Your Belief System

Leaders,

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Your belief system is extremely important for you as a Leader.

Beliefs shape your behaviours, behaviours drive results. Your beliefs are your self-talk which encourages you or discourages you from taking action.

Part of a Leader’s responsibility is to create a vision and challenge the existing status quo. You cannot do this by accepting things the way they are. You’ll need positive and empowering beliefs about yourself and your team. So what are some of these?

Positive Empowering Beliefs:

• There is a way.

• I am not there now, but I can be there tomorrow with focus.

• Mistakes help me grow.

• Small improvements add up.

• I can get better with action and intentional focus.

Negative Limiting Beliefs:

• I tried my best, but it was someone else’s mistake.

• I am not good enough.

• This is not for me, I am clearly no good.

• I would have won but the timing wasn’t right.

• I have tried everything.

Think about when you have that difficult conversation you need to have with someone or you are uncomfortable applying for a new role because you think it’s above you. What you believe about the situation and your own assessment of your value, or the chance of your desired outcome happening, is what drives you to take action.

Imagine if you were 100% sure your difficult conversation would go very well and the role you applied for was guaranteed, do you think you would feel differently?

We’re all looking for certainty before we step up and put ourselves in an uncomfortable position. When we have more certainty we tend to develop better and more empowering beliefs.

Being a leader involves a lot of uncertainty, our role has a lot of variety and is constantly evolving. So it’s critical we build resilience and become comfortable with the uncertainty.

Uncertainty is a blocker for most people, it creates a lot of limiting beliefs. But working through uncertainty is where you add credits to your Belief System Bank.

How can I add more credits to my Belief System Bank?

1. Your Story - having a positive image of your future state creates a ton of optimism. Who you are today is not who you will be in 3 years’ time. Creating a really exciting image of who you want to become will help you narrate a better story in your mind.

2. Growth Mindset - focus on the positives and what you’re gaining from this situation, rather than the gap. It should be “this is happening for me”, I just cannot see it yet, rather than “why is this happening to me”.

3. Stretch Tasks - doing things you haven’t done before. New Projects or situations which will help you develop new experiences, perspectives, and exposure. This all adds credits.

4. Gratitude - carve out 30 minutes a week and evaluate the wins. Small wins build comfort that you’re doing a good job. Small wins add up.

5. Mastery - becoming a master within your role adds a significant investment to your belief system. The feeling that you can handle anything that is thrown at you is very comforting.

6. Avoid Debits - hanging out with fixed-minded people or those who discourage you, are not adding any value to your journey, they are debiting and slowing you down. This also includes negative news or resources, feed your mind with really positive and inspiring material that is helping you, not hindering you.

7. Exercise - doing regular exercise reduces the stress hormone cortisol and releases the feel-good hormones endorphins. This improves your state and when you’re feeling good, you’ll tend to have a more positive outlook, not to mention the number of other health benefits of exercise.

Having a wealthy Belief System will help you ride out the turbulent times, leave you feeling more resilient, and ultimately encourage you to go after what you deserve.

What things could you be doing every day to credit your Belief System?

All the best

David

My Small Weekly Wins that add up

• Delivered a Leadership Presentation to 12x Junior/Aspiring Leaders

• Scheduled and completed a coaching session (Annual Goal: Qualify as a Coach)

• Ran 2x 5k runs including a Parkrun (Annual Goal: Sub 19min 5k)

• Read 100 pages of The Art of Impossible (Annual Goal: Read 12 Books)

Resources Of The Week

• Book - Steve Kotler - The Art of Impossible - Steven decodes the secrets of those elite performers—who have changed our definition of the possible, teaching us how we too can stretch far beyond our capabilities, making impossible dreams much more attainable for all of us.

• Book - David Goggins - Can’t Hurt Me - this guy is an absolute machine. An ex Navy Seal and has completed the hardest ultra marathons on the planet. If you want inspiration from someone who has built incredible resiliency and an unstoppable belief system, this book is for you.

• YouTube - Evan Carmichael Confidence Series - Evan put together a series of daily confidence-building videos from celebrities to motivational speakers delivered via YouTube directly to your inbox every day. 254 days to Unstoppable Confidence.

Quote of the Week

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