Achieving Personal Success Through Mindset Transformation

What do Napoleon Hill, Orison Swett Marden, Jim Rohn, and other thought leaders have in common? These successful individuals all advocated for and practiced ways to cultivate a positive mindset. In fact, all of them authored growth mindset books that explain just how they achieved this personal success.

But transforming your mindset sounds easier said than done, right? You may be thinking, "Changing my mindset? That's impossible." Or, "I've been living with these habits for too long. I can't change."

Take it from these authors: anyone can change their mindset. You can change your yours right now. Today.

​So, let’s review some key components of mindset and how it can affect your success. We’ll also cover some highlights from these successful leaders' books about mindset. With their help, you’ll see how easily you can achieve personal success through a simple mindset transformation.

First, what is mindset? Mindset is the way you see yourself and the world you live in. Through this lens, it affects everything around you—from your personal attitudes and beliefs to the very decisions and actions you take.

Mindset can be broken down into two branches: fixed mindsets and growth mindsets.

Fixed mindsets: People with this mindset believe that all abilities, talents, etc., are inherent or fixed qualities, meaning they can’t be changed.

Let’s consider an example. Pretend you set your alarm Friday night to get up for a morning run the following day. Your alarm goes off, and you decide to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. You wake up disappointed in yourself and believe that this one action means you’ll never be able to change. You don’t bother trying again the next day because what’s the point?

Growth mindsets: Those with this mindset believe that all abilities can be changed if they put in enough effort. They believe that failure is a way to learn how to become better.

Let’s look at the same example with a growth mindset. You set your alarm for that early morning run. Again, the alarm goes off, and again you hit that snooze button and fall back asleep. You wake up, maybe a little disappointed. But this time, you’re recommitted to doing better the next day. You set your alarm for tomorrow and are determined to try again. The next morning, you go on that run.

The difference between these two mindsets is that one believes you are forever stuck living the way you’ve always lived. A fixed mindset tricks you into thinking that you need to avoid challenges or give up, because what’s the point if you can’t change?

​By contrast, a growth mindset looks at failure and is inspired by it, not inhibited by it. This mindset uses previous experiences of success and failure to learn and become better.

But how do you change your mindset? Where can you even start? One way is to read about how others achieved this seemingly impossible task. Let’s look at what Napoleon Hill, Orison Swett Marden, and Jim Rohn have to say about shifting your mindset.

"Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude" is one of the top Napoleon Hill books to read if you want to learn how to change your mindset. Co-authored with W. Clement Stone, the key idea from this book is that your mental attitude shapes your entire life. Here are some of their recommendations:

If we were to narrow down Orison Swett Marden's book to its core, it would be this: willpower and determination are key to achieving any type of success. Here are some ideas from this Orison Swett Marden book on mindset and success:

Emanuel James Rohn is best known for his worldwide influence and advice regarding personal improvement, behavioral change, and self-development. Here are three takeaways from his growth mindset book, "The Art of Exceptional Living:"

Want to learn more from these established mindset-changing authors? Secrets of Success has you covered! Take the next step by joining our Round Pegs book club today. We offer exclusive access to the works of these thought leaders and other resources so that you can improve your path to success.