I’ve been writing a series of posts about What’s Your Big Picture for Next Year. We started with an overall review, continued with the 6 Key Parts to a Working Big Picture and now identify some key qualities for sustaining your success mindset.
Your Big Picture is made up of many parts that need to make sense for you and your business and most importantly need to be working together.
I have written a lot this year about the ‘entrepreneurial mindset” and “success mindset”. In today’s business world developing and refining this quality and skill really can set you apart and accelerate your progress.
Here are some of the the key qualities that have contributed to the sustainability of my success mindset.
(In keeping with how I love definitions.)
Resilience
noun 1. the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity. 2. ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.
When I think about the past few years ‘relentless change’ has been my key theme. I made a major career and life change in 2006, which is still in transition. I have moved 5 times in 4 years, due to circumstances beyond my control. I have had to dig really deep personally to find the faith and courage to keep going in the face of so much continuous change. Why do we think that staying in the same comfortable place works? Being able to adjust and bounce back works. Embracing and assimilating change and making it work is the key to resilience.
Flexibility
Let me start with the antonyms, which I think really demonstrates the point: 1. stiff. 2. rigid. We cannot deny how much has changed with work, jobs, our finances, technology and generational trends. We are all getting older and that means change. Flexibility is being able to bend and adjust so we don’t break. Things can work, but not always how we are comfortable with them working. It’s the flex and the bend that gives you the stretch and grow!
Perseverance
noun 1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
The key ingredient with perseverance is developing a deep faith and belief. Times I didn’t always have this is when I reach out to my support team of family, friends, colleagues and don’t forget the power of ‘random’. Don’t give up and keep going.
Courage
noun 1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.
There’s a word that I really like that doesn’t sound quite like it means and that is to trudge on. It’s about standing up straight, shoulders back, head up and moving forward laboriously in spite of and in the face of. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Taking Actions You Do Not Yet Believe In and how you do it because those actions have worked for others, so you take them. I have seen great examples of this especially this year all around me.
Realism
noun 1. interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc. 2. the tendency to view or represent things as they really are.
I like to call this living in ‘radical now reality’. It’s as important to acknowledge and focus on when things are positively working and taking the actions to keep them going as it is changing what isn’t working. Balance and perspective are key.
Anticipation
noun-intuition, foreknowledge, or prescience.
So many of the great successes we are seeing today in business and entrepreneurship are based on this intangible but essential skill. Anticipating and following the trends, cycles and movement of where life and business are going. Don’t wait or get behind, it’s much harder to catch up then early adopt.
“When you really consider how interconnected and inter-related these are to each other, it is easy to see how they all work together. There is flexibility in resilience, courage in perseverance and anticipation in realism.”
Your BIG Picture is a blueprint and road-map. It helps us navigate our goals and values. It gives us markers to follow, especially when we sometimes get off course or meander. It changes, develops and evolves over time. What an amazing adventure it can be.
What’s Your BIG Picture For Next Year? Take some time to write this out and commit to your plan and intentions.
1) Begin with an overall review of:
the current year,
evaluation of best practices,
how can I do it better,
putting my vision and intentions into action
2) 6 key parts that need to be working together, like a well oiled machine.
3) Key qualities here that help you sustain a success mindset
Let me know if I can help and please share what you think here.
