Why Attitude Is More Important Than Intelligence

People with a growth mindset believe that they can improve with effort. They outperform those with a fixed mindset, even when they have a lower IQ, because they embrace challenges, treating them as opportunities to learn something new.  

Common sense would suggest that having ability, like being smart, inspires confidence. It does, but only while the going is easy. The deciding factor in life is how you handle setbacks and challenges. People with a growth mindset welcome setbacks with open arms.  

According to Dweck, success in life is all about how you deal with failure. She describes the approach to failure of people with the growth mindset this way,

Regardless of which side of the chart you fall on, you can make changes and develop a growth mindset. What follows are some strategies that will fine-tune your mindset and help you make certain it’s as growth oriented as possible. Empowered people pursue their passions relentlessly. There’s always going to be someone who’s more naturally talented than you are, but what you lack in talent, you can make up for in passion. Empowered people’s passion is what drives their unrelenting pursuit of excellence. Warren Buffet recommends finding your truest passions using, what he calls, the 5/25 technique: Write down the 25 things that you care about the most. Then, cross out the bottom 20. The remaining 5 are your true passions. Everything else is merely a distraction.

It’s not that people with a growth mindset are able to overcome their fears because they are braver than the rest of us; it’s just that they know fear and anxiety are paralyzing emotions and that the best way to overcome this paralysis is to take action. People with a growth mindset are empowered, and empowered people know that there’s no such thing as a truly perfect moment to move forward. So why wait for one? Taking action turns all your worry and concern about failure into positive, focused energy.

Everyone encounters unanticipated adversity. People with an empowered, growth-oriented mindset embrace adversity as a means for improvement, as opposed to something that holds them back. When an unexpected situation challenges an empowered person, they flex until they get results.

How Social Entrepreneurship Make Change Happen

Social entrepreneurs, Barry Coleman explains, consistently ride in that cushion, where there is plenty of potential to get ahead and just as much to slide out of control. It is a place where guts and determination are required, and where skill and expertise can pay off. Barry should know. He and his wife aren’t just race enthusiasts, they are social entrepreneurs: founders of Riders for Health, an organization that manages transportation systems for the delivery of health care in seven countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

The miserable health-care equilibrium in Africa, the Coleman’s would argue, is kept in place partly by its failing infrastructure. Too often, available medicine and equipment can’t get where they are most urgently needed. Health workers waste hours each day walking and waiting, rather than delivering care. Communities go weeks and months without meaningful access to health care, even in times of desperate need. All of these problems result from gaps in infrastructure, but it was one gap in particular that tweaked the notice of this pair of motorcycle enthusiasts: African health systems were failing because they lacked the underlying transportation systems needed for reliable health-care delivery.

It isn’t the stuff of banner headlines. But in Africa (or, for that matter, anywhere else), if reliable transportation is not part of the health-care delivery system, people die. To Andrea and Barry Coleman, the reality that they encountered — a health-care delivery system hobbled by inadequate transportation management infrastructure — was utterly unacceptable. They envision a very different equilibrium, a future transformed, in which African health ministries are equipped with reliable, affordable, and effective transportation systems that deliver the health-care services their people need, when, where, and how they need them. And it turns out motorbikes have an important role to play.

5 Ways to Create an Inspired Team

Business leaders understand that employeesare the greatest asset their company has, making attitude the greatest determinant of success. Wise business leaders focus on what is “right” in their company and in their employees. Using intimidation and uncertainty to spurn productivity yields limited, temporary results. That type of coercive motivational approach is totally counter-productive in the long term.  A workplace imbued with a positive mindset has the greatest potential. 

1. Balance negatives.

Human beings tend to dwell on negativity. Negative thoughts are bigger than positive thoughts and are processed by a different part of the brain. Negative thoughts take longer to break down. Managers can easily get stuck focusing on what hasn’t been achieved and what employees are not doing, leading to negative feedback that undermines those who work for you.

2. Keep promises.

Creating a positive work environment is accomplished through reward, acknowledgement, group and individual recognition, but most importantly through trust. If you tell the team or an individual person their hard work will be rewarded, either with bonuses, tickets to a game, a show or through some other form of reward, you must follow through. Not keeping a promise will lower individual and team morale.

3. Support your employees.

Inspire your employees by communicating your confidence in their abilities to do what needs to be done to succeed. Only talk in terms ofsuccess, rather than threatening failure. Your team must see you have the deep confidence in them they crave and deserve. When you have doubts about your team communicate in a way that ensures their success. Offer feedback, rather than criticism.

4. Focus on today’s success.

It can be demotivating when leaders focus only on the bigger picture and how far the team is from reaching the company’s loftiest goals. The perception amongstemployees is one of lack and how far off they are from achieving what needs to be done.

5. Build upon strengths.

Study your employees diligently. Observe and comment on their strengths to positively push them to their fullest potential. When you see a specific strength in someone, you will quickly know their optimum position and role on your team. Use this knowledge to refine and expand them. Assign each member a defined purpose on the team that they accept, understand, embrace and feel good about.

5 Ways to make money side by side

Start a blog.

Blogging is definitely not a "sit at home in your underwear and make easy money" kind of activity. It requires diligence, quality and time. However, blogging can be incredibly rewarding.

There is one common theme with all of the above methods for making side income. Do you know what it is? They all take work. That's right, you'll never achieve the kind of lifestyle you want if you don't work for it. So get out there today and start hustling. You'll be able to quit that job faster than you ever imagined.

Sell a product on Amazon.

A friend of mine, Chris from UpFuel.com, decided to sell products on Amazon. He researched best-selling ideas, contacted a manufacturer in China and had the perfect model designed, had the product shipped to Amazon's fulfillment center in the United States and sells his product on the site, making thousands of dollars a month in profit.

The best part? Chris doesn't ever touch the product, and it largely runs on autopilot at this point.

Invest in real estate.

My eyes were first open to the idea of "passive income" after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Although not a real-estate book, it taught me the value of owning assets that produce income, which led me to real estate. Real-estate investing is not always passive, and not always easy, but it can be highly profitable.

Write a book.

Many people have dreams of writing a book, but very few ever do. They think it's too hard, that they don't know enough, don't have enough time, aren't smart enough or whatever other excuse they can come up with. But the truth is: you can write a book, and that book can help you make additional monthly income.

Sell your skills.

Chances are you are good at something in the business world. Perhaps it's accounting, data entry, video production or writing.

Whatever you are good at, there are likely people out there willing to pay you good money to run that part of their business for them. Smart business owners know that they should focus on what they are good at, and hire out the rest. This is where you can come in and make side income doing what you love.

Entrepreneurial Skills for Your Kids

Children are told many things on a daily basis.  Too many. Sit up straight. Chew with your mouth closed. Say “please” and “thank you.” Often, they’re so busy listening to the boss, or facing the consequences for not, that they don’t learn to be their own boss.

If you think your kids aren’t fantasizing about calling the shots for once, you’re dreaming. The sweet independence of being your own boss is what entrepreneurship is all about. That’s why kids and entrepreneurialism is such an excellent match. It practically comes natural to them

But, like learning to tie their shoes or to ride a bike, when it comes to fostering your children’s entrepreneurial spirit, they’ll need a guiding nudge here and there from you. From coaching them to see obstacles as opportunities, to -- sorry, kids -- making them stick to their chores, from letting them play (aka learn) to their hearts’ content, to encouraging them to voice their opinions, there are lots of things you can do to get your kiddos on their autonomous way. Who knows? Like my mother-in-law, you could one day end up calling them boss.

To help you help yours, here’s an adorably illustrated list of eight key entrepreneurial skills you can teach your little ones, while they’re still little enough to listen to you. This info graphic comes to us by way of Pumpic, a Tel Aviv-based startup that makes Smartphone-monitoring apps for bosses, er, parents.