Shift Your Perspective in Order to Be Successful

The main reason why some people attribute success to sheer luck is due to the fact that they really don’t understand all the hard work that goes into it.

There is a reason why some people are successful and why others are more likely to fail. It all comes down to the personality, habits, and perspective of an individual. These are integral for one’s decision-making and problem-solving processes.

In other words, success is a matter of a mindset and there are several ways in which you can turn this knowledge to your advantage. Here are seven great tips to help you out.

1. Self-imposed deadlines are the most important

Having self-imposed deadlines and sticking by them is the most important thing in the world.

There are some days on which you’ll feel like 24 hours are too short. Then, there are those days when your schedule is nearly empty. The key thing is that you don’t allow this second type of day to go to waste. Get up as early in the morning and try to have as many days of active work as possible.

This is how winners are made – by doing the best you can, even when you don’t have to. By using self-imposed deadlines, you will avoid the pitfalls of Parkinson’s law. This is an adage that claims that the amount of work will always expand to fill the time until the completion of the project.

2. Understand different types of assets

Assets are not just things that you can measure through a financial criterion. In fact, some of the most important assets are immaterial. For instance, you must have heard the phrase – time is money.

You have a finite amount of time each day and wasting it on something unimportant or something that you can delegate to others is usually mismanagement of resources.

Contacts and favors are also an asset. Using them for something irrelevant or failing to build them is also a bad idea. The key to overcoming this lies in understanding that they are, indeed, assets.

3. Invest in your education

Constantly self-improving is probably the most important item on this list.

Previously, we have talked about how shifting your perspective can help you become more successful. Well, enrolling in Master Mindset training is one of the ways to get there. Every form of learning, ranging from online courses, all the way to light reading and microlearning, can benefit you in some way.

Just remember what we have said about time being a finite resource. It is crucial that you can prioritize the types of knowledge and fields of expertise that would benefit you the most.

4. Setting boundaries

The only people who are going to get upset by you setting boundaries are those who benefit from you not having boundaries in the first place.

You just can’t afford to have your subordinates, superiors, clients, partners, employees, or anyone else for that matter, walk all over you. Moreover, setting boundaries will make people respect you more. It will help them take you seriously.

Will this antagonize some people? Sure, standing up for yourself always does. The sooner you learn this, the more effectively you will prevent people from exploiting you.

5. Charisma is not an innate mystical force

Charisma is nothing more than making other people feel good around you. It is not some innate, mythical force that makes people like you at the first sight.

There are a lot of ways in which you can improve your charisma and one of the methods is doing some research on the subject matter. The book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie can give you a great head start.

Actively listening to people, memorizing what they are telling you and reflecting on it later in a conversation, and addressing people by their full name are some of the tricks you can use.

6. Being loved is not a priority

Nicolo Machiavelli once said that it is better for a leader to be feared rather than loved. The reason behind this is the fact that fear is something that you control, while love is something that people bestow upon you of their own volition.

While you do not want to inspire fear, the truth is that it is always better to rely on your own assets than on the goodwill of others. Sure, it is great for others to love you but you shouldn’t go above and beyond to achieve this. It is always better for others to respect you, trust you or believe in you than for them to just love/like you.

7. Accept positive criticism

The biggest problem that a lot of successful people have to deal with is being surrounded by – yes men. This is the type of people who earn favors by blindly supporting and feeding the egos of the successful people in their vicinity.

The problem with this phenomenon lies in the fact that it ends with one’s twisted image of themselves and their overestimation of their capacities and capabilities. 

One of the ways to fend them off is to surround yourself with honest people who will give you proper feedback. Now, there are two ways for you to do this. The first one is to look for the right personality type of friends and acquaintances. The second one is to learn how to respond well to positive criticism.

This will encourage people to be honest with you, seeing as how they will see for a fact that being forthcoming doesn’t put your friendship/relationship in jeopardy.

In conclusion

With these several habits on your side, your perception of the world will quickly change and with it, the perception that other people have of you, as well.

Finally, it is important that you understand that you can’t change your outlook on life in just one day, a week, or even a month.

This takes a continuous effort. Still, knowing that the effort is going to be worth it, in the end, will provide you with all the motivation you need. In order to be a winner, you need to start thinking like a winner.