection system and avoid activating the fight-or-flight response.

These small steps eliminate the fear of failure and remove the urge to distract ourselves. The smaller the steps we take, the quicker we lay new neural networks in the brain and develop positive habits.

Dr. Maurer says with kaizen “your resistance to change begins to weaken. Where once you might have been daunted by change, your new mental software will have you moving toward your ultimate goal at a pace that may well exceed your expectations.”

Typical Approach

Take large steps towards change –> Feel fear –> Activate fight-or-flight response –> Seek short-term relief/comfort –> Failure

The Kaizen Way

Take very small steps –> Bypass fear –> Reduce the urge for immediate comfort –> Take action and build constructive habits –> Success

#4 – Slight Edge

This is a corollary to the principle of Kaizen (the art of incremental improvement) and it puts emphasis on commitment to the long game.

Success is not a result of doing difficult, extraordinary things once, but rather unremarkable easy to do (but also easy not-to-do) things – over a long period of time.

Set smaller milestones along the way to your big goals. Get the smaller wins and string them together. If you want to run a marathon but can barely run a mile, your first goal should be to run a mile.

The goal is your end destination but you have to be aware that it takes time, come up with a process that will take you there, and stick to it over the long term.

#5 – Abundance Mindset

An abundance mindset is the opposite of a scarcity mentality.

The abundance mindset comes out of a deep inner sense of personal worth and security. It is a paradigm that is grounded in the belief that “there is more than enough” for everyone.

Alternatively, a scarcity mindset is a belief that there will never be enough, resulting in feelings of fear, stress, and anxiety.

In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey explains that when you live in a world of scarcity, you compete for available resources, even when there is an abundance of them.

#6 – Being a Lifelong Student

Author Hal Elrod once wrote, “Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development because success is something you attract by the person you become.”

If you can adopt an attitude of being a lifelong student, your thirst for knowledge will be rewarded with ever-increasing levels of success.

This makes perfect sense because the more you know the more intelligent action you are capable of taking and the fewer mistakes you will make.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that self-education is everything though! You must balance it with the application and taking the right action.

#7 – Progress Over Perfection

At the end of the day, growth is about taking action, and nothing sties action like overthinking and trying to be perfect.

Perfectionism leads to stagnation and procrastination. The moment the pedestal is so high it’s unreachable you are going to criticize every attempt you make and never allow yourself to make mistakes.

You need mistakes and failures because they can show you where you are going wrong and where you need to course correct.

Trust the process – as long as you are taking action and making small incremental progress – you are golden.

#8 – BONUS: Stop Scattering Your Mind

Your mindset is important, but even more important is your ability to focus on one thing for a prolonged period of time.

Living in the age of technological explosion means that you now have access to the world of information at your fingertips.

The problem is that you are not trained to take full advantage of what’s at your disposal.

If you don’t train your focus, it’s very easy to simply scatter your focus all over the place.

Constant notifications on your phone, surfing the web aimlessly, purposeless messaging, and random memes train your mind to be all over the place.

We become hamsters on a hamster wheel, always chasing that next dopamine hit.

Any accomplishment in your life comes down to you doing the right thing that moves you forward for a prolonged period of time. Usually, that thing is neither flashy nor very stimulating (unlike all the distractions).

If you are unable to prioritize your attention and focus on one thing for at least 50 minutes, this is the very thing that you need to fix first.

Make a promise to yourself that you will guard your focus like your life depends on it… because it does.

PS. Hey man, thanks for reading – I hope you found this information valuable.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Also,  share it with a friend that may find that life-changing information to be of value.

Speak soon, man!

PREVIOUS ARTICLE

A RIDICULOUSLY EFFECTIVE GUIDE TO ELIMINATING EXCUSES & LIMITING BELIEFS