Don’t Settle for Mediocrity, Strive for Mental Toughness

Yesterday, I was listening to Experience Pros Radio http://www.experiencepros.com/ on AM 560. Eric and Angel were talking about the book, 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class by Steve Siebold http://www.mentaltoughnesssecrets.com/ . Who doesn’t want more mental toughness especially as we are still sloshing our way through a less than forgiving economy? We could all use more toughness as we think about goals we want to achieve in 2010.

Mental toughness? What does it really mean? How can we train ourselves to have it so that we can find that next fulfilling job? If you’re an employer, how can you find employees that are mentally tough or how can you retain current staff that already have this quality? If you are the boss, maybe you need to work on your own mental toughness.

Siebold says that folks with mental toughness possess the following qualities:

-Champions Lead Through Facilitated Introspection
-The World Class Compartmentalize Their Emotions
-The World Class Are Ferociously Cooperative
-The Great Ones Possess Supreme Self Confidence
-The World Class Embrace Metacognition (understanding how you think)
-The World Class Are Coachable
-Champions Know Why They Are Fighting
-The World Class Operate From Love and Abundance
-School Is Never Out For The Great Ones
-Champions Are Interdependent
-The Great Ones Are Bold
-Champions Are Zealots For Change
-The Great Ones Don’t Give Back…They Just Give
-Champions Are Masters Of Mental Organization
-The Great Ones Only Negotiate Win-Win Deals
-Champions Seek Balance
-Champions Believe In Honesty
-The Great Ones Aren’t Afraid To Suffer

From the point of view of your own mental toughness, which of these qualities do you have and where are you lacking? Think about the skills you already have and how you can leverage them to get a job, obtain a promotion or be a better boss. What deficiencies do you need to honestly address in yourself that is hindering your success? The key here is to be honest with yourself.

As an HR professional coaching supervisors and looking for great talent, this list is screaming the qualities of people driven to succeed that I want in my company. In order to engage top talent in your organization, you need managers with mental toughness. Champions want to be led by example, not just lip services from the top. Your recruiting process needs to be designed to pinpoint coachable, confident, honest team players that aren’t afraid to put the company, clients and other employees first. Your training programs need to teach managers how to encourage mental toughness in others.

Push yourself and your organization to the next level in 2010!

What Is Your Game Plan?

This can be a crazy time of year if you let it. We’re planning and attending parties, shopping for gifts, finishing year end projects at the office, writing holiday cards, hanging lights, planning menus and the list goes on. While you’re at it, don’t forget to put yourself on that list. Find a time and place where you can concentrate on your game plan for next year. It’s time to get psyched! What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?

If you know that one of your goals next year is to get a job, make a career transition or seek a promotion, attend all the holiday parties you are invited to and network. Show your enthusiasm for where you want to go and the value you add. Excitement and drive about your passions is contagious so pass it on!

Your game plan doesn’t have to only be about career goals. Think about your personal objectives as well. Many of us are on the quest for improved health and fitness. Maybe you want to improve your relationship with a friend or family member, learn a new language or learn how to play the piano. I am from Arizona and have a goal of embracing winter sports in the Rockies, so I plan to head out on snow shoes for the first time this afternoon.

Once you know what you want your outcome to be, set some interim goals to move you in the right direction. If you plan to run a marathon, sign up for some shorter distance races in preparation. Small victories will help you stay motivated.

Be transparent about your goals. Telling some else about what you plan to achieve can often keep you on track. Look for other people with similar goals and interests and bounce ideas around with them. The support and camaraderie can be a big help.

Get ready for a great year!

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!