Episode 98: The Winning Mindset (Encore)

Welcome to the Unstoppable Profit podcast. Wherever you are today, if you're starting with nothing or are well on your way to the success you desire, with the right people, processes and promotions in place, you will be unstoppable. And now I'd like to introduce your host, Mike Stromso. This is Mike Stromco coming to you live from the Living Agency Laboratory. And today we're gonna be talking about something that, you know, if somebody said to me, what's the number one thing that I need to make sure is on game all of the time? It's our mindset. So today we're gonna be talking about a winning mindset. Cause it's the kind of mindset that we all need to have if we're going to lead teams, if we're gonna lead ourself, if we're gonna go in the direction that we want to go, that we need to go to reach our goals and well beyond. So, you know, my greatest encouragement for you right off the get go today is what's.

Coming from within you. And I had a great friend. Unfortunately, I only got to know him for a couple of years before his untimely death. He passed in his mid-40s in a tragic drowning accident on a dream vacation in Central America. His two boys were on the beach. It was a heartbreaker. But, you know, I went to the service with his family and seven or eight hundred other people whose lives had been monumentally impacted by this man. And those are the words that I walked away with that have permeated inside of my mind forever. And what's coming from you, my friends, is coming from within you. And it's your mind and your heart. So make sure that whatever it is that you're looking at, that you're listening to, that you're studying is contributing to that winning mindset. And it will come from your heart. It will come from your mind. And if you're allowing things to come into your heart, into your mind that aren't contributory to what you want to put out there into the world, then my strong encouragement for you is change it. And it is up to you, because the mirror of truth does not lie.

I'm going to try to help you today with just a little bit of my own journey that has led to what I get to do. And I'm so fortunate and blessed to be able to impact people and impact lives in today's world. So, you know, we're all self made. According to one of my greatest mentors, Mr. Earl Nightingale. We're all self made, but only the successful will admit it. So how are you admitting it? Is your actions, is it your words, is it your ability to give to other people first? Remember, living is giving. Alright? So we're all self made. It's what we become and how we invest in who we are. And you know, confidence is displayed through our abilities that we continue to develop as well. Those self developed ability. See if you want to become the type of person or create the kind of team that steps up and believes you will win every game when you walk out onto that court, whether that court be life, whether it be business or anything else, then you must become the type of person or the type of team and be the leader for the team that displays your ability over and over again. And it's got to become absolutely habitual. I mean, if you think about it from a sports analogy standpoint, how often does sports teams practice? Well, every day, right? So we've got to practice and display that ability over and over and over again. And it doesn't have to come in big ways. You know, big doors swing on little hinges. But if you display your ability, then the confidence will come. Look in the mirror. That's your competition. You know, I'm looking at a sign that I have in my office and it says your only competition this year is. And I keep crossing out the year, year after year after year because I know in my heart of hearts that that's my only competition. If I can get past myself, if I continue to improve myself and move beyond that, then we're going to have lots of wins. There's going to be lessons as well. There's going to be wins, there's going to be lessons. But if we can move beyond this and have the winning mindset, the majority of time we're going to have a lot more wins than we're going to have lessons. And you use your actions to drive your mindset. Don't think about it too much, don't talk about it too much. It's action that will lead to the next win or the next lesson. So you've got to continue to take that action. And you know, the other thing that you know is going to lead to more wins is if you get big mo going. And who mo is, mo is momentum. And as you may or may not know, I love to bicycle. I'm a road bicyclist. It's not uncommon to drop out for 50 or 100 miles in a day. It's just what, you know, keeps the mo going for me. Personally. But whatever it is for you, okay, you've got to get mo going. And let me. Let me finish up something real quick before I get into Big Mo. You know, think about this with me for a minute.

What would things be like if today were your last day? And how would you feel if you didn't give it everything that you've got? You see, we have to live every day as if it were our last, okay? So that's why we've got to act with Big Mo as well. You see, in cycling, there's a world of difference between cruising downhill with mo and pedaling uphill without any momentum at all. You see, downhill is a breeze, but going uphill requires energy, effort, focus. I've got a little cadence that I use when I get to go up hills that are like seven miles, you know, at a clip of 8 to 12%. I've got a little cadence that I get because it gets tiresome, requires a lot of extra effort. But, you know, I've come into the mindset that helps me accomplish that. It helps me accomplish it faster. So what is it that you've got in your mind that helps you get there? And I've got this little cadence I just repeated over and over again. And if it gets to the point where my mind is worn out by like that, I start counting pedal strokes, and then I go left to right. I mean, whatever it is that works for you, you see, in a like manner, leaders are sure to feel the difference between having the momentum and sometimes lacking it. So we have to overcome it. It's the strength of our mind that makes all the difference. And Big Mo, you know, it makes leaders look a lot better than they actually are. So you've got to figure out what it is that gives you that mo.

It exaggerates all of our strengths. It covers a multitude of, you know, miscomings that we might have. And when you transfer that MO to your organization, you know, people will forgive leaders sometimes for almost anything, but without it, it's just going to magnify the flaws and everything that's going on, and they're going to sometimes forget the fault. So we've got, as leaders, it's all about them, never about us. It's all about them and never about us. And we have to be the strength to have the momentum and what that contributes to. It's back to the winning mindset. See, we've got to feed our minds and our bodies and everything else around that with the right stuff. You see, many times, momentum is the only Difference between winning and losing, it's the mo. Do you have it going into the fourth quarter of every deal or everything that you're dealing with it, you see with it, everybody's expecting it and they're energized and they know and they have the confidence that you're going to win more. And people tend to perform at their peak with it, the big mo. Without it, they lose heart, they have difficulty finding motivation, and they're not operating at peak performance or giving their best effort. So you are the leader of MO as well. It's the greatest change of all change agents out there. You see, when a leader has it again, organizational change comes easy for. It's much simpler to steer a company that's already experiencing success or can envision the success than to jumpstart one that's stagnant. You see, on a team that's thriving and growing and delivering results, an aura of excitement permeates every moment of every day. The momentum is almost tangible. People are going to take action without being asked. Things are going to magically start happening when MO is present, yet they can feel the momentum. Sometimes it's so magical you can't even define it. So let's take momentum and pin down where it comes from. There's a formula for momentum. The first part is, and it's a three part formula. First of all, it's the attitude of the leader.

Attitude of gratitude starts everything. So we have to exhibit that attitude of gratitude. And when our times are our toughest, we still have to exhibit that attitude of gratitude. The atmosphere of the organization is critical, your culture, and number three, the accomplishments of people. So it's the attitude of the leader, the atmosphere of the organization or your culture, and the accomplishment as people that equals your biggest mo. Leaders who court MO display a set of attitudes that help them reach new altitudes, things levels that you've never accomplished before. First, they take responsibility for the outcomes. Anything that happens within our organization, I accept as responsibility. You don't pass the blame. You don't pass failures on to other people or forces beyond your control. You are responsible. I learned a number of years ago that, that my response is my responsibility. At the end of the day, that is the way I roll. Secondly, leaders who generate MO operate with an empowering sense of hope. I believe it's going to happen. They shape their surroundings instead of merely being allowing others to shape them or anything that's going on within them. They believe in the possibility of change instead of complaining about the challenges to it. They're always Looking for a way, not finding the excuse why they can't. And finally, leaders who drive MO have unfailing enthusiasm. They're convinced of the importance of their work, and this sense of purpose propels them forward. Leaders create a favorable culture MO in the following ways. They believe in the best about their people. They look for ways to focus and concentrate on developing their strengths rather than fixing their shortcomings. Everybody's got shortcomings, including, you know, myself and everybody else. But you've got to focus on what's important. You got to follow one course and tell success on what's important. Secondly, they provide an inspiring vision to what's contagious. They share it confidently and they talk about it continually until everybody around them sees it almost as clearly as they do. And last, they remove the fear of failure, the false evidence appearing real. They invite risk and they affirm innovative ideas, even if as if they don't always work. Lastly, leaders create MO by revealing the accomplishments of their people. They build them up, they support them in their efforts. And when they need to, you know, help them learn a little bit differently, they help them in a way that helps them believe that they can do it. See, a smart leader knows a victory is not an end in itself. It involves more than placing a W in the win loss column. See, rather a victory's value in creating MO it comes through the celebration. Okay, people work hard at their jobs. I mean, they don't have to come into that door every day, but they do. And they give it their best effort five days a week through their best eight hours. And they have a deep seated need to know that their effort matters. You know, one of the deepest human wants, simply acknowledgement. People just want to be acknowledged that, you know, their effort is valuable, right? They want just somebody to recognize it. Okay, not often either, but once in a while they need that pat on the back that aha. As leaders, it's our responsibility. My response is my responsibility. Leaders can reinforce the worth of their people's work just by setting aside time to revel in the sweet joys of even one simple triumph. Okay, so some thoughts for you to ponder and implement as you move to get Big Mo to have a permanent seat in your organizations. See, Big Mo states that momentum is a leader's best friend. So which of the following might help Big Mo thrive in your organization? Well, number one is adjusting your attitude. So is your attitude the best that it can be? Do you have that attitude of gratitude? Do you have that attitude of accomplishment? Do you have that attitude that we are going to get this done, even though you don't know how it's going to get done and confidently go forward because you know people are silently waiting to be led. You've got to lead them. Number two, it's about altering your atmosphere and your culture. Is your culture the best that it can be and what are you doing to contribute to lead that culture and the mindset that's within your culture? Number three, how are you celebrating your team's victories? Let me recap this because it's really, really important. You've got to be adjust your attitude all of the time. And if you need something like a coach or an accountability partner to help you with that, then by all means engage them because that's what we all need. You know, I've got multiple coaches that I work with on my own life, in my own world, because, you know, sometimes I need that. Secondly, you've got to be altering your culture and your atmosphere. It's your responsibility to make sure it's as best. And lastly, again, celebrate team victories when it makes sense. So, you know, what does this mean for you? You're going to have that winning mindset surrounding you every single day. Big Mo is going to have a permanent seat in your organization, driving it forward. And ultimately, at the end of the day, it's going to become magical. And you don't have to even put forth any effort because it's going to start to take care of itself. You're going to reach that tipping point which is the 17% of anything.

That will drive your organization forward. Friends, you can do this. There's a step, more of a step by step formula. I'll be happy to share that with you another time. All right.

So question for you. What's holding you back? What's holding you back from everything that you need, that you desire, that you want your dreams from creating significance out there in the world to have that winning mindset every single day. You know, one of my greatest mentors said, if you want to have more, you've got to become more. And what do you have to become to achieve that goal? Because we attract exactly what we are and who we've become. It's really that simple. So if you're not putting forth the effort to become more, to make sure that you're feeding your mind in your heart and your soul, that winning mindset, food all the time, you're never going to become more. Okay, so, friends, it all starts with, in a way, understanding why you do what you do. Okay, so I'm sitting here in the Living Agency laboratory looking at my why wall. You may have seen a picture of that, but my encouragement for you today is understand your why. Why is it that you do what you do? I had something so significant that reappeared in my life just yesterday surrounding my why. It hit me when I least expected it. And in maybe an upcoming podcast I'll tell that story. But you know, it almost had me pull over last night when I was driving because it was an emotional moment. But that causes me to continue to fight and it picks me up when I need it the most. So know what your why is? Why is it that you do what you do? Remember, when your why becomes big enough, your how becomes easy. When your why becomes big enough, your how becomes easy. And let me add a little word on the why. Sometimes it will change or there will become a next level of your why. In my world, I've got two or I got two levels of my why nowadays, because they continue to appear as I continue to accomplish up into the next levels. You see, success is the progressive realization, a worthy ideal or a goal. All right, so you've got to continue to take action. Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. See, a person who succeeds says something like this or thinks something like this, I'm going to become this. And then they begin to take action toward that goal. They see, they start with that winning mindset, I am going to become this or I'm going to do this. And then they begin to work towards that goal. You know, some examples for you of a success is the school teacher who's teaching school because that's what he or she wants to do. It could be a woman who's a wife and a mother because she wants to be a wife and a mother and is doing a good job of it. It could be the entrepreneur who started their own company because that was their dream and that's what they wanted to do. It could be the salesperson who wants to become a top notch salesperson and grow and and build with our company. You see, a successful person is anyone who is doing deliberately what they wanted to do in a predetermined way because that's what he or she decided to do deliberately. My friends, it's really that simple. In the words of Andy Andrews and the Traveler's Gift, it's about all about making a decision and going forward with it, not thinking about it too much, not talking about it too much, just making a decision and moving forward with it. So you know, how about some tips for you on how I continue to feed my heart, how I continue to feed my mind, how I continue to feed my soul with the right stuff. Well, you know, something I started doing a number of years ago, I stopped taking and looking at the newspaper. No newspapers in my life anymore. I stopped looking at the TV news. I don't need to see any of that negative stuff. I don't listen to the any radio stations in my car anymore. What I've got in my car now I affectionately call Automobile University. My car is full. I've got a huge bag right behind my driver's seat. I've always got two or three significant audio programs that I'm listening to. To feed my mind, to feed my heart, to feed my soul with the right stuff, to create that winning mindset. And friends, that's what it's all about. You know, I pulled over just the spot morning as I was driving because there was something so significant that I heard. I had to make sure that I wrote it down. Remember, ink it, don't think it right, but it's what you feed your mind that is coming from you. Because remember, what's coming from you is coming from within you. I've got bookshelves upon bookshelves in my home office, in the closets and everything surrounding me of investment material that I've contributed to my heart, my mind and my soul and my attitude over the years. I take magazines that support that kind of thought process. So my question for you is when you have that time, because remember the 8x8x8 rule. And if you've never heard of the 8x8x8 rule, really what it means is this. In theory, we work eight hours a day, right? And if you're an entrepreneur, you know that it's a little bit more than that. But let's just say that you work eight hours a day, okay? The next eight hours you have is your time. It's your free time. So what are you investing in that free time? And of course, the last eight hours is our time to sleep. So sleep time, get time that we get to invest in whatever we want to become. And then of course, our work time to earn a living or earn wealth and financial security for our family. Okay, so how are you managing that time? How are you blocking that time? Well, I've started with a daily fast start checklist, okay? I know where my top priorities are. I know my top three priorities every single day. And I've got it listed exactly what I need to do every single day. I've got a start Time and an end time. So it's a daily stat, fast start checklist. Then it's about planning your plan. And when is the best time to plan your day? Absolutely. The night before, before you go to bed, plan your day. So I've got my planning, my plan sheet. It's all written down. The top priorities I need to accomplish in a specific day. The people I need to reach out to, the people that I'm waiting to hear from, a note page for everything else. And let me share with you the biggest block for pretty much anybody out there that's operating electronically. Beware of your inbox. It's nothing but an organizing system for the agenda of others. Always keep the main thing. The main thing. You've got to focus every single minute of every single day. Follow one course until success. You've got to plan, okay? Because Benjamin Franklin said people who fail to plan are planning to fail. Okay? It does begin with you. What does all this mean for you? You see, when you've got your winning mindset, when you got Big Mo present, when you've got everything planned out, you know where you're going and you're feeding your heart, feeding your mind, feeding your soul with the food that it needs to contribute towards that, you're gonna, if you're in business, you're gonna grow your business, you're gonna create financial wealth and security for you and your family. And you're gonna have more freedom to live life on your own terms. My friends, it's possible for you, it's possible for anybody out there that wants to follow the plan. But ultimately, at the end of the day, it starts with you. So let me ask you a question, and it's the greatest leadership question that I've ever heard. And I'm going to pause for just a minute because I want you to hear what I say.

Would I? Follow me. And if you said that, is your answer emphatically yes? I hope it is. And if it's not, that's okay. Regardless of your past, you've got a spotless future. You can do this. You can do it starting right this minute so you know what's going on around you. Alright? We've been talking a lot about our heart and our mind and our soul that's at the center. I mean, picture this for me. Draw a circle on a piece of paper. And if you've got something to write with and write on. Fantastic. On the piece of paper in front of you, draw a circle. Okay? And you might want to write in there your heart, your Mind and your soul. Okay? If you draw another circle around that circle, you can insert things like your top priorities in life, which would be your family and your loved ones and your close friends, right? And then let's draw another circle around that and insert in that third level of the circle the culture that's going on around you. So, my friends, all three levels of that are the battlefield, if you will. And we all battle that same battle every single day. So it's what we do with it that makes all the difference. And I have a sign that's so vitally important. It's an excuse limit, my friends. The excuse limit in your life should be zero. All right? The excuse limit in your life should be zero. Don't make any excuses. Just keep taking action with bf. BF is belief and faith. You see, like Rick Robin said, what's coming from you is coming from within you. And ultimately, at the end of the day, it's how you show up. Are you making that impact when you show up? When you leave that particular situation, do people remember you were there? Are they talking about what you shared with them? Did you impact them in a way that's positive, that has the winning mindset? It's how you show up. Are you showing up every single day in every single way, contributing to the situation like nothing that they've ever heard or seen before? And if you're not, that's okay. But if we want to have more, we have to become more. It's really that simple because we attract exactly who we are and what we become. So my question for you, my friends, is look into the future. See. Vision is the art of seeing things that other people can't see. Vision is the art of seeing things that other people can't see. All right? And I hope that makes sense to you. You see the huge change for me. I mean, I remember the moment like it was yesterday. Okay? I was 38 years old. I was sitting in a development seminar, and I was listening to the people that were teaching and sharing from their heart. And I was at a point where I was just doing it all, and I really wasn't getting anywhere. I was thinking, how am I ever going to get to the next level? And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I said to myself, I said, you know, I'm just going to start listening to these people. They all know. They all know what to do. Just going to start taking action. And so I started listening to people who know more than I did. And I just became a massive implementer. My friends My life has never been the same since. Personally, professionally, financially and otherwise. I haven't run into a situation since that moment that I couldn't accomplish and tackle. Yes, there's been wins and yes, there's been lessons, but if you will invest in yourself to become more, you've got this. There's no way it can't happen. But see, and here's the good News. There's only 1 out of 20 that was willing to do that. You see, the 8020 rule is always in effect because of the fact that you're listening to this podcast, the Unstoppable Profit podcast. You're already up in the top 20% because you're looking to become more. Or whatever you're studying, you're looking to become more. So you're automatically in the top 20%. So all you need to do is continue to develop yourself and you're going to rise to the top 3%.

There's no way it can happen. There's only ways that it can. You see, human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. See, there's no competition for any of us unless we make it for ourselves. You know, William James said, the greatest discovery my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. Friends, you can do this. You see, but, however, the only way to achieve true success is to express yourself completely and the service to others every single day, according to Aristotle. What does this mean for you? It means, my friends, that you're going to have a life, a wonderful life, where you can do whatever you want to do. No worry, no fear. And worry brings fear anyway, and fear is crippling. Imagine having a life where you have nothing to worry about. The only thing that you have to do is implement the next creative thing that comes to your mind. Money. Lots of it. But more than that, there's going to be a peace of mind. You see, peace of mind is something that you cannot buy. Peace of mind is only earned. It's just a wonderful, wonderful opportunity, my friends. I hope that you will take some of this information, implement, execute, and take action. And my other question for you today is why not you and why not now? Because right now is the first moment of the rest of your life, my friends. Thank you for investing time today. This is Mike Strompso, the Unstoppable Profit producer. If you'd like to listen to more episodes or share this with somebody that you know and care about, please please visit unstoppable profitpodcast.com that's Unstoppable Profit podcast. It's been awesome spending time with you today. Until next time, go out and make a difference. Be unstoppable and leave no regrets. Thank you for listening. If you would like to listen to more episodes or share this podcast with someone you care about, please visit www.unstoppableprofitpodcast.com now go out and make a difference. Be unstoppable and leave no regrets.