Mojo

This week we have a guest post from Candler Park instructor and an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist Dirk Baxter.  Dirk helps people identify their skills and what to focus on to become more successful.  

With bootcamp, we encourage goal setting. What is tough is sticking to that goal through the month and beyond. We are aiding the campers as they work towards their behavioral goals (working out more, being in better shape, eating better, being happier).

To that end – I want to show you some of Marshall’s work around executive leadership.

Marshall is a friend and mentor of K and myself. He works with leaders to effect behavioral change. He is a Buddhist – and really believes in “paying it forward”.

In his recent book – Mojo - http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/mojo/

He outlines a number of Tools. (note that his whole website is free if you want to use the materials on it.)

I wanted to highlight a tool that he reviews on page 127 of the Mojo book.

These are his words:

---------------------------

When people initiate a personal campaign to improve themselves – for example, lose weight, shed a bad habit, exercise more, be nicer to their coworkers (or family members), run a marathon, learn a new language, play a musical instrument, elevate their Mojo – there is a high probability that they will fail. (to cite a statistic: In 2006, Men’s Health reported 71% of Americans failed to achieve their fitness goals for the year.)

Why do people give up? 6 reasons

MOJO Tool #3 – Be the Optimist in the Room

1)      It takes longer than we thought. Our need for instant gratification trumps our patience and discipline.
2)      It’s more difficult than we thought. Improvement is hard. It if were easy, we’d already be better.
3)      We have other things to do. Distractions tempt us to take our eyes off the ball.
4)      We don’t get the expected reward. We lose weight but still can’t get a date. We put in the extra effort, but the boss doesn’t notice or care. This creates frustration rather than inspiration to persist.
5)      We declare victory too soon. We lose a few pounds and say, “Let’s order pizza.”
6)      We have to do it forever. It’s not enough that we quit smoking. We can’t have another cigarette for the rest of time. Maintenance is tough!

If you can maintain your optimism in the face of these six negative forces, you have an enormous advantage over most people. Optimism is not just a mind-set; it’s a form of behavior that guides everything we do. It can be self-fulfilling. And it’s contagious. The optimist in the room always has more influence than anyone else.

Take a hard look at the six factors that will help derail your goal achievement. Know that they are coming. Then when they happen (and they invariably will), you will realize that these challenges are normal and be more likely to “hang in there” and maintain your optimism.