Why mindshifts matter?

Posted on September 09, 2020 by Preeti Kurani, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

How do you view yourself?
Do you like what you see or
do you think there’s so much more
you can do to better yourself?

The way you view yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It also determines whether you are (or can become) the person you want to be and whether you accomplish (or could accomplish) the things, the goals you value.

Many of us we believe that we are born a certain way and that our qualities, our intellect are all set in stone and are unchangeable.

We sometimes are also made to believe that not everyone is born smart. Remember those scenarios in your childhood when you were told why can’t you think and behave smartly, why are you so dumb, why don’t you do anything right, blah blah, blah.

“What the world tells us how we are soon becomes the way we view our self.”

We start developing a mindset that sets limits to our own belief of ourself, and viewing ourself through that limited lens, we start believing that our capabilities are limited. We become fixated – we aren’t good enough.

But the truth is – nobody is born smart and everybody is born equal. And some of us become smart(er) because we either get opportunities to learn or we create them. Our desire to learn and our pragmatic approach to see and take the right things from every situation is what helps us grow, is what helps us become smarter.

SMART is a skill that can be developed – at any age provided you are flexible, open, and willing to learn.

For instance – let’s consider a common scenario, and let’s experience it from a reaction (limiting) perspective and from a response (growth) perspective.

It’s your performance review day, you are nervous and feeling vulnerable. You believe you have done well, rather exceptionally well, because it is mid-year and you have achieved most of your KPIs. You are preparing for the meeting.

What are you thinking? What areas are you focused on? Are you driving up your anxiety or are you calm and reflective?

Are you thinking –
“I’ve achieved what I had set out to do, so far. And I have a plan ready for what’s next. But let me see, does my manager feel that way. S/he has often pointed out that I play it safe, I don’t take risks. S/he always has something to add on in every discussion on what I’m not doing or what I can do better. Has my work or my achievements even been noticed?

Or are you thinking –
“I’ve achieved what I had set out to do, so far. And I have a plan ready for what’s next. Let me review my work again. Am I missing anything? My Goals? Collaboration? Team Goals? New Projects? Have I highlighted enough? Have I laid down examples as support? Is there anything more I could have done or do? If I were my manager, what would I notice?

Now the points might not be very different, but the difference is – one is thinking from a fixed mindset of being undervalued and defensive. Each negative thought takes you spiralling down further leaving you with unwarranted anger, resentment, and eventually a failed discussion.

While the other comes from a mindset of growth and openness. What more? What else? This puts you in a better frame of mind resulting in a more productive and forward looking discussion as you will be more aware, open to suggestions.

Your mindset and your actions determine your results.
And that’s why mindshifts matter.
Because it influences the impact you create.

Just like every coin has two sides, so do we. The good and the bad, the devil and the god, the sabateour and the sage – they co-exist within us.

“Every moment you need to make a choice, and what you choose decides what you become.”

You can achieve momentary victories with temporary shifts, but for continuous impact, you need transformative shifts. And that takes time. It’s a journey where you learn to see things differently, your environment differently, yourself differently.

How are you viewing yourself now? What just shifted for you?