Owl-HR Blog

Try Thinking About Your Goals in a Different Way

All of us want to be more effective in some area of our lives. Maybe it is finding the perfect job, making a big sale, being a better leader, being a more effective parent or improving our health. “Do you have to be confident in order to achieve your desired results or does achieving your desired results make you confident”? This question was posed by Dr. Julie Bell in her book, “Performance Intelligence at Work”. Her question had me pondering my thought process when I reached my goals compared to when I fell short. Every single one of us has our weak areas where we are less than completely confident in our abilities. Overcoming these vulnerabilities is the key to reaching our goals. Our minds are extremely powerful and we can coach ourselves to change our behaviors in order achieve our goals.

I occasionally have one of those days when I am just not “feeling it” and I’m less than satisfied with my performance is some area. We’re taught to be optimistic and see our glass half full, but how do we change the way we think when we are feeling less than confident? This is my strategy for cranking it up a notch:

At the end of the day, I think about what I accomplished and what went well rather than the stuff I didn’t get done on my list or where I failed. Thinking about my accomplishments puts me in a more confident frame of mind; not to mention, I am a little more pleasant to be around. Don’t think about your performance as all or nothing, success or failure. It is a combination and a range of both.

The beginning of each day is all about reviewing my game plan. I think about changes I can make to improve my performance. These are usually small things like adding more details to a message in order to be clearer. Maybe you decide to focus more on your listening skills when speaking with a potential employer or client. The change might be to remember to thank your assistant for his hard work or skip that piece of chocolate cake. Coach rather than criticize yourself.

I keep my goals in mind, but it is more important for me to focus on the process rather than the outcome. Are you taking the actions you need to take each and every day to get you where you want to go? When thinking only about your ultimate goal, like being the top sales manager, landing the perfect job or running a marathon, it can seem overwhelming. I find that I experience more success when my thoughts are focused on doing the right thing. The positive outcome generally follows.

Good Luck!