goals

Sep 03 2017

How to Change Your Mindset and Achieve Your Potential

THE PAST

For thousands of years it was believed by experts and athletes that the human body was not capable of running a 4-minute mile. In the 1940’s, the mile record was pushed to 4:01, where it stood for nine years. On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister decided to change things and broke the 4-minute barrier, running the distance in 3:59.4. As part of his training, he relentlessly visualized the achievement in order to create a sense of certainty in his mind and body. Believing it was possible, Bannister planned and trained for success. He changed his training regimen, training more frequently and with harder intervals.

Barely a year after Bannister’s accomplishment, someone else ran a mile in under 4 minutes and then many more did. Now, it’s almost routine. The current fastest time is 3:43.13 by Hicham El Guerrouj. The 4 minute mile barrier was psychological not physical and it’s only a matter of time before the current record is broken.

THE PRESENT

Contrary to previous thinking, scientists now know we have a tremendous capacity for lifelong learning and development. While our genes and ‘natural talent’ may provide some advantages, our mindset, beliefs, efforts and approach will nearly always outweigh what we start out with.

World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, in her bestselling book ‘Mindset’, explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success–but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset.

People with a ‘growth mindset’ know they will get better through effort and embrace and learn from setbacks and failures. People with fixed mindsets believe they either are or are not good at something, based on their inherent nature and talents they are born with and see setbacks and failures as evidence that supports their beliefs.

Lessons From Sports, the Military, Medicine and a Legendary CEO

The importance of mindset is not news to the world of sports. Time and time again we see examples of athletes, who were not the most genetically advantaged beating stronger, faster athletes.

A case in point is the historic boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston. Liston was a feared fighter who had been world heavyweight champ since defeating Floyd Patterson in 1962. He was the most intimidating fighter of his day, and considered to be among the best heavyweights of all-time. Many boxers refused to meet him in the ring.

By contrast, Ali the inexperienced and lighter underdog, had only won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. While training for their fight, Ali, who was a master of his own mindset and psyching his opponents out, taunted Liston and told reporters that he would win by knockout. After the sixth round, Liston, suffering from cuts and bruises under his eyes, announced he couldn’t continue. Ali won by a technical knockout and announced to the world, “I am the greatest!”

The Warrior Mindset

The military are no strangers to the importance of mindset. In the excellent ‘The Way of the Seal’, Former Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine, explains the importance of finding your 20X factor, in other words doing 20X better than you think you can. Commander Divine states

“The SEAL’s aren’t the first band of warriors to figure out the 20X factor. ..The Spartans used the agoge, a brutal training program for young warriors that forged mental and physical toughness. The Eastern martial arts, such as those of the Shaolin monks and ninjutsu, and native warriors such as the Apache scouts all embraced the 20X factor.”

Mindset and a Legendary CEO

Finally, achievement mindsets are by no means limited to athletes and warriors. Former GE CEO Jack Welch, regarded by many as the greatest CEO of all time is reported to have attached great weight to mindset when hiring executives. According to Dweck, Welch hired according to “runway,” not pedigree, preferring graduates and military veterans to Ivy Leaguers. Welch demonstrated his belief in people’s capacity for growth by spending thousands of hours grooming and coaching employees on his executive team.

Belief and its impact on Health

Belief is at the core of a growth mindset and perhaps the best-known example of the power of belief is that of the placebo effect. Thousands of studies have consistently established that if a person believes they are taking a medication that will have a specific effect e.g. stopping nausea or a headache, then it will, even if they have only taken a sugar coated placebo.

Perhaps more striking are those examples of people with multiple personality disorders having the symptoms of their diseases and conditions instantly vanish as they switch personality

THE FUTURE

Change your OS and Upgrade Your Beliefs and Mindset

Most of us have disempowering and baseless beliefs and mindsets that hold us back in life. Often we developed these beliefs at any early stage, sometimes as a result of what teachers or a parent repeatedly told us. Although there is nearly always no evidential basis for these negative beliefs their effects can be extremely damaging.

Fortunately, there are many highly effective strategies and techniques for rapidly eliminating negative beliefs and upgrading your mindset.

This simple 3-step process is a good starting point.

Identify and Rebut – Write down (more powerful than typing because of the connection between your hand and mind) your limiting beliefs on the left hand column of one side of a sheet of paper and on the right hand column, list all of the reasons that that belief is wrong. This may take some time at first as you are training your brain to think about something in a different way. Look for evidence that undermines your negative beliefs and mindset.

See – Write down your new, empowering beliefs on a sheet of paper. First thing in the morning and last thing at night visualize yourself implementing actions consistent with that belief in some way. It’s important not to make the mistake that many do on focusing on having achieved the goal e.g. completing a difficult task but to visualize yourself taking the steps that will result in a successful outcome.For more on this see Gabriele Oettingen’s ‘Rethinking Positive Thinking’. Your visualization can be a 60 second movie trailer of you working out in the gym or delivering a successful presentation. See the scene through your eyes and play full out and experience as though it were real. As with most things, consistency is key so practice visualizing it on a daily basis for maximum impact.

Act – Bannister didn’t break the 4-minute mile by simply visualizing. He took massive action on a consistent basis. Once you have determined your new beliefs, immediately take at least one meaningful action that is consistent with your new beliefs e.g. if you have decided that you’re a person who can give great presentations, then immediately buy and read the leading book on the topic. Taking instant action takes your belief out of your mind and into reality.

While our beliefs and mindset are not the only components of a winning strategy, there can be no doubt they are the first, and indeed are a precondition for success, achievement and growth.

Aug 28 2017

How to Harness Fear, Failure and Frustration to Dramatically Increase Motivation

Motivation is frequently linked to optimism and positivity. The 1952 classic and bestseller ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ by the Reverend Norman Vincent Peale, was translated into 15 languages and to date has sold more than 7million copies. It is still very popular today.

Positive thinking dominates the fields of self-help and human performance, from images with inspirational quotations (the sort that I frequently share on social media) to the use of tried and tested mental performance tools such as positive self-talk and visualizing success.

To be clear, these tools are not used by hippies in fields of flowers living a vegan, organic lifestyle, but by Olympians, special forces operators and other elite performers, as well as being a management tool used by many Fortune 500 companies.

In ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman described optimism as the “engine of capitalism” stating that:

“Optimistic individuals play a disproportionate role in shaping our lives. Their decisions make a difference; they are the inventors, the entrepreneurs, the political and military leaders — not average people.”

Professor Martin Seligman, former President of the American Psychological Association and credited as being the ‘father of Positive Psychology has repeatedly demonstrated that optimism promotes both resilience and persistence.

Seligman consulted with the Pentagon on the development of the military’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, which sought to assess and enhance soldiers’ ability to cope with all of life’s challenges, including the mental rigors of combat.

The authors (one a retired Navy SEAL) of ‘Stronger: Develop the Resilience You Need to Succeed’ identify active optimism as the leading factor in personal resilience—the ability to tolerate stress, see opportunities in adversity, and keep pushing forward.

So it’s clear; being opimistic and focusing on the positive increases motivation, resilience and achievement. However…

The Downside of Being Upbeat

Over the past few years researchers, neuroscientists and psychologists have begun to demonstrate that focusing on the positive can be detrimental to motivation and achievement.

New York University psychology professor and author of ‘Rethinking Positive Thinking’ Gabriele Oettingen, persuasively contends that visualizing a successful outcome can make people less likely to achieve it.

Researchers have also found that people in a negative mood develop more persuasive arguments than people in a positive mood, and that negative moods can improve memory.

Perhaps this is why so many lawyers are negative and suffer from disproportionately high levels of depression than other professions. Although never suffering from depression, as a Barrister practising at the Bar of England and Wales for 14 years (arguing cases rather than making coffee), I certainly spent much of my career focusing on the negative.

Denial can also be a consequence of positive thinking. Barbara Ehrenreich, journalist and author of ‘Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America’, argues that the 2008 economic crisis was partly a result of people’s refusal to consider negative outcomes, like mortgage defaults.

The Upside of Focusing on the Negative

Focusing on the negative can have two distinct benefits. The first is the avoidance of denial and enabling of more effective planning. The second benefit is that negative emotions, possibly triggered by painful memories, can fuel determination and action.

One effective technique for utilising the power of negative focus is that of the premortem. Here you imagine things have gone wrong before they have and then analyse all of the reasons you might have failed.

Brad Stulberg, author of ‘Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout’ and Thrive With the New Science of Success’ explains

“It may seem like the negative thinking inherent to a premortem would work against self-belief and confidence. But if anything, it actually works toward it. When you force yourself to become aware of all that could go wrong, you become more likely to take the necessary steps to ensure that things go right.”

Using the Dark Side as Motivation

Elite performers will frequently access their painful memories, dark thoughts and negative emotions to fuel their motivation during extreme challlenges.

Robert Wicks, psychologist and author of the book ‘Bounce: Living the Resilient Life’, talks of the angry resolve frustrated athletes feel as “sweet disgust”. This refers to the determination to fight back which goes hand in hand, in this context, with anger.

Tim Grover, coach to legends such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and author of the compelling ‘Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable’ refers to controlled anger being a deadly weapon that

“can ignite our competitive intensity, laser focus, and a relentless craving to attack and conquer.”

Retired Navy SEAL and ultra-marathon runner, David Goggins, described as ‘the hardest man alive’ uses his difficult experiences to fuel his motivation as well as thinking some very dark thoughts. His achievements are truly remarkable. Watch this interview with him and you’ll immediately understand what I mean.

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Ret Navy SEAL Commander, Alden Mills, for my podcast show. In addition to having operated in the SEALS, Mills also overcame asthma, going on to win a gold medal for rowing, went on to lead his first company to $90 million in sales in just three years and authored the excellent ‘Be Unstoppable: The 8 Essential Actions to Succeed at Anything’.

During the interview Mills describes how, in times of challenge, he would intensely visualize himself failing and the attendant painful consequences of doing so. These negative visualizations would help propel him forward to crush the obstacle or challenge.

Key Takeaways

Mental performance techniques and strategies that focus on positivity and active optimism can be powerful solutions for increasing motivation and action.

For some people, in some contexts, positive thinking can undermine motivation and achievement.

Anger, painful memories or future visualizations of negative outcomes can be very powerful tools for increasing motivation and driving performance, particularly when facing extreme challenges.

One size does not fit all. Which strategy works will depend on who you are, what is going on in your life at the time and what challenge you are facing.

Aug 13 2017

Success and The Upside of No Plan B

Get That History Degree

Responsible people and organizations always have a plan B. This approach is instilled in us from an early age. You may want to go to Hollywood but just in case, have a backup plan and get that history degree.

While there are clear benefits to the safety net of a plan B, there is a significant downside. The safety net may end up being a noose. From a psychological standpoint, if you know you have a backup plan then you cannot be 100% committed to plan A.

Not having a plan B is an approach that many successful individuals have intuitively understood is a key to winning. Elite athletes are well known for putting all of ‘their eggs in one basket’.

“The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.” Goethe

According to Research…

Recent research from Wharton has confirmed the downside to making a backup plan. The process of considering a backup plan may result in less effort being invested in the primary goal, inevitably reducing the chances of success.

Professors Shin and Milkman, detail their findings in “How Backup Plans Can Harm Goal Pursuit: The Unexpected Downside of Being Prepared for Failure”.

The researchers found that simply thinking about a plan B, without actually creating it, was enough to cause people to lose focus on their goal. According to Milkman

“When people were prompted to think about another way to achieve the same high-level outcome in case they failed in their primary goal, they worked less hard and did less well.”

To be or Not to Be Responsible?

So do we play it safe but lessen our chances of winning? To some extent this depends on your ability to tolerate risk and the consequences of losing, in addition to the importance of your goals. Milkman and Shin suggest delaying making a backup plan until after you have done everything you can to achieve your primary goal, however, the reality is that sometimes this will be too late.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

Dec 24 2014

Beyond Time Management – Getting Things Done in 2015

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” -Steve Jobs

Continual Connection – Information Overload

Time management strategies were developed at a time when people had few communication channels, received information and documentation by post. The underlying assumption was that once people knew how to more effectively manage their time, their performance and productivity would improve.

To-do or not To-Do: That is the Question

Now we are subjected to a barrage of constant calls, texts, emails and social media notifications. Many of these are time and energy draining request and demands. Most of us have a rapidly growing to-do list, which typically gets added to rather than addressed. These factors contribute to a massively distorted sense of time.

When I work with clients to increase their productivity, with the aid of technology I help them audit how they really spend their time. They frequently find that their perception of how much time they invest in their most important tasks is double what the amount of time they actually invested.

Upgraded Time Life Management

While time management still has a part to play in contributing to better performance, productivity and quality of life, it should only ever be a single component of a holistic strategy.

The following 5 steps will help you get more out of your days and weeks:

Increase your focus and attention. When you increase your focus, you’ll get far more done in the same amount of time. Research indicates that every time a person’s focus on a task is distracted it takes approximately 25 minutes to get back to the same point they were at before the interruption. In addition to employing daily practices to increase and maintain your focus, consider taking advantage of focus enhancing technologies.

Increase and preserve your energy. Obvious but so often overlooked. The higher your energy levels the more you will accomplish in a shorter space of time. When you have more energy you are more likely to tackle the most important tasks that you keep putting off. The contribution that sleep, nutrition and exercise make to increasing performance and productivity cannot be overstated.

Accept you will not complete your to-do list. While to-do lists serve the function of helping you keep track of the things you need to do, they should not dictate how you structure your day and spend your time. Prioritize those tasks that will help you make the biggest leaps forward. The 20% that will give you the 80% return. Allow yourself to be ok with the fact that you will never complete your to-do list. After a while you will find that many of your to do’s were not that important in the first place.

Say No. Productivity warriors are master of saying ‘No!’ to the many time and energy vampires that are ever present. The demands of others can usually wait and often be dealt by someone else. Time is the most precious resource we have and we must guard it fiercely.
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Use Technology. There are hundreds if not thousands of productivity apps. But there only a few that are truly awesome. Apps can be incredibly useful in freeing up your brain so that it can focus on getting the important things done. These include apps to plan, track, remind you, increase your focus and store your thoughts. Always remember that these apps exist to support, not replace, your system.

Dec 18 2014

Goals Serve a Purpose but this is Critical to Success

Legendary Coach John Wooden was well known for de-emphasizing winning and losing while focusing on effort and process. To some extent this may seem at odds with the teachings of countless ‘success’ books and coaches that clearly defined goals are critical to success.

While goals serve a purpose, they should be secondary in terms of focus and effort to the process you follow and the system you have in place for achieving your goals. This is something that is often overlooked and undervalued by those advocating and using goal setting. To achieve goals the focus needs to be more on the journey than the final destination.

The Downside of Focusing on Goals

When there is too much focus on the goal, it can be a distraction from the actual process itself. To use a sporting analogy; if a basketball player is focusing on the fact that he must get the 3 point shot to win the game, this will impact on his ability to focus on how he takes the shot.

The very essence of focus is that it can only be directed on one thing at a time. Plainly the process for getting the ball into the basket is more important than what rides on the outcome i.e. the goal. Research has demonstrated that focusing on the process both reduces psychological pressure and increases enjoyment of the task.

When you have a system for achieving specific, measurable goals that builds in daily tasks, milestones and accountability, the actual achievement of the goals appears to take care of itself. You’ll arrive at your intended destination, more efficiently and with less stress.

The Upside of Goals

The above comments should not be taken as devaluing the importance of goal setting. Without clear, measurable goals there would be little point in creating a system or process for achievement. There needs to be some clarity about what the desired outcomes are.

Professor David Kohl, formerly professor emeritus at Virginia Tech University, found that those who write down their goals are 9x more successful than those who don’t.

Goals can provide inspiration and motivation. If the goals are big enough and you are emotionally connected to their outcome, they can be the fuel that keeps you going through the days, months and sometimes years of process. So make sure you have clear, measurable goals but keep always your focus on your process and system.