Learned helplessness is one of the most famous psychological concepts, which all scholars will have read about. Martin Seligman’s 1967 research into the topic found that dogs could be trained to believe that an electric shock was inescapable.
This behaviour has been shown in people, who believe the world is against them and it is simply their fate to fail. Luckily, this mindset can be changed, and there are ways to create self-belief that it is possible to win in life.
You’ve heard the saying: ‘One of life’s winners’ when people are referring to successful people. But the phrase is somewhat misleading. It suggests that winners and losers are chosen at birth, and this dictates the direction their lives will go in.
This couldn’t be further from the truth, and if you look at the people who have made it to the top there are often some common attributes which they all possess. It’s these aspects of their personalities which have helped them become successful, not pre-written selection from birth.
A winning mindset is built over time, and grit is one of the most important things to develop. According to Angela Duckworth, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, grit is a combination of passion and perseverance which is geared towards a unique, long-term goal.
It has been noted that winners need to set clear goals, but realise that the journey towards achieving and maintaining them is never complete. Getting into the right frame of mind can be about enjoying small victories which lead to bigger ones over time.
An important thing to remember is that anyone can win and anyone can lose. It’s the way people deal with these swings in fortune which separate successful people from the rest. A good way to practice dealing with this is by playing games of chance on LSM99 in a controlled environment.
This way, you can see that sometimes luck is on your side and sometimes it isn’t. This will help you understand that success in your life or career isn’t about luck. Bonus Source is a good place to find an online casino to play at, with free spins offers on slot machines a great way to experience a game of chance.
Positive thinking is another key attribute of those with a winning mindset. You can train yourself to be more optimistic by looking back on situations in your life when you have managed to make the best of a bad situation. It is important that your positive thoughts are genuine, however, as Barbara Fredrickson actually argues that it is detrimental to have insincere positive thoughts and emotions as they can backfire.
Developing a winning mindset helps to open up doors in life and can lead to you achieving your goals. You may feel as though things go against you, but you can change your mentality and think of the positives in every situation. Over time, you will be on the right path to being one of ‘life’s winners’.
***
Image credit: Freepik
Wendy Whitehead worked as a teaching assistant at two special needs schools in London before embarking on a different career as a marketing consultant.
