Many successful execs and entrepreneurs “brace” themselves before a big deadline, a massive project, or a tough week. What are the highest achievers among us doing that would be more productive and less stressful?
I see this mindset in many executives and entrepreneurs that I come into contact with– and that is what it truly is, a way of thinking that makes a pre-supposition.
When they have something significant coming up, they almost literally batten down the hatches for battle. In doing so, they unconsciously make an assumption that it’s going to be not only challenging but difficult. They assume that there will be inevitable storms.
Having interviewed dozens of CEOs in the past two years, some of whom run some of the most influential companies in the world, I noticed something they do differently, and it centers around that “Hone Your Focus” spoke of my Well-Being Wheel. These peak performers take an entirely different and unexpected approach to an upcoming challenge and do what 41-year old serial entrepreneur and #1 NYTimes bestselling author Tim Ferriss does: They ask a simple and life-transforming 9-word question, “What would this look like if it were easy?”
This is really the essence of reframing, and approaching a challenge with a open-minded sense of possibility. It invites the inquiry, “What if?” It also allows for opportunities to pop up, especially ones that might inspire the situation at hand. It’s not that these peak performers are blinded by rose-colored glasses or unrealistic, but they have such supreme confidence in themselves, such faith in the teams around them, and such openness to the world at large, they they are operating on a different plane. Instead of battening down the hatches, they are, in essence, rolling up their sleeves and rubbing their palms together. They can’t wait.
Where in your life this week could you ask this simple question. What would this look like it if were easy? For me, I am rewriting the intro and first chapter of my upcoming book, and Lord, if it were easy, I would be divinely inspired, I would write effortlessly in a way that inspired those who read it to take action, and I would finish in a fraction of the time I expected; so much so that I would have time daily to take my labradoodle for a walk. There. Let’s go for that!
Quote I love: “Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths.”- Rumi
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!
I see this mindset in many executives and entrepreneurs that I come into contact with– and that is what it truly is– a way of thinking that makes a pre-supposition.
When they have something significant coming up, they almost literally batten down the hatches for battle. In doing so, they unconsciously make an assumption that it’s going to be not only challenging but difficult. They assume that there will be inevitable storms. Do you ever catch yourself doing this?
Having interviewed dozens of CEOs in the past two years, some of whom run some of the most influential companies in the world, I noticed something they do differently, and it centers around that “Hone Your Focus” spoke of my Well-Being Wheel. These peak performers take an entirely different and unexpected approach to an upcoming challenge and do what 41-year old serial entrepreneur and #1 NYTimes bestselling author Tim Ferriss does: They ask a simple and life-transforming 9-word question, “What would this look like if it were easy?”
This is really the essence of reframing, and approaching a challenge with a open-minded sense of possibility. It invites the inquiry, “What if?” It also allows for opportunities to pop up, especially ones that might inspire the situation at hand. It’s not that these peak performers are blinded by rose-colored glasses or unrealistic, but they have such supreme confidence in themselves, such faith in the teams around them, and such openness to the world at large, they they are operating on a different plane. Instead of battening down the hatches, they are, in essence, rolling up their sleeves and rubbing their palms together. They can’t wait.
Where in your life this week could you ask this simple question. What would this look like it if were easy? For me, I am rewriting the intro and first chapter of my upcoming book, and Lord, if it were easy, I would be divinely inspired, I would write effortlessly in a way that inspired those who read it to take action, and I would finish in a fraction of the time I expected; so much so that I would have time daily to take my labradoodle for a walk. There. Let’s go for that!
Quote I love: “Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths.”- Rumi
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!
