How about a book written by a celebrity hypnotist? Well, that’s just one of Ricky Kalmon’s occupations. He is also an author, motivational speaker, and coach, and has made guest appearances on ESPN, HLN, Disney, Hallmark Channel, Fox, FX, TV Guide, and Comedy Central. However, it was my study of the concept of individual mindset that drew me to this month’s selection, Leverage Your Mindset.
The concept of mindset has received a great deal of attention over the past couple of decades. Numerous books, lectures, and treatises have been delivered on the topic. In simple terms, your mindset is an established set of attitudes that you have developed through your own life experience. It can be liberating or inhibiting depending on the attitudes themselves. The key to a productive and powerful mindset is to determine which of these attitudes are beneficial to your desired outcome and which are limiting your possibilities.
In his introduction, Kalmon states: “Do you have the desire to be less stressed and more successful; to grow your business; to be more focused, more driven, more appreciative, and healthier; to overcome changes; and/or to be more in control of your personal and professional life? I guarantee that one or several of these things sparked your interest. Or maybe all them. We all have deep desires, good intentions, and thoughts of success in many areas of our lives. What is holding you back from turning these hopes and thoughts into actions and realized dreams? Mindset!”
Kalmon has created a 14-day program that organizes the process of adjusting your mindset. In each section he guides the reader through the process and suggests methods and psychological technologies for improving in each area.
- Day One: Maximizing Your Most Valuable Asset
- Day Two: Relax
- Day Three: Language
- Day Four: Gratitude
- Day Five: Commitment
- Day Six: Update Your Internal Software
- Day Seven: Reinforcement
- Day Eight: Visualize
- Day Nine: Refining Your Awareness App
- Day Ten: Trust
- Day Eleven: Repetition Is Power
- Day Twelve: The Mindset Magnet™
- Day Thirteen: How To Feel Amazing
- Day Fourteen: It’s Already Started
Although every section offers valuable insight, I would like to focus on a couple that really hit home. The first section outlines your most valuable asset. That asset is more important than your house, your car, or your investment portfolio. That asset is you. We all are careful to maintain the physical assets we value, and yet investing in our own mind is often left to chance. Kalmon likens our mind to a computer and our mindset to our personal software. The right software in its latest version is critical to creating optimal performance. Today is the day to “install updates now.” Each section in the book lists ways to “update software” in that particular discipline. He even dedicates the sixth day to the update process.
Day ten is about trust. It is specifically focused on your ability to trust yourself. Kalmon states: “Our ability to trust our own judgment, instincts, skills, and capabilities can be, and usually is, the deciding factor in how far we go in life, what we accomplish, and how happy and self-confident we are.” He goes on to explain that making a statement beginning with “I wish…” indicates we have already admitted that we can’t. Wish actually becomes a dirty four-letter word. He continues: “Words matter. Feed your mindset with words that support what you want. Make them a daily part of your awareness app and update your thought processes with them.”
Day 13, “How To Feel Amazing,” is where Kalmon reviews many of the steps the reader has gone through over the past couple of weeks. He then guides you through a process that allows you to experience emotions generated by moments of remarkable success in your own life; moments that literally made you smile. Basking in the emotions generated by these experiences, he then asks you to write down the words, “I FEEL AMAZING,” on a sheet of paper. Then repeat the words aloud three times. If you have truly engaged your emotional state, it is impossible to not be hit with a sense of happiness, well-being, and even euphoria. Try this process the next time negativity, anxiety, and stress are sabotaging your day. You will be amazed at the result.
Day 14 is a celebration of the fact that you are on your way to a new reality. Some will dismiss this as pop psychology, or “feel-good nonsense.” They will ignore possibilities and opportunities that can come from a simple reboot of their attitudinal position. Others will find it intriguing, but decide it’s not for them. A few, usually very few, will take a chance and experience a new lease on life. A life that they never imagined was available to them. I leave it to you.
Check out all the titles in Dave Donald’s Business Book Club.
