Pivot your mindset to see your goals as an opportunity to grow
Tom Bloemers
Transformation Partner | Executive Energy Coach | Project Leadership Trainer | Board Director
Are you happy about the progress you and/or your team are making towards your goals??
Your goals may be: delivering on new strategic objectives, progress towards a project deadline, improving your leadership as part of a personal development plan,? or building a new habit to meditate ten minutes every day, to name a few.
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Expectations
Whatever your specific goals are - you will have an expectation of what you want to achieve. Or what you want your team to achieve.
????You will be happy when these expectations are met or exceeded. Then it's time to celebrate, and to feel good about these achievements.
????Conversely, if you or your team don't meet expectations, it is likely that you will feel disappointed, sad, or even frustrated and you may start to doubt your own or your team's ability.
Overall by not achieving expectations and therefore your goal, you feel unhappy about it.
You feel unhappy because you are unconsciously letting your emotions break you down and demotivate you.
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Breaking-down mindset
When you experience these negative emotions like disappointment, frustration and self-doubt consistently, it can lead to decreased motivation and effort, stress, reduced focus and overall not feeling well.
This may perpetuate your situation and you may get into a downward spiral.
??When your habitual attitude or thinking about your goals is negative you could be stuck in a breaking-down energy mode.
This catabolic energy makes you feel drained, resisting new ideas and gets you to destructive thoughts.
1?? At the lowest level of energy, you may feel apathy because you think that you are the victim of others' failures or non-accomplishments, and therefore you may feel lethargic, hopeless and don't see a way out. You may think that you are losing.
2?? Or, you feel anger and conflict because you feel others are doing things wrong, and think you need to be constantly pushing or controlling others' work. In this case you probably feel you are right and that you must win, whatever it costs.
In both cases, it is very likely that you don't see many options or choices as a way out, since you are focused on you-only, which distracts you from seeing broader.
It's possible to prevent you, your team or your goal achievement from getting into this breaking-down mindset or a downward spiral, or to get you out if you are already in it.
You need to pivot.
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???Pivot
The downward spiral is not inevitable. And, you have a choice on how you experience achieving your goals and expectations.
There are several strategies that can help break this cycle, including addressing obstacles in your thinking, by:
??Questioning your beliefs - As a generalization, stereotype or idea that you have accepted may not be the truth, and may actually limit you. Instead, be open to new information and new insights.
??Reframing failure - Instead of interpreting unmet expectations as failures, see them as learning opportunities. Each setback can provide valuable insights that can help you improve.
??Validating assumptions - Identify the assumptions you made, underlying your expectations, and validate whether they are realistic. Also ask : because you didn't make the expected progress now, what makes you think it will happen that way again?
??Believing you are good enough - Become aware of your thoughts, and especially when you think 'I can't make it' or 'I am not good enough', consider what you can learn from the experience.
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And in addition, make sure you:
??Practice self-compassion - Be kind to yourself when things don’t go as planned. Everyone experiences setbacks and it’s okay to not be perfect.
??Set realistic expectations - Make sure your goals are achievable and realistic. Setting the bar too high can set you up for disappointment.
??Seek support - Don’t hesitate to seek support from others, whether it’s a trusted friend, an experienced colleague or a professional coach. They can provide encouragement, advice, and a fresh perspective.
??Take care of your physical health - Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and adequate sleep can boost your mood and energy levels, making it easier to cope with setbacks.
When you successfully pivot, you can make see your goals in a new perspective, and start to constructively realize your expectations via a building-up mindset.
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??Building-up mindset
The mindset which gets you to new successes is constructive, expands your view, fuels progress and is learning and growth-oriented.
The anabolic energy coming from this mindset helps you move forward and achieve positive, long-term, successful results, and is useful in leading others in the same direction.
Using this building-up mindset allows you to have a more complete and conscious view of what is going on around you, and to more easily come up with solutions and innovations.
And you can access energy levels which get you to new results, including:
3??Taking responsibility - to make sure you win, and hopefully others as well
4??Concern for others - to help others to win
5??Reconciling differences - to ensure we win
6??Integrating the whole with you - to lead us to always win, and
7??Creating new experiences - where winning and losing are illusions.
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Grow and learn along the way
While setting SMART goals is important, which shape your expectations, these should not distract you from what is really important.
??What is really important is that you are making progress. That you celebrate progress, however small.
??That you focus on the tasks at hand.
??That you regularly stop, to evaluate and realize that you have come a big way.
??That you adapt your expectations and goals in light of new facts, data, better interpretations, or new insights.
?When you balance expectations for goal achievement with appreciation for the journey, and see it as a process of learning, you and your teams will stay energized and engaged in the transformation process, and grow together.
If you don't you will always look for something you cannot reach.
??Learn along the way, and reach your true potential.
TEDx, Keynote & Motivational Speaker | Author | Business Coach for speakers and aspiring speakers | Founder & CEO at 100 Lunches & 100 Speakers| 40 under 40 Business Elite | People Connector
6 个月Keep pushing forward with a growth-oriented mindset! Your dedication to personal development will drive success. ??