One of the biggest stumbling blocks we have to “winning” at business is the battle with our mindset and mental health.
When we’re in a great mood, we’re focused, super productive - and we feel like nothing can get in our way.
Content gets created, meetings get handled, sales get made and business get done.
But when we have an off day…
Well, if you’re anything like me… when you have an “off-day”, anything that isn’t essential gets kicked
to the kerb.
You can spend hours staring at the screen. Or wasting time flip-flopping from task to task. Sometimes you even struggle to get out of bed.
So it was sad to see the retirement of British professional gymnast Ellie Downie last week. Clearly her battle with
mental health had taken over - and she didn’t see a way out.
Now in case you don’t know, Ellie was at the top of her game. She won 12 major medals in her career
- Won the European Championship Gold medal in 2017.
- Took part in the
Rio Olympics.
- Won the British Championships in 2019
Furthermore, she’s still only 23 years old. But unfortunately due to the stress and pressure to perform, she felt her mental health and wellbeing were under attack. And she just couldn’t continue competing.
It made me think about a call I had with a client recently I'd like to share with you.
Like Ellie, this client was at the top of their game… but at this moment, mentally, they weren’t in a great place.
They were feeling stressed
beyond belief.
- They could barely focus because there was so much on their mind
- Thoughts going a mile-a-minute…
- Distracted, fidgeting, unable to settle ...
- Not knowing where to start
...
Ultimately, they were feeling overwhelmed with everything they had to do right there and then.
They were flitting from task to task, panicking they wouldn’t be able to get anything done in time.
In fact, they were so stressed with everything they had going on, they were reluctant to even join me for our scheduled call.
In their own words, they just had “too much going on”.
But a remarkable thing happened once they got on the
call.
They were able to get everything off their chest. It was like a jigsaw puzzle being poured out of a box.
Everything was on display - it was just a case of putting it back together and seeing the picture revealed.
And that’s exactly what we did.
- We looked at what they could do that day to make the biggest difference in their life.
- Then we prioritised the rest of their tasks.
- We
developed a clear plan of action… for the day and the rest of the week.
By the end of the call, they had a completely different mindset.
- They knew what they needed to do going forward.
- They came up with a great idea for something they could put in place right
away to boost their income during a ‘quiet’ time.
- And the stress had completely gone.
What’s more, it only took half an hour of their time. Which is incredible.
It would be no exaggeration to say they had a completely different
mindset by the end of the call. And that’s what I call a major win.
Just by talking things through ... working with me to rearrange their diary… and priorities…
They now had a new view on their world.
The overwhelm and stress disappeared.
They knew what they needed to do… when they needed to do it… and how long each task was going to take.
In contrast to a few
minutes earlier, they were now focused, calm and collected.
And, their mindset was back in a positive place…
Which meant they could start to achieve things again:
- To take control of the
business.
- To move forward with their plans.
- To get those sales to boost their income.
If that sounds like something you are interested in ... then here’s what you need to do.
1. Write out everything you want to get done today… and then decide on the ONE most important task.
This will stop your overwhelm and thinking you have to do everything, all at once.
You don’t - you just need to focus on one task at a time - and it should be the most important task.
2. Take that task and break it up into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Write them on a post-it note and attach it to the side of your computer screen.
3. As you complete each piece, cross it off the list.
Not only have you focused
on your most important task for the day… you’ve also broken it up into more manageable, bite-size pieces so it’s easier to achieve.
And then you’ve kept those bite-size pieces in front of you… so they’re visible and you’re reminded of what you need to do.
You can see and
celebrate your progress as you tick each one off.
