I spoke last week about the difference between the mindset of a leader and a follower. That article left many different perspectives up for conversation, like, what motive do I need to change in your mindset? I will tell you that you do not have to change your life if you do not want to. However, if you do not have the life you want, you will have to adjust and continually push your mindset past your comfort zone. There might be a time when you can go back into your comfort zone after trying, but what I will tell you is that death will await your return. In today’s blog, I will be talking about how changing your mindset can affect your life.

Your mindset will be the key to unlocking all the doors in your life. Sometimes, your key will not fit in the door you need or want to pass through. That means you must reform your mindset to fit the figurative keyhole that is your mind. You might have heard that if the door is locked, it is not your door, but I call BS on that. You can make any door yours, but there may be repercussions or hardships that follow your decisions. Changing your mind is not simply reading some personal development material, and things will start to go your way, though it is a start. 

Once people reach a better state of mind, I know that they can do more in life. That is often the case for many of my clients. They feel more aware and energetic, which all correlates to their WHY. Your why will wake you up in the morning, and if your mind is focused on why you do things rather than the things you do, you will be more likely to do more in your days. This is what sets mediocre from superior. If you can rise above all of the fluff of life and seek more, you will notice that you create more room in your life for things. Many people think that their comfort zone is big enough for a luxurious life, but inflating your comfort zone would only be a temporary success.

I remember one of my first mindset shifts. I left the idea of only being a follower and started to think more like a leader. I do not know how or why an eleven-year-old began to feel this way, but I can tell you that how I viewed my role was a preference. When their children are young, I tell parents to encourage them to play leader and follower. If you have a young girl, you can also use a playhouse, and both genders can play good guys and bad guys. If you are one of those gender-neutral people, then do what you wish, but what you allow them to play an experience with no filter will form their mindset accordingly. Moving on with that, I noticed that I wanted to be a good guy when I was younger, even though I played a mean bad guy. I also enjoyed both being a leader and a follower.

When I was a leader, I remember there was some mild stress because I had eyes on me to make the game fun. Though I was able to be a good leader, I was still open to doing things as a follower because I was able to learn new things. What I did then adjusted my mindset; instead of solely following someone, I would be someone who understands someone. This is what about the time when my grades started to shift for the better. I used to do poorly in many subjects until my later school years. The culmination of those experiences and building blocks eventually built my mindset.

I do the same with my clients when I am working with them. The only problem I face is that I am dealing with people who have a set of beliefs that they want or need to be changed. It can be difficult to adjust a mind that is not open or ready yet, so sometimes, people come to me and realize they are not prepared for change. There is nothing wrong with that. Change requires a massive amount of energy and effort, so it is not for the faint of heart. When we start to change who we are, we will question who we are becoming. I like to use your cellphone provider as an example. You might have been with one carrier for a year and do not want to switch because there is the thought that the next carrier may be worst.

I will say that I went through many different types of mindset changes. Some were short-lived, but how would I know what I wanted if I had never tried them out in the first place? It is like your favorite food. You had to try it out to know it would be one of the best things you ate in your life. Food is an easy example, but that sense of trying new things and allowing your palette to go on a journey to find different tastes you enjoy is similar to the mind. The mind does not know what good thing is next until it gets it and experiences it. That is why the journey of mindset is a lifelong journey.

Many people will fall into one mindset and stay there for many years. I am not saying you have to change, but if you are constantly thinking of more in your life, you are probably not at a healthy stopping point yet. I will say, for the record, that there is nothing wrong with you having wants and desires in your life. In your mindset, you have to look for that you should be excited for each new day and proud of what you do. Adjusting will not be too difficult to make if you cannot even have that essential sense of joy and gratitude. 

At first, you will reject any new viewpoints and ways of thinking, but that is a good indicator that your mind is working out. It is similar to how your body is sore after the gym. You might even fall into mild depression when making your first big mindset change. You might be afraid of the unknown, but that is natural. The brain wants to know certain, and if you start to walk a path that you have never walked before, then there will be fear along the way. The fear issue is that it is rarely helpful in today’s world. We are living in a world where allowing fear to sway us will take us away from some of the most incredible things we will experience in our life.

I remember the first time I jumped out of a plane. I was already in a state of calmness and had a positive outlook on the experience. It was a two-hour drive for me to get to the jump location, and I had the whole ride there and back to think about the day. I didn’t feel nervous until I got suited up for the jump. I was briefed on the ground on what would transpire, and I was just working on some breathing techniques to keep me calm. You would not have sensed any fear or uncertainty if you saw me, but it was there. I had two voices in my head, and the louder voice was fear. That fearful voice told me not to do this, and the other voice was only a whisper telling me to experience the moment.

I am glad I chose to live in the moment because as soon as I left the plane, I had fear hit my brain for approximately 7 seconds until I snapped out of it and started to focus. I mean, it was too late at this point. Either I would live or die; spoiler alert, I lived. Not only in the sense that I am alive today, but at the moment, I got to live life to the fullest. Nothing was getting in my way besides the moment I was in. I wasn’t thinking about being hungry or stressed; I was only thinking about me falling from a plane I jumped out of towards the earth at a rapid rate. I saw the clouds and all various types of landscapes until I was told to pull the cord of the parachute. This was when fear showed itself again to me because nothing happened when I pulled the cord. I pulled the string again, but the cord was lax because the chute was already opening; there was just a delay. 

That life-changing experience from jumping out of a plane led to many more in my life. I wasn’t necessarily jumping out of planes, but I was able to do something “dangerous” and be in a mellow state of mind. I then started to dare myself to do things like public speaking, which I was afraid of at one point to do. I began to question all of my fears and challenge them each time they showed up. I have not lost to fear yet in my life, which has made me the man I am today. I started with just a change in how my mind worked, and everything else in my life followed.

I will not say that the change was easy or happened overnight, but it was worth it. If I didn’t have all of my mindset shifts, you would not be here reading this article. My path did not have this as a destination. I was planning on being a good little follower and not daring to step foot into the realm of leaders and leadership. I owe many things to my experiences that have molded me, but simply having a mindset coach would have been a tremendous first step. I didn’t know there were people like me in the world until I was in a position to help people. I know some people are in a place they want to change but do not know how. I offer the know-how to change your life for the better.

Changing your mindset can change your whole life to something more than you might think it can be today. I know the first mindset shift might be a temporary thing, but it will lead to new and bigger things later in life. Sometimes we have to start with the small changes before diving into the bigger ones. I encourage people to dare make a mindset shift, whether big or small and see what happens. If you do not like what you get, you can just return to what you had. There is no penalty for going back to what you had; maybe a sense of defeat and curiosity debunked. If you have a fear and need someone to walk with you, you can find a mindset coach who has experience with change and can help guide you without all the trials you would face alone. Changing your mindset can change your life. Are you interested in finding out what that change will be?

 

Until then,

Michael Rearden

Founder of Reven Concepts