3 tips to end the year on a high note

It’s almost the end of another year.  Most of us would have this nagging feeling or thought “Another year and what have I accomplished?”.  I do believe that everyone started the year with great hope and expectation of many great achievements and successes.  However, I am also certain, that most of us are now in the category of “Where did all that time go?” and “Oh No! I have not achieved what I had set out at the start of the year.”  Don’t worry, all is not lost, we have 6 more weeks to go to end the year on a high.

So let’s get cracking:

  1. Review or set up some goals to end the year.  If you started the year with some goals in mind, look at them and remind yourself what they are and see if it’s still relevant or not.  If they are, then put a 6 week plan in place to achieve it.  If you did not start the year with any goals in mind for fear of not achieving any, then I would have to say well done cause you did achieve that goal.  However, if you now feel that maybe I would like to end the year knowing that I achieved at least ONE thing, then write that ONE thing down.
  2. Create a structure and a plan to achieve the goals.  Create an action plan and put structures around that to help you achieve it.  Most of you would know what an action plan would be and look like, and I would like to add structure to that plan.  That would mean scheduling it into your calendar, setting up alarms to get you going, putting up post-it notes to remind you and so on.  Structure supports the action plan by ensuring that you are reminded as well as setting aside the time to make it happen.
  3. Be your own cheerleader or find someone you  can be accountable to.  To achieve any goal, requires not just discipline and commitment but also motivation.  Set up your own mini reward system.  For example, I started the year with a goal of achieving a score of 100 or below in golf.  I am now at 101 and for that I rewarded myself with a mini “gift”.  I have also decided that once I have achieved my goal, I have a bigger reward in place for that.  Sometimes, having a reward in place can be a great motivation for you to just push that little bit harder.  Better yet, be accountable to someone and you can be one another cheerleader.

The shorten time frame can be a good thing as it gives you a sense of urgency.  This can spur you on and might be enough to help you meet your goals.  Don’t waste time, you can still create a win for yourself.  Ending the year on a high means that you start the new year on a high and you never know where that would lead you to next.  Don’t end the year wishing or regretting that you did not do this or that.  There is still time to make it happen.  So just do it.

7 Key Attributes of a Successful Athlete that is in You

I am sure that watching sports of any kind is one past time that most of us do.  Some of us might even take part in some form of sports.  In fact it does not matter what type of sporting activities, the lessons that can be learned are immense.  The top 7 lessons from  participating in any sporting activities :

  1. Passion:  there will be a certain love for the sport.  That love drives a passionate response in us.  One that will create a wholehearted commitment and dedication to a specific subject.  Think about a sport that you are passionate about.  Think about all the various information that you know about that game eg the players, the statistics, even to the point that you might be wearing the team jersey and more.  Now marvel at just how much you do know when it is an area that you are passionate about.  Now think about a topic that you have no interest in and marvel at just how little you know.   Passion will dictate where you put your heart and mind and energy into.  I believe that every one of us must have passion for something.  Passion drives us to want to grow and strive for excellence.
  2. Commitment and Dedication aka Never Give Up Attitude:  In any sporting activity, there is a sense of “Never Give Up” attitude.  You could have a bad run one day, but you are out there the next day giving it another go.  You could have a bad golf game today, you are certainly out there on the golf course the next day.  In a team sport, you can’t give up and leave your team mates stranded, you keep on playing and keep on fighting until the game ends.  This type of commitment and dedication serves each of us well not just in sports but in life.
  3. Team work:  You will learn what team work is all about.  There is no sporting activity that is isolated or where success is solely dependent on you.  In any activity, there will be someone who acts as a coach, people who you will play with and so on.  Take running as an example, for the most part you could be doing it by yourself but in order for you to improve or have more fun, you will probably be doing it someone else.  Improvements are easier to be achieved when you are doing with other people.  Learning from others, supporting one another and winning as a team are priceless.  The ability to work in a team is a critical attribute in the workplace.  The biggest single point of failure in working in a group or team is the lack of team spirit and the rise of individualistic goals and mindsets.
  4. Hard work:  There is something to be said about hard work.  Putting in the hours, spending time on the details and making sure that everything that could be done in preparing for a project is given its attention and due diligence.  The competition is tough out there and unless the work is put into our endeavors, success will be hard to achieve.
  5. Focus on the goal:  All athletes have their eyes on the prize.  A goal that they focus all their time and energy on.  Working hard and putting in the time in order to achieve a goal.  Focus is required in anything that we do.  Without focus, we will end up starting many projects but probably never finishing any or not finishing them well.  Distractions will always present itself and if you do not have focus on what you are trying to achieve, I would say that 90% of the time, you will be derailed.
  6. Not winning is real life:  Even with all the passion, commitment, dedication and hard work that were put in, no one wins all the time.  Some days, things go our way and some days, they don’t.  Success is not guaranteed no matter what we do.  Not every project that is undertaken will  be successful.  The key is how do we learn from the not winning.  What do we gain from missing the mark?  How do we prevent making the same mistake?  How do we handle failure is critical.
  7. Always aiming to improve:  There is a desire to always want to be better, always to improve and to push the boundaries.  In any sporting activity that you take part in, there is always that desire to want to be play better,  be better and just to push yourself to see just how far can you go.  To keep on wanting to improve, keeps the motivation going.  It keeps the passion going and it fuels what you do.

When we put all those qualities together, the reality is that each of us are probably doing it in some form or another.  My circle of friends are high achievers.  I see those qualities in them every day.  Those qualities do not just exist in a Roger Federer or Jordan Spieth but in all of us.  To harness them is the key to unlocking your full potential.

3 ways to choose to see the positives.

Facing tough times, challenging situations or just feeling down are common.  Each of us face it everyday.  In each of those moments, we have a choice to make.  A choice to perceive it as negative or positive.  A choice to look for the good or the bad.  A choice to be made.  You might not have looked at it as a choice, and in fact, it is a decision to be made.  That decision will determine if you are a positive or negative person.  Each of us will have a natural personality where our perception of situations will either be negative or positive.  However, each of us has the ability to change the way we perceive a situation from negative to positive or from a positive to a negative.  To do that, a choice is made.  Hence, how do we make that choice?

I have observed these 3 key factors:

 1.  Be objective.  To view a situation as it is.  One of the most effective ways of doing this is to write it down.  Write down the situation.  Outline the issue or problem.  State the problem.  Once you have written it down, your mind is now able to visualise the situation in a different manner.  For example, you could feel that everyone in the workplace is against me.  Write the situation down and it might look like this:

A was pointing out my mistake in a meeting which was to review a campaign.  All the action items that were noted down, I was the owner of it.  I have so much on my plate and no one is helping me.

Ask yourself:

  • What was the mistake?  What can I learn from it?
  • Are those action items under my responsibilities?
  • If I need help, who can I ask for help?

Now identify the issue:

  • The issue or mistake could be :  not following up on a lead on time.
  • Learning:  Need to have a reminder in place to follow-up on lead
  • Action Items:  schedule time in calendar to follow-up on client.
  • Help required?:  Not this time.

Once you are able to write down the problem and break it down to smaller bits, attach questions and solutions to them.  As per the example above, the issue isn’t that everyone is against you, the issue to solve is owning to a mistake and solving it.

2.  Look for the solution or learnings from the situation.  Focus on thought process of what you have learned out of the situation and how it is able to help you in the future.  Write it down so that you don’t forget.  Journaling is a great way of doing this.  I used to not take the advise of journaling seriously until one day I tried it and find it to be an amazing process of finding clarity and germs from learning in any situation.  I am a visual person, hence writing things out and reading it brings out a certain clarity.  If you are a verbal person, talk it out loud.  Yes you might seem crazy, but talking it out loud (not just self talk in your head), can bring out clarity and problem solving to you as you process the information surround the situation.

3.  Decision to be made and to act upon.  You now have a decision to be made.  A decision to arm yourself with the learnings and action items and take the step forward or not.  The choice to wallow in self-pity or to get up and take the next step in a positive manner.  We all know that positive people are not perfect.  The difference is that they see a silver lining in everyone and chooses to focus on the good vs. the bad.  To make that change if you are naturally negative is hard.  However, be encouraged that with every small effort that you make to view a situation in a positive light, will over time build the “positive mindset” muscle.

In all situation, there is always something to gain from it.  To learn what NOT to do is a silver lining.  To learn how to respond differently next time is a silver lining.  It is highly unfortunate that I learn most through tough situations and I know that because of it, I don’t forget.  What about you?  How do you find the silver lining in a tough situation?

4 ways to respond to unexpected situations

You have performed well all year, achieving and in some cases overachieving your targets and you are receiving good feedback along the way.  It is natural for you to expect a good review rating and rewards as a result.  What happens when you don’t receive what you expect?  What happens when you receive a good review but the rewards and ratings do not match that “good” review?  What is your response?  What if it was the reverse, when you expected a negative outcome but received a positive one instead?

Expectations are hard to rationalise as it is our interpretation of the various sources of information that we receive.  The interpretation of all these information will determine what we expect to happen next.  The challenge is when the information that we are receiving is not consistent in forming a conclusion or thought.  For example, if you believed that you did a great presentation to a customer and received the feedback that is consistent with what you believed, then it is a confirmation that your actions were received likewise.  What happens if it is not consistent with what you thought?  We find that extremely confusing and we will either accept or reject the situation or information.

What is your response to conflicting and confusing situation?

  1. Assess the situation objectively.  Remove the emotions out of the equation as hard as it may be.  Assess the information that is presented.  In a performance review scenario, it is important to be specific and measurable and yet there are also many subjective assessments taking place.  Understanding that is critical in being balanced in our assessment of the situation.
  2. Look at various viewpoints.  Each view-point or thought is true from that view-point.  Don’t dismiss it just because it does not agree with yours.  There is always some truth in someone’s views as that is how they perceive the situation.
  3. Agree to disagree.  If you can’t find common grounds, then agree to disagree and move on.  Moving forward is critical is any situation where we are confused or feeling stuck.    When an issue is not resolved or not moved forward, the initial negative emotions will grow to take a much bigger role in how you will respond to situations later on or one that involves certain individuals.  The ability to let go and move forward is critical in ensuring that every step that you take is on a clean slate.
  4. You  have a choice to make.  We all have the power of choice.  Choice to move on, to stay, to fight etc.  Choose your choice carefully.  Whatever the choice is, ensure that it is aligned with your values and one that builds upon your character and not negatively impacts it.  For example, after a negative review, if you decide to stay, then  resolve to performance better or make the necessary improvements.  Do not stay just because you like the salary as the negative emotions and sentiments will bleed through.  It will show in your words or actions and no one enjoys the company of someone who is breeding discontent.  It is also contagious and so if you know someone like that, it might be best to stay away

I have been on both ends, as an employee and as a manager and there are times when its extremely hard to inform a performer that the rating or rewards are low due to other factors that are out of your hands such as stack ranking, impressions of manager’s  manager or if the company is not doing well financially.  There are so many variables in a performance review that sometimes, things just don’t go the way we expect.  Being matured and professional when it does not go your way is critical as it will determine how you will carry yourself and demonstrate your next steps to those around you.

The choice to respond and your approach are marks of a matured and professional individual.

3 ways to recover from an “epic fail”

Have you ever made a mistake?  Have you ever felt like you have failed?  Have you ever thought that you could not come back after this epic fail?  I am sure that I am not alone in experiencing set backs and failures.  Hindsight will tell us that those “epic fail” moments are when we learned the most about ourselves and how to get back up and start again.  It is in those moments that will either grow or break us.

There is only ONE critical mindset to have and that is to be able to separate the person from the act or mistake.  The “person” is who you are vs. the action that a person takes or makes.  Therefore the act or actions may have been a fail, the person is not a fail.  Once we are able to distinguish the two different categories, we can move on the to the ways of recovering from the act that was an “epic fail” in your mind.

I have observed with my coaching clients that there are 3 critical attitudes that exist in order to transform after an “epic fail”.

  1. Acknowledgement.  Acknowledgement and taking ownership of the mistake.  Taking responsibility for it is the first step in figuring out how to ensure that it does not happen again.
  2. Facing the consequences.  Facing the consequences of the mistake is the next step.  We all know that with every action there are consequences that follow whether good or bad.  Having the courage to face the consequences and responding to it demonstrates your maturity and professionalism.  Most of us, if we could, would like to avoid consequences especially if its negative.  However, it is important as part of taking ownership of the mistake is to manage the situation.
  3. Be alert to the warning signs.  As with all learning experiences, once we have learned from a mistake, we are more aware of the signs of an “epic fail” before it happens.  The key is to always be alert for these warning signs and know how to manage the situation accordingly.   Just like we know that touching fire will be painful, we will certainly be aware of just how close we can be to fire before it becomes painful or dangerous.  We need to be aware of situations where we might be tempted to make the same mistake.  Take precautions.

Once we are able to acknowledge , face the set back and take steps to prevent it, the next important thing to note is to never be afraid to take risk and try.  Being afraid of another set back can potentially be a bigger obstacle to your success and growth than the set back itself.  I think that the most important thought to remember is this:  We all learn through mistakes and grow from set backs.  Do not be afraid of mistakes and failures.  Failure does not define who you are but just an action that you have taken and learn from .

Coming back stronger after an “epic fail” requires:

  • Self awareness:  Being self-aware is critical in acknowledging your strengths along with weaknesses.  Know where you are vulnerable and need help and ask for help.  Know where your strengths are and how to build upon it.  As they say, play to your strength.
  • Remember past accomplishments.   List down all your strengths and past accomplishment to remind yourself just how far you have come and achieved.  This simple exercise can remind you of your capabilities and restore your self-confidence.
  • Courage:  It does take courage to get back up and give it another go.  Part of courage is about being humble to acknowledge and owned the epic fail and then to take the step out to try again.  Take courage that you are able and capable of performing the task ahead.  You are not where you are today without coming back after a fail.

I have noticed how some client’s body language and disposition changes once listing down their strengths and accomplishments reminds them of their self-confidence and abilities.  Each of us need a little reminding sometimes just to restore our own self-esteem.

Remember than a “fail” in your actions does not make you a failure.  Each of us learn from our fail and are better from it.