When I was nine, I was sure I’d be homeless.
There were reasons for this fear, some real and some imagined. As you can imagine, this colored my thoughts about money, work, and many other priorities. Eventually, it became a mindset for me. Your mindset significantly influences how you view your abilities, make decisions, set priorities, and handle challenges.
These deeply held beliefs are difficult to change. It’s important to be aware of our mindsets and, when necessary, take action to change them. I want to talk about one mindset that I’ve adopted that has been helpful - The Ownership Mindset.
Ownership Mindset
The ownership mindset means taking full responsibility for outcomes and actively driving value creation and growth, regardless of formal role or title.
It begins with conviction - a deep-seated belief in something and the courage to risk status and resources in pursuing that belief. This transcends traditional employment relationships - it's the difference between having a job and taking ownership of the enterprise's success. Owners know that not everything wrong is their fault, but everything is their responsibility.
Critically, owners are rewarded for creating value, not for simply being present. Traditional job descriptions or role boundaries don't confine owners. Their single focus is the organization's success. Owners invest tremendous amounts of discretionary effort, make decisions based on organizational needs rather than personal preferences, and carefully allocate resources.
Owners are perpetual advocates for evolution and growth. They know that if an organization doesn’t evolve, they risk irrelevance and even death. Their commitment to driving change leaves no time for complaints about change - they're too busy making it happen.
If you work inside an organization, you don’t have to wait for someone to make you an owner. If you want owner-level rewards, you must act like an owner.
The ownership mindset also applies to how we approach our lives.
Ownership Mindset in Life
Invest in Yourself Deliberately. Just like businesses need capital, you must put your time, energy, and focus into the business of you. That means proactively developing new skills, building relationships, and caring for your health. You must evolve.
Face Uncertainty. When you're uncomfortable, that's where growth happens. Failure will happen in pursuit of growth, but consider that tuition paid for valuable lessons, not something to avoid.
Be a Creator, Not Just a Consumer. Most of the world consumes what others build. Your lasting impact comes from creating value for others. That value can come from your relationships, your work, or what you give to your community. Rewards follow value creation.
Choose People Carefully. The people you spend time with shape you. Just like you wouldn't keep someone on your team who threatens performance, don't keep people around you who threaten your performance. Build your inner circle carefully.
Guard Your Resources. You aren't careless about your cash - don't be careless about your time or energy. Be intentional about where you spend both—remember: Poor resource allocation leads to poor outcomes. Our choices - good and bad - compound over our lives.
I still have remnants of that nine-year-old mindset around money and resources. Over the last four decades, it’s taken a lot of work to put those fears to rest and not let them drive my decisions but rather inspire my priorities. Like everyone, I’m a work in progress, and I hope you found this helpful.
I hope you’re good. Be good.
Kelly
What to keep going? This is relevant to mindset shifts.
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