Fall is my favorite time of the year. Instead of focusing on the end of the year, I focus on the feeling of a New Year. It is probably left over from years of school starting in September. New backpacks, new pencils, new notebooks and new possibilities. With this mindset, I feel like the majority of my BEST opportunities come in the fourth quarter of the year. If you have goals that have not been completed or do not seem like they are going to get done this year, read on. There are three tips I would offer to shift from an "end of the year" mindset to a Finish Strong mindset.
Tip #1 - Check Your Energy
The force of creation comes from the Mind. That is why there is so much talk about Mindset. Because a mind that is aligned to a goal or purpose, can achieve great things. Sometimes, as we get closer to our goal, we start to adopt the mindset that it may not happen. That one thought is a productivity killer because it takes with it the physical energy and dedication towards the goal. This thought comes from the fear of not accomplishing the goal, or simply put, the fear of failure. To turn this around, we really need to look at the facts around failure. Here is an easy breakdown:
1. Set goals that are beyond what you believe is "easily" possible.
2. Spend some time each day working towards those goals.
3. Achieve some or part of the goal
The entire process starts with pushing ourselves beyond what we know or believe to know to be possible. That is the point of the goal. Given that, even if we did not meet the goal, but made significant progress towards it, wouldn't this actually be "winning"? When someone has a financial goal of 1 Million, I will ask them, if you end up with $900K, would you really be upset? The purpose of having a goal is to push beyond what is possible. Therefore, not achieving the full goal is never a failure, it is an opportunity to see how much more was possible than you imagined. Go back to when you set those goals. Review the journey. Can you see everything that has been accomplished in the process of working on this goal?
As a leader, it is important for each of us to see the story to this point in the process of goal achievement. And, to realign the energy towards, look how much we have already accomplished, we can do this! And, then to communicate that to your team. Our energy travels and others can pick up on it. Don't believe me? Think of a time when you could just tell someone did not like you. Nothing had happened. You hadn't meaningfully interacted with them - it was just obvious. How did you know? You could just tell? A million little things that your mind picked up - body language, wording, facial expressions - because energy creates and we can feel the energy of someone who is enthusiastic and believes that Q4 is going to be the best quarter yet and someone who has written the year off and is ready to eat turkey!
1. Set goals that are beyond what you believe is "easily" possible.
2. Spend some time each day working towards those goals.
3. Achieve some or part of the goal
The entire process starts with pushing ourselves beyond what we know or believe to know to be possible. That is the point of the goal. Given that, even if we did not meet the goal, but made significant progress towards it, wouldn't this actually be "winning"? When someone has a financial goal of 1 Million, I will ask them, if you end up with $900K, would you really be upset? The purpose of having a goal is to push beyond what is possible. Therefore, not achieving the full goal is never a failure, it is an opportunity to see how much more was possible than you imagined. Go back to when you set those goals. Review the journey. Can you see everything that has been accomplished in the process of working on this goal?
As a leader, it is important for each of us to see the story to this point in the process of goal achievement. And, to realign the energy towards, look how much we have already accomplished, we can do this! And, then to communicate that to your team. Our energy travels and others can pick up on it. Don't believe me? Think of a time when you could just tell someone did not like you. Nothing had happened. You hadn't meaningfully interacted with them - it was just obvious. How did you know? You could just tell? A million little things that your mind picked up - body language, wording, facial expressions - because energy creates and we can feel the energy of someone who is enthusiastic and believes that Q4 is going to be the best quarter yet and someone who has written the year off and is ready to eat turkey!
Tip #2 - Visualize the End, not the Means
One of the biggest killers of creativity is figuring things out. Life is not a jigsaw puzzle to be figured out. It is a sea of endless possibility to discover. If you have goals that are aligned to who you are as a person or organization and are focused on creating something bigger and better, and bonus, are adding value to the world, then the possibilities are endless. The opposite of this is should goals. Goals you think you should do in order to achieve something else, but really don't want to. These goals suck your energy, show up year after year, and if they get done, there is very little joy in them. Assuming you have goals that inspire you, wade into the sea of possibility.
One of the biggest pieces of advice I give is to limit yourself by what you think is possible. This is the quickest way to kill true creativity and potential.
Sounds great, right? Have you ever tried it? It is HARD! That is why I have created a system that works for me to not figure it out while giving my brain the feeling of figuring it out. I can it Daydreaming Brainstorming. Imagine the result of what you want, like a child daydreaming, and then ask yourself, what is one thing I can do right now that aligns to that result. It is CRITICAL that you do the daydreaming part first. The reason for this is because it aligns your mind with already having the result accomplished. Ideas that come from that mindset sometimes turn out to be the most brilliant. In my experience, it is not that the idea leads to the result, but that idea leads to an action which opens up another area of possibility. Like the sea of endless possibility, as we wade in, each step reveals new possibilities that we could not see from the shore.
One of the biggest pieces of advice I give is to limit yourself by what you think is possible. This is the quickest way to kill true creativity and potential.
Sounds great, right? Have you ever tried it? It is HARD! That is why I have created a system that works for me to not figure it out while giving my brain the feeling of figuring it out. I can it Daydreaming Brainstorming. Imagine the result of what you want, like a child daydreaming, and then ask yourself, what is one thing I can do right now that aligns to that result. It is CRITICAL that you do the daydreaming part first. The reason for this is because it aligns your mind with already having the result accomplished. Ideas that come from that mindset sometimes turn out to be the most brilliant. In my experience, it is not that the idea leads to the result, but that idea leads to an action which opens up another area of possibility. Like the sea of endless possibility, as we wade in, each step reveals new possibilities that we could not see from the shore.
Tip #3 - Put In the Meaningful Work
There are two types of work - Meaningful and Feeling-like-we-are-doing-something-because-we-are-uncomfortable. There is a huge difference in these types of work. There have been many days that I have sat at my computer for hours and gotten nothing meaningful done. Those days are exhausting and disheartening. I still do this from time to time, but I have created a discipline that helps me avoid this. I learned some amazing tips on how to really transform this habit completely from Brendon Burchard, author of High Performance Habits and his High Performance 1 Page Productivity Planner. I used this for years, as well as his tips for working 50 minutes and then taking a 10 minute physical movement break (I went for a walk) and was rocking my results. I have now made many of those tips into habits.
Working smarter, not harder, takes some discipline and practice, but the pay off is amazing! Below are my best practices in how to work smarter:
1. Plan your day the night before. Clearly identify the top 3-5 things that you have to get done. All night long, your subconscious mind will be planning how to make this happen with the most ease.
2. Do your top 3-5 things first thing in the morning... BEFORE you check your email! At least start #1 on your list, prior to checking your email.
3. Schedule email checking and replying time into your day. I normally schedule this in at 11 (from 11-11:50) and again at 2 or 3. That way you can get YOUR priorities done before helping others with their priorities.
4. STOP, pause, sit, think, walk, meditate, slow down. It is easy to get into go, go, go and do, do, do mode. But the best work may come from taking time to think. The most successful leaders I know spend the first hour of their day thinking about things. Not on the computer, not in action, just mulling on what they think their organization needs and what opportunities or issues they are facing. In today's world, we have severely downgraded our time to think and it is showing up in our results. Slow down, breather, and ponder
Working smarter, not harder, takes some discipline and practice, but the pay off is amazing! Below are my best practices in how to work smarter:
1. Plan your day the night before. Clearly identify the top 3-5 things that you have to get done. All night long, your subconscious mind will be planning how to make this happen with the most ease.
2. Do your top 3-5 things first thing in the morning... BEFORE you check your email! At least start #1 on your list, prior to checking your email.
3. Schedule email checking and replying time into your day. I normally schedule this in at 11 (from 11-11:50) and again at 2 or 3. That way you can get YOUR priorities done before helping others with their priorities.
4. STOP, pause, sit, think, walk, meditate, slow down. It is easy to get into go, go, go and do, do, do mode. But the best work may come from taking time to think. The most successful leaders I know spend the first hour of their day thinking about things. Not on the computer, not in action, just mulling on what they think their organization needs and what opportunities or issues they are facing. In today's world, we have severely downgraded our time to think and it is showing up in our results. Slow down, breather, and ponder
Finally, it is possible for Q4 to be your best quarter of the year. It is often times mine! Living in the knowing that big things can happen without the feeling of overwhelm or endless effort, in fact, those feelings are the blocks to the result. Try on a little more ease and a lot more meaningful work and thought to end the year better than you could have ever imagined!
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