Creating a growth mindset.
Coaching on the west coast this week with an executive who is clearly caught in a fixed or scarcity mindset. At age 60, he is working harder than ever because he claims he “loves” his job. No one else can do it like him, so he has a team of gofers whose output he controls to make him successful. He has made an outstanding income for the past 15 years, easily putting him in the top 1%. Outwardly, he has all the looks of success; however, on the inside, it does not look so good. He shared that he lives and works in fear and sees his future in 30 day cycles. At times, he wonders if he will still be alive to see the next 30 days.
This is no way to live, and fortunately for him, he is willing to make some real fundamental changes with his mindset. The challenge is how to develop a growth mindset and move beyond a “stuck in the mud” or fixed mindset. Here are 12 questions to consider:
Are you closer or more distant to your family today than you were a year ago?
Do you have more or fewer friends this year?
Do you have new friendships that are developing in the last year?
Are you working more or less hours than you did last year?
Is your personal net worth greater than what it was a year ago?
Who are you mentoring?
Would associates of yours say you are more helpful than controlling?
Are you feeling more or less contented with life than you were last year?
Whose successes did you celebrate this year?
What are three ways you have benefitted from a major mistake you made in the past three months?
When you lose a business deal, do you hear “no” or “not yet”?
Your faith walk — are you growing, avoiding, or ignoring?
Timeout is over. Give some thought to and apply the human relations principle of “Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.” – Dale Carnegie
Onward!
John Rodgers