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“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
~ Wayne Dyer
A Short Story: How a Mindset Shift Can Change the Trajectory of Life
There was a middle-aged man in a small town. He had all sorts of bad habits associated with his name. He was a chronic alcoholic; day and night didn’t matter to him when it came to drinking. In his drunken state, he was always misbehaving with the people around him. Shouting, abusing, calling names, and any other terrible thing you can think of — he was all that.
All in all, his life was a bit more than a disaster, from a societal standard or any other. With such a state of affairs, doing a day job or working on his own was out of the question. When he ran out of all his saved money, he chose the route of begging — or if he got a chance, even stealing. He ended up being arrested by the police a number of times for creating a nuisance and committing petty crimes.
Unfortunately, he had two sons in their early teenage years. Sorry, but what else could one call these two children other than unfortunate; negative impressions were getting imprinted on their innocent minds at such an early age.
With the passage of time, the man did not improve; rather, his situation only worsened — deteriorating further with each passing day, week and month. He died after only a few years, leaving behind his two sons.
The elder son was a true follower and started living a life very much like his father’s. Drinking, gambling, drugs, etc. — he got into all kinds of negative activities and pursuits. His circle of friends included thieves, smugglers and other sort of criminals, so he was always surrounded with negative associations. In fact, he started exceeding his role model (i.e., his father) and ended up getting arrested by the police and put in jail for some serious criminal offenses.
On the other hand, the younger son, with such a terrible family condition and no financial support, was obviously not in a position to continue his studies. But he didn’t want to end up like his father or brother; he had a deep sense of commitment to live a better quality of life. So, he started working in the evenings at burger joints serving tables and was able to manage his school fees out of his meager earnings.
His complete dedication and focus very shortly earned him a good annual scholarship to sponsor his studies. He continued to maintain his focus and kept going on the right track. Eventually, he got a decent job offer to work in a blue-chip company. Not only that, but due to his traits of deep focus and commitment, in only a short period of time, he became part of senior management and was made responsible for operating a specific unit of the organization. Soon his success was creating a ripple effect, his reputation in the industry was spreading, and he was invited for an interview on a TV show.
The TV anchor asked him about his family background, childhood, and growth trajectory and the specific reasons behind his success. He told the whole story of his father — his many wrongdoings and abdicating of all family responsibilities. He also told about his brother following the footsteps of his father and spoiling his own life, when during all those years, this younger son was putting in hard work and building his career. The TV anchor became very curious as to how these two brothers from similar origins had such divergent trajectories in their lives. She wanted to interview the elder brother as well to understand the deeper reasons behind the path he had chosen.
So, the TV crew traveled to the jail to interview the elder son, who was serving a sentence for his crimes. The anchor asked him, “How did you come to end up here, in this shady prison, at this early stage of your life?” The elder son replied with a stony face, “What else could be the fate of a person whose father was a drunken, ill-behaved man, who had done nothing to improve the lives of his children?”
Immediately, the anchor turned the camera to the younger son and questioned him, “And how is it that you’ve become so successful despite your father being a chronic alcoholic, ill-behaved, and irresponsible man his whole life?”
The younger son replied with a deep sincerity, “How can a person choose to destroy his life when he has seen first his father wasting his life and then his brother following in his father’s very footsteps? I didn’t want to waste my life, so I had no choice but to follow a different and better route to design my life.”
Short story, but a grand life message! Two persons facing the same life circumstances had alternate perception of life and prediction of their future entirely on two different extremes.
One thinks that life has presented the circumstances before him and he must live strictly within those circumstances. He thinks there is nothing he can do to change his lot in life, and considers himself in a victim’s position.
Another person, by contrast, might question whether he is bound to live his life as per these unfavorable circumstances or if he indeed has a choice. Is he bound to live as a victim, or can he choose to place himself in the driver’s seat, mapping his own course before him — an entirely marvelous way of living a dream life.
This story reminds me of a wonderful quote by Dan Brown, the bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code: “Sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.”
Anyone can see the difference in approach adopted by both sons of the irresponsible father.
The key difference is in their MINDSET – the manner in which you look at things that come your way- your perspective on the people and situation around you, i.e., the lens your eyes see the world through.
This simple personal philosophy, or the way of looking at things, is the single most important factor that makes all the difference as to whether you live an average or mediocre life... or leave a legacy behind.
You can be in any life situation or circumstance — it could be the worst of the worst situation — and, still, with a positive mindset, you can find a calmer version of yourself than you otherwise would.
Okay, now let’s get out of the fictional world and put the spotlight on you.
You might be wondering: how can you get the best out of this story and eventually this book? You might be seeking to know about this mindset thing before you even think of upgrading it.
A one-liner statement, “Mindset is a way of looking at things in a particular way,” is simple to say intellectually, but it is really difficult to truly implement and get the maximum benefit out of it.
Some Relevant Questions:
You might be thinking about a few relevant and important questions like below:
I know those reading this book are precisely the very people who want to enhance their quality of life. I don’t know about your personal life situations. You might be struggling to reach even your minimum desired level of success and live a reasonable life, or you could be someone who has already achieved moderate success and wants to reach the next level of his journey.
You could progress to any stage of your life and still find successful people ahead of you, from whom you can learn. I sincerely believe and hope you do as well that the journey of progress never stops. There is always room to grow and more that can be achieved. That’s the beauty of this life that makes everyone wake up each morning and start the day with a hope of doing, each day, better than the last.
Attaining any level of growth or progress in life requires a positive and open outlook that triggers initial actions and then further paves the way to an exciting journey. You need to upgrade your mindset to first perceive the outside world, people and situations, the way high-achievers do, before you start to take empowered action towards your most important goals.
And that’s what this book is all about – to upgrade, redesign and finally create a whole new mindset that helps you thrive in this world.
What you can get by upgrading your mindset:
What you will learn from this book?
The aim of this book is to radically shift your perspective so you will perceive this world differently.
Although the story in this introduction may be a piece of fiction, in the real-world, we all hear life-changing and empowering stories of people who didn’t give up in adverse situations. Rather, they demonstrated how one can turn things around and make the best out of adverse situations, just with a different outlook on life. (In the next chapter, we will see many real-life instances.)
I personally believe that if you’re in a position to read this book on an electronic device or you have bought it, you have access to the basic amenities of life like electricity and the internet. So your situation is not as bad as the younger son in the story. I can say with assurance say that if you have a paying job or run your own small business venture, you already are in the top 5% (or maybe 1%) of the population of the world. Some of you might doubt this; and for those readers, I urge you to verify it at www.globalrichlist.com.
After realizing that you are in top 1% of the world population in terms of income or wealth, you’ll understand that if the younger son could face adverse conditions (or your real-life heroes) and turn around his life, you yourself are capable of taking charge of your mindset and, eventually, your destiny.
I pray to God that no one be forced to suffer the kind of life we saw in the story due to bad parenting. No one should struggle so hard in adversities to live a better life, but at the end of the day, no one can be sure of what life has to offer. Therefore, the best approach is to see life as a school, teaching us practical lessons by posing challenges and obstacles.
You can treat this book as a recipe for overcoming life’s adversities and problems and turning them into a challenge and adventure, as a pathway to your dreams.
What I want for you is to wake up every morning wondering what life has to offer- not just wondering, but filled with the thrill and excitement of facing any challenges in life.
Just a quick example from my corporate job days. I had the privilege of working with a manager who had the habit of the seeing “goodness” in everything that came his way, even if it was a terrible situation. The only word I heard from him was ‘beautiful’ in the face of any challenge.
I really loved that approach as it immediately would bring a smile to my face and I would simply gear up to face the situation head on.
Do you want to see your life as beautiful, whatever color it comes in?
Do you want to welcome life circumstances as they come and make the most out of them?
If yes, then get ready to embark on a wonderful journey.
Here Is What You Are Going To Learn In This Book
We will first of all start to align your self-image and self-talk. Before you conquer the outside wars, you need to win the battle inside your own head.
You can’t stay at your physical home; nor can you stay within your mind and thoughts at all times. The universe is created in such a way that you have to go out and meet people and touch other lives or get touched by them. When you have to be around people, then why not design your life in such a way that every touch and connection enhances your quality of life.
We will talk about how to insulate your life from the negative influences of the outside world, and more specifically how to deal with the negative people around us (optional and mandatory negative partners).
Then we will work on designing your everyday life with great habits that support your journey towards building a growth mindset.
Once you have identified and created your own new inside world, mastered quality habits, surrounded yourself with the right set of people, then you will learn how to welcome life’s challenges and turn around the quality of your life.
You will embrace mistakes and learn lessons from them. You will persist and persevere and take the necessary lessons this life has to offer.
Okay, enough for an introduction. Now, let’s get started.
Introduction Key Takeaways
There can be any worst of worst life situation, but with right mindset to look at the circumstances, one can deal with situations as challenge and design their life. At the same time, with lack of right mindset, one would always feel like a victim of circumstances and out of control of their lives.
Mindset is the manner in which you look at the things that come your way- your perspective of the people and situation around you- the lens you put on your eyes to see the world around.
With an upgraded mindset, you will benefit in all areas of your life, be they financial, relationships, personal growth, social circle or any other aspects of life.
This book will offer you a recipe to shift your perspective by first designing your inner world and then designing your outer world, so you can take the challenges head and make the most of it, and ultimately become the captain of your own ship.
