I hope this post finds you well. I wanted to start by thanking you for the brilliant response you gave to my last blog post, announcing my new email resources. If you haven’t already, you can sign up here to receive fortnightly resources straight to your inbox.
InsideOut living is an attitude and philosophy that I encourage all of my coaching clients to engage with. It combines life learnings, neuroscience and positive psychology with mindfulness and centres around taking control of your inner thoughts.
In this article, I want to delve deeper into this principle and offer you three actionable tips to unlock your full potential, drawing from my experience and learnings as an executive coach.
Tip #1: Take time to reflect
A common misconception about reflection is that it is a passive exercise. In fact, it is an intentional practice that allows us to learn from our experiences, and if you are able to make a habit of it, you will see a difference in your own growth and achievement. Karate students are encouraged to practice Mokuso, karate’s version of meditation. Before a training session commences, the sensei calls out “Mokuso”, which signals to the students to let go of their troubles and focus on the present. There are lots of benefits to entering this state of mindfulness before training, it improves focus and provides the awareness required to progress in karate. However, introspection can provide insight in all areas of our life.
Consider dedicating time each week to reflect on your experiences, challenges, and successes. You could approach this freely by using a journal to “dump” your thoughts as and when they come into your head. However, I recommend using a reflection framework to guide your thoughts, particularly if reflection is a relatively new practice to you. By reflecting in a structured way, you may find it easier to gain insights from your thoughts.
In the first of my new email resources, I have included two simple exercises that I find very useful, after learning them many years ago from my own mindfulness teacher. Sign up here to receive this in your inbox and start your reflection journey.
Tip #2: Set goals
Goal setting is a powerful tool for personal and professional development. It can provide a combination of long-term direction and short-term motivation, which can create the perfect momentum to achieve success.
A common pitfall in goal-setting is creating goals that are vague or unattainable. We can avoid this by using a goal-setting method such as GENESIS, the goal-design method outlined in my book You Can Live a Blackbelt Life.
By defining productive goals and creating a plan to achieve them, you can drive yourself towards success with clarity, confidence and motivation.
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Tip #3: Build positive habits
All humans are creatures of habit. It’s in our nature to create habits because they help us function. I’m sure we can all think of certain habits we aren’t proud of, however, certain habits that support our aspirations can be the difference between achieving our goals and getting stuck. Habits are neural pathways in the brain formed from repetition and reward mechanisms. The miracle of life has gifted us the ability to create new life-changing habits for a lifetime.
Discipline cultivates habits and is essential not just for any karate student to develop but all students of life. Developing positive habits will help us on our journey of self-improvement.
Begin by identifying areas for improvement by asking yourself: “What do I want to achieve and what’s standing in the way of me getting there.?”. The next step is to implement small, achievable changes in your routine. For example, if your organisational skills are preventing you from achieving improved results, perhaps introduce 30 minutes each morning to set out your to-do list for the day. Habits take time and discipline to develop, but once a positive habit is established into your routine, doing it can feel almost effortless. There is lots of interesting and encouraging science to support habit forming. Please note, it’s not about breaking habits, its about starting new ones!!
Imagine what you could accomplish this time next year by introducing one new positive habit today and sticking to it.
Key Takeaways
- Reflection is a key tool, for personal growth, sign up to my fortnightly resources to receive a framework to support your journey
- Setting goals with clarity can drive significant progress
- Positive habits are the key to achieving your goals