So as a man thinketh in his heart, so is He. – Proverbs 23:7
Preparing your mind and spirit are especially important elements. We all know that our minds can play tricks on us. We are exposed to countless mental stimuli that can cause us to lose focus and believe me I surely was a victim of it. However, when God has impregnated you with a purpose, distractions can only have a hold on you temporarily before God starts to prick at you. And sometimes you have to just snatch your focus back to where it needs to be. Preparing your mind and spirit for success is a constant task.
Fear of success
Another mind game is fear. Have you ever thought about the fear of success? That is one of the things that I had to overcome. Many people concentrate on the glitz and glamour of success. When I thought of my ultimate goal of success it made me fearful. Success often comes with things that if you are not prepared, can be overwhelming and stressful. Demands on your time associated with meetings, speaking engagements, and traveling; time away from family; being in the spotlight, too many people in my personal life and not to mention newly discovered family members. Those thoughts often raced through my mind and then self-doubt crept in. Those thoughts often paralyzed my ability to want to move forward. However, the voice of the living God reminded me about the vision He put in me. I had to get my mind and spirit right to walk into my destiny.
Prepare your mind and spirit for success
Through the years I have discovered a few things that helped me prepare my mind and spirit. Here are some recommendations to help prepare your mind and spirit for success.
Set Goals - Create goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound are important. Set daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals and work towards them consistently. This will result in small victories towards your ultimate goal of success. I also believe that if you write your goals down and have them visible to you every day, it will help you stay focused. A goal without a plan is just a wish list. Take action, little by little but be consistent and persistent.
Ask for help - Don’t let your pride get in your way and not ask for help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it shows strength and helps build wisdom. Believe me, the road you are traveling is not the untrodden territory. Asking for help will often lead you to new discoveries, and save you time and money.
Be Teachable – Always be open to learning. You may know a lot in your area of expertise however there is always someone who knows a little more than you or knows different information that can be valuable to you. Be a student of your area of interest/expertise.
Be Coachable – Find a coach/mentor. Having a coach/mentor is a great resource. Good mentors will coach you through many aspects of the business as well as personal development and growth by sharing their own personal experiences. Many of them also have a repository of their own resources and references they will share with you. Coaches/Mentors can also serve as accountability partners to help you stay on track.
Be Trainable - This relates more to the mindset rather than your competency level. Trainability is more like training yourself to develop productive habits that will give way to successful outcomes. Training your thoughts and actions towards opportunities to advance your success.
Eliminate self-limiting thoughts – The negative thoughts we have of ourselves can be one of our biggest obstacles. Thoughts like I am not good enough, pretty enough, or smart enough. We often talk ourselves out of our success. Take the power of your thoughts and actions. Speak words of affirmations to yourself. Post words of affirmation around you. Your words have power.
Willing to Serve Others – Serving others is not only about what you are doing for others, it is oftentimes coupled with opportunities to learn from those you serve as well as teaches you humility. Have a desire to be an impact not only in your life but in the lives of others.
Prayer/Meditation – I believe prayer and meditation are the biggest and most beneficial acts to prepare yourself for success. Praying is simply communicating with God. And of course, communicating is a two-way exchange and that’s where meditation comes in. Sitting still and listening to what God has to say about the direction you need to take is crucial to your success.
Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established – Proverbs 16:3