Most importantly, mentality is the most important─this is my four-step formula for changing your mentality

Why is mentality the most important? The answer is simple but surprisingly hard to believe: Mindset matters most because having the right mindset gives you the proper focus, work ethic, and decision-making skills to grow your company and business.

What is a mindset and how does it allow me to do all this?

Mindset = mind + setting.

Mind = the element in which a person is aware of the world and one’s own experiences, thoughts and feelings; the capacity for consciousness and thought.

In my own words, your thoughts are your thoughts and ideas, and if you really think about them, they are just questions we sometimes ask ourselves “inside our heads (minds)” or sometimes out loud.

Set = Place or enter a specified state.

In my own words, setting is the framework, perspective, and outlook that you might develop over time. My mindset initially focused on short-term pleasure, such as indulging in certain vices. When I realized the toll it was taking on my body, I reexamined my perspective to see the long-term benefits of avoiding these harmful behaviors.

So if you put it all together, your thoughts + setting = your perception of any particular thought that comes to your mind.

How do you have a different mindset?

As you grow, over time you are surrounded by people who tell you what to do, how you should think and act, how the world works, and fundamentally develop the way you think. Typically, your mindset is influenced first by your parents and family, then perhaps by friends and teachers, and finally by your colleagues and boss—usually the brain is fully developed by your 20s. Therefore, the old adage “You are the five closest people to you” should be revised to “Your mentality is created by the five closest people to you growing up.”

But wait: Does this mean your mindset can’t be changed after it’s fully developed and largely created by someone else?

Your mindset can certainly be redeveloped through a process called neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to form and reorganize synaptic connections, particularly in response to learning or experience.

So, if you are like me—a person who was once starry-minded, self-centered, unconscious, and selfish—you can redevelop your mindset into a mind-rich, selfless, self-aware, and humble person.

How on earth do I make this transition?

To me, this process looks like:

1. Becoming aware (thinking about what I am thinking).
2. Figure out exactly who I am now (self-reflection on my current personality and mindset).
3. Understand what people or events from my past have impacted my current personality and mindset (acceptance and ownership).
4. Create a new vision for who I want to be (the “I am” identity-based statement, i.e. “I am open-minded and go with the flow”).

Now, this was not an overnight process for me. This is actually a five-year journey, a never-ending process.

What’s next? I figured out who I was, why I was the way I was, and now decided who I wanted to be – well, now you can get anything you want by putting identity-based characteristics into action, because there is no action The mentality is like “asking” God to guide your steps, but is unwilling to move your steps.

In my opinion, the easiest and most effective way to achieve your dreams is to find one or more people who have “something” you want or desire and start taking whatever actions they do to get it. This step-by-step imitation process is like an instruction manual for realizing your dreams.

“But Jonathan, what if I want to be the biggest remodeling company in my town and have the best reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations all day long? How do I even begin to achieve such a big dream?

The answer is also surprisingly simple, but implementing it is much more difficult than it sounds.

My friend Mark Twain said it best: “The secret to success is to start. The secret to getting started is to break down complex, onerous tasks into manageable small tasks and start with the first task.

So, whatever it is you’ve always wanted to do, just get started.

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Notes on BiggerPockets: These are the opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the views of BiggerPockets.