Posts tagged “resilient leadership”

It’s easy to get caught in a rut, doing the same thing day after day. These day after day activities are our mindless habits, and are repeated without thought. From time to time, however, it is important to examine these habits and how your mental and physical health are affected by them.

Physical Habits

How we eat, sleep and exercise are all extremely important to our physical health. Yet, it is easy, especially during busy times, to neglect these important habits. When busy it is easy to eat too much fast food, stay up too late working and skip our exercise routine to get more time in at work.

These bad habits catch up, however. Lack of sleep causes lack of focus, which causes you to slow down at work. Bad food and lack of exercise cause weight gain and a bloated, unhealthy feeling, and ultimately lead to sickness and disease.

This week, make a commitment to change one physical bad habit. Maybe you’ll elect to bring a healthy lunch from home, get to bed by 11:00 each night, or take a walk around the office parking lot each day. Small steps are easier to manage, and add up more quickly than you think. Next week, take another small step, until you’ve made your habits healthy again.

Mental Habits

Our mental habits have just as much impact on our well being as our physical habits.  A negative mindset can slow you down.

Negative mindsets come from many sources. Maybe you have naysayers who tell you your business will never get off the ground. Or, maybe you are your own biggest critic, constantly chiding yourself, and never living up to your own expectations.

Maybe your bad mental habits are spending too much time draining your brain on work and not enough doing the things you love.

The second challenge for the week is to improve your mental habits, too. If you’re filled with negative self-talk, start writing down what you say to yourself. Then, create a positive response and begin using it every time you have that negative thought.

If there are naysayers in your group, find a way to avoid them, or tell them you don’t want to hear their negative comments. Stand up for yourself.

Take a break from work and relax your mind by doing something you love.

These little habits add up to big impact on your life. Pay attention to the things you do each day and replace the habits that are hurting you with those that can help you soar!

Commitment is one of the most important aspects of success, regardless of the type of goal. Commitment, when it is true and deep, is a great fuel for moving forward. It is important to understand, however, even when you are deeply committed to a goal, you must have the systems in place to help you meet that goal.

Too often we want to rely on willpower to help us meet our goals. However, relying on willpower is often ill-fated, as it is a resource that runs out quickly. We only have so much mental and physical energy to support willpower, and soon we give into our old habits because we are drained of this energy.

Rather, to meet goals, it is important to have systems in place to help move you forward. These systems will operate when your willpower fails, helping you to stay on track.

A simple example is of the proverbial dieter, who has vowed to give up cookies. This dieter is much more likely to be successful if she ensures that she doesn’t have access to cookies in her home than if she buys cookies, ostensibly for her family, relying on her willpower to refrain from eating them. It is likely that there will come an evening, after a long hard day at work, when she is tired and hungry. The cookies on the shelf will seem to be calling her name, and it will be too much for her willpower to overcome.

Systems set you up to be successful. Systems can be routines that help you stay on track, or even support people who hold you accountable. Systems can also be substitutes, helping you to replace problems or obstacles with more acceptable means. Using the example above, support systems might include dieting with a buddy, while substitutions might include buying low calorie cookies to help avoid a feeling of deprivation, allowing the dieter to have a snack.

Change is difficult, and making real change takes a period of practice. Having the systems in place to help you develop the right habits and keep them, will help ensure your success in making the changes you need as a leader.

As a business leader, it’s likely that you spend most of your time focused on your day to day actions. Of course, this is important, but it can be just as important to ensure you’re having the right thoughts throughout the day, as well. When was the last time you examined your daily thoughts?

Your inner voice has a powerful effect on your overall attitude and outlook. If you are constantly having negative thoughts, you could be setting yourself up for a number of unhappy experiences. Negative thoughts can contribute to the following bad habits:

• Procrastination – If you’re constantly telling yourself that your work doesn’t matter, or that the outcome will probably not be what you want, you’ll likely find many reasons to put off getting that work done.

• Stress – Constantly dwelling on the negative or assuming that the worst will happen creates stress, which can lead to many different emotional and physical health issues.

• Negative Effect on Others – If your inner voice is making you feel negative about yourself and your work, your attitude is likely visible to others, at least in subtle ways. Even if you don’t voice your negativity, you are likely putting out a “negative vibe” to others. This can demotivate employees and affect your personal relationships, too.

Check Yourself
Take the time to write down the negative thoughts that plague your mind. Then, write down the thoughts you should use to replace the negative ones. Keep the list where you can see it for a few days. Whenever you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, force yourself to replace them with the kinder words on the list. It will take some discipline on your part, but you will find, over time that you have reprogrammed your brain to be more positive in your thoughts and outlook. When you reach this point, you should find yourself happier and sporting a much more positive outlook on life.

Indecisiveness can cripple a business leader. Often, we find ourselves doing nothing simply because we are unsure of the right action and are fearful of making the wrong choice. Sometimes, we find ourselves particularly fearful of taking action after having made a decision we now regret.

It’s important to remember, however, that delaying action can be just as bad, or even worse than making the wrong decision. When we fail to make decisions, we pass up opportunities, and we allow something, or someone, to control our business inadvertently. Here are five things you need to know about taking action.

1. It is stressful. Don’t wait for making hard decisions to get easy. That generally doesn’t happen. Occasionally, you will find that delaying a decision will allow circumstances to play out and make the decision easier. However, more often than not, delaying the decision only delays the stress; it doesn’t eliminate it.
2. Taking action is empowering. Making a decision and moving forward makes you feel in control of your situation and your business. Sometimes, you will make the wrong decision. But as long as you learn from those decisions and take corrective action, you are still exercising control.
3. The more you take action, the easier it becomes. Each time you make the right decision and move your business forward, you will gain confidence. This confidence fuels you for the next hard decision. Even when you fail, you will gain knowledge and experience that will help you make a better decision next time.
4. It’s ok to ask for help. Seeking counsel doesn’t make you weak; it makes you wise. Turn to mentors and trusted advisors to help you make the best decisions rather than always trying to go it on your own.
5. You will gain respect. Peers and employees have more respect for leaders who aren’t afraid to take action, even when there is risk involved.

Everyone has fear when it comes to making hard decisions about important matters. Over time, the decisions may not get any easier, but your skill and confidence in making them can definitely grow, leading to greater and greater strides forward for both you and your business.

Tis the season!!! Of course the holidays are past, but this season is as recognizable as the one we just left. The gyms are full and bottled water is flying off the shelves. January is traditionally the time of year we recommit to healthy habits……….at least for a few weeks.

To provide you with a little extra incentive to keep those New Year’s resolutions about eating right and exercising, here are a few more benefits you’ll gain besides just looking better and living longer.

1. You’ll sleep better. Busy business people are often tired, and often have difficulty finding enough hours in the day to get the sleep they need. Eating right and exercising can help you get better sleep, so you will likely find you need less sleep to feel rested. Just remember not to eat or exercise too close to bedtime to ensure the most restful night.
2. You’ll have more energy. You will find a little extra spring in your step when you get regular exercise and avoid unhealthy foods. You might just find that you are able to work a little longer if needed.
3. You’ll have better focus. The improved sleep, along with the energy from exercise and healthy food will usually provide mental clarity and a better ability to focus on the task at hand. When you sit down to work on a project, you’ll almost certainly find that you can give it your full attention more easily than before.

The little extra time you take to plan your meals carefully and get some exercise can pay off in so many ways. In the beginning, you may feel that all this healthiness takes time away, but you may soon find that you have time to spare because your newly found energy and focus allows you to get through your day’s mundane tasks quickly and efficiently

Staying successful in business requires constantly evolving to stay in step with the market, the competition and the trends. One of the obstacles that can get in the way of growing your business and keeping it successful is your own unintentional narrow thinking. It is human nature to want to continue to do things the way you’ve always done them.

Making a conscious effort to break out of your normal thinking routine is one of the least expensive and best ways to see opportunities and possibilities to improve your business. Here are a few simple ways to help break your regular thinking routine.
1. Take a look outside your industry. We tend to evaluate our own processes, procedures and even our goals by how others in our own industry do business. Sometimes, however, you can find new and better ways of doing things by looking at other industries. In particular, it can be helpful to see how other industries measure their success and how they market to their customers.

2. Take a look at anything you haven’t changed in the last 24 months. Most of the time, we have the attitude that if something isn’t broken we shouldn’t fix it. However, when we fail to routinely evaluate our ways of doing things, we run the risk that we won’t notice something that actually is broken. For example, are you still running advertising through exactly the same channels? If so, when did you last evaluate how much business you receive from those channels? Take a look and see if it makes sense to switch up your advertising routine a little.

3. Look at a business that failed. Conversely, it’s a good idea to evaluate a business that didn’t make it to get ideas from a negative perspective. Evaluate the reasons a similar business failed to see if you’re making any of the same mistakes. This can be a really eye opening tool and can help you to fix problems before these become significant.
The key to keeping your business fresh and up to date is making sure you don’t get too comfortable in any of your routines. A successful business person is always looking for new and better ways to do even the most routine business tasks.

Listening is an important skill that many of us have not truly mastered. We may believe we’re good listeners, yet still miss many of the nuances that go on in every conversation. When you can improve your listening skills, you’ll find that you’re far more in tune to what’s really going on. You’ll also find that you are more respected and revered as a leader. Here are some things you can do to improve your listening skills starting with your very next conversation.

1. Listen without formulating a response. Very often, we are already thinking about what we’re going to say next, before the person has even finished speaking. Don’t begin to formulate your answer until the other person has finished. This will help you catch every word, as well as formulate a more well thought out response.

2. Listen without judging. Don’t spend your time thinking about how you feel about what the person is saying. Just hear them out.

3. Read between the lines. Body language, facial expression and tone of voice are all important to the overall communication you’re having with the other person. Pay attention to all of these parts of the conversation. It will help you to better understand the meaning behind the words.

4. Have an open mind. We often come into a conversation with the belief that we know what the person is going to say, or that we already understand their perspective. We may immediately anticipate how the conversation is going to turn out. We may go into it with a pre-set agenda. All of these things can cause us to not truly hear what the other person is trying to say. Go into every conversation believing that the other person is about to say something you need to hear. Then listen carefully and think objectively about what they have to say.

It is common for people to feel unheard. We often rush to judge or respond to what someone else is saying because we want to make sure we get our own message across. But, when you relax and truly listen to what someone else has to say, you may find that there is much less need for you to fret over your opinion being heard. Instead, you’re likely to find there’s far more common ground than you imagined.

Any major pursuit in life is a big undertaking. There are often many months and many steps required to reach a goal. Because of this, major accomplishments can seem overwhelming, and this feeling causes many people to give up on their goal.

There’s a very old joke that speaks to the problem of overcoming an overwhelming goal. It goes like this: “How do you eat an elephant?” “One bite at a time.”

This old saying is a great way to remember that no major goal can be accomplished at once. Any big undertaking must be taken just like eating an elephant – one small bite at a time. There are several advantages to breaking your undertaking down into several steps.

1. Breaking your goal down into smaller steps gives you a plan. When you list the small steps in sequential order, you immediately have a plan to follow to reach your goal. Take it one step at a time, and you’ll get there.

2. It’s easy to measure your effectiveness. When you measure how you accomplish each smaller goal, you’ll be able to see if you’re on track to reach the larger goal.

3. You’ll avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed. When you break a large goal down into smaller ones, you can get a sense of accomplishment regularly, and you’ll feel that you’re making progress. It is this feeling of accomplishment that helps you stay motivated toward achieving the larger goal.

4. Consistency is easier. When you are able to work on smaller goals and you see accomplishment regularly, you are likely to be more consistent in your overall efforts. When you are measuring yourself only in larger goals, it can be tempting to feel the need for a break once a goal is achieved. With smaller goals, you get just as much accomplished, but you don’t feel so exhausted when you finish.

The work is the same whether you attack a project as one large task or several smaller ones. However, the psychological advantages attained by breaking that elephant into small bites may be just what you need to keep going until you reach your goal.