5 Mind Habits That Set Successful Founders Apart

How the best founders cultivate their minds for success.

Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

Navigating complex problems, generating insights, and finding solutions that others didn't know existed are the most admired skills for founders. 

Yet, very few people can do it well — the ability to think critically is a rare skill.

Most people lack thinking muscles because they treat it as a born gift instead of being an acquired trait - false.

Not sufficiently exercising their mind by thinking through tough problems keeps them falling for cognitive shortcuts, quick solutions, and outdated beliefs.

What separates crappy founders from successful founders is how they put their minds to use.

• How do they avoid cognitive biases?

• Which mental models do they use?

• How self-aware are they?

Becoming a successful founder doesn't require an extraordinary brain. 

You only need to embrace healthy thinking habits that keep your mental machinery working at its best.

Here are the five thinking practices that successful founders take very seriously and integrate them to be part of their day-to-day life.

---

1. Cut the noise!

Most people can't sit alone by themselves without a phone or someone to chat with. 

Always doing something keeps their minds occupied with noise without the insights to think differently — they find it hard to adapt to change, solve complex business problems, or even take risks.

Not being able to come up with creative solutions required to navigate unknowns, uncertainties and challenges of work limits their performance and growth.

The idea of being alone with your thoughts can be scary. 

But without the quiet time to sit with your thoughts, facing the uncomfortable silence, and letting your mind wander away, you cannot draw useful connections.

It will not happen the first time around and probably not even the second. 

But if you are persistent in your efforts, without digital and other distractions of daily life, you will start to notice new patterns of thinking — ideas that you never thought about before will start to surface. As a founder, you need those connections. That is where problems are solved.

Successful founders do this very well. They consciously schedule thinking time each day to embrace silence, exercise their brain muscles, and turn it into an opportunity to draw connections that weren't possible otherwise.

In my experience, successful founders don't feel lonely when they're in the company of their thoughts. The more they do it, the better they get at catching signals and reducing noise.

---

---

2. Do a brain dump

You know your mind can only be so full to work well.

When your mind is cluttered with too many things, there's less space to think. Less mental space leaves less room to fit in new ideas, make connections, and draw meaningful insights.

In such moments, people attribute not being able to think clearly with a lack of skills, exhaustion, fatigue, or other suchreasons. 

But those aren't the real reasons. More often than not, the problem is having too many things on your mind that interfere with your ability to think clearly.

Successful founders are aware of this limitation of their minds. That's why they consciously clear their minds for new ideas to kick in. They do this using these two practices:

• Use mind maps: Give structure to thoughts floating around in your head using mind maps. Mind maps enable visual organization of your thoughts to work through complex problems, identify correlations, and see the big picture. They are great tools to organize ideas, thoughts, or concepts and see how they are interrelated.

• Use a notepad: Write things down instead of keeping them in your head. The Zeigarnik effect consumes your brain cycles that are required to think well — thoughts of unfinished tasks keep popping in your head and interrupt your chain of thoughts. The simple act of writing things down makes your brain more effective — less things on the mind frees up your brain to process new ideas, make connections, and spot the best possibility.

A crowded brain with too much stuff will always struggle to think. Become a successful founder by dumping your ideas and thoughts elsewhere.

---

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

---

3. Use downtime

At times you may be stuck at an impasse — your mind gets locked into one way of thinking and it can't find another path to take. 

You may desperately attempt to work, and connect the dots, but keep hitting a roadblock.

In such moments, trying harder, focusing more intensely, or getting frustrated doesn't help. Instead of getting the insights you need to move forward, all the anxiety from not finding the right solution makes it harder for you to catch the right signals.

Successful founders get stuck at an impasse too. 

But instead of obsessing about the problem, they disconnect from it and do something totally different, and then get back to work.

Not thinking about the problem, and giving yourself downtime, even for a few minutes makes it more likely for the insight to pop up when you least expected it. Here's what you can do when you feel stuck:

• Go for a walk or exercise.

• Make a cup of coffee or a drink you enjoy.

• Talk to someone about any topic that takes your mind off work.

• ... or do anything else you find fun and interesting.

Successful founders don't get stressed or anxious when they find themselves caught up in one way of thinking and can'tseem to get past it. 

They take a break that their brain needs in such moments to find the right insight.

---

4. Open your mind

People who are rigid in their beliefs have a small mental repository of tools in their toolbox. 

Besides, they apply their past experience and knowledge to every challenge and problem that comes their way.

Being trapped inside their usual thinking patterns prevents them from exploring different solutions or applying creativity to new problems that surface.

Successful founders are the opposite. 

They're constantly updating their mental models with better thinking tools. They don't attach themselves to one line of thinking or only certain ways of doing things. 

They're flexible in their approach and hence their thinking. They do this by:

• Constantly challenging their beliefs and opinions.

• Showing flexibility to experiment and adopt new paradigms and models.

• Validating their assumptions and theories.

• Building cross disciplinary thinking by learning about domains outside their direct line of work.

Constantly updating your repertoire of mental models builds cognitive flexibility — you're better prepared to adapt to the changing times and consider the various forces at play before taking a risk.

---

5. Collaborate with others

Finally, becoming a successful founder isn't about coming up with all the ideas by yourself. 

It requires using the collective intelligence of the people around you.

Get ideas from everywhere. Find people around you that you can trust, respect, or admire, then:

• Exchange your ideas with them.

• Request them to challenge your thinking.

• Enable them to ask tough and uncomfortable questions.

Answering these questions will take you out of your silo, and open your mind to consider new possibilities. Instead of sticking with your original conclusions, you will be willing to challenge your assumptions.

Another great strategy is to ask targeted questions on specific problems within your organization or your line of work.

• How do others respond or think about these problems?

• Can different opinions on these problems give you a direction on the areas that are worth investing your time in?

• Is my hypothesis founded or not?

The more you seek varied opinions, the bigger your thinking pool. 

And, The bigger your thinking pool, the better will be your impact as a founder.

Successful founders don't work in silos. 

They consciously exercise their brain muscles by navigating different ideas and opinions and leveraging the knowledge of people around them.

---

Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

---

Final thoughts

So where does this leave us? 

If you are a founder, new or experienced, your ability to think critically is paramount to solving problems.

It won’t be in your DNA, but your brain is like any muscle.

Exercising your mind with these five tips can separate you from the 90% of crappy founders out there.

Your mind is your best ally to succeed as a founder, use it wisely!

---

Thank you for reading

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If so, I’d like to ask:

1. "The Mogul Message" empowers progressive founders with expert insights, tips, and strategies for independent business success. Share this invaluable resource with your entrepreneurial community to ignite their passion and drive growth.

2. Please share your experiences or thoughts in the comment below!

---

Have a great start to the week!

Os Ishmael - The Mogul Message