7 Popular Myths About Success – Change Your Mindset and Build Lasting Success
There are many misconceptions floating around the “ethers” about what it takes to succeed. You can regularly hear people voice them after some of those inevitable obstacles we’re bound to encounter on the road to success.
Here are 7 popular myths about success, along with some of the ways we can adjust our thinking to ensure we have a “success mindset” and that our journey toward our goals ends with achieving them instead of failure or quitting before we ever get there.
Myth #1 – It will be a straight line to success–
The road to success will almost certainly include some setbacks and failures along the way. Adversity is sure to come along at some point on the path to achieving our goals. By being prepared for it and ready to adjust course as needed, we're mentally stronger, more resilient, and able to keep going until we succeed.
Buckle up, there’s going to be some bumps and turbulence on the way to achieving your goals.
Myth #2 – Work Smarter Not Harder–
It’s important to work smarter when we can, however, our personal situations and path to success are unique. It isn’t possible to learn everything there is to know ahead of time—even by researching answers or best practices.
Mistakes along the way to success are inevitable, so it’s critical to learn from those mistakes, and only then will you have the ability to work smarter in your unique situation. By working harder, putting the needed time and effort in, you will improve faster, learn more, and get to your goals faster.
So work harder and then, once you learn, you’ll be able to truly work smarter and more efficiently as you start to master your unique environment and skills.
Myth #3 – You’re either succeeding or you’re failing–
It’s easy to feel like we’re failing on the road to success, especially when we hit those first few potholes along the way. It can feel like things aren’t working out for us when setbacks happen and we don’t initially see any signs of success.
It’s important to remember that we’re not failing in these moments, we’re learning, which gives us better understanding on how to adjust course. We can make course corrections and try new things with what we learn and continue on toward our goals. So yes, failure is a key part of success. Fail, learn, and keep going.
Myth #4 – The “Secret.” Just picture it and it will happen—that visualizing and thinking about what it will look like when you succeed is enough–
There’s no doubt that it’s important to have a clear vision of what you want and what you’re trying to accomplish, however, it’s not enough. No matter how much you sit around your room visualizing being at the top of your sport, becoming a CEO, or making a million dollars, it isn’t going to make it suddenly happen. Concrete actions need to be taken to turn your dreams into reality.
Focus on the process and the steps you need to take to succeed, and slowly, over time, the seeds you plant from your efforts will eventually start to grow and one day bloom into that vision of what you initially pictured and wanted. Be inspired by what you envision, but take the actions you need to succeed.
Myth #5 – Ignore your weaknesses, focus on your strengths–
It would be nice if we could ignore our weaknesses and never have to address them. However, if there is something that is holding us back from success and that life we want, then we can vastly accelerate our progress toward our goals by addressing it.
For example, if you had a fear of public speaking, and avoided it, it could certainly block you from the success that you want. This is particularly true if succeeding is dependent on doing things like presentations, or having important meetings and conversations with prospective clients.
Only by addressing the things that are holding us back can we accelerate our progress and reach our full potential.
Myth # 6 – Mistakes make you less valuable–
It’s common to assume that when someone makes a mistake, they are less valuable. It’s easy to make this assumption considering that mistakes and failures in our work and careers can often lead to undesirable consequences like losing business and even our jobs.
It’s the same for our personal lives. We commonly get frustrated and angry at people when mistakes happen, it’s human nature. However, if we remember that mistakes are one of the key components in learning, then we’re able to keep in mind that whoever just made a mistake has actually become more valuable, not less.
“You’re the same person 10 minutes after you fail, only wiser,” is an important quote to keep in mind. It helps us forgive ourselves and others when mistakes happen. It also helps us remember how mistakes and learning from them increase the chances that we’ll do better the next time around.
Myth #7 – That you can get away with not doing the hard things
“If you only do what’s easy, it will feel hard to succeed.” Having the will to do the hard things is a critical ingredient for success. There is no significant project, task, or goal that isn’t going to require some heavy lifting, hard work, and extra determination along the way to success.
If we’re only willing to do what’s easy or try to take shortcuts to avoid those difficult and challenging things that we deep down know we need to do, we’re only going to delay and even risk our chances to ever succeed.
Having the intense desire to succeed and the willingness to do whatever it takes to get there are critical attributes of high-performers and our ability to achieve our goals and live a more fulfilling life.
Changing your perspective on any of these myths and adopting a “success mindset” will help to power you toward your goals and find the lasting success that you want. Get out there and start doing!
Andrew D Thompson is a high-performance coach and the author of A High-Performing Mind- Strengthen Your Mind and Live Your Best Life, the inspirational book about self improvement is designed to help you build resilience, overcome the things that hold you back, and be at your best so that you can achieve your goals and live a more fulfilling life.