A Change in Mindset is What It Will Take for a Better Year Ahead — Part 2 – 5 Steps to How You Can Shift
In the previous article, A Change in Mindset is What It Will Take for a Better Year Ahead — Part 1, I covered the importance of mindset and why it is critical for success, especially when looking towards the year ahead. To achieve that, you can begin to take steps that will help you shift your mindset in new ways that will be beneficial to you, your team, and others you support around you. Here are five ways you can get started in changing your mindset for a better year ahead.
Imaging the possibilities
Start by imagining anything is possible. As I noted in the first article, this might be more difficult for some versus others. Indulge me for a moment and set your mind to believe that there are an endless set of outcomes and possibilities available. What would be the ideal outcome for you and your team at the end of the next ninety days? Keep your time frame small. If ninety days seems difficult to imagine, then narrow it down even further. For some, that may mean thinking about what the next few days could look like.
One Step
Remaining in the ‘keeping it simple’ path, what is the next single action you can take to work towards that newly defined outcome you have imagined? Don’t worry about any obstacles yet, as there is almost always one first step that can be taken without the need for any outside influence. That might mean the next step is to make a phone call to a peer, partner, or your boss. Keep it that simple. Then add the next one step that it would take. Moving forward, literally one step at a time is a good way to ease into a new way of thinking and to discover what new options may be possible.
Process not just results
Capturing those steps and the actions you and your team take is really an important part of this change process. Spend time looking at what is and is not happening. Pause between steps to understand what happened and why. These become building blocks for the future steps you will take to find new results. If your time is spent only on the results you get, you may miss what it took to end up where you are. It can be easy to get caught up in the feelings from a specific result versus knowing why that result occurred. If the result is positive, we tend to celebrate and keep moving on. We don’t take the time to understand what was successful so that we can do more of it. The reverse is true also. We lament the poor outcome, don’t fully realize why it happened, and make the same mistakes again in the future. Or we assume it wasn't meant to be and change directions altogether. What got you there is as important as where you ended up. Take time to understand those steps you took.
Recognize progress, not just outcomes
In the first part of discussing mindset I referenced Carol Dweck’s work with schools and students about building a ‘not yet’ approach versus ‘right now’. Much of the success that came from that was driven by recognizing the students along the way for the work and effort they were putting in, not the scores of individual tests or activities. Students stayed engaged and continued to work harder to get beyond ‘not yet’ and achieve real success. In doing so, they also value the work that is being done along the way. Learning resilience to stick to something also has lasting effects. When someone faces a difficult situation in the future, they now have a process in which they can approach the challenge and figure out solutions. Someone with a ‘right now’ mindset may look the other way, or shy away from a larger challenge because it cannot be solved immediately. How you recognize your team and those around you can shift their mindset and set everyone up for longer-term success.
Share and discuss your journey
Almost everything is better when you share it with others. As you are learning new things, tell that story with others. Multiple benefits come from this. First, it begins to reinforce in your mind that you are achieving success. Retelling your steps and achievements makes them more real and allows you to see others react to your wins (even the small ones and ones along the way). Second, talking about what you have done may lead to further innovations and ideas about what else you can do to improve. Creating a dialogue with a friend or peer can lead to iterations of ideas, and both of you can benefit from that exchange. Finally, teaching to others is one of the best ways to solidify the learning in your mind. Learn. Do. Teach. Those are three powerful steps to continuing your personal development.
Shifting your mindset is not an overnight thing. You can choose to take that challenge on (and I encourage you to do so), but it will take time and patience like so many good things. It starts with assessing your current situation and mindset and deciding on where you want to go. For things to change in the world around you, inertia demands that something jumpstart that process. Let it be you and push things in the direction you want to go.
What steps will you take for a shift in mindset for the new year?
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