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MIGHTY MIND

It Starts With Your Mind

If you have an „internal locus of control?, then that means that you recognize just how responsible you are for the quality of your life and your accomplishments. Many people have a tendency to blame others, to blame circumstances, or to make excuses when things don?t go their way. Why aren?t you happy? It?s because you had a hard childhood! Why aren?t you rich? It?s because you weren?t born with a silver spoon in your mouth, or because you lost your job due to lay-offs.

Making excuses is easy but it doesn?t get anywhere. The reality is that people have dug themselves out of holes much deeper than the one you?re in right now – I don?t care who you are – and they have come out richer, happier and stronger.

So, what is the all-important ingredient? It?s you.

And more specifically, it?s your mind. Your mind is where everything else comes from. Your beliefs, your focus, your concentration, your mood – all of that. What?s more, is that where your mind leads, your body follows.

If you are low on energy, then you might be inclined to think that it?s time to make changes to your diet or to your training regime. In all likelihood though, it is your mind that needs fixing first.

Everything in life is dependent on numerous other factors. Whether you?re talking about relationships, about your career or about your financial situation. How can you find your dream job when you don?t have the option to leave your current job? When you?re so broke?

And how can you stop being broke when you are so badly in debt?

But change has to start somewhere. And it starts with you. It starts with your mind.
A better job, starts with the mind.
A better relationships, starts with the mind.
A better LIFE, starts with the mind!
Here?s a little saying to keep in mind:
The grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it!

Time to Change Your Mind

This is all very good and well, but how exactly do you go about changing your mindset? How do you take back control, reclaim your happiness and start living a fulfilling and inspiring life again?

The thing to do is to diagnose the problem. What exactly is wrong with your mind to begin with? And how can you fix those issues?

Well, not to alarm you, but there?s probably a lot wrong with your mind. Don?t worry though: it?s fairly common and it?s very much a sign of the times.

I can guess that you aren?t completely happy with where you are right now. Maybe you don?t like who you are right now. I know this because you?re reading this book.

If what you?re doing right now is working for you then great! But if it?s not, or if it could be working better, then something needs to change.

Here are some starting points that can help you see precisely what you might need to change.

#1 Responsibility

The first problem that many of us have is that we don?t take responsibility for our actions and we don?t want to take responsibility for our actions.

Now we all know people who don?t like taking responsibility – they will blame others and they will make excuses for what they?ve done. These are the people with the external locusts of control that we have already discussed.

But while this might seem like an irritating problem for people around them, the reality is that this is a much deeper issue that affects them more than it does anyone else.

Because a completely refusal to accept responsibility means that you also reject your own autonomy and your control. If you believe that nothing is your fault, then you also really can?t take credit for anything that goes well. Moreover, it means that you don?t have any power over your life and it means that you can?t choose to change things.

It?s not up to you, it?s up to chance!

It gets worse too. If you are too used to avoiding responsibility, then chances are that you will avoid taking responsibility for other things in your life too. That means you?ll avoid making commitments to people, which might make you feel „free? but ultimately means you get left behind as those around you settle down into relationships and find fulfilling careers.

It means you?ll put yourself forward for fewer tasks in the work place – at least those tasks that have any major consequences. And if you aren?t responsible for large amounts of money, then you can?t expect to get paid large amounts of money either.

Being afraid of responsibility will even make you less impressive, decisive and confident in a day-to-day scenario. When someone asks you to make a decision, you won?t want to because you won?t want to be responsible for what happens if you get it wrong.

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Introduction

What you have in your hand is a guide that will change the ball game in your role as a leader. If you feel like there is room for improvement and have a willingness to learn and apply the materials, this is the guide for you. Being a better leader is something that anyone in such a position strives to do.

The first question to ask is: what is making you want to become a better leader? You might be worried about having communication skills that may not be enough to get your message across. You may not have a tried and true process to plan, set, and conquer your goals.

Whatever it may be, you have made the decision to better yourself as a leader. This guide will provide you with plenty of actionable information that must be applied. The only way it won’t help you is that you don’t take action yourself.

If you don’t see yourself as a consistent action taker, close this guide now. Still here? Good.

This guide is for someone who is either in the following situation:

- They are training for a leadership role and want to get a good start

- They are already in a leadership role, but unsure about how to make the most of it

So, you’re in either of these two positions. If you are in the process of assuming a leadership position due to appointment or promotion, then you may want to consider this guide as your roadmap to becoming an effective leader from the get go. You might be nervous about how people will receive you as a leader. If you are in a leadership position and don’t know what to do, then you’re in the right place. You may feel like you have the basics down to a science. But you feel like you’re not doing enough.

This is the guide for you if you are serious about taking responsibility. In fact, you as a leader must have this skill already. It’s up to you to make the move and improve yourself.

This guide is also for those that may be struggling with communicating, goal-setting, making executive decisions, and so much more. By the time you finish reading this, your leadership skills will be improved. Those who are your subordinates may notice something different about you and the way you operate.

What will be covered?

This guide will cover eight different aspects of being a leader. Let’s give you a brief synopsis of what each chapter will cover;

- Develop Yourself First: The first building block in becoming a great leader is to work on yourself. There is no other way. In this chapter, we’ll talk about tips on how you can improve yourself as a leader both inside and out. We’ll talk about developing the mindset of being an effective leader. We’ll also touch on the kind of leadership style that fits you best.

- Goal Setting Like a Leader: Setting goals is just a part of success. Conquering those goals will also be part of that process as well. In this chapter, we’ll go deep into how you can set goals that you and your team can conquer every single time without issue. Sure, there will be challenges that will need to be addressed. But this process will make goalsetting simple and straightforward.

- The Essentials for Success: Planning and Organization: Planning for success and organizing the priority tasks will be essential for each leader. What gets done first? What will be taken care of by others on your team? We’ll talk about the planning and organization process and how you as a leader must act on it.

- Making it Happen Through Effective Execution: Planning is one thing. But execution is another. No plans will come to fruition if you do nothing. This chapter will cover how you can execute and make the move without hesitation.

- You’re Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link: We’ll talk about the common strengths and weaknesses leaders face every day. If you have weaknesses of your own, this chapter will show you how to improve on them so they can become strengths themselves.

- Empowering Your Team: As a leader, you must motivate, inspire, and empower your team. Doing this will make the difference between one that is high in morale and productivity from one that may be dull and indifferent.

- Performing Performance Management: This will help you evaluate your team. Who is productive and pulling their weight and who isn’t? You’ll learn exercises that will help you encourage team members that may need to improve or face the consequences.

- Leadership Is A Never-Ending Job: As a leadership, your job keeps going. Whether you’re at the office or at home, you have a responsibility to put your leadership abilities to the test. We’ll talk about how it can apply outside of your professional life.

It’s time to make a decisive move

Next may be your greatest challenge yet. You have two options to decide from:

- Either you put this guide away and never read it again. And your leadership abilities will stay the same. No effective communication, no ability to take decisive action, or be able to get your team to rally behind you.

OR

- Keep reading and improve your leadership abilities so you can face the challenges head on. Set goals, plan and prioritize, empower your team, and have them follow you through every straight and turn.

The second decision should be a no-brainer. If you chose that option, continue on to the next chapter.

Develop Yourself First

The first thing you want to do as a leader is develop yourself. This chapter will cover how to adopt the mindset of a leader. We’ll also talk about the type of leadership styles that will fit you best based on a personal assessment of your personal beliefs and values.

It will take time to develop yourself into a leader. The timetable will vary from person to person. Some will develop quickly while others will need a bit more time to fine-tune their abilities. Furthermore, even if you develop the basic frameworks of being a leader, you will still need to improve over time. This will be evident in the final chapter that covers leadership being a neverending job. With that said, let’s dive right in to help you develop yourself into the leader you want to become.

Develop the mindset of a leader

The kind of mindset a leader must have should be one that involves growth. Not only that, they believe it should also acquire a certain kind of belief system, attitude, and what they should expect. Without the right mindset, being an effective leader might not be possible.

Below is a list of characteristics that you must develop as a leader. Let’s take a look now at what they are:

Facing challenges is normal

As a leader, you want to be fearless in the face of challenge. It’s best to run into the storm rather than run away from it. Accept the fact that challenges will be the norm and you will be facing them more often than not.

It’s important that you have a plan of attack for when they happen. You possess a good attitude that it will be accepted and overcome. You will have the right kind of people on hand that will help you out, when needed.

Have humility

Even though you have confidence in your leadership abilities, it helps to be humble. You want to give credit where it’s due. You don’t want to take all the credit and think you’re better than anyone.

You also want to accept the fact that if you are proven wrong about something, you want to own it. The last thing you ever want to do is blame someone. Holding yourself accountable can go a long way.

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Chapter 1: Introducing the Warrior Brain

Have you ever felt like life is hard? Like it can sometimes be a struggle to get up in the morning and do all of the things that you have to do?

Do you ever wake up feeling constantly tired and stressed? Does life just seem too much?

Sure, I get it. You have lots of work to do. You have debt maybe. Maybe you’re tired from shopping and maybe you’ve got a stomach ache.

Now think about a true warrior.

Think about someone who sleeps rough, unsure of whether or not they’re going die during the night. Then they wake up, no time for a shower or a nice breakfast, and they leap straight into action. They ignore their wounds, they take lives and they see their friends and their brothers in arms shot and killed in front of them.

But no I get it. You’re tired. You had to work until 6pm last night…

What I’m getting at, is that your life isn’t really hard. You might think it’s hard and sometimes it might feel hard.

But there are people out there with much worse lives than you. There are people out there who live with crippling illness and not two cents to rub together. And many of them do this with a dignity, a grace and a bravery that puts the rest of us to shame.

You see, the Warrior Brain actually has nothing to do with combat. In fact, the hooligans that start bar fights and that think they’re ‘hard’ for starting fights are about as far from true warriors as it gets. Ask anyone who has seen real combat if they would want to risk their health and waste their energy on looking for trouble.
The Warrior Brain is different. This is about knowing what you want and going for it. It’s about being hard and it’s about not letting little things get you down. It’s about pushing ahead with what you know is right and it’s about carrying responsibility and hardship on your shoulders with dignity and pride. It’s about not letting your emotions get the better of you and it’s about not taking the easy answer or the easy route to solve your problems.

What is the Warrior Brain?

The Warrior Brain is different. This is about knowing what you want and going for it. It’s about being hard and it’s about not letting little things get you down. It’s about pushing ahead with what you know is right and it’s about carrying responsibility and hardship on your shoulders with dignity and pride. It’s about not letting your emotions get the better of you and it’s about not taking the easy answer or the easy route to solve your problems.

So where does this title and this approach come from? What is the theory behind the warrior’s mindset?

Of course, it comes from our romantic image of the warrior and from stories of warriors from history. It comes from tales of our bravest men and women who fought actual battles while remaining cool headed, sacrificing themselves for others and doing incredible things.

Now, we all know that in reality, not every warrior fits this mould. For every heroic individual who put themselves in the line of fire, there would have been hundreds more soldiers that complained, that were in it for the wrong reasons, or that wouldn’t put themselves out for others. Romanticizing warfare is in fact a terrible idea – it is a truly horrific state of affairs and very few people feel like ‘warriors’ when they are faced with enemy fire.

But it’s that image of the ideal ‘warrior’ that we’re looking at here. And at our notions of history’s greatest warriors like the samurai or the Spartans.

The point is that some people manage to stay cool and calm in even the worst situations. Some people constantly forge ahead and do not allow small inconveniences or a lack of creature comforts stand in their way.

And those people put us to shame. Those people make our complaints seem very minor indeed.

Now imagine if you could take that same mindset and apply it to modern life. Instead of getting tired or bogged down, instead of being distracted and tempted, you would instead drive forward with an unstoppable, bulletproof mentality. Your enemies would quake knowing that there was nothing they could do to stop you and your career obstacles, relationship goals and financial plans would all crumble beneath your will.

If you apply an iron will and warrior mentality to a modern lifestyle, you get extreme efficiency, determination and pride. Self-discipline, determination and self-sufficiency are traits that make us strong and that help us get what we want. They are traits that make us good parents, good friends and good partners. They are traits that help us to live with ourselves and to earn respect and admiration from others.

Imagine if you had the mental strength to sit in a freezing cold shower for hours on end. Imagine if you weren’t phased in life threatening situations. Take those traits and then put them up against the absolutely measly challenges that most of us face today. They would fall like dominos.