5 Fantastic Ways To Upgrade Yourself

Morning Leaders,

We all have aspirations and goals and things we want to achieve. Sometimes we see something we want, or that someone else has and we want it right now. We often overlook that in order to achieve that goal or to move into that role we need to become someone different than we are today.

Focusing on Personal Development can provide an overwhelming number of opportunities, experiences and fulfilment. The number one thing which most people crave is progression, the feeling that they are moving forward.

Lou Holtz quoted:

In this world you’re either growing or you’re dying, so get in motion and grow.

Rather than being over-focused on the end result or the goal you are chasing, enjoy the process. Having a personal ethos and focus on self-improvement and becoming a better version of yourself will lead to greater fulfilment than the goal its self.

So with that in mind, I am going to share some ideas from which I have seen great results from over the years which will help you to upgrade yourself and sprinkle more value on the people you lead, the teams you work with and the business you contribute to.

5 things which will support your growth and help you to add more value:

1) Books - read, read, read. If you want to grow your knowledge, if you want to think more creatively, if you want to elevate your level of thinking and gain more inspiration, then reading is the best investment of your time. Committing 20 mins a day is a good starting point. Whether it’s personal development books, productivity or leadership, pick up more books and feed your mind. I prefer a book over audio, but if you cannot get along with books then try Audible.

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

2) Coach - hire a career or leadership coach, or find a Mentor.

Les Brown once quoted

You can’t see the picture when you’re in the frame.

Very accurate. We don’t see the blind spots and we need an outsider’s perspective. Sometimes it’s not even the blind spots, you know exactly what you need to do or what you are doing wrong, but you don’t turn up. You don’t stay disciplined. A coach isn’t someone who tells you what to do or where to go, they ask you critical questions which inspires creative thinking and importantly they hold you accountable. You need that. Otherwise procrastination or fear will prevent you from taking massive action. I work with a coach and I can personally tell you I am taking more action and getting more done because I have that person in my circle.

3) Learning - adopt a beginners mindset and always be open to learning from everywhere and everyone. I learn from my kids, I learn from my team, I learn from good and bad experiences, I learn from other leaders, I learn from resources. I look for the opportunity to learn in everything I am doing. Whether you commit to acquiring new knowledge by setting time aside each week for training resources or spending time with other people to learn from their experience and work, you will see a significant improvement in your competency by learning more. Especially committing to subjects important to your role. Never stop being open to learning new things, this way you’ll always be open and won’t overlook lessons which come in unusual packages.

4) Personal Knowledge Base - while you are feeding your mind with great content you are not going to remember everything. Unless you have a very good memory, you will often be a victim of the forgetting curve. So I would recommend you make notes on the things you have learnt, important takeaways from the books you are reading and really important, documenting your self-reflection while you are on this journey of self-improvement. I use Notion which allows you to easily store notes in a digital repository. Alongside making notes and reflecting on your work will really help you absorb more and learn quicker.

5) Circle - who you spend time with is who you become! Are you spending time with the right people?

The proverb says:

Birds of a feather flock together.

Is your immediate circle a positive supportive thriving tribe? or is it slowing you down and negatively impacting your mindset, aspirations and progression. The impact on your thinking and behaviours, and ultimately your success is hugely driven by the people you spend time with.

Pro Tip: Spend time with seasoned people who are where you want to be, and have demonstrated the competencies you are looking to acquire.

Photo by Margarida CSilva on Unsplash

Hoping this list of ideas will sprinkle some wisdom and give you some ideas on things to think about.

All the best

David

Resources Of The Week

• App - Blinkist. Do you ever read books and think there was a lot of fluff in there? Blinkist saves you hours with its premium book summary app which condenses hours of reading down into a 10-15 minute summary for you to read or listen to. Try this app to save you time and learn quicker.

• App - uDemy - this is an online training platform where you can take courses in almost any subject. I have taken around 3 courses and found the quality and instructors to be great. You can usually find good Leadership courses in the promo reduced to £10-£20. Excellent value for a course to sharpen your skills.

• Book - 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. This book goes into the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams, even the best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Great book and proven actional steps all leaders can apply.

Quote of the Week

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” - Albert Einstein

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