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Igniting Leaders, Inspiring Revolutions

Purpose

How to achieve your goals with the WOOP method

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We all love an inspiring vision board – but is it really going to help you achieve your goals? We sit there daydreaming of what we would love to have happen in our life. But is it time well spent or just a waste of time?

I’m all for getting clear about the vision you have for your life, work project, or business. But some people get so wrapped up in the visualisation of their goal – they forget about how to get there. Do you focus on the process or the end outcome of your goals?

Gabriele Oettingen, a professor at New York University, developed a practical activity to help people achieve their goals. And visualising is only one part of the story! She breaks goal setting into four main parts and calls it WOOP.

 

The WOOP Method

Get your pen ready!

Wish – What is something you want to achieve? Make it specific and challenging – but also achievable.

Outcome – What will be the result or outcome of you achieving this wish? Imagine, visualise and feel what it will be like to achieve your wish.

Obstacle – Time to get realistic here! What could be the main barrier to you achieving your wish? It’s time to think about how it’s not going to work, and what obstacles or barriers may spring up.

Plan – You’ve brainstormed the challenges. Now it’s time to get that positive hat back on and make a plan to overcome the challenges! When these challenges pop up, this is the plan you turn to.

Now that I’ve outlined Gabriele’s model, I would like to add one more element. Let’s change WOOP into WOOPA!

Action – What is a small action you can take every single day to move toward reaching your wish?

 

Why I love this model

I love this model because it busts some serious goal setting myths.

1. Vision boards are really popular. But I think they can sometimes have the opposite effect. When you only imagine your goals and aspirations, it can soon turn destructive if you can’t achieve it. The more time we spend thinking about our goals, as if we’ve achieved them, it can downplay our sense of motivation to actually achieve them!

2. Another popular saying in goal setting is to “always think positive.” The trouble with this is that any goal worth achieving is going to encounter challenges. We need to dive into the obstacles that we might face to consider innovative ways around it.

3. Focus on the process – not the overall goal. Once you have a clear sense of your vision, then focus your attention on the daily actions required to achieve it. Make this your focal point and get good at smashing the everyday activities needed for your success. Yes, it’s not as alluring as focusing on your big goal – but it will make all the difference in actually achieving it!

 

Same Goal, Different Approach

Even the biggest goals can be broken down into small actionable tasks. Take the NaMoWriMo Challenge for example. Every November, thousands of writers globally challenge themselves to write a book in a month. 50,000 words is the target.

Now you may be thinking, “50,000 words – that’s huge!” But if you break it down, it’s just 1,667 words each day for 30 days.

Small but consistent action can be really powerful. When you focus on the daily action, the results will take care of themselves. Dare to try?

Now over to you: What do you think about adding action to the WOOP method? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 

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How to follow your purpose when things get tough

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Living according to your purpose, strengths, and values will dramatically improve your life for the better. But it will not be easy. A study from the University of Pennsylvania found that pursuing one’s purpose can trigger anxiety. I know this in my own life to be true – and of many change-makers too. It can be exhausting to follow a greater purpose. You wonder whether you’re making a difference, whether it’s worth it, and whether there is an easier way.

Following your purpose is a process, not a destination

Following one’s purpose makes many people feel like they are not good enough. That where they are in life isn’t good enough. And they feel they may never be good enough to live their purpose. If that is you, you need to understand that following your purpose is a process, not a goal. It is the sense of direction that guides what types of activities and accomplishments you pursue. And your success at those things does not define it!

Purpose requires sacrifice

Another big reason why people do not pursue their purpose, strengths, and values is that it requires sacrifices. In some ways, society makes it easier to just eat junk food, lie on the couch after work, and binge watch the latest tv show. Or to think that the latest gadget or expensive bag will bring you happiness.

Purpose takes sacrifice. To live the life of a revolutionary, you have to make decisions outside the norm. You have to take actions outside the norm and surround yourself with those moving on a similar path.

How to hang in there when following a purpose-driven life gets tough

1. Know the stress coping mechanisms that work best for you. Change is stressful! And stress on top of additional responsibilities can make transitioning to living a purpose-driven lifestyle difficult. What are the activities that get you in flow? Running, dancing, painting, playing with your kids or going for a walk in nature? Get in the flow.

2. Stick to a sleep schedule to prevent exhaustion but also be prepared for some sleep-deprived days. If you are working full-time while acquiring the knowledge and experiences that you need to transition into a position that more closely aligns with your purpose, strengths, and values, some tired days are inevitable. However, you are unlikely to achieve your goals if you are continuously exhausted. Arrange your schedule to ensure you have at least six to eight hours of sleep. Sleep is integral – don’t skip it!

3. Celebrate the small milestones. This is so important! We forget to celebrate along the way. When you make progress by finding your purpose, consistently do something that enhances your strengths, step out of your comfort zone to make a decision that aligns with your values, or achieve any other milestone, acknowledge it. Research shows that celebrating small wins makes you more motivated and happy. It’s the small things – don’t forget it!

Find a Partner

A powerful way to ensure that you stay on track is to find an accountability partner. Think of it as peer coaching.

The American Society of Training and Development found that people who have an accountability partner are 95% more likely to complete goals on time than individuals who try to achieve their goals on their own.

95%! That’s huge!

Your peer coaching partner could be a work colleague, supportive friend, or family member who will not let you make excuses. Or if you want to grow alongside other people who are pursuing big goals, join a mastermind.

Masterminds are groups of people who support one another in their goals. The benefit of being in one is that not only does the group hold you accountable for what you tell them you want to accomplish, seeing the other members of your group do great things can increase your motivation to do the same.

Final Words

Stick with it. As Ryan Holiday would say, the obstacles are the way! Take every challenge and reframe it as a way of learning, a way of improving, and a stepping stone to living the life you want. And remember, a little stress helps us challenge ourselves as we rise to the occasion!

Now over to you: What is holding you back from pursuing your purpose? I’d love to know!

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One simple change to your development plan

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Want to shake up your professional development plan this year?  I've got a strategy that can play a huge role in reframing your professional development. 

Without even thinking, we are so conditioned to focus on your weaknesses and it makes sense for the most part.  We fill out professional development plans with strategies to overcome the areas we are not good at.  However extraordinary leaders are not created by having no weaknesses, they are created by having built mastery around their strength areas.  In fact, you have the most opportunity for growth in your areas of strength not your weaknesses. 

Pop quiz time!  What do you think?

 

Is a strength:

  • Something you used to get an A for in school or university?
  • Something you’re born with?
  • Something you can teach others?
  • Something you can learn and master?

Nearly! Marcus Buckingham describes a strength as something that makes you feel STRONG.  It’s partly something that your drawn to do, something that feels almost effortlessly simple to you and draws on your innate talents. 

Buckingham explores the three elements of all strengths.

 

Talents - These are your innate abilities.  Buckingham describes them as “naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour”.

Skills - Skills are the action steps of any activity.  It’s a learned behaviour.

Knowledge - Knowledge is acquired too.  It involves the information that you learn.

If you combine all these three elements you get a strength!   It’s a great reminder - you can’t rely on natural aptitude (your talents) alone to build your strength, it must be combined with learned knowledge and skills.

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work"

Emile Zola

Of course, there are some things that we are naturally good at, but don’t give you that sense of energy and enthusiasm and therefore we are not drawn to build our knowledge and skills in that area - this is not our strengths.

A strength must fulfil you, give you energy and gives you that sense of flow.   As Emile’s quote reflects, you must work at your natural talents to create them into an area of true strength for you.

Yes or No

Here’s an easy Yes or No quiz to get you thinking about harnessing your strengths and the strengths of others in your every day life.

  • I can name my top strengths easily Yes / No
  • I use my top strengths daily Yes / No
  • I encourage others to use their top strengths Yes / No
  • I work on my strengths as much if not more than my weaknesses Yes / No
  • I focus on building mastery in my areas of strength Yes / No
  • I continually look for ways to use my strengths more Yes / No
  • I work with mentors who contribute to my strengths Yes / No
  • I do not let the fear of my weaknesses get in the way of my success Yes / No
  • I build my self confidence in my strengths Yes / No

The more yes answers you have, the more you are heading down the pathway of discovering and utilising your strengths every day and around you.

If you got a few no answers - don’t stress!

We are taught to acknowledge our strengths and work hard on our weaknesses.  In fact, there is a stronger focus to fix your weaknesses rather than focus on your strengths. 

What is this was switched?  What if we lived in a world where we focused on mastering your strengths?

In another of Marcus Buckingham’s books Go Put your Strengths to Work, he says that 61% of people believe you will grow the most in your areas of greatest weakness. Buckingham himself calls this a myth.

“You will learn the most, grow the most, and develop the most in your areas of greatest strength” Buckingham says.

What are your preconceived thoughts about strengths and weaknesses?   Do you have the mindset of focusing mastering and harnessing your strengths or focusing on fixing your weaknesses?

Do you struggle through fixing your weaknesses?  Working on those areas that you find boring until you get it right?   If so, it’s time to ask whether that behaviour serves you or not? 

One exception

In John Zenger’s book, The Extraordinary Leader, it does acknowledge that this notion of focusing on strengths and leaving your weaknesses works UNLESS you have a fatal flaw.  A fatal flaw is a weakness that will impinge on your success and your use of your strengths.

In their research, they found that fatal flaws usually have three things in common:

  1. They are extremely obvious to everyone around you.
  2. They tend to be your inability to do something rather than your ability to do something.
  3. They tend to be areas of emotional intelligence rather than intellectual deficiencies.

Buckingham lists 5 ways to overcome your talent weaknesses:

  1. Get just a little better at them
  2. Design a support system to overcome the weakness
  3. Use your strongest strengths to overwhelm your weaknesses
  4. Find a partner who has a strength in your area of weakeness
  5. Just stop doing it (if you can).

So we can’t rest completely on our lorells about our weaknesses, as long as we manage them appropriately then we can focus on learning and development strategies on our strengths.

How do I focus on my strengths?

What are the simplest ways of identifying your strengths?  Check out three different methods for discovering your own strengths.

The first technique is personally reflecting and identifying your strengths.  The two other techniques are psychological tools you can use. 

 

1. Personal Assessment

No surveys, quizzes or research - just your own feelings and reflection.   But how do you do it?  Here are three ways to identify your own personal strengths:

  1. Journalling - take the time to write and reflect on the times in your life that you’ve felt most alive.  What activities make you feel strong, empowered and feel effortlessly simple to you? Write down the activities that you feel constantly drawn to.
  2. Ask the people around you - mentors, friends and family, ask them what they see in you.  They can highlight your good blind-spots!
  3. Examine your history, look for the themes and patterns in your life.  What keeps popping up as your strength areas? 

 

2. Strengths Finder

Strengths Finder lists 34 of the most common natural talents through their research.  Add to these talents, skills and knowledge and you have your strengths.

You can complete the Strengths Finder test online here or when you buy the book. It will take about 30 minutes to complete.  The book details the 34 talents and give ideas for action for each.  Heads up - this is a paid assessment.  

3. Virtues in Action Character Strengths Survey

Ok, let’s face it, there are many online tools out there to identify your strengths, but the Authentic Happiness website is coordinated by Dr Martin Seligman, who is one of the founders of positive psychology movement and also the Director of the Positive Psychology Centre at the University of Pennsylvania.

You will need to complete the (free) VIA (Virtues in Action) Character Strengths survey.  The VIA classification is the result of many years research about people’s strengths and how they use them to help others and live their best lives.   What they discovered was six universal virtues of which 24 character strengths stem from - get to know yours!

 

Get to know your Strengths 

I would recommend you try all three methodologies.  Do your personal assessment first, then do the Strengths Finder and Authentic Happiness tests. List your talents and strengths and consider which ones really resonate with you.Think about how you can use them more everyday and build your knowledge, experience and skills in these areas.

What’s your greatest wish for 2018?

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T  o create the change we want in the world we have to know what we want!  Instead of new year’s resolutions and goals always being focused on what we want for ourselves, let’s think about what we would like to co-create for our community.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is currently happening in Davos, Switzerland.  WEF is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. This year’s theme is creating a shared future in a fractured world.

This got me thinking – what is my vision for a shared future? 

For me personally and for where we are collectively in the world, I see a new leadership is emerging.  This leadership is less about external success and more about leading with a deep sense of character (distinguishing qualities) and wisdom (acting on your knowledge).  We are calling out for leaders we can trust, that show humility and are focused on what’s good for all, not just for some.

This leadership is about bravery and courage.  To step out, to create, to have a voice, to listen and to bring together.

This leadership doesn’t ask ‘what can I get?’, instead it asks ‘what can I give?’.  How is my life and circumstances calling me to step up and serve in the world?

A thoughtful challenge to kick off 2018!

So here’s a thoughtful challenge for your long weekend – what’s your greatest wish for the world?  Share it on social media with the hashtag #greatestwish.  Let’s start our own conversation about our shared future and come together with others to make it a reality.

For inspiration, I asked six leaders across the country what their greatest wish is for 2018 and here are their answers.

Wendy Brooks, Managing Director, Wendy Brooks & Partners

My wish for 2018 is to see a more inclusive, accepting and generous Australia.  Let’s stand for this and demand and celebrate political, corporate and community leadership for these values. Particularly let us work with our First Nations people to gain true and meaningful sovereignty and open our hearts, minds and funds to the thousands of people seeking asylum throughout the world.

 

Samantha Bowen, Founder, Acorn Network

My greatest wish is that we all embrace our ability to take that first step on our leadership journey. Our future is about embracing the concept of positive and disruptive leaders. It’s a journey with deep roots, grounded in the perception that leading well is to conduct your followers: To be the one visible and shouting it all from the roof tops. In reality we all lead in our own way. All of us combine to create powerful movements, achieved through sharing failure, success, and our vision of a better future. For 2018, I would challenge you to step up and shine through mentoring others, sharing what you’ve learnt through failure, or reaching out to a leader and sharing how they’ve inspired you. Imagine the difference we can all create when we see each other as influencers who help each other to be better leaders.

 

Lali Wiratunga, National Manager, Davidson Institute, Westpac Financial Education

My greatest wish for 2018 is that we as individuals, families, organisations can continue to adapt, prosper and grow – balancing our goals with the sustainability of our community and Mother Earth.

 

Duncan Ward, Founder and CEO, Classroom of Hope

My wish is for every child to have access to a quality education because education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world as Nelson Mandela puts it. World leaders making more conscious decisions and allocating resources for the benefit of people and planet so that we can work towards a more balanced and harmonious world.

 

Kieran Johnson, State Manager, Opportunity International

My greatest wish for 2018 is for individuals to engage deeper in generosity – giving of money, time, energy and compassion. Generosity breeds generosity and it is the antidote for greed, corruption and hate. Plus, those who are generous are both emotionally and physically healthier.

 

Michelle Sandford, Technology Evangelist and Developer Advocate

My wish for 2018 is that each of us looks up from where we stand and views the world around us with new eyes. That we look around for every opportunity to support others, enable those that can benefit from it, ally with those that need it. This is the moment to enable those with less than us – and each of us that gives another their hand will in turn benefit from what comes next.

 

What’s your greatest wish for the world in 2018?

 

Finding your purpose in a noisy, distracted world

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F  inding and living your purpose is more important than ever in a world that can lack meaning and connection.

Do you feel a little lost? Want to know how do you turn up the volume on your inner voice and work out a purpose that resonates?

I’m going to be honest, it’s not easy.  Like any type of self reflection work, it is work!  The answers won’t all come immediately.  You do have to work at it and it will take time.   You can continue to evolve it too, it will become your life’s work.  But it is nice to think about the body of work you want to create in the world.

Before you jump into the three powerful activities below, I have a few other recommendations to get you started:

  • Get out into nature more.  Less screens and walls means you can breathe more deeply, get more oxygen into your bloodstream and connect back with you.  Research says that nature helps our heads as well as our bodies stay healthy.  You know the feeling you get after a walk or hike in the bush, a stroll on the beach or a day at the river. Diarise nature time to clear your head.
  • Insights and understanding comes with time.  Set up a habit to reflect often.  Just like any other skill or habit, it will take time to get into your reflection flow.  The great news is those who take the time to reflect are better learners, happier people and more productive.
  • Move your body.  The insights can come when we move, that’s what are bodies were made to do!   It gets the blood pumping and gives you inspiration.  Exercise is not only crucial to physical health, but it’s good for your head too.

Signature Strengths

Martin Seligman, Professor and founder of the University of Penn’s Positive Psychology Centre has done a huge amount of a research in the benefits of identifying and living your strengths as a way of living a flourishing life.   They have developed an online (free) survey to identify your top 5 character strengths. (Head to Questionnaires and check out the VIA Character Strengths Survey).

Personally I’ve gained much over the years by reflecting on my key strengths and incorporating them more and more into my life.  It makes me happy when I get to use my strengths and it brings me a sense of purpose.

Tweet This: I believe your purpose in life can be as simple as contributing your greatest strengths in service to the world! – Alicia Curtis

Hedgehog Concept

This concept was highlighted in Jim Collins’ book, Good to Great and is based on the ancient Greek parable about the hedgehog and the fox. Who would you rather be – the hedgehog or the fox?  Despite all the tactics of the fox, the hedgehog always wins because it knows how to do one thing really well and that’s defend itself (think spikes!).  So this model asks you to think about the intersection of three questions:

  1. What are you great at?  These are your strength areas!  Focus on them, practice them, improve them and know them!
  2. What will people pay for? Or what does the world need and are willing to pay for?
  3. What you are deeply passionate about?  What do you love or brings you joy?

Now spend a bit of time to consider these questions individually – think of them as three circles in a venn diagram. Then the interesting part is finding something that intersects all three of these.  According to Jim Collins’s book, organisations that have focused on one thing (the intersection of these three questions) and done it really well, outperform all their competitors and stand the test of time.   What’s in the intersection for you?

Intrinsic Motivators

In life you can easily get caught up with, as author Brian Johnson would call it, ‘society’s candy’.  Which is when there is an over-emphasis on our extrinsic motivators – namely fame, fortune and how you look.   It’s okay to focus a little on these things but an over-emphasis can actually, at worst, make you depressed.  Yes, that’s right if you are living the rat race where you can continually focused on material wealth, chasing fame and focus on what you look like on the outside – you are in danger of having poorer mental health because of it.

Instead it’s best to re-orient yourself to focus on areas that intrinsically motivate us –  fostering strong relationships, learning and mastering skills, and contributing to community.  It’s been found that people who are motivated by these intrinsic motivators are more likely to be healthy and have higher self esteem.

Where does your focus lie?

Last word

My last word is this – no one is going to do this important work for you.  It’s up to you to take responsibility for clarifying your purpose in life and living a more meaningful existence.

We live in a really lucky time (and place) in the world where we can focus on meaning and purpose in our life.  Don’t under-estimate the power of these simple reflection activities.  Join me on social media and share your purpose!

10 questions to plan for 2018

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January! A fresh new year to dream, visualise and plan.   Journalling is a great tool to develop our insight, connect with our inner voice and start to develop clarity about the life you want to lead.

I think we can under-estimate what can be achieved in a year. What do you want to be different in a year’s time?

Late last year I posted 10 Questions to Fuel Your Reflection of 2017.  This is integral to reflect back over the whole year, visual what you did with your time (consider the projects you worked on and what you achieved) and really focus on the key learnings you have taken from the year.   Most often, we sleep walk through life without taking the time to reflect, grow and stretch into the future.  Just as useful as it is to look back, now it’s time to look forward.

Here are 10 questions to help your planning for 2018.

1. How will you step into the highest version of yourself this year?

If you practiced all the habits you wanted, lived your core strengths and you were totally aligned with values –  this would be your highest version of you.  The game is – how do you edge closer and closer to this person every moment.  Think small steps.

2. Describe your ideal day, week and year?

How you live your days is how you live your life!  It’s a big statement but it’s true.  Our daily habits form the foundations for how you live your life.   What is one habit you want to focus on this year and one habit you want to let go of?

3. How will you best utilise your strengths?

Professor Martin Seligman, Director of the University of Penn Positive Psychology Centre found that a key part of flourishing in life and work is using your strengths.   To use our strengths, you need to be able to identify them and work on ways to use them more everyday and commit to getting better at them.

4. How will you take care of yourself? What’s your health and wellbeing plan?

Without your health it’s very hard to achieve anything of significance. This means you have to actively plan for sleep, rest, nutrition, movement, mental clarity and fun!  How could you step up in terms of your health?  What could be a key goal you could achieve that could help motivate you to take care of yourself?

5. What is holding you back? 

Otto Scharmer, author of the books Theory U and Leading from the Emerging Future talks about the three voices that hold you back – the voice of judgement (shutting down your open mind instead of being inquiring and curious), the voice of cynicism (shutting down your open heart instead of connecting and relating) and the voice of fear (shutting down your open will instead of letting go).   What do you need to leave behind and to tap into the great courage you have?

6. How will you give back to community?  How can you be of service to others? 

How can you focus on giving to others this year?  Often this can provide great energy in our lives.  If you were to focus on one area to give back in, what’s it going to be this year?  Commit as deeply to this as the other areas in your life.  Maybe it could be to join a Not-For-Profit board?

7. What’s your learning plan?

Where do you want to grow, stretch and learn this year?  What books can you read?  What courses can you take? What conferences can you learn from?   What are the key skills you want to learn and foster this year?

8. What relationships do you want to foster?

Who is in your community? Family, friends, networks, work colleagues and neighbours. Be focused on the key relationships you would like to develop this year.  Who can help you be the person you want to be?  Will you reach out to a new mentor, create a mastermind group, attend a new conference to expand your networks or foster your friendships?

9. How will you be inspired?

What are the inspiration sources that help you stay energised and refreshed for the ups and downs for the year.  How can you systemise the inspiration sources so you can perform at an optimal level?

10.  What amazing life adventures do you want to do this year?

Ok –  now it’s time for a bit of fun.  Forget work, think about what is going to bring you joy and fun into your life.  What life adventures could you have this year?  Think about learning a new skill, visiting a new place or enjoying something with the people you love.