FEATURE

The Success Pyramid

The most important thing you can focus
on to improve your success

By Ryan Gottfredson

W hen you focus on developing yourself, what do

you focus on?
Level 2
Acknowledging that, what is the immediate driver of
our success? Our behaviors.
If you resemble the hits of a Google search on how to
improve your success, you likely focus primarily on
changing or improving your behaviors.

The response to my Google inquiry “how to improve

your success” resulted in the following answers:

●● Practice mental clarity

●● Listen by sensing messages
●● Make lists
●● Write down your thoughts in a journal

While I don’t disagree with these ideas, I do think
they are short-sighted and ultimately limited. In
fact, if we truly want to maximize the return of our
personal development investment, we would do well
to try to identify the foundational element for our
success. To do this, we must consider what I call “the
success pyramid.”
The Success Pyramid
Top Level
The top of the pyramid is what we are seeking:
success.
This is why so many of us focus on changing or
improving our behaviors when it comes to our
personal development.
For example, one way we might focus on improving
our behavior to enhance our success is to do a better
job of learning from failure. On the surface, that
seems to make sense. But, as we get deeper into the
pyramid, it will become clear that its effectiveness
is limited.
I would venture that when people focus on their
development, 90% of them primarily focus on their
behaviors because they appear to be directly related
to our success.

But, are our behaviors what are foundational to our

success? No.

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 The Success Pyramid
Level 3
What then is the driver of our behavior? Our thinking.
This stands to reason that as we change and improve
our thinking, our behaviors will naturally improve.
Here is an example. If we think that failure is a signal
that we are a failure, then we are going to naturally
avoid challenges as they have a high likelihood for
failure. But, if we think that failure is an opportunity
to learn and grow, then we are going to naturally
approach challenges. Thus, a shift in thinking from
failure is bad to failure can be good will naturally
change our behavior, and consequently our success.
I would venture that when people focus on their
development, 9% of them primarily focus on their
thinking.
But, are our thinking what is foundational to our
success? No.
Level 4
What then is the driver of our behavior? Our
mindsets.
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Our mindsets are the mental lenses that dictate how
we see and interpret our world. They are the most
foundational aspect about ourselves. Yet, I image
that when people focus on their development, only
1% of them primarily focus on their mindsets.
For decades, mindset researchers have demonstrated
that our mindsets truly are foundational to everything
we do as they dictate how we think, learn, and
behave.
Let me give you an example. In one study,
researchers first had individuals take a mindset
assessment to indicate whether or not they had a
fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Then, they set up
a condition where individuals would be presented
with an exam where they would all get the first
eight easy questions right and the last four difficult
questions wrong. They wanted to see if people would
think and behave differently in response to hitting
failure depending upon the mindsets they possessed.
The researchers found that those with a fixed
mindset responded to the four difficult questions by
becoming depressed, mentally beat themselves up,
and stopped applying themselves. But, those with
a growth mindset responded to the four difficult
questions by remaining optimistic, continued to
encourage themselves, and didn’t stop applying
themselves.
This study, and dozens of other studies, indicate
that our mindsets—particularly our belief about
how able we are to change our talents, abilities, and
intelligence—nonconsciously shape how we think,
learn, and behave, and ultimately how successful
we are.
Why Focusing on Mindsets for Improving
Our Success Is so Important
I believe that 99% of people focus on either improving
their behaviors or their thinking when they seek to
enhance their success. While this is well-intended,
what they don’t realize is that if they do not also
improve their underlying mindsets, those prevailing
mindsets will continually resist the changes that
they are trying to make in their thinking and behavior,
ultimately limiting their success.
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 The Success Pyramid

A much more effective and natural way of improving

our success is to focus first on our mindsets. As we
improve our mindsets, improvements in our thinking,
behavior, and success will naturally follow.

To learn more about these mindsets and identify if

you have the mindsets necessary for success, I have
developed a free 20-question mindset assessment:
https://ryangottfredson.com/personal-mindset-as-
sessment. It will provide you with an individualized
and comprehensive mindset report, including
directions on how to improve your mindsets.

As you develop more growth, open, promotion, and

Four Mindsets Necessary for Success outward mindsets, you will naturally improve your
This is great in theory, but in practice, what mindsets thinking and behavior, and consequently
do we need to improve or develop to enhance our your success.
success.

Ryan Gottfredson is a mental success

coach and author of the Wall Street
Journal and USA Today’s Best Seller
If we think that failure is an Lists entitled, Success Mindsets: Your
opportunity to learn and grow, Keys to Unlocking Greater Success in
Your Life, Work & Leadership
then we are going to naturally
approach challenges.

Would you like to comment?

Four Sets of Mindsets

The last 30 years of research across psychology,
education, management, and marketing has
produced four primary sets of mindsets that have
been proven to drive our thinking, learning, and
behavior. Each of these sets exist on a continuum
from negative to positive as follows:

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