Boredom, disappointment and demotivation can easily lead to distraction, lost time and wasted opportunity. It sucks.
Worse is when we compare ourselves with a false image of ‘successful people’. However… most go-getters are not go-getting all the time. They have dips just like the rest of us. Surges of productivity and focus, along with times of pessimism, boredom, and disappointment.
Despite a certificate in resilience coaching I myself need a mechanism, a system, a ritual, to lead me back into the light of motivation and productivity.
Here are 5 steps based on the psychology of high achievement to reset your mindset with powerful motivation.
Step 1: Connect With Purpose
The mindset reset begins by emotionally connecting with purpose.
Sometimes we feel like hibernating from the big bad world outside. Overwhelmed by opportunity. Frustrated by short-term failures.
That negative emotion can actually become useful for resetting our mindset.
Our emotions are a signal. They help us navigate towards the light of positive motivation.
You may have heard the idea ‘motion comes from emotion’. That is, motivation comes from an emotional awareness of moving towards something valuable, positive, wanted, desired, good… or moving away from something negative, undesired, bad.
So the root of the mindset reset is to remember and reflect on what matters to you the most. Kind of like stretching out your emotions in the direction you want life experience to go. Ask yourself ‘what am I ultimately working to achieve?’
This creates emotional fuel to begin the climb.
Step 2: Open To Possibility
Next, imagine a bunch of doable end-results in the near-term. Perhaps something you could get done today, or for a particular project, or across several life categories. The key here is to keep it simple enough to be actionable and within reach.
Imagine those outcomes. A completed article. A tidied house. A new business contract. Whatever the positive end-results are that would be satisfying to you in the short-term. Don’t limit to only one thing. Have several in mind, but ensure they are believable and achievable.
Step 3: Chunk It Down
Take each end-result and chunk it down. Let’s use ‘writing an article for ThriveGlobal’ as example. From the vividly imagined finished result, what are the components of a worthy piece to be published?
The writing needs to be readable. Conversational in some way. It has to provide practical value. It should be empathic and help people relate to their own life situation.
To do that, I need to browse other articles for inspiration, jot down ideas, use my own previous writings and techniques to find something worthy to communicate, write, edit, and submit.
Step 4: Think On Paper
Now that you’ve connected with purpose, opened to possibility, and chunked your end-result down into pieces, you’re primed to brainstorm specifics in a notebook.
The key to ‘thinking on paper’ is getting good at asking yourself questions. A solid first question for a mindset reset is ‘what am I thinking about?’ Start writing from there. Another question is ‘what do I want?’
Jot down your thoughts from the previous steps of the mindset reset and you’ll be well on your way to an actionable plan for a relatively easy and quick win. This builds momentum.
Step 5: Make Moment-by-Moment Choices
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. Converting the emotional and mental clarity and energy into physical action and forward momentum.
Remember, the goal of the mindset reset is to get you back into a state of productivity and positivity. Keep it simple. It’s vital to choose something that is significant but isn’t difficult to complete.
Take each step as an end-result in its self. Don’t make each step a chore in order to reach the end-result. Each step is an end-result in itself. Indulge in each step. Enjoy doing it.
As you complete each step, recognise yourself for progress made. Feel good about it. Then consider the next step. Rinse and repeat the entire 5 step process if you need to for each chunk of your project: Connect with purpose, open to possibility, chunk it down, think on paper, and make moment-by-moment choices.
The Mindset Reset is adapted from the Productive Bliss Mini-Course.
Reference: Kruglanski, A. (2018). A structural model of intrinsic motivation: On the psychology of means-ends fusion. Psychological Review, 125(2).