How Does a Success Mindset Tie with Your Beliefs and Values

It's important to have a success mindset in order to reach your goals in your business, but what does that really mean? A lot of people equate success with some financial number or “crushing” the competition, but I look at success in a more holistic way. Being richly rewarded for the good that you bring to the world through your product or service is certainly part of the equation and you can do a lot of good with it. However, there is a lot more to full prosperity and living your truth.

Having a focus on your faith/spirituality, health, family, friends, and community as well as your financials all combined creates your success. When you have that balance your power can come through and that is what makes you a magnet to success and to others. You deserve to build a life that is created around your full truth, and not just a portion of you. I had the pleasure of talking with P.J. Simmons about this topic on his show.

Update: This show was originally a 30 minute audio interview, but the podcast has since shut down. Below is a summary of what we disucssed.

What does it mean to have a “success mindset”?

Let’s talk first about what mindset is. Everyone walks around with a variety of opinions on how the world works and how that world works in relation to them.

Those beliefs are a series of mindsets.

For example, at one time, people were scared to sail on the ocean because they believed that the world was flat and that they would fall off the edge. Now, that seems silly to us knowing what we know about our round earth, but back then, it was truth to them.

Our mindsets are set at a very early age by what those raising us taught us as well as what we experienced. We have a mindset of self-preservation, so we don’t walk into a burning building. Mindsets are not good or bad. They are set patterns of subconscious belief that drive our decisions and actions.

Success mindset is really a variety of different thought patterns that we take on and own that allow us to create success in our lives.

For example, if you believe that sales are difficult and slimy, then they are going to be difficult and slimy and it is likely that your business will not be very successful. If, however, you choose to change your mindset to say that authentic sales can be loving and serve the person you are selling to, all of the sudden your entire outlook changes and the choices you make in how you conduct your sales conversations would change.

Let’s look at another one. Fear of failing. If you have the mindset that failure is bad, then it is likely you will either be a perfectionist and slow to create anything new or you will avoid taking chances all together. Neither outcome is good for your clients, customers or patients.

However, if you change your mindset to day that experiencing failure fast is a fantastic way to learn and test the market, if you don’t put a negative bias around things not going perfectly, you would stand in your faith more and take chances that can serve a greater audience.

Having a success mindset is all in your attitude and responses to what happens around you. From a faith perspective, a success mindset looks like this: “I have the favor of God. I can do all things through Christ. I am blessed. I am strong. I am magnetic. I am more powerful than even I know through Him. Today I will experience God’s faithfullness. I am full of confidence. I will keep my trust in HIM knowing that He will not fail me. I will give birth to every promise that God has put into my heart and I will become everything God created me to be.

How do Gospel Driven Entrepreneurs pursue success without feeling guilty? Why do you think some do?

A lot of people equate success with some financial number or “crushing” the competition, but I look at success in a more holistic way. Being richly rewarded for the good that you bring to the world through your product or service is certainly part of the equation and you can do a lot of good with it. However, there is a lot more to full prosperity and living your truth.

Having a focus on your faith/spirituality, health, family, friends and community as well as your financials all combined creates your success. When you have that balance your power can come through and that is what makes you a magnet to success and to others. You deserve to build a life that is created around your full truth, and not just a portion of you.

I believe that when you look at success from a holistic perspective, it is our responsibility to seek it without feeling guilt. If the work we are doing as entrepreneurs honors and glorifies the Lord, we have a responsibility to do it without guilt.

What do your daily habits look like in order to maximize the hours and be as successful as you can?

Every morning at 5:30 am my husband’s alarm goes off. He usually hits snooze for 10 minutes and in that time I pray over him and for him. Once he gets out of bed, I take the next 1.5 hours for prayer, meditation, visualization and gratitude. I purposely set my guidance for the day before I even put feet to the floor.
I get ready for my day and eat a healthy breakfast and take time for reading and reflection.

Then I dive into planning time and the tasks and appointments I have set for the day.

I have a strong focus on maximizing my time and energy since I have a limited amount.

At the end of the day I practice what I call energetic hygiene.

To be successful, we need to have a clear vision of where we're going. How do we gain that vision? How do we clear the clutter?

Prayer
Journaling
Getting help from a coach or mentor!

Give us one quote or verse that inspires you. How does that quote or verse drive your work?

I actually have many that inspire and drive me. However there are two that I use in tandem that form the basis of the person I try to be every day.

Matthew 22:36-40
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?
Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

So I’m guided to put God first in all that I do and I am guided to not only love others, but myself as well. So then
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells me how to evaluate how I’m doing in that regard.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Replace your name or someone else's name with “love.”

What would you tell your 20 year old self if you knew then what you know now about life?

Wow. My younger self was very driven and an extreme workaholic. That 20 year old self’s choices are part of why in 2009 I was told I would not see 2010 due to extreme illness. I think I would start with compassion to acknowledge everything that she had accomplished in her corporate life and I would tell her that it is ok to shift plans when things don’t work out as expected. Then, I would tell her about my experiences and how she could choose do it differently. I’d encourage her to do her best to not worry so much about what other people thought.

Then I’d tell her that stress, even though it can give you an adrenaline rush, is not a good thing.

I’d encourage her to examine her life and Eliminate ALL Extra Stress in Life that are under her control – Sometimes shutting down is the best thing you can do for your body. At the height of my illnesses, I was WAY overcommitted. I had my business, being a parent, volunteering for 5 different organizations, networking groups, boards, etc.

One of the best tips I received early in my change process was that I needed to re-evaluate where my time went. I made time for everyone but me. So, I sat down and really thought about the activities that I had been participating in. Which ones lifted me up – filled me up? Which activities left me drained and uninspired? It was a very difficult exercise to do, but it is one that I now incorporate with all of my private clients. Only participate in activities that fill you up! Make sure that you make time for you.

That sounds really simple, but it wasn’t because I had built a lot of bad habits. I had to eliminate all of the ideas about what I could and could not do.

Today, I have a complete system where I help my private clients figure these things out too. Knowing your value added activities ensures that you stick with the experience you really want.

I’d encourage her to focus more on who she was BEing and less on what she was DOing.

Then I would suggest Defining her Ideal Life and Day. When did I want to work and when did I want to be available for my husband, my son and other activities. By defining my life first, I was able to create a business model that allows me to have the life I want rather than a life that felt forced. Even down to getting great clarity around who I wanted to work with vs taking abuse from some of my earlier work experiences.

There are a lot of other things, but It’s really about being in alignment. So the #1 thing I would tell younger Stephanie is to do Resentment Testing on all of her decisions. That means, when a new decision was put in front of her, do an internal check on how that made her feel. If there was any resentment, recognize that it is totally ok to change the variables until there is no resentment. That she was worth it and had value and had the right to own what she really wanted in life.

Lastly – I would tell her I love you. The good and the bad. I love you. ALL of you and you are amazing. Don’t let anyone tell you different.

Then I’d tell her to get really serious with herself and start working through visibility blocks. Visibility blocks are those subconscious thoughts and patterns that hold us back from truly allowing our brilliance shine.

Then I’d tell her to systemitized everything! Every process in my business has a system attached. Some of those systems are automated and some are manual and some are done by a virtual assistant but they are all systems. Systems allow me to have consistent communication and consistent brand.

What is one book that you would recommend for Gospel Driven Entrepreneurs?

I am an avid reader for business, spiritual and fun. I read at least an hour a day, so I have a lot of books that I like. Some are faith-based and some are secular. One success mindset book that I have recently read and referenced to others is Joel Osteen’s I Declare – 31 promises to speak over your life. It is a very easy read. I recommend reading a section a day and incorporating what you learn into your daily thought patterns. After reading the book I created my own scripts of declarations that I speak out loud throughout the day. The book is based on the premise that the words you speak determine the way you live. Declaring the truth of God’s Word over your life is powerful.

My Interviewer: P.J. Simmons

P.J. Simmons is the founder and director of Gospel Driven Entrepreneur and the host of the Gospel-Driven Entrepreneur podcast. His heart is to equip entrepreneurs in connecting their faith to their work, intentionally engaging culture to bring about the kingdom of heaven on earth. P.J. lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife Ashley.

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