The idea that we don’t just go through adversity; we grow through adversity has become a way of life for me. It’s the sense that we need to know where our focus is and hone right in on it to access the hidden opportunities. Are you weak because things affect you negatively? Or are you getting immersed in this struggle called life and getting 1% better every day? Having a can do attitude at work drives me every single day to direct my attention on the controllable and not get overwhelmed with the challenges of the world we are living in. At The Molitor Group, we are committed to helping people grow in incremental steps, and I want to share my perspective on how to do that.
Are You the Best You Can Be?
My question to leaders who are passionate about developing their skills is always; “are you doing the best you can with what you have to become the best you are capable of becoming?
And here’s how I break that down. Are you doing the best you can mentally, physically, and emotionally to improve your skills? After all, how we think is how we feel and how we feel is how we act. You can control how you act, which will then determine your level of success by controlling how you think. Remember, the one thing we have control over every single day from the time we wake up is our thoughts. Think about whether you’re embracing positivity and controlling your thoughts regarding what you’re focusing your attention on.
In other words, are you doing the best you can with what you have? We all need to realize that our circumstances do not have to define us but that how we respond will determine the path to success that we take.
Level Up Your Leadership Skills
Times are still turbulent, and like any time of adversity, we often learn in ways that we never expected. We level up our leadership skills, embrace authenticity and resiliency, and lean into the servant mindset. One of the things that my father told me at a very early age, and I heard him say it often to his teams, is that if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Now it’s funny how a piece of advice you received when you’re young is so timeless; its power shows up in different times in your life and, and for different reasons.
I want to share a mindset exercise that I use when something challenging shows up in my life that I need to go through. It seems pretty simple, but I promise you, it’s powerful.
- Write down on the top of a piece of paper what your adverse situation is
- Below that, write down how it makes you feel
You have to give yourself permission to experience those emotions and own them. I want you to go all-in on this exercise with me because that’s how you’re going to see the best result.
- Draw a line down the middle of the paper; on the left, write down the words ‘happened to me’
- On the right side, write down the words ‘happened for me’
Then go to work — get it all out, just go down that rabbit hole take your time, and think through how things have happened and how this showed up in your life. Write down how it affects you, how it affects others because you are going to utilize your challenge as an opportunity to impact others and to grow as a leader and as a person.
This opportunity hiding in adversity allows you to take your performance up a notch because you’re going to see so much positive as you grow through it. Please don’t do what too many people do, they keep going back to their default, but the key to growth is to set a new default. Don’t let your focus slip to the left side of your paper — let’s figure out how it happened FOR you, not TO you, because you control your thoughts and your feelings, and they drive how you act.
This principle shows up in my business for sure, I’m locked into doing the best I can each day. When you stand for something, you’re able to lean into that and lean on that and you don’t have the fear of missing out.
For more on developing a can do attitude at work or further information and advice on honing your leadership skills, check out the rest of the blog series or tune in to The Athletics of Business podcast, where I discuss all aspects of leadership with a variety of inspiring leaders from the world of sports and business.
