Organize Tomorrow Today: 8 Ways to Retrain Your Mind to Optimize Performance at Work and in Life by Jason Selk & Tom Bartow & Matthew Rudy

Author:Jason Selk & Tom Bartow & Matthew Rudy
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw
ISBN: 9780738218700
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2015-12-21T14:00:00+00:00

Setting goals too high and hoping to “get close” is one of the most damaging things you can do to your performance.

The third core principle is where you have to learn to be abnormal. Normal people focus almost completely on product goals. And product goals are fine for spectators or stock pickers. But when you’re talking about your own goals, it is the process goals that need to be on the forefront of your mind and at the top of your priority list each day. You need to be tracking process goals at least weekly, and preferably daily.

The highest performers learn to devote much more focus—85 percent, at least—to process goals, and they evaluate themselves on how they do on that scale. The product goal—making a certain number or getting a certain title—is the destination. The process goal is how you get there.

In 2006, Jason started working with one of the St. Louis Cardinals players during spring training. The player was coming off an especially bad season the year before, and he told Jason that he felt like he played very “tight.”

Jason asked the player what he thought about when he stepped in the batter’s box, and the answer was astounding:

I’m looking at the Jumbotron and I can’t believe what it says I’m hitting—.253 or something. I start thinking to myself that this isn’t going to work—and that’s when it gets in my head. I can actually feel myself start to tighten and press. It’s so hard to stay in control of your emotions and thoughts when you have everybody watching and you’re under the microscope.

Jason helped the player start focusing on his preparation and performance process instead of the external results of each at-bat.

At the end of the season, the Cardinals had clinched a play-off spot, and the player had improved his average more than 30 points. He had been a key member of the team all season. This is what he said during his “exit interview”:

I basically had to say “screw it” when it comes to results. I made a point to judge myself on the process. Every day, I followed my routine. Every cut. Every ground ball. No matter what the result, I made myself emphasize the process, and I held myself accountable for doing the work. I stopped looking at results and forced myself to think “process” was the win. In the end, the results speak for themselves. Focusing on process flat-out works.

Another client came to us after a successful career as a television broadcaster. She was transitioning into financial advising, and she wanted to make sure she was putting strong building blocks in place at the beginning of her career.

One of the first habits we helped her establish was to be relentless in attacking her two main process goals every day—contacting two high-net-worth investors, and completing her Success Log evaluations. (We’ll describe this tool and supply a log form in a few pages.)

Focusing on the process instead of the results you’re getting is a challenging

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.