In the dictionary, you will find a long list of definitions for mindset, mind, and set. Interestingly they all come before success!

If you are going to have a successful career fitting hearing aids and growing your hearing care practice, you need to understand how your own mind is set. If you go to the dictionary, you will find a long list of definitions for mindset, mind, and set. Interestingly they all come before success!

• Mind-set (noun) beliefs that affect somebody’s attitude – a set of beliefs or a way of thinking that determine somebody’s behavior and outlook
• Mind (noun) seat of thought and memory – the center of consciousness that generates thoughts, feelings, ideas, and perceptions and stores knowledge and memories
• Set (verb) focus on something – transitive verb to focus on a goal or task – had set his mind on it

It does not matter how you wish to spell, mindset. This is not a grammar lesson. What matters is a better understanding of what mindset means if you wish to be successful.

It is critical to understand the importance of your mindset and what role it plays in your success. And, it is especially important if you are in a highly competitive environment like the world of Hearing Healthcare!

Go back and read the definition of mindset again. “A way of thinking that determines somebody’s behavior and outlook.” Every day we have choices to make. Life is all about choices. We choose between right and wrong. We choose to move forward or hold ourselves back. We also choose to have a positive or negative mindset.

Think for a moment about how mindset impacts your life – day to day and long term.

• Say you wake up and tell yourself, “Am I ever tired this morning, this is going to be one very long day.” Where do you think your energy level is going to be?
• Let’s say you wake up, and say to yourself, “This is going to be a great day. I can’t wait to get at it.”  How many dragons do you think you could slay?

I know that many people may not be in a place where they have a strong and positive mindset currently. They might not be able to transition from ‘I’m tired’ to ‘this is going to be a great and successful day’ in an overnight time frame.

However, you can choose to focus on something more believable. Thoughts like, “I am thankful it’s a new month.” Or something more realistic like, “I am excited I have this list of phone numbers to call.” (Knowing that not having those leads to contact would mean no money in the future.)

What we choose to focus on is our conscious mind. How we think subconsciously impacts our conscious behaviors. The psychologists call the study of this phenomenon, cognitive-behavioral science. The study of it is truly fascinating.

Our internal self-talk is the major determining factor of our attitude, disposition, and actions. Think about a Hearing Healthcare Provider (HHP) who has said to themselves for years, “I’m great with faces but terrible with names.” Repeating this internal dialogue over and over cannot help him improve. Do you wonder if this HHP’s mind has taken it as fact and only concentrates on facial recognition? Do they now totally ignore the patient’s name because they have convinced their mind the name isn’t important?

The good news is we can rewire our minds and change how we think. It takes little practice to retrain the mind. However, it takes some discipline and it won’t happen overnight, like so much in life. But, it is easier than you might think. The key is to consciously catch your negative thoughts. In our example with patient names, if the Hearing Provider caught himself or herself saying they were not good with names and began having their inner voice say, “I’m getting better at remembering names, I just have to focus and concentrate.” They could instantly get better by using a memorization tool, such as name association or by using the person’s name in conversation. Implementing the focus and discipline to make a change in mindset can allow success, and the change can come in a surprisingly short period of time.

How often have you heard that world-class athletes comment on how they visualize winning their race or event? Their “mental coach” has become as important as their “performance coach” in their training and conditioning.

If you work in the Hearing Healthcare Field, you probably know some top clinicians who appear to always be “up”. They are optimistic, have an organized mind and success just seems to come to them. They have learned, usually from experience, or a mentor, that a person who is an effective thinker is more successful. By effective thinker, I mean someone who controls and leverages his or her inner voice. This person understands the power of visualizing success, of believing in themselves and believing in their clients. Their positive self-talk enables them, it doesn’t distract them.

I would encourage you, regardless of the size of your patient database, to learn more about the power of effective thinking and mindset. Do a Google search for Dr. Eric Thomas, Dr. Clayton Lafferty, Tony Robbins, Dr. Jordan Peterson, John Maxwell, and Dr. Henry Murray who have all been key contributors to better understating the impact of mindset.

Become an effective thinker – manage your mindset!

– Nathan Bush, MBA