Partner Article

Making a mindset for being your best

Charlotte Hogg, Britain’s Personal Best ambassador, looks at striking the right entrepreneurial mindset.

I hear the word ‘mindset’ mentioned almost everyday - people are searching for it, explaining it, trying to create one or empowering others to make theirs better. But I ask, what is a mindset and how, when it is clearly so complex, do we speak about it so generally?

When I think about ‘mindset’ a thousand other words spring to mind - determination, focus, resilience, strength, stamina, I think about self talk, intelligence, control, clarity, insight, understanding. I picture when my own mindset has been at its best - what did that mean to me? Running 30k, graduating with a 1st class honours, being able to honour client commitments when my dad had a heart attack - the list is endless but in thinking about my own mindset I realise that it invariably means different things to different people and so perhaps shouldn’t be used so ambiguously.

A few years ago, I co-founded a business called ‘Mind Combat’ and worked with a leading psychologist to help people create, control and manage change in both their personal and professional lives. At the time, I believed that you ability to create and control change defined your mindset and I still believe today, that there is a lot of truth in this. Life, goal posts, expectations and situations are always changing and between your current position and your ability to reach any goal or objective is your ability to change.

I progress and develop every day - both professional and personally, even though it may not always feel like I am making much progress. I change my eating and exercise habits, I learn new things about my business, I improve my management style and develop the way I communicate with my team. I work hard to control, train and manage my own thoughts and at the core of all of this lies my natural ability to create change.

The problem is, that just like the word ‘mindset’, ‘change’ is also a bit ambiguous and I didn’t really know what change really boiled down to until we really started to study, understand and interegate it. The team at Mind Combat developed ’The Change Chain; which was used to help people create change in the areas of health and well being, professional development and entrepreneurship.

The change chain, which was developed predominantly by Khody Damestani is now used at mymaxme and is widely used and credited in the academic world. The chain details the following seven stages which determine an individuals ability to create, control and manage change effectively. Ones ability to reach their ultimate goals and objectives is based largely on the strength of each of the stages detailed in the chain and over the years, I have found that simply having an awareness of my change chain has had a huge positive impact on my life.

I believe that these steps largely create a mindset and think that each stage can be learnt, developed and improved upon by individuals who are keen to develop themselves or improve their ability to reach their goals and ambitions.

The stages of the change chain are:

1. Anything is Possible: this relates to have a conscious and subconscious belief that you are able to reach your goals and objectives. Total belief is essential and you will know if you have room to improve in this area if you are plagued with niggling doubt around your ability to reach your goals and objectives.

2. Switch your focus: there are many validated theories like the law of attraction and the self fulfilling prophecy that state you are more likely to create what you focus on. Switching your focus means that you focus on what you want to achieve and what you want to attract rather than what you don’t want to. It can also mean that you have to focus on what you stand to gain rather than what you have to sacrifice and what you have achieved rather than what you have left to learn.

3. Change your self perception: in any undergoing any significant change, it is important that you are able to change into the person that you want to be - whether its a healthier, happier or more organised version of yourself. You also need to feel confident in yourself, and understand that you are worthy of the rewards and potential recognition creating change in your life will be. It is important that you feel you are ready for the change, capable of achieving it and worthy of the success, additional responsibility or reward it will bring.

4. Click of Commitment: The click of commitment will play heavily into your levels of motivation. This is the difference between temporarily incentivised or permanently motivated to achieve your goals and objectives. Once you have fully committed to reaching your goal or objective, it becomes a much easier journey. It is likely that you will see each obstacle or hurdle as simply part of your journey rather than a hindrance, setback or potential failure.

5. Redefine Achievement: Many changes are challenging to create and it can be difficult to reach your ultimate goal or objective. It is important that you reward yourself during the process, recognising each and every step you take towards reaching your ultimate goal. In this you will find confidence and ambition to continue your journey towards reaching your ultimate success.

6. Take the edge off fear: Fear has an unusual relationship with your performance in any aspect of your life. The catastrophe theory shows that there is only a tiny step between your peak performance and an inability to do anything. Some levels of fear, nervousness or excitment are needed to engage and motivate you. These emotions often keep you focused and driven yet too much of any of these emotions mean that you are unable to operate at all. Taking the edge off fear relates to your ability to keep your performance at its peak despite the additional pressures that may be put on you.

7. Directed Action: Whilst the other 6 stages of the change chain look at your ability to manage your mind for change, directed action is about having the right tools and resources around you to reach your objectives with short term and long term objectives laid out.

If you think you might be able to use these tools to reach one of your own goals and objectives or simply reach your personal best, register your own challenge with Britain’s Personal Best. Find out more at www.whatsyours.org

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Britain’s Personal Best .