How to create a successful mindset | Maxi Knust | TEDxHHL

Summary

In the TEDxHHL talk by Maxi Knust, the importance of cultivating a successful mindset is emphasized, focusing on the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction. Knust illustrates how our thoughts shape our reality, encouraging the audience to aim high and remain open to opportunities. Through personal anecdotes and practical exercises, the talk inspires listeners to replace negative thoughts with positive ones and to actively pursue their dreams through intentional action.

Highlights

• Maxi emphasizes that thoughts become words, actions, habits, and ultimately shape our destiny ✨.
• Shared a personal story about catching a bus by thinking positively and taking action 🏃.
• Discusses the importance of believing in your dreams, using her experience with Richard Branson as an example 🌍.
• Explains how writing down positive moments daily trains the mind to focus on positivity 📖.
• Demonstrates a physical exercise illustrating how aiming higher results in greater effort 💪.

Key Takeaways

• Thoughts have power: Our thoughts shape our destiny, so it's crucial to cultivate a positive mindset 🧠.
• Choose positivity: In every situation, we have the option to think positively or negatively. Choosing positivity can lead to better outcomes 🌟.
• Law of Attraction: What we focus on, we attract. Holding positive images in our minds attracts positive experiences 📈.
• Action is key: Simply thinking positive isn't enough; taking action is crucial to turning thoughts into reality 🚀.
• Aim high: Set ambitious goals to push yourself and unlock greater potential 🎯.

Overview

Maxi Knust dives into the incredible influence of our thoughts on our life's path, starting with the fundamental idea that our thoughts can determine our destiny. She shares a simple saying: watch your thoughts, as they become words and actions that shape your future. It's a solid reminder of how essential it is to maintain a healthy, positive mindset in order to unlock our full potential.

Using personal anecdotes, Maxi illustrates her points. She recounts a memorable instance of rushing to catch a bus; instead of surrendering to negativity and believing she was too late, she adopted a positive mindset and managed to board the bus just in time! This experience serves as evidence of how positive thinking paired with decisive actions can lead to unexpected successes.

Furthermore, Maxi shares her journey towards meeting her idol Richard Branson, describing the surreal sense of achieving a dream through persistent positivity and action-taking. She encourages the audience to practice positive thinking, view challenges as opportunities, and write down positive experiences to focus their minds on what truly matters. These practices, she believes, will guide one towards greater achievements and a richer life experience.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The introduction begins with a reflective quote that emphasizes the progression from thoughts to character: 'Watch your thoughts for they become words, watch your words for they become actions, watch your actions for they become habits, watch your habits for they become character.' This introduction sets the tone for a discussion about the impact of thoughts and actions on personal development and character formation.
• 00:30 - 01:30: The Power of Thoughts The chapter titled 'The Power of Thoughts' emphasizes the significance of monitoring our thoughts as they lay the foundation for our destiny. It introduces the idea that a successful mindset is cultivated by being mindful of one's thoughts and character. The discussion is anchored around the saying that our character ultimately shapes our destiny, indicating the need for proactive thought management to create success.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Mindset and Habits The chapter explores the influence of thoughts on life outcomes, emphasizing the power of mindset and habits. It begins with a hypothetical situation where one typically needs 5 minutes to reach a bus station but now has only 2 minutes, illustrating how our thoughts and habits shape our responses and decisions in daily situations.
• 02:30 - 04:30: Personal Experience: Catching the Bus This chapter details a personal experience of attempting to catch a bus despite the seeming impossibility of making it on time. The narrative involves a decision to try and catch the bus, followed by stepping outside and running towards it. The protagonist is faced with a mental choice: to either succumb to the thought of being too late or to push forward in the attempt.
• 04:30 - 06:00: Overcoming Negativity The chapter "Overcoming Negativity" discusses how to reframe negative situations into more positive ones. It illustrates this with the example of running late for work and suggests two ways to handle the situation: focusing on the negative by thinking of it as a "shitty day," or opting for a positive outlook by appreciating the small window of opportunity available to still catch the bus and be on time. This approach is presented as part of an individual's lifelong experience with habitual lateness and the mindset shift required to overcome it.
• 06:00 - 10:00: Example: Meeting Richard Branson The narrator describes a mind-changing experience they had before starting their own business. They recount an event where they attempted to catch a bus and, by thinking positively and believing in themselves, they succeeded. The narrator hints at the power of positive thinking and determination, suggesting that their successful outcome was more than just luck.
• 10:00 - 12:30: Law of Attraction The chapter discusses the concept of the 'Law of Attraction,' emphasizing that deeply believing in a positive outcome and acting towards it can lead to improved life situations. The narrator shares personal experiences where this mindset led to things turning out better and enhancing their quality of life. The chapter encourages readers to consider how their thoughts and beliefs can influence situations, using an example of a bus situation to illustrate the point.
• 12:30 - 14:30: Taking Action and Embracing Opportunities In the chapter titled 'Taking Action and Embracing Opportunities,' the narrative focuses on the human tendency to approach situations with a negative mindset. It highlights fears associated with not achieving goals and the resulting disappointment. The discussion encourages introspection on why we default to negative thinking, suggesting that fear of failure might be a core reason. It calls for acknowledging these fears and shifting towards a mindset that embraces opportunities and actions despite potential uncertainties.
• 14:30 - 18:30: Creating a Successful Mindset The chapter discusses the mindset required for success, focusing on the importance of choosing a positive perspective. It encourages reflecting on potential outcomes and not fearing judgment from others about not meeting goals. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of recognizing that for every situation, there are two modes of thinking possible - negative or positive. The chapter puts forward a candid view about how one should not be afraid of failing but rather look towards what can be gained and how to persist through challenges with a positive outlook.
• 18:30 - 20:30: Final Exercise and Conclusion In the chapter titled 'Final Exercise and Conclusion', the focus is on the power of positive thinking. It emphasizes the importance of transforming negative thoughts like "I can't make it" into positive affirmations such as "I will do it, I will make it." The chapter suggests that to train your mind, it's not enough to think positively just once, but rather, it requires repetition and consistent practice to embed positive thinking into your mindset. This repeated effort is essential for personal growth and overcoming challenges.

How to create a successful mindset | Maxi Knust | TEDxHHL Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] have you ever heard of this saying watch your thoughts for they become words watch your words for they become actions watch your actions for they become habits watch your habits for they become character
• 00:30 - 01:00 watch your character for it will become your destiny this saying shows that everything starts with our thoughts the roots of our destiny on our thoughts today I want to show you how important it is to carefully watch your thoughts and how you can create a successful mindset
• 01:00 - 01:30 our thoughts determine how our life looks like you think that sounds crazy well I want you to imagine the situation you want to take the bus to go to work to University and you usually need 5 minutes to your bus station but today you have only 2 minutes left
• 01:30 - 02:00 so though it seems impossible to catch the bus you decide to run and just give it a try so you step outside the door and while running you have two options now you can either think oh damn I'm way too late I won't make it I will miss the bus and be too
• 02:00 - 02:30 late at work what a shitty day or you have another option to think well I'll still have 2 minutes left I can make it I will catch the bus and be on time at work today is a good day as I'm a person that is most of the times 50 minutes late I know the situation for my whole life where I run and try to catch the
• 02:30 - 03:00 bus so some month before I started my own business feneur I had a mind-changing experience again I tried to catch a bus but this time I really thought positively I really thought I can make it and guess what I caught the bus so you might call it luck but I
• 03:00 - 03:30 experienced many times afterwards and many other situations where I had this kind of thinking that I deeply believed in it that I can make it and that I put all action in it to make it happen somehow things turn out much better for me and increase my life quality so what do you usually think in this kind of situation for example this bus situation
• 03:30 - 04:00 most of the times we tend to think the negative way if we're truly honest with ourselves but why are we tending to think so negative about the outcome of our efforts I assume we are afraid we are afraid in case we don't reach our goals and we would be disappointed it or we
• 04:00 - 04:30 are afraid of what other people may think of us if we don't reach our goals so I want to show you that you have in every kind of situation two possibilities to think either negative or positive so if you look at this bus situation what do you have to lose the next time time if you're in
• 04:30 - 05:00 this kind of situation just give it a try and turn around this negative I can't make it I can't do it into a positive I will do it I will make it thought and if you want to train your mind oh I forgot this if you think this you have to repeat it and not only do it once you have to make positive thinking a
• 05:00 - 05:30 habit so if you want to train your mind you can easily write every evening down what was the positive thing of your day and what was a negative thing of your day and you probably see that most of the times the positive moment outweighs the negative and so you can train to focus more on the positive things let me give you another example out of my life that shows how much
• 05:30 - 06:00 positive thoughts and our images in our mind can help us to make our dreams come true so when I started being interested in entrepreneurship I read a book by one of the most successful Founders which became my inspiration Richard Branson he's the found of Virgin Airlines Virgin records and so on and it became somehow a goal for me
• 06:00 - 06:30 to meet him one day actually I had this idea of meeting him for some coffee on Neer Island and just talking about some business and philanthropic stuff and as crazy as this thought might seem for other people I always deeply believed in it and I always had this image in my mind of how the situation would look
• 06:30 - 07:00 like well I have to disappoint you a bit until now I haven't been on EA Island and uh I didn't meet Richard Branson there but another thing happened to me two weeks ago I was invited to bits and pretzels as journalist um as a Founders event in Munich and Richard Branson also had a keynote there so you can imagine how excited I was to at least see him from far on
• 07:00 - 07:30 stage but remember I told you I'm always 15 minutes late well as much as I was determined to really be on time somehow things turn out totally differently my train had to take a detour as there was a car accident and um I missed my other train so I got late and I couldn't get in the conference room anymore because it was already fully filled
• 07:30 - 08:00 and the stuff didn't let me in but my mindset had changed within the last year from complaining about this or being frustrated about this and just be negative to take action and finding a solution to get there in somehow so I was talking to the staff and telling them I have a press ticket please let me in but still the room was fully filled
• 08:00 - 08:30 and they didn't let people inside anymore but another thing happened they told me there would a press be a press conference afterwards which I didn't know about before so I couldn't believe my luck because I had this press ticket and I could get in so I went to this little room and saved the best seat in a front row I met some other journalists before I was talking to them and offering a
• 08:30 - 09:00 seat next to me and then Richard Bron came in and I couldn't believe it he just set an arm length away from me so I had the opportunity to ask him a question but I wasn't picked to ask so then the moment rose up where it was said now it's the last question so I was like this hoping that they will pick me
• 09:00 - 09:30 and the guys who sat besides me show to me and we're like pick her pick her so Richard brainon attention came to my person and I had the chance to ask him a question which I didn't imagine at all in the morning when I got up so people might call me a lucky girl but the thing is what no one sees I always believed in this deeply and I
• 09:30 - 10:00 always thought this would happen one day and in the end my thoughts became reality the idea of thoughts become things is a law of attraction everything that is coming to your life you are attracting this into your life it's being attracted by the images you hold in your
• 10:00 - 10:30 mind it's what you are thinking whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting this and always remember that and if you're interested in this topic I would recommend you the movie The Secret but only by sitting at home and hoping and wishing for a better life nothing will ever change
• 10:30 - 11:00 you have to take action so the first step is to think about what you truly want what you truly want not your parents not your friends not Society or anyone else who has some expectations about your life so if you know what you deeply Thrive
• 11:00 - 11:30 for just try to imagine how the situation would look like and how you will feel in this situation and then if you walk around with open ears and eyes opportunities will show up to you and then you have to take action and not let it pass say yes to the opportunities that show up in your
• 11:30 - 12:00 life and usually we don't feel prepared enough for it I'm not ready for it and I wasn't prepared at all for asking Richard Branson a simple question I'm not a real journalist I studied business administration and it just happened that I found the online magazine fur so I had two choices in the situation
• 12:00 - 12:30 I could see all the negative things and I could focus on my fears there was an opportunity showing up and I could just let it pass but I took action and I focused on being courageous and that's the difference between successful and unsuc successful people to take action but how can we create a successful
• 12:30 - 13:00 mindset well to train our brain is quite easy we can easily replace our old destructive belief sets through a healthy and successful mindset I have written down on a little piece of paper that is taped on my mirror some mantras I repeat to myself every day it sounds so easy I
• 13:00 - 13:30 know but I realized within like some weeks or month almost automatically my perception has changed and just to give you some inspiration maybe for your new mantras to create a positive mindset I will give you some examples from my piece of paper so so of
• 13:30 - 14:00 course on a first is I see the positive things in every situation I determine about my success I focus on the things that I can change and not on the things that I can't change and I'm open and grateful for the changes in my life so make sure if you write down your
• 14:00 - 14:30 Mantra sentence so the things that are important to you that you write positively and don't use the word no because our brains can't process the word no just to give you a short example if I tell you don't think about a red car what happens you probably have the red car in your mind so I have a final exercise for you today
• 14:30 - 15:00 I want you all to get up from your seats please get up move perfect okay guys imagine there is a bell ringing in 250 high so it's kind of like here so somewhere above your head and I want you to jump and dring this imaginary Bell in 250 which is kind of here so one two
• 15:00 - 15:30 three jump perfect not sit down please now imagine the Bell is in three M okay I want you to jump again for three meter and ring the spell one 2 3 and jump perfect thank you you can sit down so you might already see my point in
• 15:30 - 16:00 that as higher you set your goals the higher you will jump and the more effort you will invest and the more you will do to reach your goals so if you think about your goals always aim high and dream big be open and willing to learn lessons
• 16:00 - 16:30 along the road and always keep in mind that our thoughts determine our success in life thank you very much