There are 3 primary sources of information available from our internal reality: Thoughts (mind), Emotions (heart), & Energy (spirit). Most of us tend toward one of these 3 naturally as our primary source, for myself & most entrepreneurs I've met, we tend toward our thoughts as our guiding light.  

When was the last time you thought about your thinking? 

We experience thoughts automatically and we can also decide to think about anything we want. In other words, thoughts can be broken into 2 types: Automatic & Intentional. All day, everyday, there is a constant stream of thoughts that come to mind naturally; And we can consciously choose to think about anything we want... please think of a pink elephant. 

This brings us back to the original question - When was the last time you thought about your thinking? Throughout your day, are you producing mostly useful, empowering, positive thoughts or the opposite?

When I first starting observing my thinking, I found that I often went to worst case scenario situations in my mind. I would get lost and distracted by every possible contingency, what could go wrong, how I could prevent it, and what we would do if that potential disaster became reality. Meanwhile, I wasn't really dealing with the reality of the present situation. 

Where do thoughts come from?

Mindset is the soil from which our automatic thoughts grow and develop; Mindset is the way we've trained our brain to habitually produce thoughts.  

Mindset is the soil from which our thoughts grow and develop.

Mindset development is simply the practice of observing a thought, labelling it, and deciding what to do with it.  Sometimes our thoughts are useful! But very often, our thoughts are the product of a habitual, fear based thinking adapted to keep us safe in our comfort zone. When you find yourself with a restrictive or otherwise unhelpful thought, your job is to replace it with a more helpful thought. Over time, this practice becomes habit and your mind produces more empowering, positive thoughts AUTOMATICALLY. 

Multiple Mindsets Mindset

There are plenty of mindsets to choose from, I'm sure you've heard of a few.  The idea that we must develop 1 mindset is wrong and not helpful. For example, the ever popular "positive thinking" mindset people suggest we reframe every negative thought and situation into a positive one. This makes no sense to me; Some situations are simply not positive and pretending they are invalidates the whole exercise.

Using one Mindset is like trying to use 1 tool to do every job; Telling yourself that the fender bender that made you miss your meeting is a good thing is like trying to repair a leaking sink with a hammer. 

Instead, develop the use multiple mindsets. Fill your box with a variety tools so you can efficiently handle a variety of jobs. With the Multiple Mindsets Mindset, you are empowered to continuously learn and develop your existing mindsets and add new ones at anytime. Here are few of my favorite mindsets to get you started:

Extreme Ownership

I’m a big fan of the Extreme Ownership mindset. This mindset empowers me to take responsibility for
everything in my life, regardless of the situation. If I ever catch myself thinking to blame another person or situation for an undesired outcome, this mindset asks me to reframe the issue as my fault.

This is an empowering mindset, it gives me control over my life rather than assuming the role of a victim. 

Example: Team Member Fails to Accomplish an Assigned Project
A team member fails to accomplish an assigned project, resulting in a delay or inadequate result. I could easily
become frustrated with this team member, blaming them for the inadequacy.
Instead, I want to assume the failure is my fault. 

1. Where did I let my team member down?
2. Where could I have explained or provided more training?
3. Is there inadequate infrastructure in place to accomplish this project?
4. Did I not provide enough time to complete the project? Do I have unrealistic expectations?
5. Did I not provide enough context? Did I fail to express why this project is so important to the overall goal?

Assuming the failure was my fault keeps the focus on items I can actually control. This mindset also invites my team member to think in the same way. Rather than blaming them (which usually results in them getting defensive), I’m blaming myself. Rather than blaming me or making other excuses, we can get to the root of the problem more quickly.  It's likely we both failed in someway, together we are figuring what the problem was and how we will prevent it in the future.
Example: Client Fails to See Value in Deal Presented
After presenting a potential acquisition to a client, they are not interested and don’t see the value. I could
easily write them off as inexperienced, blaming them for not seeing the deal my way.
Instead, I want to change my thought to something like: What information did I not provide? I ask myself and
my client:
1. What variable do you lack confidence as presented? Meaning, are you nervous about my income or
expense projections or repair estimates?
2. Was I too liberal on my analysis? Am I wearing rose colored glasses?
3. Did I adequately explain our deal underwriting process?
4. Did I meet the Buying Criteria set by the client, or did I try to match a different deal type with them?
5. Is this client actually ready to make an offer or am I rushing them through the process?
Again, I want to assume the failure was my fault. It is never the clients fault, if they are too conservative for
real estate investing, it’s still my fault for not effectively qualifying them and following up with educational
content.

Abundance vs Scarcity Mindset

Abundance Mindset is the basic belief there is more than enough of everything for everyone; The belief that
the future will be better than present.
This thought pattern allows me give everything I can; By putting out as much value as I possible can,
value comes back to me versus and hoarding anything of value I might have to provide.
Example: Sending Out Deal Analysis
If I get a deal from anyone, I will underwrite using my standard process, which involves building google drive
file with complete analysis spreadsheet, rent comps, tax record, and pictures. I then create a overview
YouTube video, fully explaining the deal. I send this analysis and link back to the person while trying to place
it with one of my buyers.
I’ve been questioned on this practice. What if they use your analysis and sell the deal to their own buyer,
how will you get paid? That question comes from a scarcity mindset. A person with this thought will hold
back their value, reducing the likelihood they will close a deal to protect themselves from doing work they
won’t be paid for.
I choose an Abundance Mindset. I consciously choose to risk my free labor for the potential to close another
deal. If the deal source uses my analysis to close the deal themselves, my efforts will be compensated,
directly or indirectly. Either way, I’m putting myself in position to continue to receives deals and creating
additional opportunities to close more deals.

Growth vs Fixed Mindset

The Growth Mindset is the belief that I am a work in progress. I am constantly learning, getting better and better at everything I do. I choose to view all effort as progress not perfection. I challenge myself to get better and seek out opportunities to overcome new obstacles to achieve greater heights.

Opposed to the Fixed Mindset, people believe their qualities are fixed traits and therefore cannot change; That talent leads to success, and effort is less important. 
Example: Failure to Achieve a Desired Result

I've seen people publish 1 video to social media offering their services, expecting a flood of new leads to overwhelm their sales effort. They'll spend days developing, shooting, editing, formatting, re-formatting, downloading, uploading, and finally publishing the video.... 3 days later, they'll find 4 likes on the post (2 from family members) and zero leads. 

Has this ever happened to you? It's definitely happened to me. 

Growth Mindset views this as an opportunity to learn and get better for next time. Fixed Mindset views this as feedback that they are not good enough and should do something else.

Practicing Thought Awareness

Become more aware of your automatic thoughts so you can question their helpfulness and intentionally replace as needed. There are an abundance of techniques to strengthen conscious awareness, most obviously mindfulness meditation practices. Today, I'll offer you a simple, effective technique that does not require any change to your daily routine: Observe your automatic thoughts and reactions while driving.  

Do you find yourself getting impatient, yelling at or sarcastically mocking other drivers? Traffic, construction, school buses, slow drivers, reckless drivers, draw bridges, and the like all produce automatic thoughts. These thoughts can escalate to road rage or they can be an opportunity to practice intentional thinking. 

Replace impatient, judgmental, frustrating thoughts with more useful, or at least, pleasant thoughts and observe how much your day improves.

Closing Thoughts

There are few practices that will benefit your life more completely than the development of useful mindsets. With intentionality and consistency, you'll eventually find yourself consciously choosing how you respond to most daily situations. You will be mentally prepared for the more difficult situations that present themselves occasionally, able to respond with clear, useful thinking to guide yourself and those around you to a comprehensive solution.