It may look like a series of curveballs have been thrown at you, any one of which could stop a person in their tracks.

Perhaps you have experienced a near total loss of income because your job was cut or eliminated or you were laid off through no fault of your own.

Maybe you had to completely reinvent your business to find new ways to serve customers. I spoke with a woman who has a dog grooming business. She created a safe dog grooming environment during the recent health shutdown. Instead of having multiple groomers working in one open room, she divided the room into 4 closed sections. Recipient dogs were staged no less than 10 minutes apart. The dog groomer wearing a mask came to the car waiting at the front door. The dog groomer took the dog to the closed section, where he was brushed and returned to the owner at the specified time.

Perhaps you are or have been isolated from your friends and loved ones and are looking for new ways to stay connected. With dozens of ways to stay connected, it sounds strange that isolation is an issue. However, the problem of the quarantine is the change in the freedom of choice. Therefore, the loss of freedom of choice leads people to choose a sense of isolation as a way of coping as a mechanism.

Despite the unforeseen and unprecedented challenges one encounters in life, it can seem endless.

Some people are doing fine. They are adjusting to a revised schedule and way of doing things…and thriving.

What is your secret?

And so important…

How can you harness this secret to achieve the dreams you hold dear in the months and years to come, no matter what surprises are waiting just around the corner?

Discover the secret: 5 steps to transform a fixed mindset into a growth mindset

1. Are you thinking about what you “must do” instead of what you “will accomplish”.

The fixed negative mindset underlies your inability to change. See your features as fixed and unalterable. You’ve heard people (perhaps yourself) say something like “I’m a pessimist, I can’t help it.” Well guess what, you can! Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck says that by developing a growth mindset — the belief that your traits can be changed through deliberate practice — you set yourself up for success.

2: Learn to listen to your fixed mindset “internal dialogue.”

When you decide to tackle a new challenge, what is your internal dialogue? You might say, “Are you sure you can do it?” or “What if you fail?” “What will you do if you fail?”

If you hit a roadblock, you might hear, “If only I had talent” or “I told you it was too risky.” Because I?

Every life and business coach knows about the inner dialogue spoiler. It’s the internal dialogue that undermines much of what we do; the inner critic who judges you and your work.

The internal spoiler of the internal dialogue is the ‘fixed mindset’.

Once you know you have a fixed mindset, you can anticipate the internal dialogue spoiler in advance. Then just listen to it. If you hear your spoiler talking to yourself, you can say “Cancel.” “Stop.”

3: Recognize that you have options.

You can interpret self-talk in two different ways: Challenges, setbacks, and criticism can all be a sign that you have fixed talent and ability.

Or, they may be a sign that you need to challenge yourself, step up your efforts, change your strategies, and continue to develop.

The first is obviously the fixed mindset; the second is growth oriented.

The key here is to get out of the (fixed) judgment frame and into the arena of growth.

4: Talk to your negative inner critic in a growth mindset voice.

When approaching a challenge:

The negative fixed mindset says “Are you sure you can do it? Maybe you don’t have the talent.”

The growth mindset answers, “I’m not sure I can do it right now, but I know I can learn with time and effort.”

Fixed Mindset: “What if you fail? You will be a failure”

Growth mindset: “Most successful people had failures along the way.”

When you hit a setback:

Fixed Negative Mindset: “This would have been easy if you really had talent.”

Growth mindset: “That’s so wrong. Basketball wasn’t easy for Michael Jordan and science wasn’t easy for Thomas Edison. They had passion and worked really hard.

Facing criticism:

Fixed Negative Mindset: “It’s not my fault. It was something or someone else’s fault.”

Growth mindset: “When I take responsibility, I can fix it. Let me listen, however painful, and learn what I can.”

Writing dialogue in a journal is very effective. There is something about writing that makes it easier to connect with your inner voice.

In addition, it provides a record of the conversation. You can then review the dialogue and identify common patterns.

5: Take the growth mindset action.

Once you listen to negative fixed mindset self-talk and respond with growth mindset self-talk, then you will determine how to take the necessary steps that will lead to growth.

This could include taking on a new challenge, learning from setbacks, persisting without exception, adjusting your actions based on feedback, etc.

No matter what challenges you face: relationship problems, lack of money, unfulfilling job, health issues…

Your success or failure lies in your beliefs and thinking.

Some people have a mindset that keeps them trapped by their self-perceived or indoctrinated and conditioned limitations.

Other people have a mindset that helps them skillfully meet challenges and shake off setbacks or failures.

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the level of thinking that created them.” Einstein

Einstein reminds us that if a clear and easy solution to any problem you are facing is not apparent, you need to change the frequency of your thinking.

In the final analysis, by adopting a growth mindset, the opportunities for more learning and success will be more visible, available, and ultimately more rewarding.

While it may not be completely natural at first, anyone can begin to adopt a growth mindset and create a meaningful and fulfilling life by taking consistent action.

You can make the decision to start living a life of healthy growth today, as you begin to expand your consciousness and notice any fixed mindsets and/or scarcity mindsets that may arise.

Using the actions mentioned above, you will be on a continuous journey towards success.