Ep. 46 - Transform Your Life with a Growth Mindset

In this episode, the discussion centers around the critical role mindset plays in fulfilling God's purpose for one's life. It explains the importance of developing a growth mindset, which embraces challenges and sees them as opportunities for growth, over a fixed mindset that avoids difficulties and is threatened by the success of others. Key components such as beliefs and expectations about oneself, the world, and money are explored. Practical steps on how to work on your mindset to increase impact, influence, and income, in alignment with God's purpose, are provided.

00:00 Introduction: Discovering God's Purpose for Your Life
00:45 The Power of Mindset: Unlocking Your Potential
01:41 Understanding Mindset: Beliefs and Expectations
06:58 Fixed vs. Growth Mindset: Key Differences
11:58 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Challenges
19:23 Practical Steps to Develop a Growth Mindset
24:14 Conclusion: Embrace Your Mindset for Success

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Transcript

Dr Uche Okere: 0:00

If you're a Jesus follower with a strong desire to fulfill God's purpose for your life, so that you can increase your impact, increase your influence, and increase the income you make, but it doesn't feel like that is happening at the moment. Is there one thing that you can place your finger on and sort out so that you can begin your journey? Fulfill God's purpose for your life I believe there is, I believe there is one thing that you can really focus on today, zero in on and begin to work on. And once you begin to do that, you begin to see your impact increase. You see your influence increase and you see your income increase. And I want to talk to you about what that one thing is and how you can begin to work on that. I believe that that one thing, in one word, is your mindset. I believe that if you begin to work on your mindset today, If you focus on your mindset and you put effort into understanding your mindset and working on it, you will well be on your way to maximizing your potential, becoming as productive as you can be, and fulfilling God's purpose for your life. In fact, I would go as far as saying that if you're not yet seeing the level of influence for the kingdom of God that you can see, if you're not yet seeing the level of income that you know that you should be having, and if you're not yet having the impact that you That you should be having in your world, in your circles of influence, then that is probably and very, very much likely because of this same thing, because of your mindset. And if you work on it, then you begin to see those changes that you need to see. What do I mean by mindset? What do I mean when I talk? About mindset. Well, mindset is very simply how your mind is set. Your mind is set in a certain way. My mind is set in a certain way. I heard this illustration a while ago and I've used it ever since to explain what mindset is. Is, depending on which part of the world you live in. I live in England, I live in a temperate, climate. So, it gets really, really cold here. In fact, as I record this, we've had the coldest week in the past 10 years. Temperatures went as low as minus 5 in our town. And, one of the things that you would find that is constant in virtually every building, every house, whether it's a public or private building that you get into, Is that people will regulate the temperature, they will use the table, start to set the temperature of the house so that the external temperature does not determine the internal temperature, so that the experience of the temperature and the enjoyment of their building is not determined by what is happening. Outside. So they set the temperature. The temperature is set. In the same way, we all have our minds set. We all have our minds set. But the unfortunate thing is that our minds have not all been set intentionally and on purpose by ourselves. We have allowed, or even without knowing, our minds have been set by the things that happened in our past, by the news that we receive, by the people that are all around us. And the way our minds are set many times do not work the same way. in our favor. But the truth is, you have a mindset. I have a mindset. Whether you will fulfill God's purpose for your life or not, whether you will maximize your potential, whether you will become everything that you can become, whether you would have the impact that you are capable of having will be determined to a significant degree by your mindset. Well, what is your mindset? How do I know? What are some ways that we can begin to understand it? Mindset better. Your mindset is made up of two key things. Two key things, your beliefs and your expectations. Your beliefs are the things that you're convinced about. Your beliefs are your convictions and we all have convictions. You do have things that you believe. Sometimes I hear people who say they do not have faith. They're not people of faith say they don't need belief because everything for them is a matter of fact. Everything is based on facts and I've heard people make statements like when you have facts, you don't need belief. But the truth is that you can't have facts about everything. You cannot know the truth. You do have belief and to a certain degree, you, you, you, you live your life based on some belief, based on some degree of belief. You get a glass of water and you drink it because you believe that it's not poisoned. You believe it's not going to, it's not going to kill you. You go into a restaurant, order some food and you eat it based on the belief That these guys will prepare the food to the highest levels of hygiene that will not harm me. You get into an airplane and you believe it's going to fly you from point A to point B, even if you don't know the pilot, you don't know the crew, you have not asked to inspect the papers and the maintenance records of this, of this aircraft, but you just believe that this is what is going to happen. So we all do have beliefs, but there are some key beliefs that the timing. Where you get to in life and whether you indeed fulfill God's purpose for your life. The first one is your belief about yourself. What you believe about yourself is critical to where you end up in life. What you believe about yourself. So some of us have allowed things that we've been told. Some of us have allowed circumstances and experiences in the past to influence the I believe, and to determine what we believe about ourselves. But also, in addition to what you believe about yourself, is what you believe about the world. Your belief about the world. Some people believe the world is a bad place, it's a negative place, and the world is against them. Everything is working against them. No matter how much effort they make, things will not work out. Well, for them, and that influences how you live. That influences your experiences in life. And thirdly, your belief about money. Your belief about money. Money is very, very important. Because, think about it. How much time, how much of your time, do you invest in trying to make money? It's very likely, in fact, I would hazard a guess, even without knowing you, that you spend most of your time Making money or trying to make money. Most of us do. Most of our waking hours, more than half of our waking hours are spent in what we call work. That's the importance of money to our lives and money to a significant degree determines the choices that we have and whether or not we're able to truly invest our lives in pursuing God's purposes for our lives. So a while ago, an American psychologist called Carol Dweck, Came up with this concept of fixed and growth mindsets. And she said these two things, explain how a person's individual underlying belief about intelligence and their abilities to learn impacts on their performance in life. So the outputs that they have or that they get from life. So we can apply it and say that whether you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset, Mindset determines whether you will perform and produce the things that can be explained or defined as God's purpose for your life. But what did she mean when she said the fixed mindset and the growth mindset? So fixed mindset, she said, is one mindset that avoids challenges. So if you wanna know if someone has a fixed mindset or not, the person with a fixed mindset would avoid challenge because for them, they don't have what it takes to overcome those challenges. So there's no point in taking the challenges on, there's no point in embracing the challenge. A person with a fixed mindset would also look at life, look at the world and just say, life is hard. Everything is working against me. There's nothing that is in my favor. Everything is difficult. I don't have what it takes to face the challenges and the difficulties of life. A person with a fixed mindset would also, because of how, what they believe and their expectations, they would expect to get They would expect to get fruit and results even when they haven't put in the effort that they need to put in. Why? Because in their minds, effort doesn't produce reward. It doesn't matter how much effort you put in. Those who will get the result and the reward will get it. And those who will not get it, will not get it. Irrespective of the effort that they put in. these are the consequences of having too much effort. A fixed mindset. A fixed mindset will therefore ignore feedback because there's no point. I'm not going to grow anyway. So a person with a fixed mindset will say what I have done is the limit of my abilities. That is how far I can go These are the abilities I was born with. I cannot grow. I cannot do better Because this is me. Don't bother giving me feedback. I cannot improve my strength, my abilities, my skills, my knowledge, my intelligence, my intellect. I cannot grow anymore. This is who I am. So there's no point. Keep your feedback to yourself because I'm not going to accept it. And finally, a person with a fixed mindset is threatened by the success of others. Why? Because their view of the world. And their belief about the world is that there are limited resources. So if, if person A is able to access a certain amount of resources from the world, they believe that what they can access has been reduced by what that person has accessed because there's a limited amount of resources available. This is what a fixed mindset looks like. But on the other hand, the person with a, with a gross Mindset embraces challenge because they see challenge as an opportunity for growth. They recognize that as, as they tackle challenges and as they face challenges, they develop abilities within themselves. They develop strength within themselves. They know that they can grow and they are willing to grow. They're willing to do the work that they need to do so that they can grow. They therefore make efforts because they realize that efforts produce results. a person with a growth mindset is willing to receive. Feedback. And finally, rather than being threatened by the success of another, they are inspired by the success of another. Because they say, if this person can do it in this same world in which we live, then I too can do it. I think this is very, very powerful. I believe this, this understanding of mindset by Carol Dweck is very powerful. But while Carol might have come up with this research, Jesus said something much, much earlier than this research. Jesus said a good man out of the good treasures of his heart brings out good things. The translation of the Bible says he flings out good things. So he involuntarily produces the things that are already in his heart. So his mindset, a person's mindset, produces the things that come out of the person's life. So in other words, when you see the results in a person's life, That is an explanation of the person's mindset. That is an explanation of who the person really is inside of themselves. That is what Jesus said. And this is really, really powerful. This is really, really great because you and I can look at our lives and see And ask ourselves, do I have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset? Because the things that are happening in your life, the results that you're getting would explain or reveal whether you do have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. It is your mindset that will determine whether you are able to overcome your fears. And start the things that you need to start so that you can increase your influence, increase your impact, and increase your income. Everybody has that initial fear when they want to start something. Trust me, everybody has it. Everybody has it. I've been, for example, I've been. Speaking in stages, uh, to people for, for, for at least two decades. But virtually every time I'm about to go up to a stage to speak, I still feel some nerves. I still feel like, Oh my God, what if I, I've got my notes here, but what if I forget what I'm about to say? What if somebody heckles or something? What if, things don't go as well as I have planned? Those thoughts and those fears are always there. They're almost constant. When I'm about to start something, when I'm about to try something, especially something I've never tried before, there's a fear there. What if this doesn't work? What if I fail? That's a question We all have to answer. But the people who will fulfill God's purpose for their lives, the people who will take hold of everything, the influence, impact, income that God has for them, are people who will overcome those fears. And the reason you would overcome those fears are based on your beliefs, your expectations, your mindset, whether you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. One of the questions people ask me virtually every week. In fact, this week I got an email and it was from someone who was looking to join. My coaching program. And she asked, How do I know that this is not going to be another road to nowhere? These were her words. How do I know that this is not going to be another road to nowhere? In other words, can you give me a guarantee getting on this coaching program is going to mean that I will start a business that would actually thrive, that would actually work? The truth is, I cannot give you that guarantee because there are things I can guarantee. I can guarantee that the principles I will teach, the support I will give you, and the resources I will provide to you work. Because they worked for me, they worked for other people, but there is a part that you must play and I cannot guarantee your contribution. I cannot guarantee that you will do the work. I cannot guarantee that you will take the steps that you need to take. Ok, so those fears will be constant, but the people who make progress are people who, in spite of the fears, take the steps that they need to take. They don't allow the things that may be defined as failures of yesterday, from stopping them to take the steps they need to take today in the direction of God's purpose of life. Because, many times, the things we look at as failure are not really failures. Because what is a failure? In my books, you have not failed until you stop trying. It is when you stop trying, it is when you stop making effort, it is when you stop falling and rising that you have actually failed. But as long as you're still traveling in the direction of your purpose, traveling in the direction of that impact, you have not yet failed. We measure success many times by the outward results, but what we don't realize is that every work works because to every labor, the Bible says, there is profit. If you've done any work, any good work, it has worked. It has worked, whether you've seen the results or not, it has worked. And you say to me, what do I mean? Because it does some work in you. Some of those works, you may not know how much resilient you've become, how much knowledge you've acquired, how much more kindness you can now show. How much you can now be compassionate with other people when they are failing because you know what it's like to start something. I have found that many times the people, the most critical people in this world, the people who are very, very quick to judge, are people who never do anything, they've never tried anything, so they don't know what it feels like to start something. You've probably experienced it. You post something online, you share an idea online, you try to do something online, and you get trolls and people making all manner of comments, and I always make the point of going to look at their page, or look at their profile. And I'm sorry to say, but many times you don't see anything. There's no original contribution. They're not contributing anything. But all they're out for is to pull down somebody else who is trying to do something. Why? One reason is because they've never tried it. They've never been through that experience of growth. So I'm saying to you, I'm saying to you that even if you feel the fear when you're about to start something, don't let it stop you. Because, even if this one doesn't work, in the sense of the physical output and results that you're expecting to get, it will work one way or another. You will grow wiser by this experience. You will get stronger by this experience. You will grow compassion through this experience. And that means it wasn't wasted. It was a good venture anyway. So it's your mindset that will determine whether you will Start something that will take you in the direction of God's purpose for your life. Your mindset will also determine whether you will overcome the urge to quit when you start. Don't let anybody deceive you. There is no road to anywhere worthwhile that is devoid of challenges. If you are traveling in a direction that will take you to a place of impact, influence and income, you will experience challenges. Sometimes marketers, they tell you things like, Oh, do this in 30 days and you get these results in 10 days without any efforts. You get these results in 90 days without any challenges, without any obstacles. And we fall for such marketing gimmicks so many times. But if you've been around the block a few times, you would know that there is nothing worthwhile. There is nothing worthwhile. There is nothing, no venture worthwhile that does not have challenges. How would you overcome challenge, those challenges when they come? It is your mindset. It is your mindset. It is your mindset that will determine whether you will go again, whether you will try again, whether you will give up, or whether you will get up, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again. It's your mindset. Your beliefs, your expectations. Your belief that there is enough. Your belief that I might have failed this time, might look like I have failed, but I know that there is enough in the world for me. I know that But God has a plan, has a purpose for me and in his plan and in his purpose, there is impact, there is influence, there is income, there's money for me because if God doesn't provide this money for me, how am I going to pursue His purposes for my life? I'm just going to keep running around in circles, pursuing money with all my time and not having time to pursue God's purpose. That's the conviction that will keep you going. That's the conviction that will keep you going. It's all going to come from your mindset. And finally, mindset is important because it is your mindset that will help you overcome self pity to get up and try again when you don't succeed. Yeah. It's your mindset that will make you get up and try again when you don't succeed. Don't succeed. So now that we know how important your mindset is, how do you and I work on our mindset? How do you work on your mindset so that you can be a person who has a growth mindset and, in the words of Jesus, produce good fruit? Out of your heart, out of your life. The first thing you must do if you are going to be a person who will produce good fruit out of your life is that you must identify your core beliefs. I'm going to ask you, what are your beliefs? What are your beliefs and expectations? Number one, about yourself. When you say the words, I am, what follows it? How do you describe? Yourself. I've seen people, and as I look back at my life, there have been times when, to my shame, that was my confession. That was my experience. I will define myself based on a failure of the past. I will define myself based on a limitation of the present. Around me, based on my family's limitations, based on my background. I say, no, people like me don't do such things. People like me don't go to such places. People like me don't get such results. You must come to terms. Tell yourself the truth about your beliefs. Do you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset? What do you believe about the world? Is the world against you? Do you believe the world is against you? The people that you just can't change their mind. You just can't change their mind. I've lived in England now for close to 20 years. And one of the very first things people ask when I get into conversations with them is, Oh, so have you experienced any form of racism when meet new people? They ask that question a lot. And, and I, I, my response is always the same. It's always that I don't know because I'm not looking for it. I'm not looking to be a victim. people could say I'm being naive in that, in that, in that respect, but I refuse to allow people's behavior and people's attitudes towards me to be the reason why I will not reach the height of my potential. I just refuse that. I have friends who have defined their experiences in this country by what people have said about them. But the fact that somebody treated them differently because of the color of their skins. I just refuse to recognize that for myself. I refuse to be defined by how you see me. I will aim to be my best. The world is a good place. This world is here to favor me. My father, Owns the universe. He's here to do me good. He has put so much in this world for my good. And my intention is to get everything that God has put in the world for me while I am here. I'm not going to allow what anybody thinks of me to stop me from doing that. So you've got to come to terms with your beliefs about yourself, about your world and about money, about money. Do you really believe that there is enough money to go around? Do you believe there's a limit to how much money you can make? Because this is what's going to stop you from taking the steps you need to take to make the income that you need to make. Number two, thing that you must do is that you must intentionally meditate on the truth. You must intentionally meditate on the truth. If you're a Jesus follower, the word of God, what God says about you really has to become your truth. Not how society defines you, not what people say about you, not your experiences, not your failures of the past, but what God says about you. You cannot influence and totally block out what you hear. You cannot totally stop yourself from hearing lies and untruths, but here's what you can do. You can choose what stays. You can choose what you keep in your mind, what you dwell on, what you meditate on, what you, what you believe, and what you, what stays in your heart. Let that be God's truth. Oh, I know it's a pity party. Feels very good. Self pity feels very good. I know that. I like to indulge sometimes in self pity. Feels good sometimes. But I have to wake myself up and say, no. That's not the truth. That's not who you are. Don't think like that. Believe what God says about you. So that's the second thing that you must do. And the third thing that must happen is that you must intentionally develop the right company around you. You must intentionally develop the right company. What I call inspiring company. People that are developing or have the same kind of mindset that you have. People that would encourage you to develop and to have the same kind of mindset. So, as a wrap up, is there one thing that you can work on so that you can begin to travel in the direction of becoming all God wants you to be? Increasing your impact, increasing your influence, and increasing your income. I say a big yes. That one thing is your mindset. Because a good man Out of the good treasures of his heart brings out good things. God bless you. Thank you for listening.