Thinking positive can get a person a long way in this world, for success. But why is it so important in a role where we deal with others on a consistent basis?
Because we are around people all the time, doesn’t mean that it is always fun, or all people are fun! …or nice! You know what I mean? It can get lonely out there and tough to stay positive on some days.
What can happen? Whatever we hear, our mind picks them up and finds a way to deal with them. Our subconscious mind is like a guide. It only knows how to find a path to something. So, if we think (or hear) negative thoughts, it will find a path to make that thought a reality.
Here is an example: If a person is trying to lose weight and keeps saying to themselves, “I am so fat” (Consciously), the subconscious will guide the person to continue being fat.
It’s the same when we hear things around us. The old cliché, “You are who you hang around” is really true. Our subconscious mind is where our behaviors are driven from.
In order to keep a positive mindset, we need to DECIDE what the goal will be, with those less than positive people, prior to any interaction.
Is it to just communicate information?
Win a debate?
Give encouraging words?
Once you decide, before the conversation, your “reactions” will be less negative, as you had already decided how to control your own behavior.
Don’t let negative or difficult customers or team members’ rain on your parade! Take control, practice self-management, and gain confidence. It starts with you and your mindset first!
PS. Using your top 5 Strengths to reframe how you think, is one of the best places to start. What are your top 5? Find out HERE.
Celebrating Your Unique Genius,
Lori and Shari
One of the most consistent observations we make during our corporate StrengthsGenius seminars, is the sincere desire of professionals to become effective team leaders that haven’t quite landed on a formula for success. After all, getting diverse personalities and perspectives aligned to accomplish a goal can be a challenging landscape to navigate.
The angst of making errors in critical decisions can bog a team leader down. Understandably, there may be a lot riding on it including the possibility of a career shortening event should things go wrong.
Effective Leadership Skills: A Decision-Making Starter Map
One of the hallmarks of successful people is that they know how and when to make decisions. Lean in to the following three suggestions to moving your decision making forward by making the best decision with tools and information available at the time.
1. Weigh Your Options: Let’s say that one of the decisions facing you as a team leader is whether to transition a given territory from one sales rep to another. Clearly, there are two options in this case:
(i) let Sales Rep A keep the territory; or (ii) give it to Sales Rep B.
So, how do you decide what to do? This question brings us to the next step, which is to . . .
2. Predict the Outcome: This step causes confusion for many because one might ask, “Can you really predict an outcome?” The truth is that you can predict a variety of outcomes. We call it the possibility game.
First consider the fact that something led you to the conclusion that a territory change might produce a better outcome, otherwise it wouldn’t be on your radar screen. What are the positive and negative possibilities associated with both sides of the equation, either moving the territory from Sales Rep A to Sales Rep B, or not.
The secret to success at this stage is to exhaust all the potential outcomes you can predict and get clear about the purpose of the move. Ask yourself why you are considering doing this and if you are willing to move forward once the decision is made.
3. Evaluate the Risk. Risk is what keeps many of us paralyzed – even when we’ve evaluated the pros and cons, and gotten all types of data and input from others. And, this is what separates effective team leaders from others.
While they may be afraid of risk, they realize that it’s part of being a leader – and move forward anyway.
The reason this stage stumps so many is because it goes to the heart of their situation, ie, what you have, what you want, and how bad to you want the outcome. The key to success at this stage is to know your strengths, your talents, what motivates you and how to overcome obstacles.
In short, when you know and trust yourself – your gut instincts – you will become more confident in making decisions – and be a more effective manager as well.
Conclusion
Making better decisions is a skill that can be developed, much like becoming an effective team leader. Of course, there are many nuances you will develop on the journey. These three steps give you a point from which to start.
To discover your Top 5 Strengths click HERE that can help you make decisions quicker.
Richard Leider, a leading authority and author of numerous books on how to find your purpose in life wrote in The Power of Purpose:
If our purpose is genuine enough, it involves us deeply and orders all areas of our life. We begin to eliminate what is irrelevant and what is so much clutter. A simplification takes place, and we achieve a clarity as to what we're about. We don't need to pretend to be what we're not. What is of real importance stands out more clearly.
As success coaches, we hear a lot of stories of from those who take this advice to heart. Here’s one we want to share with you to illustrate you how once you answer the question “What is my purpose?”, the steps you need to take to achieve it becomes very clear. As Leider so eloquently said, we begin to eliminate what is irrelevant.
How It Changed Everything for This Successful Business Owner
This entrepreneur owned a successful real estate business. Though she loved her profession, it wasn’t a burning desire. What she really wanted to do was write; she’d known that since she was a small child. Realizing that she’d always loved the ocean, she wanted to live someplace where she could see it day in and day out. Her third goal was to travel.
However, everything she was doing in life was taking her away from what her real passions. For example, living in a land-locked, cosmopolitan city with no ocean near and owning investment properties, left very little time to escape to an ocean view retreat, much less the flexibility to travel for months at a time.
The Value of Having a Plan
One day, she sat down and wrote out her life plan. Upon seeing in black and white that she was working against herself on almost every level, she decided to make some drastic changes.
She sold her real estate holdings, started an online business that gave her the flexibility to work from anywhere and settled on a small Caribbean island where she wrote every day.
Now, this didn’t happen overnight. She decided to live a “lower standard” of living than she had before. While her friends and family thought she’d lost her mind on some level, she had never been happier.
Stress: The Silent Killer
It’s worth noting that one dangerous drawback of not “living your life on purpose” is stress, also known as the silent killer. It is a major contributing factor – directly and/or indirectly – to a whole host of diseases. Among them are coronary artery disease, cancer, respiratory disorders, cirrhosis of the liver, as well as, the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S, suicide.
Our entrepreneur lost 30 pounds without really trying and felt more content as a result of reducing stress.
She not only asked the question, “what is my purpose in life,” she answered it and took definitive action. This is what Leider meant when he said when you know your purpose -- a simplification takes place . . . what is of real importance stands out more clearly.
Success: The Easy Part of Living Your Life on Purpose
We can tell you from experience, success will become much more likely when you live your life on purpose. When you own passions fuel your very spirit, your heart, your soul, your being, the energy required to do what you may have previously thought impossible, is self-perpetuating!
So, spend some time shining a light inside you to reveal your purpose in life – and get busy pursuing it. It’s a choice you’ll never regret. Our entrepreneur’s story is one of many we have witnessed many times in our work. We would love to hear about yours!
Celebrating Your Unique Genius!
PS. A great place to start is to discover your Top 5 Strengths! click HERE.
3 Things You Can Do Today To Gain Confidence!
As consultants, one of our observations with clients early on, was that each one sites different reasons for why they haven’t achieved their goals. Inevitably, the underlying reasons for failure to achieve, almost always stem from some form of self-doubt. Therefore, many of our sessions revolve around giving participants the tools they need to learn how to gain confidence to break through their limiting beliefs, so that they can get on the road to living the life they really want.
To this end, following are three things you can start doing - TODAY.
1. Identify It: Dr. Phil is famous for saying, “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.” Hence, the first exercise in learning how to gain confidence is to get out a pad and pencil and literally write down what you’re afraid of, along with any potential causes that lead to your insecurities.
For example, do you think you can’t quit your job and start a business because everyone will think you’re crazy to leave your high-paying jo? Or, should the venture fail, will they site your lack of entrepreneurial experience and perceive you as a failure?
Tip for Completing this Exercise: While laptops and tablets and pads are great, there’s something powerful in sitting with good ole paper and pencil and physically writing this info down. It’s as if your fears flow through the pencil onto the page – physically freeing you from their existence. So try it this way, ok?
2. What’s the Worst That Could Happen: One of the keys in in learning how to gain confidence is to think logically through the fear process. Using the scenario in #1 above, if you did quit your high-paying job to pursue a business you love, what’s the worst thing that could happen if it failed?
Ironically, what most realize when they answer this question is that it’s not nearly as bad as they thought.
3. Create a Plan: One of the oldest idiomatic expressions when it comes to business is, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” As it so happens, this applies to life as well.
One of the best ways to face fears of failure is to plan for success. Overcoming fear gets you on the road to developing self-esteem and improving self-confidence.
Once you learn how to gain confidence, you move through life with a different view of the world. It doesn’t mean that you never experience self-doubt or have brushes with low self-esteem again. What it does mean is that you’re better equipped to deal with them – and not let them keep you from pursuing your dreams.
To discover your Top 5 Strengths click HERE.
Any kind of change is a formidable challenge for most people.
In our daily world, especially in this hectic instant access global culture where technology changes by the minute and you have to be adapting constantly, change is inevitable.
But those who adopt new ideas, adapt to change, and influence those around them are the leaders who will be the most successful in the next three years.
It’s great when we get into a routine and become familiar with our surroundings. But what happens more often than not is we tend to become less flexible. It’s natural. You get in the habit of doing things a certain way and then become less tolerant to external demands, modifying our routine, or willing to see things from another’s perspective.
I can remember going from faxing in weekly numbers, as a sales manager to the main office, to putting them on a floppy disk and emailing them. Out of 66 managers, I was the last one to adapt. I justified it with the fact that I loved numbers and the sound of the 10 key adding up as I keyed in numbers. The truth was I didn’t want to learn how to use the computer in a new way.
BOY! Once I did it the first time! It took 75% less time….that thing actually added all the columns! It was amazing! Kind of ironic that 7 years later, I was working for a dot com company and stayed there for almost 8 years! I thought of the floppy disk situation, many times.
In 2009, many dealerships throughout the nation went out of business- not because of the economy, or ‘cash-for-clunkers’, but because they didn’t want to adopt this new way of advertising- Internet Advertising. They had been doing business the same way for 50+ years and in a matter of 1-2 years, they were gone.
What is something you have dug your heels in with? Is there a more simple way to accomplish it? How can you use your top 5 Strengths to help you adopt, adapt, and influence more?
Where do you want to be in your career in 20/20?
Shari Strong
Don't know what your top 5 Strenghts are? Click Here to receive them.
