What's Your Success Equation? How Mindset Coaching Helps

Your attitude is the only factor in this equation that can go negative!

Dr. Kazuo Inamori built Kyocera from nothing. Then he did it again with KDDI. At 77-78 years, he turned around Japan Airlines in less than three years.

His secret? A formula so simple it fits on the palm of your hand:

Life's Results = Ability × Effort × Attitude

You might also see this written as Ability × Passion × Mindset, or Skill × Effort × Mental Attitude. Different words, same truth.

Notice those aren't plus signs. They're multiplication signs. And that changes everything.

Let's Pay Some Attention Here

We obsess over ability. We think if we just acquire one more skill, one more certification, one more degree, then we'll finally break through.

But here's the thing: ability only goes so far. You could have a score of 80 in ability—impressive by anyone's standards. Pair it with 60 in effort, and you've got 4,800. Not bad.

Now watch what happens when attitude enters the picture.

What You Bring to the Table

Attitude doesn't just add to your results. It multiplies them. And here's where it gets interesting: attitude is the only factor that can go negative.

That same person with 80 in ability and 60 in effort? If their attitude is -10, their result isn't just low. It's -48,000. All that talent, all that hard work, working against them.

This is why you see brilliant people paralyzed by self-doubt. Hardworking people convinced nothing they do matters. Capable people sabotaging their own success.

Their ability and effort are there. But their attitude—their mindset—is the handbrake keeping them from moving forward.

What Attitude (Your Mindset) Actually Means

Attitude isn't about positive thinking or affirmations plastered on your bathroom mirror. While that helps, it's deeper than that.

It's the lens through which you see challenges. The story you tell yourself when things don't go as planned. The beliefs you hold about what's possible for you.

It's whether you see a setback as evidence that you're not cut out for this, or as feedback showing you what needs adjusting.

Attitude is what ultimately nudges you to step out of your comfort zone and begin to stay grounded despite the uncertainty.

The Reason Behind the Multiplication

When you add things together, you can compensate for weakness in one area with strength in another. But when you multiply, one weak factor drags everything down.

This is actually good news, as you can make this work in your favour!

Because it means you don't need to be the most talented person in the room. You don't even need to work the hardest. You just need to get your attitude right, and suddenly everything else you bring to the table starts working for you instead of against you.

Think about someone you know who's achieved more than their resume suggests they should. Chances are, their attitude is their multiplier.

Why Attitude Actually Multiplies (The Brain Science)

This isn't just a nice formula. There's actual neuroscience backing why attitude works as a multiplier rather than just another factor.

Your attitude determines which neural pathways get strengthened in your brain. Here's how: when you approach challenges with a constructive attitude, you create the conditions for neuroplasticity—your brain's ability to recognise this shift and form new neural connections throughout life.

Research on growth mindset shows that people who believe their abilities can develop demonstrate something called "error positivity." Their brains pay more attention to mistakes to extract learning from them. Brain scans show increased electrical activity in the areas responsible for processing errors and adapting. They're literally wiring their brains differently in response to the same challenges someone with a fixed mindset faces.

On the flip side, a negative attitude triggers chronic stress responses and elevated cortisol levels. Over time, this actually shrinks the hippocampus—your brain's memory and learning center—and impairs the prefrontal cortex where decision-making happens. It doesn't just make you feel stuck. It physically degrades your brain's capacity to use your skills and sustain effort.

This is what Dr. Inamori understood intuitively—that attitude isn't just another factor in success, it's the one that determines whether everything else you bring works for you or against you.

Why Mindset Matters

Here's what I've learned working with clients who break through their own limitations: the shift from "I'm in my way" to "I'm on my way" happens the moment attitude changes.

I recently worked with a corporate professional whose success score was basically -62,500 in one of their chosen life sectors - before we started our one on one coaching sessions. Not because they lacked ability or weren't working hard. But because their attitude was in negative territory—self-doubt, limiting beliefs, that constant "not good enough" loop. Their effort and ability were literally working against them because of that negative multiplier. After our 8 weeks of work together? +384,000.

How and When ? Not when they gain more skills. Not when circumstances improve. When they stop letting their internal narrative sabotage what they're capable of.

Dr. Inamori understood this. Your results aren't just about what you can do or how hard you work. They're about the internal framework—your attitude, your mindset—you're operating from.

And unlike ability, which takes time to develop, and effort, which requires discipline to sustain, attitude? That can shift today. And because of this shift, they automatically go on to work on their skills and effort—then come up with a formidable result.

This is exactly how Dr. Inamori changed the dynamics of a bankrupt business in a matter of years. When he took over Japan Airlines in 2010, brutal restructuring had already been done—16,000 jobs cut, salaries slashed by 30%. But morale was destroyed and everyone expected a second bankruptcy. Inamori's focus wasn't more cuts—it was transforming the workforce's attitude and mindset. Within two years, JAL became the world's most profitable airline.

One voice that practices and believes in what it preaches can turn the defeated into warriors. History's greatest battles have been won this way—and so was JAL's turnaround.

What Is Your Success Equation?

Curious about what your success equation looks like? Let's find out.

If you're sitting on ability and putting in the effort but your results don't match, your attitude might be the missing piece. Let's talk about what's really holding you back and how to shift it.

Book a free strategy call and let's identify where your mindset is working against you—and what to do about it.

Because talent and hard work are only as powerful as the attitude that drives them.

— Sheryl Slatter

Mindset & Corporate Wellness Coach

Brisbane, Australia