Lift Your Mindset & Influence for a Better Future

As a CEO, you may know what you want to achieve, but events and people can pull you in so many different directions that it can be hard to stay on track and make progress. 

So how can you succeed in your goals and drive your business forwards? Through teaching over 100,000 business leaders worldwide over the past two decades I discovered that the key is to focus on the three pillars that transform your results: mindset, influence, and future.

Lift Your Mindset

In order to lift your impact on the world around you, you must first be firmly grounded in your own core values. These are the inner guiding compass that shows you the way to your true north, your goals, your success. 

Your first step is to define those values for yourself. What is something that you want for yourself? This may be a relationship, a job, or a material object. Now, ask yourself why you want this. What will you gain from having this? How will this impact the people around you? Are there certain principles you will not break in order to get it?

Your answers to these questions will reveal your values. For example, you may want a new car, but if one of your core values is honesty you won’t be willing to get that car by stealing it . 

Consider what you deeply desire in life. Then consider the values that will shape your decisions around attaining your goals in the future, including the boundaries that you will not cross. Then, write them down! 

It is important to revisit these values every single day to keep yourself on the right path. To achieve in your busy life you can use an anchor: code words. 

Reflect on your top three values for a moment, and think about code words or phrases that immediately connect you with these values. For example, if one of your values is ‘family’ think of a word or phrase that reminds you of what matters to you in family life. Choose carefully, and aim for something that will always connect you to that value. Now, write them down. Put them somewhere that you will see them often. This could be a sticky note on the mirror that you see when you brush your teeth each morning, a note on your desk, or even the background on your phone. 

These words will anchor you to the best version of yourself and give you the strength and confidence to proceed with your day feeling centered, clear, composed, and motivated. 

Lift Your Influence

Once you’ve defined your own core values, look at what drives the people around you. The easiest way for you to influence people is to understand what already influences them. In order to do this, I like to take a look at lessons from storytelling and ask, what role are you playing?

For many people, especially leaders, we like to see ourselves in the shoes of the hero, but this can lead to swooping in to take over tasks, disempowering your team. Instead, when we want to influence others, it’s time to take on another role. If we’re the hero, who does that make the people we’re influencing? We risk ostracizing them by suggesting that they are villains who need to be vanquished or victims who need to be saved. No, the people that we want to influence are the heroes. So who does that make us?

Throughout the history of storytelling, the hero meets an important character, known as the mentor (sometimes described as the guide or wise one) along the journey. The mentor is the person who gives the hero advice or a special tool to help the hero on their journey. Importantly, the mentor does not take over, nor achieve the goal for the hero. The mentor simply aids the journey. 

Think of people who have acted as a mentor in your life. Do you have someone who believes you can do things that you thought were far beyond your current capabilities? How did that make you feel? It can create feelings of fear, but underneath, we can also feel seen, awakened, and believed in. 

The mentor mindset requires you to see beyond the surface and find the greatness in others. When you believe in their extraordinary potential, you help awaken them to greater possibilities. Applying this mindset to your life can allow you to inspire your team, motivate your colleagues, empower your children, and enhance your relationships. 

Before every interaction, ask yourself this question: Which role am I playing?

Lift Your Future

In order to reach the future that you want, you must have a clear vision of where you’re going. This requires some inner reflection: 

• Take the core values that you highlighted above, and write a few thoughts about each one. 
• Take a moment to remember what you are grateful for. What do you have in your life that you can give thanks for? This will lift your inner state, priming you for future planning. 
• Think about one specific situation that you want to improve. Describe that challenge as it is today.
• How might this situation get worse if you fail to act now? Why must this be avoided?
• Now, imagine that you have overcome this situation. What if you could resolve this issue or achieve a result you never imagined possible before? Describe what that better future would look like. 
• Take the first step. What can you do today to ensure that you take action on this? What commitment can you make right now? Take that step now in order to create momentum toward a lifted future. 

Take some time out of your busy schedule today and see where moving toward your future with intention will get you. Taking a moment with these exercises will create a lasting impact. 

It isn’t easy to be a leader, but through focusing on these key pillars, you can exponentially increase the impact that you have on yourself, the people around you, and the world, all while keeping your most important priorities at the forefront.

Written by Richard Newman. You can learn more in Richard Newman’s latest book, Lift Your Impact.
Have you read?
Why do so many women get fouled in the game of work by Anneli Blundell.
Venture Studios and The Healthcare Start-Up Industry: A Match Made in Heaven by Dr. Erik Reis.
How to Lead in Today’s Business Environment by Dr. Wanda T. Wallace.
3 Things We Learned About Crisis Management from the Collapse of SVB by Stephanie Craig.
One Night in Paris and Who I am Today by Jay Sidhu.