You probably know the quote from Henry Ford, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right!" It's spot on! As a coach, this is one of the first things I find out as this determines how we need to go about addressing the situation the individual is bringing. There's a lot of work that goes into changing limiting beliefs and that doesn't really work in a blog, but if you'd like to know more, please contact me.
For now, what I would like to offer you is a simple tool to help you ensure you have the right attitude for the situation you face. It's a self-check tool to help you prepare for any meetings, etc when you want to be at your best. It brings together four elements: Attention, State of mind, Goal and Intent and I call it GISA for short.
1. Attention: have you noticed how, when you're attention is on something it fills up the whole space? Eg. If you have aching feet, they seem to take over your whole being, if you're out in the sunshine and enjoying the rays, that's all there is. Right, so you need to pay attention to the thing that will make a difference in the meeting/conversation.
2. State of mind: is influenced by what is your centre of attention. Eg Aching feet = I'm tired, sunshine = pleasure. So you need to adopt the State of mind that will help you achieve your desired outcome and linked with where you put your attention.
3. Goal: For your interaction, have a goal in mind, an outcome you wish to achieve as a result of the interaction.
4. Intent: This differs from goal in that you intend to make this happen in the moment, so it should be in your control.
Let's build this for a scenario of a meeting with a difficult person, who you want to build an effective working relationship with. You might decide: Goal: I'd like to demonstrate that I'm trustworthy and start to build a positive relationship with this person and I'll judge that by agreeing another meeting to discuss this issue in more detail. Intent: I want to enjoy the conversation and leave on a high. To do this I'll look for interest and humour in our dialogue. State of mind: a helpful State of mind is curiosity to try to understand this person's view of the world Attention: I'll pay attention to the useful information they give me and the nature of the questions they ask Can you see how this preparation will help get the best out of self and the other person in this meeting? So much more useful than "This is a difficult person, I hope I can just survive the meeting without getting shouted at". Preparation is empowering - so always prepare your GISA for those encounters. For more on this or other techniques, contact me.
