Does mindset matter? IMHO, action matters more, but mindset can help.
It’s not everything. But sometimes it matters a lot.
A few weeks ago, a friend at my squash club noticed I was using a lighter racquet.
“115 grams?” he said.
That got in my head immediately. I had specifically asked the squash pro to replace my old 140-gram racquet. Now I was apparently playing with something dramatically lighter.
For the rest of the morning, my game fell apart. I felt like I was rushing my swing. I missed shots I normally make. Nothing felt right.
Same player.
Same mechanics.
Same racquet.
But suddenly, I “knew” something was wrong.
Fast forward a week. My 29-year-old son was in town, and we were about to play.He only gets on the squash court a couple of times a year, but he’s younger, more athletic, and definitely in better shape than I am.
Before the match, I ran into the squash pro and asked why she had bought me such a light racquet. She laughed and explained:
“A 115-gram racquet is the new 140-gram racquet. Manufacturers no longer count the weight of the strings.”
That was it.
Nothing had changed except what I believed.
I went on to beat my son handily that morning.
So did mindset affect my game? Apparently.
This got me thinking about something I often tell lawyers.
You don’t have to think like an entrepreneur to act like one. That’s actually one of the core ideas in my book. You don’t need to wake up feeling fearless, confident, or naturally wired for business development.
You just need to take actions:
*Reach out to someone.
*Follow up.
*Ask for the meeting.
*Stay visible.
*Try something uncomfortable.
That said…
It certainly doesn’t hurt if your mindset isn’t sabotaging you along the way.
How often do we under perform, not because we lack the ability, but because of the story we’re telling ourselves?