I had a conversation today that really brought ‘mindset’ to life for me. The person I had the conversation with is a friend, who has another friend that wants to get into the same line of business as Adaptas. My friend, (lets call them ‘M’) introduced me to their friend (lets call them ‘T’) 48 hours ago (in person or IRL).

Since that first conversation 48 hours ago T has contacted me 3 times with thoughts/ questions/ ideas on courses they might attend. I have happily responded with my thoughts.

On an early morning walk this morning, I mentioned to M that T has been in touch a few times. M was shocked and expressed concern that T is taking advantage of me.  I explained to M that I am happy to respond and it is no problem.

Getting under the hood of M’s beliefs as to why they believe T should not be in touch with me so much, we have established that M believes that it is not correct to ask for support more than once. I only met M less than a year ago and many times I have seen how M is not achieving many of their dreams and aspirations for their life. M has a few limiting beliefs that are holding them back, including this belief re. asking for ‘support’. And I think a lot of us hold that belief.

I explained to M, that T has a growth mindset, and that adopting a growth mindset can help any one of us to overcome obstacles and get to where we wish to be in our life and career. I don’t know T well (only 48 hours) but I know that if I get to a point where T is sending me too many messages,  I can tell T that this is the case, and T will be open to that feedback. Why? Because I already recognise from our conversations so far that T has a Growth Mindset.

Let’s define what a growth mindset and limiting beliefs are.

A growth mindset is the belief that your abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and learning. This means that you approach challenges as opportunities for growth and see failures as opportunities to learn and improve. On the other hand, limiting beliefs are negative thoughts and attitudes that hold you back and prevent you from reaching your full potential. They are self-imposed restrictions that limit what you believe is possible for yourself.

Many people have limiting beliefs.

These limiting beliefs that many of us hold are often beliefs such as “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I’ll never be successful”, or “I’m not as good as others”. These beliefs can be deeply ingrained and hard to shake, but they are not based in reality and are holding many of us back from reaching our full potential in life. I have seen over the years, both in myself, and in my clients that by recognising and challenging these beliefs, every one of us can start to adopt a growth mindset and see challenges, and setbacks as opportunities.

Adopting a growth mindset can have a profound impact on your life.

Adopting a growth mindset helps you to see challenges as opportunities for growth, rather than obstacles that hold you back. It encourages you to embrace new experiences and take risks, knowing that failures are simply stepping stones on the path to success. And most importantly, it helps you to develop a deep love of lifelong learning as a human being.

So, how can M adopt a growth mindset and overcome their limiting beliefs? Here are a few tips to get M started:

1. Recognise their limiting beliefs: Take some time to reflect on the negative thoughts and attitudes that hold them back. Write them down and challenge their validity.
2. Embrace challenges: Instead of avoiding challenges, embrace them as opportunities for growth. Approach each challenge with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn.
3. Celebrate failures: Failure is a natural part of the learning process, and it should be celebrated, not feared. Instead of viewing failures as setbacks, see them as opportunities to learn and grow.
4. Surround themselves with optimistic people: Surrounding ourselves with optimistic and supportive people can help to reinforce a growth mindset. Seek out individuals who encourage and support our growth and development.
5. Keep learning: Continuously seeking new knowledge and experiences helps to maintain a growth mindset. Stay curious and keep pushing to learn and grow.

For my friend M, adopting a growth mindset and overcoming limiting beliefs is a journey that will take time and effort. But, the rewards will be well worth it. By embracing challenges, celebrating failures, and continuously learning, I know that M can live a more fulfilling life.

 

Dr. Celine Mullins, CEO adaptas, Author of Our Learning Brain and Developing Learning Habits

Creating change is challenging, and trying to create change amidst the business of modern life can sometimes feel impossible. We are so caught up in doing that we struggle to find time to reflect, see patterns, and plan for change and growth. For centuries, the concept of retreat has given people the opportunity to step away from the normal routine of their lives, and in doing create space to think differently.

Our brain is ultra-familiar with the normal pattern of our lives. Introducing novelty, through a change in environment and routine, makes us more aware of ourselves. Combining that with space to think and be, and guided structure to support personal insight and growth is what makes the retreat experience so special.

We would love to invite you to join us from May 5th to 7th 2023 for a truly unique retreat experience in the Wicklow Mountains. Set aside some time entirely for you. Meet a like minded group, savour delicious, locally made food, breathe in the fresh mountain air, and engage with your personal growth. Create momentum through stillness, peace, and personal insight.

If you’d like to join us, reach out to us at annika@adaptastraining.com.

Here’s a little more about what to expect!

We work with a lot of people who have been trying to change themselves and their lives for a long time, and honestly they’re exhausted. They’re fighting so hard to change, but they’re not getting the results. Typically when this happens people assume there is something wrong with them. They listen to the voice in their head telling them they aren’t good enough, smart enough, talented enough, motivated enough, or perfect enough to be who they want to be, and they stop trying. 

 

Helping people change is a big industry. There are tens of thousands of products, services, and programmes out there promising change and yet few can deliver on that promise. Why is that? 

 

Neuroscience gives us some clues. Who we are is essentially a memorised pattern of neural connections in our brain that map out habitual thoughts, beliefs, actions, and reactions. Dr. Joe Dispenza argues that we have all “mastered a particular mental and emotional state, or way of being” through thousands of hours of practice over our lives. This memorised way of being dictates certain patterns of thought and behaviour. Therefore, it is impossible to think differently or act differently until we first figure out how to ‘be’ differently. 

 

Many of our clients have struggled so long with change because ultimately they’re fighting with themselves. They haven’t gone deep enough to find a new way of ‘being’ which will allow them to then think and act differently. 

 

For example, imagine a professional who experiences extreme anxiety speaking in front of people. This anxiety is coming from a learned and long-practised pattern of thought and belief that goes something like this:

 

I’m not good at this. I’m not sure I can do this. It’s very likely that I’m going to make a mistake and embarrass myself. Even worse, if I fail everyone will know I’m not good enough and will judge me. My incompetence will impact my opportunities.  

 

If this individual simply tries to think more positively or act confident they will be fighting against their practised way of ‘being.’ Deep down they will still be embodying the fear of not being good enough.  

 

But what if this individual learned to access the emotions and thoughts of someone who does believe they’re good enough? By stepping into being someone who believes they’re good enough, and learning new thought patterns to support that, this individual will be able to first rehearse, and then eventually embody, real confidence and self belief.  The same applies to all of us in approaching change.

The question is, how do we do that? How do we embody a different set of beliefs and emotions? How do we ‘be’ different from who we have always practised being?

By reprogramming our core beliefs. 

By shaking up everything we thought we knew about ourselves and moving forward with a curious mind to discover what else is possible.

By getting comfortable with the unknown. 

By practising new patterns of ‘being’ through a combination of mental and embodied practices. 

When we step into a new way of being we are no longer fighting with ourselves. So, our advice to you is stop fighting against yourself. You won’t win! Instead, start doing the deeper work to be a different version of you. Be the person who enjoys exercise and healthy food, be the person who knows they are good enough. Be the person who enjoys the challenge of speaking in front of others.

This type of change doesn’t happen overnight. Research shows that repetition, accountability and support are key for success. It takes a minimum of 10 weeks of consistent practice and support to start and maintain the process of rewiring who you are. Recognising all of this, we run a Group Coaching Programme based on our research, the psychology and neuroscience of change, and our combined experience helping people accomplish successful change.

 

In the Skills for Growth Programme we show you a different way of accomplishing change, so that you no longer have to fight with yourself.

 

Find out more at www.adaptastraining.com/skills-for-growth

As you may have noticed, my colleague Celine has posted a series of blogs recently on Strategic Thinking and Planning (missed them? You can catch up here, here, and here!). 

In Oct 2021, Adaptas launched the Skills for Growth programme. Check it out HERE, to find out more or register for the next programme kicking off January 2022. Designed to develop self-leadership through habit change, this programme was built from Celine’s books Our Learning Brain and Developing Learning Habits. We are now over half way through the 1st cohort and some of the comments include:

 

 

“This programme has helped me appreciate myself more and gain a deeper understanding of myself.”

“I love that this programme is so open, the people are great and there is no judgement.”

“Do this programme!” I’m already recommending to people. It’s helped me unblock my thoughts on certain things.”

 

So, what does strategic thinking and planning have to do with habit change and self-leadership? As it turns out, a whole lot. Read on to discover how becoming more strategic is the key to leading yourself to successful change. 

 

Strategic Thinking and Habit Change:

Strategic thinking happens when we pause to look at the big picture. It requires open-minded, expansive, outside the box thinking and demands that we consider that there might be a different, even better, way of doing things.  Very often, if we don’t pause to look up from the busy day to day bustle of our lives, we become hampered by the limiting belief that this is the only way things can be. Strategic thinking helps us start to build the belief that something different is possible. Strategic thinking gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves: what do I wish was different? It allows us to look at what is happening around us and expand our vision of what is possible. 

 

Let’s make this a little more tangible. 

Let’s say an imaginary person, Aoife, is really struggling with day to day overwhelm in her life. She feels she is just running every day from her home responsibilities (3 children under 10) to her work responsibilities (sales manager over 15 direct reports). The narrative that runs through her head is:

“There is never enough time, I can’t manage this, I am failing in all areas of my life, it’s impossible.”

If Aoife was to pause and think strategically, here is what could happen. Having realised that something needs to change, she might look around her for examples of how other people might be doing things differently. Through a bit of research and speaking to others, she might come across ideas such as time-boxing her schedule to get better control over distractions and her plan for her days and weeks. She might learn that other people in similar roles to her have built strong boundaries around communication with colleagues outside of work hours. She might come across the idea that scheduling in and fiercely protecting sixty minutes of personal time per week can give you the opportunity to ground yourself and maintain better emotional balance.

Aoife might start to build a vision of a different reality. She might still not know how to make that alternate reality real, but just by imagining it she is opening herself up to the idea that something different is possible. She has started to get clarity on what exactly she wants to work on changing. Now, instead of the vague goal of being less overwhelmed, she knows she specifically wants to work on:

1. Implementing better planning and distraction management through trying a time-boxed scheduling approach. 

2. Building clearer and stronger boundaries between work and personal life.

3. Carving out and protecting sixty minutes of personal time each week to re-charge and ground herself. 

Next week we will look at how Aoife can build on this awareness with Strategic Planning to successfully lead herself to success with her habit change goals.

Thanks for reading!

Annika, Learning Programme Designer and Facilitator

Read more about Annika here.

 

In recent weeks and blogs we’ve been considering how to ‘Be Strategic’ and making distinctions between Strategic Thinking vs. Strategic Planning.

 

I am not a strategy specialist. I am coming at this topic ultimately from the perspective of my role as a psychologist and coach, helping people, teams and organisations to step back a bit and consider; ‘Is there another way I (we) can do life and work?’.

 

 

 

Strategic Thinking vs. Strategic Planning:

 

Strategic thinking is about looking at the big picture and considering new ways of doing things and requires ideating, being open-minded, imagining, seeing alternatives, blue sky thinking, root cause analyses and lots more.

 

Strategic planning is about translating vision into defined goals, objectives, and a sequence of steps describing how to achieve them and requires organising, prioritising, focusing, detailing, implementing, charts, timetables, task lists and lots more.

 

In his book The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning (1994), Henry Mintzberg stated that the label ‘strategic planning’ should be dropped because strategic planning has impeded strategic thinking. Over 15 years later many individuals, teams and organisations fail to consider the difference between ‘strategic thinking’ and ‘strategic planning’;  the importance of both independently and interdependently; and the need to help all people at all levels of an organisation become more strategic.

In my experience, the mistake is thinking that ‘strategic planning’ is enough.  However, for the volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA) world we live in, it is not enough. As we have seen so clearly during 2020, the future does not resemble the past. Our future success as people, teams,  organisations and as a planet depends on considering new ways of doing things, ideating, being open-minded, imagining, seeing alternatives!

 

Mintzberg says “It is this disassociation of thinking from acting that lies close to the root of (strategic planning’s) problem.”

 

Your ‘be more strategic’ challenge: Part 3

• If you rewound time back to early 2019 and you knew that Covid-19 would sweep the world one year from now, what benefits might there have been to allotting time to ‘strategic thinking’ and ‘strategic planning’ for your own life, the life and work of your team/s and the success of your organisation?
• See below a few questions to get you ‘thinking’. Part 1 might guide your thinking if you are going through a strategic thinking process for yourself personally and in your role and career. Part 2 might then be a natural next set of questions to guide your thinking if you are thinking strategically in considering yourself as a leader of others.

 

Part 1:

 

What do I like to do that I want to do more of?

What do I not like to do, that I want to do less of?

What do I get from what I do?

What do I not get from what I do?

 

 

 

 

Part 2 

Most of the below questions are taken from a webinar delivered by @Peter Hawkins in July 2020 through @Coaches Rising. I thought the questions were really useful, especially because of the impact of all decisions we make today as leaders for the future survival of our species.

 

What is my reason to exist as a leader/ businessperson/ manager/ etc (you add as you wish) ?

 

 

What do I most care about re. my legacy / the impact I can have?

 

 

Who and what does my work-life serve?

 

 

What would the people/ organisations/ other stakeholders/ the world/ the environment say is the work I need to do to grow?

 

 

What might I regret in 1 year time not having worked on all of this?

 

 

What might I regret in 5 years time not having worked on this?

 

 

If all my stakeholders (these can be real or imaginary) were in the room 1 year from now what would they appreciate about the actions I take in the coming months?

 

 

What would these stakeholders main challenge/s to me be right now? e.g. (what can I do more of / less of / differently?)

 

 

If you have managed to  complete  these questions, please share your takeaways. Let’s  learn  from each other.