The Success Pyramid

The most important thing you can focus on to improve your success

When you focus on developing yourself, what do you focus on? 

If you resemble the hits of a Google search on how to improve your success, you likely focus primarily on changing or improving your behaviors. 
 

The response to my Google inquiry “how to improve your success” resulted in the following answers:

•    Practice mental clarity
•    Listen by sensing messages
•    Make lists
•    Write down your thoughts in a journal

While I don’t disagree with these ideas, I do think they are short-sighted and ultimately limited. In fact, if we truly want to maximize the return of our personal development investment, we would do well to try to identify the foundational element for our success. To do this, we must consider what I call “the success pyramid.”

The Success Pyramid

Top Level

The top of the pyramid is what we are seeking: success. 

Level 2

Acknowledging that, what is the immediate driver of our success? Our behaviors.
 
This is why so many of us focus on changing or improving our behaviors when it comes to our personal development. 

For example, one way we might focus on improving our behavior to enhance our success is to do a better job of learning from failure. On the surface, that seems to make sense. But, as we get deeper into the pyramid, it will become clear that its effectiveness is limited. 

I would venture that when people focus on their development, 90% of them primarily focus on their behaviors because they appear to be directly related to our success.

But, are our behaviors what are foundational to our success? No. 

Level 3
What then is the driver of our behavior? Our thinking. 
 
This stands to reason that as we change and improve our thinking, our behaviors will naturally improve. 

Here is an example. If we think that failure is a signal that we are a failure, then we are going to naturally avoid challenges as they have a high likelihood for failure. But, if we think that failure is an opportunity to learn and grow, then we are going to naturally approach challenges. Thus, a shift in thinking from failure is bad to failure can be good will naturally change our behavior, and consequently our success. 

I would venture that when people focus on their development, 9% of them primarily focus on their thinking. 

But, are our thinking what is foundational to our success? No. 

Level 4
What then is the driver of our behavior? Our mindsets. 
Our mindsets are the mental lenses that dictate how we see and interpret our world. They are the most foundational aspect about ourselves. Yet, I image that when people focus on their development, only 1% of them primarily focus on their mindsets. 

For decades, mindset researchers have demonstrated that our mindsets truly are foundational to everything we do as they dictate how we think, learn, and behave. 

Let me give you an example. In one study, researchers first had individuals take a mindset assessment to indicate whether or not they had a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Then, they set up a condition where individuals would be presented with an exam where they would all get the first eight easy questions right and the last four difficult questions wrong. They wanted to see if people would think and behave differently in response to hitting failure depending upon the mindsets they possessed.

The researchers found that those with a fixed mindset responded to the four difficult questions by becoming depressed, mentally beat themselves up, and stopped applying themselves. But, those with a growth mindset responded to the four difficult questions by remaining optimistic, continued to encourage themselves, and didn’t stop applying themselves. 

This study, and dozens of other studies, indicate that our mindsets—particularly our belief about how able we are to change our talents, abilities, and intelligence—nonconsciously shape how we think, learn, and behave, and ultimately how successful we are. 

Why Focusing on Mindsets for Improving Our Success Is so Important

I believe that 99% of people focus on either improving their behaviors or their thinking when they seek to enhance their success. While this is well-intended, what they don’t realize is that if they do not also improve their underlying mindsets, those prevailing mindsets will continually resist the changes that they are trying to make in their thinking and behavior, ultimately limiting their success.  A much more effective and natural way of improving our success is to focus first on our mindsets. As we improve our mindsets, improvements in our thinking, behavior, and success will naturally follow. 

Four Mindsets Necessary for Success

This is great in theory, but in practice, what mindsets do we need to improve or develop to enhance our success. 

Four Sets of Mindsets

The last 30 years of research across psychology, education, management, and marketing has produced four primary sets of mindsets that have been proven to drive our thinking, learning, and behavior. Each of these sets exist on a continuum from negative to positive as follows:

 
 

To learn more about these mindsets and identify if you have the mindsets necessary for success, I have developed a free 20-question mindset assessment: https://ryangottfredson.com/personal-mindset-assessment. It will provide you with an individualized and comprehensive mindset report, including directions on how to improve your mindsets. 

As you develop more growth, open, promotion, and outward mindsets, you will naturally improve your thinking and behavior, and consequently your success. 

Ryan Gottfredson is a mental success coach and author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today’s Best Seller Lists entitled, Success Mindsets: Your Keys to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work & Leadership. Visit https://ryangottfredson.com/  Connect Ryan Gottfredson