There’s a little voice we all hear in our minds. People call it many different things: your conscience, your higher coach, the angel on your shoulder…whatever name you’ve given yours, you know what I mean.
The constant dialog is there because our brains are always at work processing information and helping to guide our actions.
Usually the message is loudest and has the biggest effect on us when we’re about to do something that we feel is risky…or that we’re afraid of…Or we’re uncertain about…The common denominator is fear.
I’ve recently been experiencing some pain in my wrist AND numbness in my foot. I know that I should go to the doctor. But I haven’t.
Why? Because I don’t want to hear bad news, or have to stop exercising, or work harder to recover. I’m scared of those things so I’m avoiding taking action that might just help me.
Oftentimes we know what we need to do but we get in our own way for many different reasons and fail to do anything.
The leaders that I coach are smart, driven, and successful. They’ve risen to the top ranks of their companies and sometimes lead hundreds of employees. Some have been in their business for 20 years or more. They’ve studied and learned about leadership but many don’t put that knowledge into action.
For example, one leader I coached felt constantly overwhelmed by the volume of work and emails she needed to conquer every day, yet she failed to delegate important tasks to her competent team members.
Knowing that her team could help her was a given. Actually taking the time and effort to pass tasks along was a different story. In her mind, delegation meant more work, not less, and also held the potential for lower quality results (can you hear the fear in there?).
Once she realized that delegating important work items demonstrated trust and also empowered the team, not to mention diminishing her workload, she was on board.
In my years of coaching I’ve noticed that people often want THE change but they don’t want TO change.
Whether you want to achieve peak performance in your business or push your leadership to the next level it takes intention, commitment and purposeful ACTION! As a leader, YOU have to become more engaged to model these behaviors and inspire your team to do the same.
Ready to go from Knowing to Doing? Below are 5 tips to take all that knowledge and put it into action immediately!
1) Tune In
You have a constant dialogue in that brilliant head of yours. But how often do you actually slow down long enough to pay attention to it? This is all about awareness.
If you feel conflicted or scared about taking action it’s important to check-in with yourself: How do you feel? What are your core thoughts about the situation? How is your intention (or goal) aligned with your values? When have you been successful at something like this before and how can you use that knowledge/strength in the current situation?
This acknowledgement and self-coaching will often help you gain the clarity to need to make the “right” decision and take action.
2) Be open to possibility
If you’re nervous about what the outcome might be, try letting go of the fear of “what if” and instead ask “I wonder if it might be possible…?”
When you focus on possibility instead of problems, all of your energy goes into manifesting that result successfully.
3) Become comfortable with uncomfortable
My coach constantly reminds me that it’s important to channel nervous energy into productive action.
What she means is that I need to push myself beyond my comfort zone, even when it feels uncomfortable.
If you feel content with everything you’re doing, you’re not pushing yourself to grow. It’s often when we’re about to make the biggest leaps that we feel nervous. Embrace that feeling (and know you’re about to do something amazing)!
4) Take imperfect action
Perfection isn’t possible. When leaders accept this, a huge burden is often lifted as they realize that all anyone can expect of them is that they do their best.
Worst case scenario? If it doesn’t work out the way you wanted, you’ve learned something and have the opportunity to try something else.
(*Hint: Same goes with your team. What if they felt empowered to try things without fear of failure? Imagine the results!)
5) Support change and growth
The only constant in this life is change. As a leader, you must model how to be adaptable in the face of uncertainty and even adversity.
Continuing to do things “the way they’ve always been done” breeds stagnation and obsolescence. Adopting a mindset that change is beneficial will instill confidence in your staff to focus on growth and innovation.
So, the next time you hear yourself and know what you need to do, don’t hold yourself back. Go ALL IN and take action! Action, after all, is the only way to achieve results.
If you’re interested in ramping up your energy and productivity, schedule a Complimentary Discovery Call with me today!
You can also download my free gift, “The Rule-Breaker’s Guide to Managing Your Energy at Work” to learn how to take back control of your energy every day!
