The Three Keys

For the vast majority, success in life and finances is largely tied to mindset. Granted, there are those who are born in crappy situations with no resources, physical, or mental disabilities. I’m not talking about this group. But for everybody else, happiness is directly related to how one looks at the world. Directly related to mindset.

While mindset, undoubtedly, is a large and quite complex topic, I have found, in my personal life, that there are three keys that keep me on track. Three beliefs/habits that have continued to serve as I grow older and try to plot forward in my own personal path.

Humility, optimism, and hard work.

Humility

Now don’t get me wrong, I have had my share of confidence and even all out egoism at various times of life. I will not claim perfection. Usually those have been the worst and most frustrating times. The paths of life filled with oversteps, blundering, and a most obnoxious inability to understand nor absorb nuance.

Yet, it is in the humble and quiet interludes that I have learned the most. Where I have opened myself up to the universe and been cowed by its beauty and complexity. When the lust to be right is overtaken by the thirst for knowledge, acceptance, and connection.

When you raise yourself above others, your view becomes obstructed by the earth and concrete directly below the feet of those you look down upon.

When you lower yourself, you not only look up at all those ponderous faces, but also have the vast universe on which to gaze upon.

Humility is constantly looking up to contemplate that vastness. A close cousin to gratitude.

Optimism

I believe intention is one of the most potent forces in the universe. If you carry yourself with clear and just intentions, the likelihood of a good outcome is much more realistic. Optimism is the fuel of intention. The building blocks.

Incremental improvement can only occur when there is a deep belief system backing it. There has to first be an inkling that something can be done before one is able to accomplish it. Optimism is that belief.

Life can and will get better. There is meaning and depth in what we spend our daily lives doing. Bad things will change, and good things will remain.

There is no self improvement without optimism. No aggregation of incremental gains.

No progress.

Hard Work

It is difficult to argue that hard work is a mindset issue. But I’m not talking about the actual manual labor here. I am pointing out the belief system that values both mental and physical gymnastics.

Being happy is no lazy mans game. It takes deep thought, repetition, trial and error, and often good old sweat and elbow grease. Progress requires strenuous work. Period. There are no short cuts.

Exercise, meditation, performing, learning, and even laughing.

You better work!!!

Final Thoughts

Success in life and finances is mainly a mental game. There are three keys that seem to have made all the difference for me.

Practice humility. Gaze up at the world around you instead of looking down on that which you consider below you.

Let good intentions and optimism guide your way. You can do it.

And then work your ass off.