What if your mindset is the key to effective sales goal setting? Learn how belief systems shape behavior and unlock the success you’re aiming for.
Think of the most successful people you know. What do they have in common? They have similar beliefs, high levels of optimism and they take responsibility for their failures and successes. Now think of the people you know who always find an excuse for why they aren't where they want to be in life or the "I can't catch a break" type of people. They fear risk and change because it is not what they're used to and it is not comfortable. When leading your people, it is vital to start with the tactics that produce the results that you are achieving.
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Video Transcript
When Sophia was four, she was really into monkey bars. And we live in the city, so we have a variety of public parks within walking and cycling distance. If you've ever raised a four-year-old, you know that they're still learning a lot about their physical capabilities at that age.
They're not great at predicting whether or not they can jump a certain distance or climb a certain obstacle. As we began to explore all the monkey bars in the city, some she could navigate, some she couldn't. But what was interesting is that Sofia's ability to complete the monkey bars had nothing to do with how difficult they were. Instead, it had everything to do with whether or not she thought she could. The repetition she attempted started with a statement like, these are going to be hard, or I won't be able to do this, which inevitably ended in failure. But the repetition she attempted that started with statements like, these look pretty easy, or I think I've done ones like these before ended in success.
But since she was only four, she was terrible at predicting in advance how physically challenging the obstacles would actually be. So she ended up crossing some challenging obstacles on the first try and failing some easy ones three times in a row. Her beliefs gave birth to her behavior and, ultimately, her results. And it seems that every time she learns something new, this paradigm repeats.
We like to think that our brains are rational machines capable of making unbiased decisions. The reality is that every action and decision we make springs from an already existing belief system. Think of the most successful people you know. They probably have many beliefs in common.
They're likely optimists, believe they're in control of their destiny, and take responsibility for outcomes in their lives. They're comfortable with risk-taking and recognize change as life's universal constant. On the other hand, the why can't I catch a break crowd blames others for their position in life. They fear risk and change.
When leading other people or using introspection to debrief yourself, it's intuitive to start with the technique or tactics that produce the results you're achieving.
But starting from the beliefs and belief systems that spawn the path or actions is actually the more powerful launch, and it's more likely to facilitate long-term behavioral change. It's an adage so old it's now a cliche, but being cliche doesn't make it any less true. Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
