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By transforming the way your brain thinks,  you can create real, positive change in your career.

By Jayne Gardner, Ph.D.

For decades, elite runners tried and failed to run a mile in under four minutes. This feat was considered physically impossible. In fact, some doctors warned that running a mile so quickly might permanently harm an athlete.

Then, in 1954, Roger Bannister did the unthinkable, running the first sub-four-minute mile. Did his record stand for years to come? Just the opposite. Within one year, five other athletes performed even better than Bannister.

So how was the concept of a four-minute mile transformed from an impossibility to a relatively common occurrence in mere months?

Bannister did not change his body into some super-human machine. Rather, he shattered the belief that a four-minute mile could not be achieved. This, in turn, changed the mindset of the world’s runners, who now run sub-four-minute miles with astonishing regularity.

The same concept can be applied to business. By rewiring a limiting belief into an empowering belief, you can energize your career – and accomplish goals you and others once thought impossible.

Seeing inside the mind

In the last hundred years, the human race has made phenomenal discoveries. But one great idea stands out above the rest. Amazingly, it reveals the answer to most of our challenges as a society: we can change our minds.

Thanks to new technologies, we can see inside the brain. We can find where emotions are centered and how thoughts and feelings affect the body. The result? We now know that it is possible to actually rewire the brain. Don’t like what you’ve got? No worries. Now, with some training and guidance, you can rewire, reprogram and remake yourself.

To change your current mindset into a powerful, energy-creating device, first you must remove old limiting beliefs. For example, some common limiting beliefs about money and job performance include:

• It is impossible to grow my business in tough economic times.
• My net worth is solely related to me working longer and harder.
• I am not quite good enough to be really wealthy.

The amount of career success you can generate is directly related to your energy level. By removing these limiting beliefs, you can actually increase your energy level. As a result, you will perform better on the job.

For further proof, consider the book Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. The author studied the minds of the richest people in the United States and discovered that they really do think differently than others. They nurture positive thoughts and never believe they will not make money.

Creating energy and prosperity

For its March 2009 issue, Harvard Business Review interviewed more than 100 business professors. These experts voted unanimously that the best quality a leader can possess is self-awareness.

Yet too many business leaders lack this quality. For example, many executives believe that personal economic prosperity energizes them. In other words, if their bank account is high, their energy level is soaring.

In fact, the exact opposite is true. Typically, an executive’s bank account exactly mirrors his or her state of mind. By tapping into their brain power and maximizing their energy level, executives can create the material success they desire – not the other way around.

Consider this example, where a businessman removes a limiting belief and sets himself free to succeed.

Getting off the bench

Bill wanted to take his manufacturing company, then ranked No. 2 in the country, to the top. Like so many passionate entrepreneurs, Bill worked hard for years without meeting his goals. He made a good living, but not a great one.

Bill began working with an executive coach. He examined his business inside and out. His sales team was top-notch. His factory was world-class. His finances were strong. So what was holding him back? At his coach’s suggestion, Bill searched himself for limiting beliefs. He revealed his most memorable story about his relationship with his father:

“I was a junior in high school, and my brother was a senior. We were both starters on the basketball team, which was coached by my dad. We were playing in the state championship game. With just a few seconds to go, our team was down two points.

“I was dribbling down the court, trying to set up a play that would tie the game, when my father called time-out. I was furious at him for stopping the momentum. When he saw my anger and frustration, my dad benched me. After the time-out, my brother sunk a three-point shot to win the game, while I watched from the bench. The next day, our hometown newspaper featured a picture of my father and brother high-fiving on the court. It was a great day of celebration – for them.”

It only took Bill a second to connect the dots in his story: “I think I’m second-best, don’t I?”

This limiting belief Bill held about himself was also holding back his company’s success. In the next few months of coaching, Bill replaced that limiting belief with an empowering phrase that his father had also taught him: “You can do anything you believe you can.” In time, he genuinely believed in himself. Because of this shift in his beliefs, he began to act like the leader of a world-class company and moved into action.

A year later, Bill’s hometown newspaper ran an article about how his company now ranked No. 1 in its industry.

Rewiring your brain

You can rewire your brain for success. This is not simply feel-good positive thinking. It is a very real technique for creating new neural pathways in the brain.

According to neuroscience, which is the study of the brain and nervous system, old thinking patterns actually become physiological. In other words, when you experience a particular thought, that thought travels along the same nerves in the same manner each time.

To break out of an old behavior or thought pattern, you must actually create a new neural pathway in the brain, re-routing your old thought in a new direction. This new thought pattern must be repeated for a period of 21 days. That is the amount of time it takes to change the actual structure of the brain at a cellular level.

When the change is made, your energy no longer will be stolen by negative thoughts or habits. In just three weeks, you will be back to your natural, high energy level. Rather than reacting negatively to bad news or limiting beliefs, you will be freed to stop and think before responding and making decisions.

Just like the runner striving to break a seemingly impossible record, you can stop being the victim of old habits and thoughts. By rewiring and transforming the brain, you can bring about new success in your career – and your life.

Dr. Jayne Garner serves as founder and president of The Gardner Institute (www.gardnerinstitute.com). Based in Southlake, this executive coaching and coach training company emphasizes personal accountability and professional growth issues that affect productivity, energy and enthusiasm – all of which, in turn, affect the bottom line of any organization.