I am yet to see a very genuinely successful person with a “rubbish-kind” of mindset, emphasis on the word “genuine”.

The whole mindset stuff once sounded like a cliché to me, but I got over it when I had an experience that wasn’t so cool, I learnt my lesson in a semi-hard way, I hope you wouldn’t too!

Before getting admission to the university, I had to sit for the qualifying exam twice. This happened because of the mindset I had.

Earlier then, during my last year in high school, while preparing for my final examinations, which included the qualifying exam to the university, I had this mindset that I’d not be getting admission into the school of my choice, just because it was a competitive one and most people, from my high school, as brilliant as they were hardly gain admission in that university.

It was said that close to 90% of a student from my school who opts for this university never gets admission, I found reasons to believe this becausthethea the most brilliant student in my school tried and failed, and by the next year, they would opt for another school.

Amidst all the warnings from cla**mates, senior colleagues, and friends, I still went ahead to opt for the school, and guess what?

I FAILED!

But then, I opted for it again the coming year and this time around, I was among the first people whose names appeared on the first admission list.

WHAT CHANGED?

It can’t be efforts because although I added extra effort, that was not the main point. It was neither discipline nor determination. It was just a change of Mindset.

Although all other things are needed for one to succeed, mindset has to be the leader of them all.You see, the first time I sat for this examination, I wanted to pa**, I was a kind of confident, but my mindset wasn’t tallying with my confidence, hard work, determination and as such, I didn’t succeed.

The rumors I heard from people around had already polluted my mindset and I allowed it to settle there. It was conditioned in such a way that it always doubted if I would achieve my aim and this spoilt my efforts.

What did I do the second time?

I consciously shut my ears and heart to what others were saying about it, and I cleared all forms of doubt from my mind, I was conscious of what I listened to, what I watched, what I read, etcetera, these things have a way of polluting our mindset.

If you must succeed, your mindset should do the work first by believing you can, then it does this with your help, you need to “consciously” shut your mind towards negativity.

Our minds pick things easily and randomly. The mind nullifies our efforts if it has not been conditioned to believe what you want it to believe.

So, I’d say, before starting any project, be sure to consciously clear the negative files of doubt/failure from your mind. Although failure can still occur, with a positive mindset, most work is done already.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.