Hi, this is Val compbell. Welcome to another blog. Today, I'm gonna start a two-part series and talk about Ten Ways Strong-Minded People Think Differently by Mark Pettit.
he says, to be successful in business and life, you need to be strong-minded. We might ask the question, why is that? Because the most successful people focus on building a strong mindset to help them navigate the fears, the failures, the experiences, and obstacles that come with growing either a successful business or a successful life. Their strong mindset helps them transform their past experiences—be they good or bad—and their feelings about them into a measurable criteria for future growth.
And in this post, I'm going to give you a definition of being strong-minded, I'm gonna share a few quotes about strong-mindedness, and I'm going to outline ten important ways strong-minded people think differently. I'm just gonna cover the first five today. But if you want to know or you wanna have a strong mind, you want to take seriously what went well and what didn't go well in any situation. You've got to get clear on what you want and what you don't want in your future and use those choices as the measurement for your future growth.
What sets strong-minded people apart is their ability to make decisions and communications that help them stay in a growth mindset despite the challenges, despite the fears, and despite the obstacles they face. So let's give a quick definition of strong-minded: having a vigorous mind, especially marked by independence of thought and judgment. I think that kind of hits the nail on the head. When someone is strong of mind, they have the energy, they've got the focus, they've got the mental stamina to deal with the challenges. Internally, having mental toughness gives us the courage to build confidence and overcome obstacles and grow from that experience.
Vince Lombardi said, "Mental toughness is Spartan-ism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness. It is love." And Zig Ziglar said, "It takes energy, mental toughness, and spiritual reinforcement to successfully deal with life's opportunities and to reach your objectives." Then we have, "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal, and nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." That was Thomas Jefferson.
So the question is then, how can you be strong-minded or how do you develop strong-mindedness? Glad you asked. So here's the first five of the ten characteristics of strong-minded people.
Number one: Strong-minded people know where they're headed. We could probably just say they've got goals, they know where they're going. Strong-minded people have a clear direction and a clear purpose. They know exactly what they want to achieve and have a clear game plan to get there. Although challenges, frustrations, and failures may throw them off course for a while, their clarity of vision helps them stay strong of mind to overcome these obstacles.
Number two: Strong-minded people are committed. Combined with a strong sense of purpose is a commitment and a perseverance to stay the course despite the roadblocks that may come up. When you're committed to something important to you, no amount of failures will stop you from reaching your goals.
Number three: Strong-minded people know how to overcome obstacles. We all have obstacles to overcome on our journey to reach our goals, right? People with a strong mind are clear on the obstacles they face and have a built-in strategy to create a plan of action to overcome those obstacles. Think back to a time when you had to overcome an obstacle. What strategy did you use? And then think of another obstacle that you overcame. Did you use the same strategy? Try to notice a common process you used to overcome obstacles and then put that process to use next time an obstacle comes up.
Number four: Strong-minded people know their capabilities, right? When the going gets tough, people with a strong mind have to be crystal clear on what they're really good at—their capabilities. Like John Maxwell said, "You want to focus on your strengths, not on your weaknesses." So when you understand what you're really good at and spend more time doing that activity, you have the ability to overcome many obstacles and any time of crisis. Focus on using your biggest capabilities. So play to your strengths, not your weaknesses.
Number five: Strong-minded people have a gratitude mindset. I'm just gonna call this: they have an attitude of gratitude. People who are strong-minded always appreciate something in their day, no matter how hard it's been. And if you have a gratitude mindset an attitude of gratitude you'll always be coming from a place of abundance rather than scarcity. When you've had a difficult day and hey, we all have those, write down one or two things you're grateful for. Or, like I do, I communicate those with my wife. I tell her what I'm thankful for, what we're thankful for. And then try doing this practice for seven days to create a habit.
So thanks for joining me today. I appreciate it. I hope this has been helpful and added value to you. I'll catch you next time with the last five points on this. Have an awesome day
