Do you want to know why you will or won’t take action?
I’ve been taking Brendon Bruchard’s High Performance Academy online course and thought you’d benefit from learning why you will or will not take action on opportunities or challenges. Your responses to the following questions will indicate whether you are willing to take on a challenge/opportunity or not. So instead of guessing, evaluate your challenge/opportunity with the 8 questions below.
All of these psychological factors played a huge part in me leaving my 20 year marriage and taking an idea where I saw a need and turning into Essence Coaches, LLC with no idea how I was going to make it happen.
1. What’s in it for me?
-Your future-Will it bring you what you value in life; greater happiness, well-being, accomplishment, contribution…?
-Intrinsic- Does it naturally compel you to be a bigger, better you? –
Utilitarian- Would it solve a personal, business, or world problem for you?
2. What will it cost me to take on this opportunity/challenge?
What will be the cost of taking on this challenge or opportunity look like? What effect will it have on your relationships, health, finances, etc…? For example, you see an opportunity for a new business deal, to make more money, but it will cost you relationship time with your family and a chunk of your savings. You’ll have to decide if it is worth it.
3. What is the gratification time line?
How long will it take you to feel successful? Can you imagine the end result? If you don’t believe the gratification will come fast enough, you will most likely not act on the opportunity or challenge. Example: you want to quit smoking. If you can’t see yourself as a non-smoker, fairly soon, you won’t attempt to stop.
4. Does my influence count?
Can I personally influence the outcome of the challenge or opportunity? If not, I might feel indifferent which can lead to apathy. For example, you are more likely to vote in politics if you feel your vote will make a difference.
5. What support do I have?
Will there be others supporting you? If you feel alone you are less likely to take on something that is bigger than yourself. Support can look like a coach, a mentor, or support team to help you figure out and accomplish what you can’t do on your own.
6. What is my energy capacity?
Do you have enough time, energy, excitement, and focus to accomplish your opportunity or challenge? Are you doing less important things when you could be doing what really matters to you? An example; are you doing things to grow yourself or are you sitting unconscious in front of the TV.
7. Can I be resourceful?
Do you have the resourcefulness you need to take on a challenge or opportunity? Example: You want to loose weight. You use your resources (computer, friends, community) to help you reach your goal with strategies and support.
8. What part do I play in determining the outcome?
Can you be a part of the decision making of the outcome? Will you have a say in the decision making process? If yes, you are likely to move forward. For example, You want to feel more energetic, so you get to decide what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat so that you feel fueled rather than tired and stressed.
The questions answers create a picture of where you are presently. Let yourself see where you need to grow in order to pursue a challenge you want to create. Use this as valuable information to help you let go of what doesn’t serve you and move forward with the challenges you desire.
To your magnificence,
Marilyn O’Malley
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Fine Print
Fourth, satisfying challenges allow for a sense of completion. People can run a marathon because they know that their challenge has a finish line. Executives who work around the clock, fully engaged in a project, do so because they have a deadline to hit that they believe matters to their overall challenge of contributing fully and rising to the top. These examples illustrate that having a few finish lines in mind and the belief in a payoff are incredibly important in enduring the stretch of any challenge. This concept becomes even more important as we take on bigger and bigger challenges. For example, if you’re going to take on the challenge of ending world poverty, you have to construct the challenge and your expectations in such a way that you feel you are completing significant milestones. If you just toil away all day for 40 years at the challenge but never feel a gratifying sense of completing important and meaningful projects, you will lose your sense of engagement. This is why organizational change agents will always design small wins into a change plan. Such wins give an opportunity to score performance–we’re succeeding!– but also provide moments when people sense they have completed something important–we finished that!