Have you ever wondered how Google became the giant it is today? How did Mark Zuckerberg go from being an outstanding student to an entrepreneurial genius? What would you think if we told you that the key to success–the one that allowed Google and Zuckerberg to consolidate in the business world–is within your reach and has to do with your ability to have a winning mind?
It is not a joke. The brain of a successful person is not characterized only by having a high IQ. John Coates, a specialist in cognitive and behavioral neurology at the University of Cambridge, says that an individual’s success has nothing to do with their IQ or the circumstances that surround them.
in his book The Hour Between Dog and Wolf: Risk Taking, Gut Feelings and the Biology of Boom and Bust Coates refers to “the winner effect”, a brain process that works like osmosis, reinforcing the secretion of the hormones of success and failure, that is, testosterone and cortisol.
According to the specialist, testosterone is related to the state of euphoria that the brain perceives when taking risks, which prompts it to react positively when under a lot of pressure or imminent risks. This allows us to perform better and thus have the necessary confidence to achieve the goals .
So, if we can relate success to self-inflicted mental processes, what can we do to master our brain and turn it into a powerful weapon that leads us towards our goals?
Jeff Brown, Mark Fenske and Liz Neporent also say that it is a myth that achievers are born gifted for success. in his book The winner’s brain. 8 strategies of great minds to achieve success, The authors indicate that there are five tools that are available to everyone, and that allow dominating the mind.
Five tools of the winning mind
1. Radar of opportunities
The mind works amazingly. When a person feels self-confident –a necessary state to be on the road to success–, they are in charge of playing for their own benefit, that is, they make the most appropriate decisions to guarantee satisfaction and personal safety.
The opportunity radar consists of detecting the precise solutions that allow you to find innovative solutions to problems.
2. Optimal risk indicator
Every action carries a risk. Success comes from taking risks throughout life, but with due care: the brain also seeks protection and stability. Given this, it is important that you identify what your comfort zone to get out of it, but at the same time that you are bold, seek to be prudent. Finding a balance is an art.
3. Target laser
Likewise, everyone who yearns for success has goals. The goals laser consists of having your own goals, but above all, taking them from the plane of the unrealizable to achievable projects, which can be achieved with a constant effort. It is very important that you renew your goals every certain period, and that you establish measurement methods.
4. Effort Accelerator
It’s simple: what motivates you? Your incentives are called accelerators, because they are in charge of giving you the push you need to do everything you set your mind to. Feed each motivator so that it becomes more powerful.
5. Talent Meter
Be sure to measure the risks before taking the leap. This does not mean that if something represents a greater risk you abandon it, but it does mean that you are aware of what you can and cannot do. Know your limits and working on them is one of the tools that will allow you to get closer to success.
Eight success factors to master your winning mind
self awareness
Knowing yourself from head to toe, inside and out, will allow you to control your reactions and relate appropriately to the world. Likewise, knowing yourself perfectly allows you to measure your talent, know your limitations and enhance your abilities. An excellent tool to get to know yourself better and maintain a physical and mental balance? Meditate every morning.
Motivation
You need a boost to reach the goal. For many it would be recognition, for others the personal satisfaction , in other cases the family or children; whatever the case, you need to cultivate these motivators.
Concentration
We can focus on one word: mindfulness. Focus on what really matters and what benefits you, stop wasting efforts and seek to create opportunities. Concentration acts on the goal laser, the effort accelerator and the opportunity radar.
Emotional balance
Yes, once again, emotional intelligence. This directly influences the opportunity radarin the goal laser and in the risk indicator.
Memory
What good is knowing too much if you don’t use it strategically? It is not about knowing or learning as much as possible, it is intended that what has been learned be fruitful for day to day. Make sure that everything you learn you can execute and use for your own benefit. Memory impacts all five tools.
Resilience
The art of endurance: the brain of a winner recovers from life’s challenges by facing shortcomings, mistakes and failures, whether self-generated or the product of circumstances. Achievers reframe failures to work for them, and they know that when things don’t go as planned, the journey isn’t necessarily over. In fact, failure often hides a new opportunity.
Adaptability
It is the ability of the brain to constantly renew itself to face new circumstances. Exercise your winning mind!
brain care
The proper functioning of the brain also depends on how we take care of it, that is to say: give it adequate nutrition, constant physical activity, daily reading and learning, restful sleep, among other habits.
And you, what do you do to master your brain? What are your tips for improving each brain tool?
By Tatiana Gutierrez