Change your Mindset; Change your Day
I’ve been in lots of meetings where we talk about strategy and tactics. (and a lot of time tactics take over) Strategy! Tactics! In business and life, it feels that we beat those two ideas relentlessly. So much so that the strategy and associated tactics often end up not relating to the bigger purpose.
What if those discussions miss the essential aspect of your business? When was the last time you discussed ‘mindset’? Mindsets are core believes that orient the way we handle situations. Mindset is not as cut and dried as ‘fixed’ or ‘growth’ mindset. It doesn’t have to be this testosterone-driven (although this guy makes it fun) and it doesn’t have to be super complicated.
I suggest that the area where we need more attention is ‘mindset.’ Mindset is the key to the ‘Why’ are we doing this in the first place. And the ‘What’ of values we want to bring to our business and our relationships. Along with the necessary concepts of ‘why’ and ‘what,’ mindset allows us to bring creativity to any situations, whether it be a business challenge, or a team challenge, or just bringing more creativity in your daily life and relationships.
Here are nine quick ideas to bring mindset flexibility to your day and your business:
- Change the environment. Maybe the same old conference room is draining you. Take the interviewee for a walk; you might learn more about them. A simple change in location might be the easiest thing to spur a little creativity.
- Openly discuss how you want to work together. Develop clarity about how you want to work with your team, your business partner, or your client. Make it an agenda item, so they know it is of real importance.
- Set an intention for the day, the meeting, even the week. Having a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish or how you want to be will help create clarity on the actions you take and the emotions you want to convey.
- Show and express gratitude. Start a meeting by thanking someone for something they did that has nothing to do with the job function. Thank your server for the many things they get right. You, the giver, and the receiver(s) will all feel better from it.
- Change your perspective. Try to look at a situation from another viewpoint, how might another person see the challenge. Life is not an either-or game; changing your perspective is merely changing your orientation to the topic. I have a fun exercise to challenge perspectives; contact me if you’d like to find out more.
- Be conscious of the energy in a room and determine what the room needs and how can you help. Is everyone too critical? Say something nurturing and acknowledge the tension. Express your discomfort and vulnerability around the situation, maybe even use humor to change the mood.
- Use a different persona. Pretend you are someone else. I have an alter ego, Wes, that I send to networking meetings for me. Wes likes talking to strangers and making introductions for other people. Wes acts as though he is the host at every event. Admittedly I’m still working on accomplishing this effectively; old patterns can be hard to change.
- Use tools from improv to spur creativity. During meetings or at dinner with a significant other, eliminate the word ‘no.’ Try ‘yes and’ or ‘what I like about that.’ It will be challenging, and it will take the conversation to places that it wouldn’t usually go.
- Exercise! Sleep! Fatigue, lack of energy, hangovers will limit your ability to connect with the now and stifle your creativity.
So, that’s it. 9 simple ideas to adjust your mindset to bring more creativity to your day. As with all my list, I reserve the right to change and modify as we go. I’d love to know your thoughts on mindsets and creativity and how you work with these ideas.
Thanks,
Ted
