I was listening to a podcast recently by entrepreneur and investor Tai Lopez when he introduced the idea that you need to be aware of your skill set and your mindset when it comes to generating success in your life.

One thing I have learned is that you develop your skill set, but you choose your mindset. Skill set is about capabilities. Mindset is about belief systems. You can have a strong skill set, and a poor mindset and find yourself struggling to find success. However, if you have a strong mindset you can always be working on developing your skill set. Unfortunately, for many of us we spend hours trying to develop our skill set without spending a minute working on our mindset.

What is a Mindset?

Your mindset is about what you believe to be true about you and about the environment where you serve. It has everything to do with your attitudes and assumptions you make about the world around you. I highly recommend you read Dr. Carolyn Dweck’s classic called, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”. Dr. Dweck suggests there are two mindsets, Fixed, where a person believes intelligence is fixed  from birth and you are what you are, or Growth, where a person believes they can learn new things and grow their intelligence through focused effort.

Your mindset shows up in the way you approach your work, the way you relate to other people, and by the way you see life in general. It is how you choose to think.

How to Improve Your Mindset

If you want to improve your chances for success you will need to ensure both your Mindset and your Skill Set are working for you and not against you.

1.       Embrace Challenge – anytime you face a challenge or a difficult situation, that’s your opportunity to grow.

2.       Compared to You – Coach John Wooden defined success as, “…knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming." Success is not comparing you to someone else, it’s comparing you to the best version of you!

3.       Know Your Why – If you have a clear purpose in your efforts you will naturally lean toward growth. You will view every opportunity you face as an opportunity to move closer to the goal. As Nietzsche said: “He who has a why to live for, can bear almost any how.”

Be intentional about your mindset and your skill set. Choose the former, work on the latter.