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1.
The Outcome Frame of
Mind
John
(not his real name) sat in front of me with a forlorn face. He
had just given me a litany of reasons of what was not going right
in his life and career at that point of his life. His
childhood, his father, his marriage, his friend who persuaded
him to leave his previous job, his
current supervisors. All of them were to take some blame for
the quandary he was in.
His employer
had sent him to me to help him
get out of the rut.
I
asked him “So, John, what exactly do you want to do or be
now?” He was silent for a moment and then blurted “That’s
where I need help! Please tell me what I should do.”
John’s reply is quite typical of people who are
under-performing. For example, when I asked some
underperforming students “At the end of the year, how many A’s
do you want to score in your final exams?” I got glazy looks from them. Then they
mumbled something about the need to be realistic about their
abilities, or why they didn't wish to be stressed out.
When I asked
the same questions in the elite schools, the replies came fast
and furious.
“10 A’s”
“8A’s”
“9A’s”
The
main difference between those who are performing and those who
are not, boils down simply to this:
What frame of
mind are they mainly pre-occupied with?
Go-getters focus their minds mainly on what they want - their
outcomes, be it career, family, financial status or
whatever.
Underperformers, on the other hand, focus their minds mainly
on the problem, the reasons for the problem, why the problem
is not good
for them, how life is unfair to them, who’re to blame for
their predicament. These questions go through their minds
again and again, like a spiral. A downward spiral.
And this can
quickly become a mental habit covering many areas of their lives.
So, the next
time you face a problem (and all of us are
not short of them!), be mindful of adopting the Outcome frame
of mind. The questions that you would want to pre-occupy your
minds are:
·
What
do I really want?
·
When
do I want it?
·
How
will I know I have it?
·
When
I get what I want, what else in my life will improve?
·
What
resources do I have available to help me overcome the problem?
·
How
will I best use the resources that I have?
·
What
am I going to do now to get what I want?
·
Are
the steps clear enough to me?
.
When
do I start?
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