Three mindsets to rid of this year if you are going to be more productive

1. Indecisive mindset

Making a decision is the first step towards change.

Making a decision is not a circumstantial incidence where the situation forces you to take a specific route. Its all about knowing what you want/need. It is about standing with your choice of action no matter the challenges that may emerge, what people say or even when there is little hope. It is giving up yourself to at least try rather than admit ‘inevitable failure’ without even attempting.

What is an indecisive mindset?

An indecisive mindset is one that does not have any true goals or objectives. This leads to actions driven purely by what is happening in the environment. One creature that can be compared with such a mindset is a chameleon.

A chameleon takes the colour of its environment. When leaves are green, a chameleon also takes a green appearance. During the dry season when leaves dry out and a brown colour is more dominant and pronounced, a chameleion also changes to brown.

When someone has such a mindset, he/she does not have goals of his/her own. Rather, whatever nature provides is the food for the day to such a person. A primitive example is that of hunter gatherers during the stone age and iron age period. 

During this era, food for the day was determined by the season. During the rainy season fruits and corn were the order of the day. During the dry season root crops were in style. This was because that was what nature was offering at that particular time of the year.

However, on the opposite end of the spectrum someone probably made a decision; “I don’t want to have corn only 3 months a year,” they thought. “I love it, and I want to have it everyday” (paraphrased J). Acting on that decision led to irrigation and intensive farming. That way everyone could have corn all year round. It is not all about having to go with the norms of nature.

The lesson here is to list personal goals and objectives and start making decisions based on those. Such choices can only lead to the growth of an individual in some regard. It could be intellectually, financially, socially, etc..

One of the causes of indecision is the fear of failure.

Inspirational quotes on fear of failure

Success is often achieved by those that do not know that failure is inevitable - Coco Shanel

I can accept failure but I can not accept not trying - Michael Jordan

Failure is an imaginary foe that only materializes when you decide to stop trying. Funny enough once you resume trying it is again reduced to a threat that lurks in the imaginary realm - Prosper Masundire

2. Weary mindset

What is a weary mindset?

Unlike an indecisive mind, a weary mindset can actually make a decision. The problem comes during implementation. The decision is always “not good enough” and this leads to the mary-go-round from one decision to another without acting or settling on any of them. In the long run, this will plummet back to indecision.

It is not wrong to label a decision as “not being good enough.” On the contrary, it actually shows that one is critical of their own work and that they want only the best to come out.
However, when every decision is “not good enough” ………….mmmmmmmm then we have a problem. That problem is called a weary mindset.

A weary mindset lacks either perseverance, determination or strength to stand by a decision. That way, the slightest of difficulty rocks the dream chaser’s nerves into forfeit.

How to tackle a lack of perseverance/ determination

The best way to tackle a weary mindset is to start small. This can be done by creating a list of objectives and goals that are not too hard to accomplish. 

Starting with goals that are too difficult may lead to a lack of self esteem after several failures. This in turn nourishes the fear of failure into an even bigger obstacle. However, starting with small goals builds up the confidence to explore and try more. Even when failure is encountered in the long-run it is not as damaging because the reassurance and confidence gained from past victories.

In sports it is called 'form'. As a player/team win more and more consecutive games, they gain a good form such that even when they face a bigger opponent their good form and morale can lead them to victory. 

The key is also as simple, it is to try and gain a good form of achievement before undertaking bigger goals. This way, one will not be easily discouraged by a few failures that are encountered in the process.

3. A kite mindset

A kite mindset is a bit sophisticated than the rest. This mindset can make a decision and on top of that can even act on the decision yielding positive results. Everything is good.

The only problem is the source of inspiration for the decision. Just as a kite is blown by the wind and goes wherever the wind goes, a kite mindset is one that does not think independently but follows what everyone else is saying. When people head north, its decisions also go north. When the multitudes go east, likewise all decisions are pointed eastward.

If positive results are coming out it is a good thing but when they are not of your own independent goals and objectives it defeats the whole purpose, ….your purpose.

An example is when someone yearns deeply to be a doctor all his life but when given the opportunity that person opts to be a lawyer just because other people chose law. In the end the career in law may still be as rewarding but the criteria adopted in choosing it was neither justified nor fair to himself.

A kite mindset is very often triggered by a ‘safety in numbers’ instinct. It is common knowledge that everyone feels safer in the company of other people. Even in a dark and scary room, it is always less scarier when you have one or two other people with you. The more the people, the less scary it becomes.

The ultimate lesson is not to make other people's goals and objectives your own.

Thanks for your time and i hope this will be helpful.

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