One of the great approaches to successful living is to develop the art of prompting positive mindsets.
For example, suppose I lay a plank on the ground. Almost anyone could easily walk on the plank from one end to the other. But if I were to raise the plank 20 feet off the ground, how many people do you think would get across it without falling? I would guess quite a few people would fall off the plank.
Why can people walk the plank when it’s on the ground but not while it’s elevated? A prime reason is that when the plank is on the ground, people imagine success. They believe and feel they can accomplish the task. Off the ground, there is a tendency to question the success of the endeavor.
Your mindset is vital. What you think, what you visualize, what you image is to a large degree what you will become—just like the eagle who thought he was a chicken. As the story goes, a young boy found an eagle’s nest while climbing in the mountains around his father’s farm. He removed an egg from the nest and placed it under a hen back at the farm. The eagle hatched along with the other chicks. All his young life he was raised among chickens. Knowing no better, he came to see himself as a chicken.
Then one day an eagle flew high over the chicken coop. As the young one watched this great magnificent eagle flying high, the thought came to him that he too wished to soar over the mountains. With a burst of inspiration the young eagle flew to the top of the chicken coop. From there he soared to the top of a low hillside. As his confidence grew he soared higher and higher as did his confidence and his mindset of his capabilities.
What steps are you taking to instill a positive mindset in the youth you oversee? How are you inspiring them to soar like the majestic eagle? Leave your advice in the comments below.