Street-smart Mind-set of Succeeding in Life*

Some people like to settle in the state of mind whereby they believe they have the ‘potential’ and the idea of exploring those potentials might frighten them from taking any step because they believe that once they do so then that chapter of ‘having potentials’ might close and they will have no story to tell anymore. What they don’t realise is that the end of each chapter means a fresh start of the next undiscovered, captivating chapter and that the end of the last chapter means a brand new book to unearth. No one can ever run out of their potential, once you discover your full ability to do something you start to learn that you could actual reach for newer heights with each step you take. This theory is based on the fact that, if for one moment you start to believe that you have reach all your full potentials in life and there is nothing new to add to that then you stop dreaming and lose the touchstone of your personality.

Our minds are loaded with the Don’ts that often times we fail to see the Do’s that can catapult us to greater achievements. You could put two people in the same environment with same opportunities and obstacles; the other person might take the opportunities given to him and use them to succeed and take the obstacles as learning path whilst the second person on the other hand might approach all the opportunities with fear and escalate all the obstacles that he faces. He will rather choose to fill his mind with counterproductive and negative thoughts that he end up scaring himself off of his potential best.

We can either choose to let our minds to rule us with their stratagem or we can choose to guide and challenge our minds to build us up and empower us by feeding it positive thoughts at all times. At first it might sound like hard work to purify our thoughts from second-to-second basis but rather than taking this process as some boring chores that need to be done with, visualise yourself in the state that you’d like to see yourself in, the wealth that you want to accumulate and declare to yourself those feelings you are experiencing are the results that you will wake up to and enjoy each and every day if you train your mind to be your valuable companion. Always focus on being your own coach and master the game of success.

When you nurture the feel-good thoughts and visualisation you are actually strategising and investing in your mind freedom. A person who has never trained to play football but actually believes in their potential and visualise themselves on top of the game have chances of doing better than a talented footballer who does not believe in their ability. There is no mystery to this theory – what happens is that the talented footballer have their born-with talents growing upside-down while the ‘talentless’ footballer applies fertiliser and nurture any potential that they might have. Below are some street-smart pointers to help keep you focused:

• Always take a well criticism and use it to build yourself up.
• To change the world, you have to start with the person closest to you – YOU.
• Know when to overlook some things.
• Learn to tolerate the faults of others and concentrate on their strengths.
• Know that not all obstacles are mountains – some are stepping stones to help you reach for your goals, you just need to know when to step over and go around each one of them.
• Education was meant to open your eyes and should never at any point in life be like blinkers.
• Most great men and women were not discovered in the classrooms but had the street mould them.
• Always be ready and prepared for any unannounced opportunities that may come your way.
• Picture yourself having reached your dream and make a list of questions that you’d want to ask your ‘accomplished-self’ and use them to improve yourself.
• Always keep in mind that no matter where you are in your life, there is always a room for improvement.
• You can never achieve anything that you have not set yourself to accomplish.
• The first step you take towards your goal/dream should be taken with enthusiasm if not then do not embark on that journey because you’d set yourself for failure.
• Positive thoughts and visualisation can only yield anticipated results when they are combined with action.
• Fear is there to let you know and make you aware of your need of other people’s skills and as such, should never hold you back.
• Your life is a story being read aloud and the world is full of audience ready to criticise both your shortcoming and your triumphs.
• You are the only person who holds the measuring tape of your success. You succeed to the point you are willing to go.
• Your mind is your most powerful tool – it can break or build you up, depending on who is its master.
• Unload your mind by unlearning all the negative and dreaming-sucking methods of thinking that have pulled you down and replace them by adopting new ones.
• Thinking outside the box is a smart way of getting ahead but at the same time, reach inside that box to grab the tool you need to empower yourself.

*The article originally appeared on my LinkedIn account.