by Nick Darlington

Nowhere today is this more apparent than in the business world. New technologies are launched daily, business models have changed and continue to change, lean startup thinking has proliferated and the traditional business plan is not what it used to be. Who wants to read a 40-page business plan nowadays? I sure don’t.

Change often stems from external factors; things or events that are outside our control. And many people spend an unnecessary amount of time and energy focusing on them. Successful people accept that change has and will continue to happen for eternity. They adopt certain mindset changes, that makes them different and have helped, and continue to help them achieve unprecedented success. Here are four!

“I will take action despite.”

Successful people accept that there will always be external factors that are outside their control. Rather than harp on those – and waste unnecessary time and energy – they focus on that which they can control. They adopt an “I will take action despite” mindset.

A great example is Bamidele Onibalusi, a Nigerian-born businessman and freelance writer who serves as an inspiration to thousands of aspiring writers and entrepreneurs. As a 16-year-old kid, he wanted to make money online. Despite not having access to a computer and internet, he approached a cafe owner. This partnership lasted for a few months, with no concrete results.

He explored other avenues, despite his circumstances, to make his dream come true. In his first eight months of blogging, he published roughly 270 guest posts in highly regarded publications, such as Business Insider and Problogger. One of his articles titled 30 Websites that Pay You to Contribute an Article, Instantly has gained over 200 000 views in the past four years (this is probably a lot higher now).

People began noticing him. Requests poured in. At the age of 18, he was one of Nigeria, top bloggers. He currently has his own website entitled Writers in Charge, where he inspires writers and aspiring writers to become truly in charge of their writing career. He also has a commercial fish farm.

“There is always a solution to any problem.”

Many people feel that life is too hard. As a result, they give up to easily. Consider for example someone -who has no experience – who wants to launch a website. There are a lot of technical details involved, from hosting, domain registration, working in WordPress, designing (or other content platforms) and countless others.

Many people will give up before they have even started because it seems like a huge mountain to climb. The reality is that there are always solutions to these problems. You can search Google and teach yourself or you can outsource the project to someone to complete for you. Successful people develop a “there is always a solution to any problem” mindset.

“I will always be proactive.”

In today’s business world you cannot expect to create a product and people will flock in their thousands. Sure you might get one or two customers, but to truly make a success out of any business, you need to have a clear strategy. You need to be proactive in marketing your product. You need to bring the product to the people, not wait for the people to come to the product. Adopt the “I will always be proactive” mindset.

“I will always be positive.”

Much research studies have been done on the power of positive and negative thinking for our overall well being. In business terms it is simple. Positive thoughts lead to positive actions and in turn positive results. If you spend time worrying about what’s not working and what’s gone wrong, you cripple progress. Through changing your mindset to what is working and what is right and what can be done (refer to the point about finding solutions) you actually start to make positive progress toward achieving results and becoming more successful.