Avoid Being a Prophet of Your Own Demise
Who is the biggest predictor of your own success? You. How you choose to see something is largely going to determine the outcome. We may not be able to control everything, but controlling what we can control is a huge part of finding winning outcomes. If you believe something will fail, the odds just increased that it will. Negative thoughts can become self-fulfilling prophecies.The biggest choice we make is our attitude. We control that 100 percent. The negative side says, “this can’t be done, we’ve tried that before”. The positive side says, “we will find a way, let’s learn from what we have done previously and improve.” If you limit your potential outcomes from the beginning, you limit your opportunities for success.How do you avoid getting caught in the negative side of things and instead remain firmly in the positive arena? I believe there are four things you can do to give yourself the best opportunity for success.
Be Your Own Cheerleader
Believe in YOU. Ensure that the voice in your head, conscious, and sub-conscious is cheering you on. If you don’t believe in what you are doing, how can you expect others will? Those around you will follow your lead. If you have doubts about what you are doing, the team will sense that. They will question whether the outcome is possible as well. If you stumble along the way, pick yourself up, dust off, and start again. That is what learning is all about. Share the issue and work towards a new solution. But never lose faith. Cheer yourself on every step of the way.
Don’t Dwell on the Negative
There are always negative elements to any situation. It is a choice whether we allow them to become the focus or just something to work through. Understand and accept that failures will occur. There will be challenges and obstacles in anything worth doing. If your attention is constantly tuned into those negative things you will not have the energy to work around them. Acknowledge the barriers and then find solutions to move you and your team forward. Challenge the team to do the same. You cannot have team members that are always concentrated on the negative aspects. You need them to bring solutions to the table. By not dwelling on the negatives, you will keep everyone energized and focused on the positive outcomes you seek.
Change Your Box
Everyone has heard the saying, “think outside the box.” Sometimes that means looking for a new box. This is really about challenging the status quo. Ask lots of questions during the early stages. “Why do we do it this way?” “What if we didn’t have that barrier?” “What if this changed?”One of my favorite quotes is -
If you only do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve already got
The more questions you can ask to look beyond what already exists will help you find new solutions and change your ‘box’ altogether.
Assume Good Intentions
As you work towards solutions you need to assume that anyone who is involved will have the right intentions to seek a positive solution. Don’t let people's past behaviors dictate the necessary outcomes. Those can be addressed, changed, or removed if necessary for the right solutions. When working with others, assume they want to find solutions that work also. Again, challenge for new thinking and positive solutions. You just cannot afford to be limited by the thinking of, “Johnny will never agree to that.” Or, “Suzy won’t be able to think like that.” Others have a choice too and you have to believe they want to succeed. Assume good intentions first, then manage from there.How you choose to look at the situation will define the outcomes. Set the bar low and you will get low or moderate outcomes. Set the bar high, provide the tools and resources necessary and you’ll be amazed at what can happen. Don’t limit yourself by the past or negative possibilities. If a setback occurs, find the silver lining, find the learning, apply it, and then move forward towards the intended outcome or solution. You choose your attitude. You will be the one that determines your success, avoid being a prophet of your own demise. Choose wisely and look to the positives first to find many winning outcomes ahead.What will you do to ensure your own success in your next task, project or assignment? Click here or on the comments button above to share your thoughts.Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash