3 Steps for Transforming Your Mindset

Four years ago, when I started working at Selmastered, I faced a significant challenge: as a Spanish national, my English communication skills were far from perfect. This made me feel stuck and doubtful of my abilities. Yet, through confronting these challenges head-on, I discovered the power of transforming my mindset and successfully scaled the business.

So what’s the protocol that I leveraged—and you can use—to, over time, create that powerful mindset? 

Everything starts with realizing this core fundamental idea: reality itself is neutral. Events and circumstances are neither inherently good nor bad; they simply exist. Reality just is. It is our role to assign meaning to experiences and use them to move forward. Understanding this concept is a key difference between average performers and elite performers. 
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Average Performance vs Elite Performance:

Let’s start by exploring: What is peak performance? 

Peak performance is the ability to operate at your highest level of productivity by training your mind, body, and spirit to consistently enter flow states. It involves achieving exceptional results and continually surpassing your own benchmarks.

Average performers, as I define them, are those who have never trained their mental performance. They often view failure as proof that they are not good enough for what they are doing. When faced with frustration, they tend to give up, and feedback is taken personally and viewed negatively. This disempowering mindset, that stands as a key characteristic of average performers, aligns with Carol Dweck's concept of a fixed mindset—believing that there are limits to one's abilities and that growth is not possible through deliberate practice.

On the other hand, elite performers possess an infinite comfort zone. They embrace whatever life throws at them and are willing to take risks, even if it leads to temporary setbacks. For them, failures are simply feedback—valuable information for effective course correction. Their perseverance and ability to handle challenges with resilience enable them to achieve more than average performers. Elite performers view reality through a lens that affirms their capability to tackle any obstacle life presents.

This is why elite performers are able to achieve more than average performers; they filter reality through a lens that basically says, “I am able to tackle everything that life throws at me.”

Role Of Self Efficacy and Self Talk In Peak Performance

A critical component of achieving elite performance is self-efficacy, a concept introduced by Albert Bandura that refers to your confidence in your ability to get things done and succeed. This is one of the key characteristics of elite performers. They exhibit high self-efficacy, allowing them to navigate challenges with assurance and adaptability.

Now, how do you sharpen your self-efficacy and improve your mind?

Well, first you need to understand how empowering your mindset is and the number one way of gauging this is through your self-talk. Self-talk, which refers to the internal dialogue you have with yourself, plays a crucial role in shaping your mindset. As performance psychologist Jim Loehr suggests in the book ‘The Power of Full Engagement’, self-talk is a real power broker in our lives; it can either empower or undermine you. Even Tim Grover, Michael Jordan’s performance coach, emphasizes that self-talk and mental game are central to exceptional performance. 

When you have disempowering and negative self-talk, every problem feels like a catastrophe. Minor mishaps can knock you out of the game, making it hard to see solutions for everyday challenges. If you're constantly faced with situations you struggle to navigate, and a critical voice in your head tells you: ‘you're not good enough’ or ‘you're destined to fail’ —this negative self-talk undermines your ability to persevere and succeed.

On the other hand, elite performers have totally opposite self-talk. Every time they're faced with a situation, they know how to create an empowering self-talk that tells them that they're perfectly capable of doing or overcoming anything and that minor failures are just proof that they're working hard enough. They understand that every mishap is just another milestone that they have to go through in order to succeed at a game that others will never attempt or give up along the way. This is the key difference between average performers and elite performers. 

Now, the question is: How do you nurture a winning self-talk, so you shift from seeing yourself as an absolute failure to viewing yourself as a winner in progress? 

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3 Steps for Transform Your Mindset

Shifting from an average performer to an elite performer begins with understanding and shaping your self-talk to develop a winning mindset. 

Here are the 3 strategies we use at Selfmastered to help entrepreneurs transform their mindset and achieve elite performance: 

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1. Access Your Self-Talk:
   
   To transform your self-talk, start by understanding its role and origins. Self-talk reflects your subconscious beliefs about the activities you're engaged in. If you subconsciously feel suited for a situation, your self-talk tends to be positive. However, if you harbor fears or limitations, your self-talk will likely be negative.

Here's how to address it: When negative self-talk arises, pause and jot down the specific trigger that initiated it. Identify the situation that caused you to start speaking negatively to yourself.

Next, delve into why this trigger affects you. What underlying fears or negative motivations are influencing this self-talk? Self-talk often begins in childhood, around age five, as we emulate the authority figures in our lives. While it's built subconsciously, we can consciously reframe it by paying attention to its messages. Each time you encounter negative self-talk, pause and record the precise trigger to start understanding and transforming it.

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2. Understand the Root Cause of Negative Self-Talk 

The next step is to delve into understanding the root cause of your negative self-talk. Consciously rationalize why you might subconsciously believe you can’t succeed or why fear is holding you back. Reflect on the underlying fears or limiting beliefs that are triggering these doubts and provide yourself with a clear explanation.

For instance, consider whether past experiences or ingrained beliefs about your abilities are influencing your current mindset. Reflect on whether these fears stem from childhood experiences, previous failures, or external pressures. This process involves introspection and honesty about your internal barriers.

By clearly defining these underlying root causes, you can better understand why your self-talk is negative and begin to address these foundational fears and subconscious beliefs. This will empower you to reframe your mindset, replacing limiting beliefs with positive, constructive thoughts that drive you towards your goals.

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3. Rewire Your Narrative

Now, step number three is crucial: you need to rewrite your narrative. This means creating a new, empowering script for your mind. Let me share a personal example to illustrate this.

A few years ago, when I began working at Selmastered, I faced a significant challenge. As a Spanish national, my English was far from perfect. I often felt that my language skills would hinder my ability to scale the business. Each time I stumbled during a conversation or an email campaign failed, I would be overwhelmed with self-doubt, thinking that I was too old to learn English and that my marketing efforts would be doomed. Despite my past successes, this subconscious fear persisted.

To tackle this, I implemented the very strategy I'm sharing with you. Whenever I encountered a communication problem—be it a failed email campaign or a moment of awkwardness in a conversation—I made it a point to jot down the specific trigger. Then, I would consciously rewrite my narrative. Instead of letting negative thoughts take over, I provided myself with evidence of my success. For instance, I reminded myself that I had attracted 120 clients through my marketing materials and that this was just a minor setback.

I created a new, positive narrative that I would write down and repeat to myself. This practice helped me see that, despite my initial struggles, I was indeed capable of effective communication. I could build products, record videos, write emails, and create marketing campaigns—all in English. Over time, this positive reinforcement transformed my self-doubt into confidence. It allowed me to recognize that the initial challenges were part of my growth process, not indicators of failure.

Recap: The Power of Self-Talk in Shaping Your Mindset

To recap, developing a powerful growth mindset is crucial for long-term success. A key indicator of your mindset's effectiveness is your self-talk. Disempowering and negative self-talk often reflects a fixed mindset, while empowering and positive self-talk signifies a growth mindset. 

The more positive and supportive your self-talk, the easier it becomes to navigate your business journey and achieve your goals. This internal support is more impactful than acquiring additional marketing or sales skills. Becoming your own best ally and effectively coaching yourself will significantly contribute to your success.

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Transform Your Mindset for Peak Performance

Understanding your mindset as a tool and a lens that can be transformed based on different situations is essential. If you find this process challenging, consider booking a call with us—we can help you refine your mindset and cultivate empowering self-talk.

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