Change Your Mindset - Change Your Life

In 1986 I was asked to write a Business Dictionary for Random House. Truth be told, my colleague got the contract and almost gave up the opportunity because he thought it was impossible to do. The objective was to come up with 3,500 new business terms that were not in the mainstream dictionary. He thought it was impossible and too hard, I saw it as an opportunity to learn. He got ‘down about it’ and I ‘got energized.’

We took the project on based on my enthusiasm for the challenge. Then we started our project by an examination of our own mindsets. It was a curious way to start, however one that turned out to be very important to sustaining our work over the next six months.

Here is what we found out about our mindsets. When we lived inside a status-quo mindset, we saw the world as limited. When we lived inside a growth mindset, our world expanded. It was that simple, and so we both agreed to take on the project with a mind of an explorer, an experimenter, a “Sherlock Holmes” never knowing where the words would emerge – yet believing they would miraculously appear – and they did!

STATUS QUO

• Probability . . . Comfort
• Past Focus
• Cause and effect
• Fear
• Scarcity
• Knowing
• Controlling
• Uses energy
  

GROWTH

• Possibility . . . Stretch
• Future
• Pattern interrupt
• Courage
• Abundance
• Wondering
• Expanding
• Creates energy

Habits of the Mind - Shaping Your New Reality
The reality is that change doesn’t have to be hard, or negative. Too often we think of change as something to fear. Instead, let’s define change as a positive challenge that helps us grow. Let’s go a step further and define change as an opportunity to discover new possibilities for the future—opportunities that open up and expand our lives and minds in new and exciting ways.

Try This!!! Do Alone or with Others Exercise
You can do this exercise on your own or with partners. The goal is to break out of an old mindset, habit pattern and comfort zone, and to work with others as your Coach-Catalyst. In this exercise you will share your wildest imagination with others – and in doing so you will be focusing on developing the ‘aspirational’ part of your mind. Also, sharing aspirations with others helps you affirm your commitment to action.

Diagram Your Future
The following diagram will give you an opportunity to draw out how you think about your Comfort Zone. Draw a circle on the center of the page. Then around it a bigger circle. The goal is for you to see where your edges are in life, what you are holding on to, and what lies on the other side. These are the places where breakthroughs will occur for you.

Step 1: Explore the following areas. Identify situations in each, and place specific issues in either your Comfort Zone (the center) or your Desire (the outer ring). Remember: Desires are aspirations waiting to be born. Consider categories such as these:

• Big Audacious Goals
• Business Challenges
• Aspirations
• Leadership
• Business Growth
• Opportunities
  

Step 2: Identify the challenge you (or your team) are facing in each area.

Step 3: Identify three key steps you can take to move forward in each area.

Step 4: Identify three key resources you can rely on to move forward in each area.

Step 5: Identify three metrics for success: What result will give you the greatest satisfaction? How will you know when you are successful? How you will celebrate the milestones?

Step 6: Remember to repeat the steps again and stretch your aspirations.

Judith E. Glaser is the Author of two best selling business books: Creating WE: Change I-Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization - winner of the Bronze Award in the Leadership Category of the 2008 Axiom Business Book Awards, and The DNA of Leadership; and the DVD and Workshop titled The Leadership Secret of Gregory Goose

Contact: 212-307-4386 - www.creatingwe.com

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