Hustle Your Way Forward – Use Fire As Fuel

Fire can be very destructive but it also can be focused and directed to create significant energy for other things.  This is NOT only true about fire in the form flames but also in the form of internal human energy.

The positive form of internal human energy is created when you rub two elements together and add a third just like fire in the form of flames.  However, in the case of internal human energy those elements are belief, commitment, and the growth mindset instead of sticks and other tinder.

Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.

 — Mary Kay Ash

The element of belief must come first.  While commitment and the growth mindset are necessary, belief is foundational.  There will be bends in the road on any path to success and you may hear the word “no” many times.  In fact, the most significant progress and success will likely come after you come face to face with “no” in some way, shape, or form.  An unwavering belief in your dream or goal is absolutely critical to turn friction into smoke and smoke into flames!

Commitment must be added to belief to create smoke.  You can believe that something is possible and still not get directly involved in making it happen.  You might be an optimist or a visionary but you will not experience the fruits of a positive belief if you are not absolutely committed to making it happen.  Sticks alone will not create flames without effort, focus and some sweat.  You must be committed to contributing each in order to produce fire as fuel to a grander life.  As Napoleon Hill wrote, ‘there is nothing, right or wrong, which belief, plus burning desire, can not make real.”  Burning desire will help make sure you don’t quit just before the miracle happens!

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

— Michael Jordan

The final element needed to fuel your dream is a growth mindset.  Stanford University Professor, Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., has spent thirty years researching social and developmental psychology and examining the self-conceptions people use to structure the self and guide their behavior.  In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she shares what she has learned over the thirty years as it relates to sports, business, relationships, and children.

There is a significant and profound difference in people that pursue life and their endeavors from a growth versus fixed mindset.  Dr. Dweck found that:

Those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best in both learning and improving.

Those with the growth mindset found setbacks motivating (in the end).  These setbacks were informative and were a wake-up call.

People with the growth mindset in sports took charge of the processes that bring and maintain success.

With this mindset, you will see all actions and all failures as something from which to learn.  That is what allows you to convert disappointments into discoveries and ultimately use the other two elements to create a lasting flame and intense fire to use as fuel in your ambitions and your life.

© Copyright 2009 Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D. and Sandy Seago 

Hustle Your Way Forward – Use Fire As Fuel

Fire can be very destructive but it also can be focused and directed to create significant energy for other things.  This is NOT only true about fire in the form flames but also in the form of internal human energy.

The positive form of internal human energy is created when you rub two elements together and add a third just like fire in the form of flames.  However, in the case of internal human energy those elements are belief, commitment, and the growth mindset instead of sticks and other tinder.

Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.

 — Mary Kay Ash

The element of belief must come first.  While commitment and the growth mindset are necessary, belief is foundational.  There will be bends in the road on any path to success and you may hear the word “no” many times.  In fact, the most significant progress and success will likely come after you come face to face with “no” in some way, shape, or form.  An unwavering belief in your dream or goal is absolutely critical to turn friction into smoke and smoke into flames!

Commitment must be added to belief to create smoke.  You can believe that something is possible and still not get directly involved in making it happen.  You might be an optimist or a visionary but you will not experience the fruits of a positive belief if you are not absolutely committed to making it happen.  Sticks alone will not create flames without effort, focus and some sweat.  You must be committed to contributing each in order to produce fire as fuel to a grander life.  As Napoleon Hill wrote, ‘there is nothing, right or wrong, which belief, plus burning desire, can not make real.”  Burning desire will help make sure you don’t quit just before the miracle happens!

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

— Michael Jordan

The final element needed to fuel your dream is a growth mindset.  Stanford University Professor, Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., has spent thirty years researching social and developmental psychology and examining the self-conceptions people use to structure the self and guide their behavior.  In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she shares what she has learned over the thirty years as it relates to sports, business, relationships, and children.

There is a significant and profound difference in people that pursue life and their endeavors from a growth versus fixed mindset.  Dr. Dweck found that:

Those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best in both learning and improving.

Those with the growth mindset found setbacks motivating (in the end).  These setbacks were informative and were a wake-up call.

People with the growth mindset in sports took charge of the processes that bring and maintain success.

With this mindset, you will see all actions and all failures as something from which to learn.  That is what allows you to convert disappointments into discoveries and ultimately use the other two elements to create a lasting flame and intense fire to use as fuel in your ambitions and your life.

© Copyright 2009 Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D. and Sandy Seago