You may have heard some people say that ‘mindset is everything,’ but do you find yourself questioning whether it is real or just another motivational quote?

Can your mindset really make that much of a difference in your life? If you have a positive mindset, are you more likely to experience success? 

On the other hand, if you have a negative mindset or a pessimistic attitude, is it more likely to lead to failure, unhappiness, and unproductivity?

Are you planning to start an online business? Or maybe you are going to move to a new city or country. Before you begin any massive undertaking, it is essential to have a healthy mindset to be successful. 

Looking at the most successful people in the world, they all have one thing in common. They have a positive mindset and have cultivated habits that help set them up for success. This is true in any industry, whether entrepreneurs, business, sports, music, or acting, to name a few.

While most people can be positive when things are going great for them, how you react to adversity determines your success and character.

Mindset is everything and is the first thing you must focus on before you even begin working towards your goals.

What Is Mindset?

So what is mindset? Put simply, mindset is a way of thinking, a collection of ideas, beliefs, and views.

The definition of mindset, according to Merriam-Webster, is:

  •  a mental attitude or inclination
  • a fixed state of mind

According to Oxford, Mindset is 

“A set of attitudes or fixed ideas that someone has and that are often difficult to change.”

Your mindset affects how you perceive yourself and the world around you. 

Mindset is what you believe in, based on your thoughts on a specific subject. 

It can also be challenging to change your mindset. But, with a conscious effort, it is possible. 

According to American psychologist Carol Dweck from Stanford University, there are two different types of mindsets:

Road signs - fixed mindset left, growth mindset right

Growth Mindset 

People with a growth mindset believe that their abilities can be enhanced through learning, and that “intelligence can be developed.”

They embrace challenges, don’t quit when they face adversity, and learn and embrace failure. 

A growth mindset means focusing on the process, not the outcome. Therefore, feedback is embraced for improvement and to increase abilities, rather than taken critically. Also, with effort, talents and skills can be developed and are susceptible to growth.

Fixed Mindset 

On the other hand, anyone with a fixed mindset believes that “intelligence is static,” and that they can’t improve their abilities. Therefore, they take any feedback harshly and think it is critical of their ability instead of the effort they are putting in. 

They also believe failure to be intimidating, and it is not something that they can overcome with further practice or skill development.

People with a fixed mindset usually do anything to avoid challenging situations. They also easily give up and only focus on the outcome. They also believe that people either have skills, abilities, or talents that they were born with or without, and they can’t be learned. As a result, they don’t value effort and don’t try to improve themselves or grow as a person. 

My Experience With Mindset

I used to have a fixed mindset, well before I even knew what it was. 

Now, I have completely changed my perspective and have a growth mindset.

It was only when I made this change that I could start making real progress towards my goals and, most importantly, not give up when things got difficult.

So many times, I was inspired to start a new project that I had been dreaming of for years. Whether it was a new music project, launching a blog, or writing a novel. 

Before, I would get excited and be super motivated to get started. I was feeling super positive and happy. But then, within a few days, doubt would come creeping in every single time. 

I would question whether it was a good idea, whether I could be successful, whether I was good enough, and what other people would think. The questions and self-doubt only intensified over time.

I would also often tell other people of my plans, and they would discourage me and say it was a stupid idea. So I guess I was seeking approval before I started. 

Then every single time, I would end up talking myself out of it, feel like a failure and a loser, and that I wasn’t good enough. I believed that I deserved to be unhappy. I would then spiral into a deep depression.

Months later, I would then find inspiration again, and the vicious cycle would repeat itself, over and over and over again. Year after year

Do you know how many blogs I actually launched? None.

I didn’t even get past the first hurdle of putting it out into the world.

I told myself I needed the perfect niche and the perfect blog name

If I didn’t have those, I couldn’t even start, right? 

Sounds ridiculous now I am saying it.

I registered so many domain names for a blog over 3-4 years that I have even forgotten them all.

I would then start to work on setting up the website, but that was as far as I got.

Each domain name I registered was super niche-specific. So I questioned if that’s what I wanted to write about. 

Man jumping over a cliff with the words IM POSSIBLE

Get Your Mindset Right

Before you can accomplish anything, you need to get your mindset right. 

What makes some people succeed and other people fail? It usually comes down to one thing

Mindset. It really is that important.

I have seen firsthand just how important it is to have the right mindset. 

So many times, I became motivated to finally start my own blog and felt super positive about it.

But, within days, the self-doubt, negative thoughts, and imposter syndrome slowly came back and made me just give up – before I had even started.

This happened over and over again, for years. 

Until last year, I tried a different approach. 

Before starting my blog, I spent months developing a healthy mindset and growth mindset. Since you are reading this now, it worked!

Then, I decided to use my own name – SkylerBenson.com.

It makes it harder to quit if you are using a personal brand

But, it was only when I went through months of a conscious effort to change my mindset that I was even able to reach this stage. 

I purchased my name domain in August 2021, and it wasn’t until January 2022 that I even launched my blog. 

But since then, I haven’t quit and have continued to keep working on it. 

That is all thanks to mindset. 

Why Having A Growth Mindset Leads To Success

Some people believe that if you want to be successful, you must have a certain mindset. They believe that if you have the right mindset, you will achieve success no matter what.

Others disagree with this idea and think it is not the mindset that dictates your success but rather how hard-working and persistent you are. The latter group believes that anyone can succeed as long as they are willing to do the work.

I think that people can certainly achieve success with one of these viewpoints. But it is when you combine them that you significantly increase your chance of being successful

It is both your mindset and your hard work and persistence that dictates your success.

Silhouette of a Man with a raised fish looking into the sun and city skyline celebrating success

Mindset and Routines for a More Fulfilling Life

A person’s mindset can have a profound effect on their day-to-day life. 

How people think about themselves, the world, and the future can significantly affect how they feel and act. 

People need to understand their own mindsets and how they can change them to be more positive, which will lead to more fulfillment in life.

We all want to be happy, but sometimes it is hard to figure out how we can make ourselves happier

There are many ways that one person’s happiness can be increased, and changing your mindset is one of those ways. 

Once someone knows their personal mindset and what helps them feel better, they can make changes in their life that will lead to more happiness.

It is crucial to start by making small changes first. You should focus on trying to change one small thing at a time instead of everything at once. 

Perhaps you start with something such as ‘I want to get more sleep’ or ‘I want to cut out junk food.’

You can try going to sleep 15 minutes earlier per day and stop eating one type of food at a time.

It can take up to 3 weeks to form a new habit. After that, you will then just subconsciously do these things.

Over time, you will then be able to try to change your mindset for more deep beliefs such as ‘I hate myself,’ and replace them with ‘I don’t hate myself,’ then ‘I like myself,’ then, finally, ‘I love myself.’

You can do the same for beliefs such as ‘I am a failure,’ to instead change it to ‘I am making progress towards my goals.’

After all, what is most important is progress not perfection.

It is better to make small changes and progress in your life. Instead of trying to be perfect for everything you do and never succeeding at anything because you don’t think it is good enough.

The Power of Positive Thinking and Why it Matters to You

Positive thinking is vital to having a healthy and happy life. Positive thoughts can help you achieve your goals and maintain a positive attitude.

According to the Mayo Clinic, positive thinking can reduce stress, improve your immune system, and even prolong your life.

Positive thinking is also essential because it can help you overcome challenges in your life. In addition, it will keep you motivated and make it easier for you to take on new challenges.

Positive thoughts will also motivate you to pursue your dreams and work towards achieving them.

Positive thinking leads to confidence, happiness, and inspiration

How to Change Negative Thinking to a Positive Mindset Quickly & Easily

Having a positive mindset can be difficult sometimes. It’s hard to change harmful and self-destructive ideas and thoughts in your head that you’ve had for so long. 

But there are simple tools you can use to help yourself change your perspective quickly and easily.

What you believe about yourself and the world around you can significantly impact your success and happiness. 

Whether you want to start your own online business, be a content creator or be a professional writer – they all have something in common. They require a strong and proper mindset to work towards your goals. 

With so much uncertainty in the world and the most considerable inflation rates in decades, it is perfectly normal for people to be stressed out and confused about what to do next. 

Before making a big decision, it is essential to make sure you first have the right mindset. 

Now is probably the best time ever to start an online business or side hustle and to create passive income for yourself.

But, mindset is everything, and you need to have the right mindset first.

In this section, we’ll explore how to develop the right mindset to reach your potential.

Woman celebrating success after a workout

Mindset Is Everything – 7 Steps To Get Your Mindset Right

Here are 7 steps to change your mindset to allow you to focus on growth, personal development, and success. 

While it isn’t easy, it is certainly possible – I was once in your shoes, and if I can do it, so can you!

1. Concentrate On Your Growth And Personal Development

If you want to start an online business, a side hustle, or do freelance work, you need to take your idea from your mind and turn it into reality. But how exactly do you begin? 

Without self-development, it will only ever be that, an idea

Instead of making drastic changes, the best thing you can do is to make small changes every single day. 

Don’t compare yourself to others. Only compare yourself to where you were yesterday.

Find out your weaknesses, and then find a way to work on them.

You can take online courses if you need to improve time management, productivity, or specific skills to start your online business. 

Most courses are broken down into bite-sized videos of between 3-10 minutes, so even if you only have time to watch one per day, you can still make significant progress over time.

Here are the best online learning platforms for 2022.

2. Embrace Challenges

It is inevitable for all content creators, writers, online business owners, and entrepreneurs to encounter difficulties and challenges at one point or another. 

Whether they are related to financial reasons, burning yourself out, or mental health, issues that relate to your mindset are often the most difficult. 

Before progressing in life and business, you must first conquer your mindset and address any issues head-on. 

You should prepare yourself mentally before you even do a second of work and plan for any obstacles or challenges. 

Doing so will help you to try to overcome them and find a solution, rather than just quitting when things get tough.

3. Be Prepared To Struggle With Mindset Issues Daily

Even the most successful people in the world struggle with issues related to mindset from time to time.

While it will be difficult and a struggle every day when first starting something new, keeping a positive mindset will help you get through.

Remind yourself what your goals are. Why are you doing this? What will your life be like when you achieve your goals?

Life is full of ups and downs. It is how you deal with the downs that will determine your success.

Some days everything will feel wrong, and you will feel like quitting and giving up. 

It is ok to feel this way and only natural.

But you should not let the thoughts you have for only one day affect your goals and dreams and the rest of your life.

Take some time to yourself and come back stronger. Do an activity that you enjoy. Go for a walk. Then, take the rest of the day off.

Then keep going the next day. 

Don’t make the mistake I previously made where I would give up just because I wasn’t feeling mentally well.

Even if you need to take a week off or a month to get your mindset right, do it

Mindset is everything, and if your mindset isn’t right, you are almost always destined to fail.

woman looking at a lightbulb realizing new mindset, new results

4. Do You Have Limiting Beliefs? It’s Time To Change Them

Perhaps you grew up in an environment that didn’t foster creativity or entrepreneurship. Maybe you were told that you weren’t good enough; or that you should quit. 

Maybe you were told that money was always hard to earn, and you need job security by working at the same job for 40 years.

Take a step back now, and ask yourself if your beliefs are helping you with your goals and supporting you to achieve them. 

Or are they limited to what you can be and what you can achieve?

Be honest with yourself. 

It is one of the most challenging things you will have to do. I was in your situation. I get it. 

But now, you need to break free of old beliefs that were ingrained in you and don’t serve you. 

Now is the time to create your own beliefs instead of just believing what other people told you about their own.

This is extremely difficult to do, and it could take you many years to finally change them. 

It is challenging what was taught and believed your whole life – either from parents, family, teachers, or friends. 

You may have to reprogram your belief system.

This is not something that is done overnight. 

You may also find yourself slipping back to your old ways of thinking from time to time. But, again, this is perfectly normal. As long as you are self-aware, you are doing so and can stop it and think of new positive thoughts instead.

Once you change your thoughts, beliefs, and mindset, that is when you are truly free to reach your full potential and achieve your dreams.

Man working out lifting weights with a healthy mindset

5. Work Towards Having A Healthy Mindset & Body

Trying to make significant changes to your life while still eating poorly, not getting much sleep, and not exercising is setting yourself up for failure.

You’ll most likely always be tired, unable to focus or concentrate, have headaches and not have enough energy to make as much progress as you would like. 

As well as having a healthy mindset, you should try to live a healthy lifestyle. 

Eat right, get enough sleep, and work out. Be active. Go for walks.

You’ll be amazed at what it will do for your energy levels and how much more productive it will allow you to be.

6. Keep A List Of Your Daily Victories

Getting started is the hardest part. However, once you’re on your way, you will find that it starts getting easier each day. Make a list of daily mindset wins to keep the momentum going and keep yourself inspired and motivated.

It can just be simple small things where you previously would have had a negative mindset or thought about something, but now you think about it differently. The point of the list is to see how far you have come. 

If something goes wrong, you can also include it and reflect on it as a learning experience.

7. Keep Your Positive Attitude

Changing your mindset is going through significant changes, not only mentally but in life. 

Unfortunately, you’ll most likely encounter people who don’t like that you have changed. Instead of wanting to also improve themselves, they would rather try to bring you down again.

Mindset is everything; you shouldn’t feel guilty or wrong by developing a positive mindset. 

You may need to make some difficult decisions and perhaps cut some people out of your life who are always negative and toxic

I had to make the decision to lose a lot of friends when I changed my mindset and focused on self-improvement, as well as family members. 

I now surround myself with positive people. Instead of tearing each other down, everyone I associate with celebrates each other’s wins and helps to lift each other up.

Don’t give up on your goals or dreams for anyone!

Mindset - attitude, behavior, action, success

FAQS – Mindset Is Everything

What is meant by mindset is everything?

Mindset is how a person thinks about things. It is the attitude or perspective that a person has. What mindset is everything means is that your mindset will make all the difference in your life and impact whether you are successful.

Why is mindset so important in life?

Mindset is a powerful thing. It can make or break your life. It can determine whether you will be successful or not, happy or unhappy, and so on. Your mindset is the filter through which you see the world around you, and it dictates how you react to it.

A positive mindset is usually more productive than a negative one. A positive mindset helps to create a healthy lifestyle. At the same time, a negative one makes it difficult to do anything other than focus on the negatives in life. The right mindset can make all the difference when trying to achieve your goals in life.

What is the real meaning of mindset?

Mindset is the set of attitudes and beliefs that we have about ourselves and the world. It can be our attitudes, skills, beliefs, values, or thoughts.

The meaning of mindset is how we perceive the world around us. It is how we think about it and what we believe to be possible in it. A person’s mindset can affect their behavior and performance in many ways.

Why is mindset so powerful?

The human mind is the most powerful thing on Earth. It can do anything and everything, as long as it is focused on the task at hand.

The human mind can do anything it wants to as long as it focuses on that task. But, if we allow our minds to wander or get distracted, this power is lost and wasted.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, it is essential to have a growth mindset. This means it is not about the destination but how you get there.

It is a misconception that you need to be born with the right skills and talents to be successful. Instead, your mindset will make you successful and allow you to develop the skills and talents you need over time through training and practice.

Also, think positive thoughts, and ensure that you have a healthy mindset and lifestyle.

Also, remember that it is possible to change your mindset, but it takes a lot of time and focus. Therefore, before making considerable changes to your personal or professional life, you should focus on your mindset to give yourself the best chance of success and take your goals to the next level.

Mindset is everything. You can achieve anything you put your mind to!

Skyler Benson
Skyler Benson

Skyler Benson is a full-time blogger. Join Skyler on SkylerBenson.com and learn how to start an online business and create a life of freedom. Before starting this blog, Skyler worked online as a freelance content writer. He worked with digital marketing agencies and B2B companies for four years. Skyler reviews the best software for your online business and teaches you how to write better and start your freelancing career.