Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life

There are always issues when working with (and juggling!) multiple managers. Whether it’s who’s needs are great, who’s work is more important, your own organisational skills, and your relationship with each of them – all of this can effect the way you are effective in working with multiple managers.

After numerous conversations over the years of how best to deal with this, and a little google magic, here are a few of the ways of how to manage multiple managers, and be effective.

I’ll admit, I started well with high ambitions, but getting back in to the year has been a struggle, if not daunting. I have tasks that need to be done, deadlines to meet, goals to smash, but somehow my brain and body hasn’t caught up with my growing to-do-list.

I’m at an anticlimax and I feel lethargic, and completely unmotivated. Where did all the ‘New Year, New Me!’ excitement go?!

So what can be done?

I’m really big on reflection and self-analysis, and here is what I’ve got.

For me, it started with my ever-ambitious goal-setting. There is so much I want to do and starting the year right was really important for me, I even wrote a blog on what you can do to kick start the year for yourself. Practicing what I was preaching, I was highly motivated and doing all the things on the list: 1 main goal, meditation, exercise, spring cleaning, eating better, getting up earlier etc.

But as the days wore on and it became a tad boring, I slipped up on a few of these things. If I slept in, I would berate myself and felt like I’d failed, setting a negative tone for the day. And this negativity would spill and seep into other areas of my life, making it feel like I was never having a win.

So more and more as I ‘failed’ at something, I couldn’t be bothered trying and felt like I was just falling further and further behind. Which isn’t true at all, considering these are all self-imposed changes,

What I needed to do, is change my mindset to a growth mindset. What does this mean exactly?

A very basic analogy is to turn your negative into a positive, and remove restrictions via the words ‘don’t’ and replace them with ‘do’.

So I slept in? Great, my body must have needed it, and perhaps I should look at what time I am getting to bed, or if I am particularly pushing myself quite hard so ensure I allow enough rest time.

So I ate a block of chocolate in one sitting, and then an ice-cream (while hating myself for it). Well, I shouldn’t say ‘don’t eat any sugary foods this week’ as I know I’m not great with self-discipline, and leads to over-eating. Instead, I can look at what healthier alternative to enjoy (for an ice-cream substitute, I recommend frozen banana whipped up with a bit of vanilla protein powder, and milk, then sprinkle with cacao nibs.) Look at it as making a lifestyle choice rather than ‘food ban’.

And whatever you do, do not compare yourself to anyone else. This is your journey, start it how you mean to continue and do what works for you, as everyone works differently. Instead of focusing on your negatives, focus on your positive attributes and watch your world start to change.

So how does this re-motivate me?

Because I am no longer placing restrictions on myself, I am more motivated and inclined to do something differently if I ‘failed’ it the first time. For example, when I am doing work on the computer, I know I can be distracted with DailyMail, Pinterest and Netflix. So instead of ‘banning’ them, I make time for them. The first half hour of my day is for news and gossip websites, and then every two hours of work I take a break to look at my social media. Or i make sure that at least one task a day is ‘fun’, e.;g. styling a new Pinterest mood board for a client. Not all places you work are like this, so ensure it works for you and your environment to the best of your ability.

Because I am not placing any restrictions on myself, it changes how I am doing what I am doing, allowing myself the pleasures in life – as well as knowing I still need to work for them.