Evey single thought that goes through our minds or out our lips, either consciously or unconsciously, impacts our experience and level of satisfaction in the world. Think about a time when you were down, or moody or extremely happy or negative or energized, or… pick a recent favourite “think-space”.

In today’s mind control moment I invite you to think about the necessity of choosing good thoughts. Depending on the research studies you review, it is estimated that during the course of one single day we have somewhere between 15,000 to 60,000 thoughts. Many of which “fly under our radar”. These same studies would suggest that of those thoughts close to 80% are negative in some way or form. Wow!. Think about this for a moment. If we do in fact have 60,000 thoughts per day that would mean 48,000 would surface in some negative form. STOP right now. What is the first thing going through your mind?… This is silly, Who cares, I love chocolate, I hate my hair, I feel amazing, I feel fat, I wish I had more money… the list could go on. Be honest with yourself. No one has to know what the first thing that came to mind was… interesting isn’t it. Now think about your current experience of life. does the thought and experience line up. My sense is likely.

The point here is simple. What we feed our minds- in the form of thoughts, words, images, feelings ,moods, etcetera create our self image and is likely going to be reflected in our experience of our life, day-by-day. Given this framework it is very easy to see the connection between negative thoughts and negative outcomes.

By now, most everyone on the planet has heard about the Law of attraction. In very simple form it indicates that what you focus on you receive, no exclusions. What you focus on you receive. Simple, right. Well in fact in many ways it is. Stop focusing on the negative. Change any negatives to positives. Work on seeing the good versus the bad or ugly. All simple suggestions, but ones that take conscious effort! The trick here is being consistent, or least increasing the consistency with which you choose to have good thoughts whether they are related to wealth, relationships, health, abundance, career, or anything else that is important in your life.

I would bet that everyone reading this posting would have at least one experience where they not only fed their minds good thoughts but that the outcome very shortly thereafter was positive. It is not a coincidence that when you feel happy, you also experience other happy people. When you feel good about yourself other respond to you in more favourable ways. This is the Law of Attraction at work, quietly, consistently, and methodically bringing forth exactly what you were focusing on. No questions, no effort, no strain. This is really the secret isn’t it.

That’s it for today and remember the necessity of choosing good thoughts!
Cheers.

Research indicates that the state of mind one achieves impacts the outcomes one can expect. A case in point: Jane S desperately wanted to land a contract with the Federal Government. When her company was out-bid by a competitor, she made an effort to subcontract her services to the other firm but was rejected. When the competition went out of business leaving the contract up for grabs, she again made an effort to secure the bid but lost to another firm.

At this point she could have given up, focusing her energy elsewhere…but she didn’t. As a counter strategy, Jane created and kept re-playing a short movie in her mind. She saw herself with the government steering committee. She saw them discussing the details of the contract, signing the agreement and shaking hands to close the deal. She made the movie so realistic that she could hear the dialogue and sense the energy in the room- creating every detail right down to the closing signatures on the contract.

Fast forward to reality – the second firm was not doing a good job, only to find the contract terminated by the government agency. Jane made one last effort to secure the contract. This time she was living the mental movie she had created. She was in the room with the steering committee, answering the questions she imagined, signing the contract and closing the deal with a handshake just as she pictured.

Is this a coincidence? Sceptics would argue yes. However, evidence has been forming to suggest otherwise. Researchers from Stanford, Princeton, and York University have demonstrated the power of the mind as it relates to influencing behaviour and performance. Athletes have known this for decades. Smart business executives have known this for years but have not shared their secrets for fear of increased competition.

The reality of the situation is this: If you can create a picture of your end goal, you will likely recreate it in real life. But it takes persistence and real commitment. Think about this from the perspective of the building a strong leadership team. Some organizations can achieve this both quickly and easily, almost effortlessly in fact. Others seem to struggle, having difficulty articulating what their real goal is. They remain unfocused, divided. So what are some differences? Industry opportunity? It helps. Luck? Maybe. Timing? That sure helps.

What we have seen as one of the key the differences is the ability of the individual(s) to create a crystal clear image of what it is they want to be achieving next. Once that image has been created, every call, meeting, networking opportunity and marketing campaign is filtered through that lens. The result…. each activity brings them a little closer to the stated goal. So how is it done?

Creating Mental Movies
1) Set specific and realistic goals. Clearly define your most relevant goal(s). Write out what you want to achieve and set an accomplishment date. Give it to a respected colleague for feedback. Make sure it’s something you want. Keep in mind you need to write this out!
2) Create and design a mental movie which brings your goal to life. Identify every detail and aspect of the goal. Use all your senses – seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching. Repeatedly visualize all the details of the goal while in a relaxed state. Mentally re-live the benefits you expect from achieving that goal.
3) Trust in the process. You need to reaffirm that your mental movies will come to fruition. Become immersed in repeating the movies several times per day. Read your goal out loud each and every day. Replay your movie as many times as you can. Relax and enjoy the feeling of small successes, knowing you will reach your target.
4) Make a real commitment to the process. If you are not willing to make imagery and mental rehearsal part of your daily routine, you won’t get the full benefits of setting goals.

Mental movies can be used in all facets of your business and personal life, from improving your managerial style to becoming a more effective leader, to being more patient with kids, to being a more aware person, to finding that great job.

One final comment to remember, your mind is like a TV set: if you don’t like the program, change the channel!

Leadership, in all its current forms and definitions, is once again the current topic du jour in many corporate circles. Is the term overused? Perhaps – but that does not seem to curtail the seemingly endless supply of information on this topic. Simply defined, leadership is the ability to influence others through change. Despite the fact that not all companies require “leadership” in every employee, it still seems to be the most commonly requested “competency” to evaluate when seeking to add new employees to an organization.

One human resources professional stated that leadership was the highest corporate priority when screening potential employees. When asked what his definition of leadership was, the senior manager simply confessed that he was unsure but it “sounded good.” In a global marketplace, where talent is scarce and the cost of a failed new hire represents a significant financial burden, the consistent and valid assessment of leadership becomes essential.

Completing a Google search on the term “Leadership Assessment” generates almost 5 million results. Everyone from the leading consulting firms to online testing sites claim to have the answer to assessing leadership. Yet many of these sources lack the credibility or experience to make such a claim. If leadership is, in fact, the amount of influence a person has over a group of followers, how then, is this series of traits effectively assessed, in the context of a new hire? Certainly past performance is one indicator but corporate cultures are like fingerprints – each one is unique. How then does one measure the degree of influence required and what types of influence match both the corporate culture and the necessary change through which a leader must guide the followers?

The answer lies in CDA (competency driven assessment). CDA’s allow companies to map a series of personality traits to specific competencies. These competencies represent the objective measures of what is required (based on underlying traits) for successful leadership in a specific organizational setting.

So how does this mapping occur? The first step in the process is to identify and prioritize the key competencies required for the specific role within a corporate culture. For example, the ability to be innovative may be a competency that is required for the Vice President of Marketing but not one that would be a high priority when hiring a Vice President of Finance. From the perspective of culture, following policies and procedures may be beneficial in a unionized environment but not a competency that is highly valued in an entrepreneurial start-up. There are a wide range of managerial and leadership competencies that can be linked directly to specific personality traits – decisive judgment, motivating others, conflict management, and championing change, to name a few. Mapping these and other competencies against the required functional and cultural demands of a role is essential to not only objectively measure leadership but to ensure a successful fit between the new hire and the existing organization.

Competency based assessment tools have improved significantly over the last few years. Technology has played a key role in making these assessment instruments both affordable and accessible. However, if there is one stand-alone point to effective competency based assessment it lies in the need to utilize a tool that has been specifically validated for use in hiring and selection scenarios. To be useful for selection purposes, an assessment tool needs to be thoroughly researched. Objective, statistical evidence must prove that the “test” in question can be linked to performance in the workplace. This ensures that the test provides an accurate picture to endorse the right candidate for the right role. Otherwise, hiring managers will revert to impression-based hiring – backing those candidates that they personally like or feel fit well with them – regardless of true ability.

Linking personality and behavioural characteristics with measurable competencies in the quest for effective leadership mitigates much of the risk when selecting candidates for senior level positions. Companies that are serious about hiring great talent that will succeed within the organizational structure should consider utilizing a reputable, competency-driven assessment tool (www.opt-inc.com). Failing to do so is the equivalent of looking for leadership simply because it “sounds good”.

I hope to have caught your attention with the headline above. At this time of year it is so easy for many of us to get caught up in the flurry of activity and pressures of the holiday season. In fact it was during a lunch with a colleague yesterday that prompted that provocative question — Are you a musterbator? I won’t get into the details of what provoked the question. I assume many of you will recognize the undercurrent, especially given the time of the year and the date. Now I can’t claim ownership for this clever question. Dr. Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational Emotive Therapy actually coined the term. In a nutshell it relates to our own self-imposed rules or behaviours that we believe everyone including ourselves “must” live by. If the rules or behaviours are broken or ignored by others we become angry. If they are broken by us guilt and anxiety ensues. As you can see MUSTerbation is a trap, a self-imposed trap that causes stress and anxiety. It takes away from our ability to enjoy life fully and in the moment.

The point here is that during times of high stress (such as the holidays) we trap ourselves into thinking that we MUST (fill in the blank with your own personalized MUSTerbation). That is the trap. In that moment we actually believe the experience to be true and necessary. The reality is it is not. Time pressures and stress put all of us on auto pilot occasionally. The result, we act in ways that are not rational. More importantly those actions are not healthy to ourselves or those we love and care for (spouses, friends, family, pets…). In those moments of Musterbation we lose the experience. We lose our selves and our focus on what is important and relevant.

So during this holiday time, I ask you to ask yourself how often you find yourself trapped by MUSTerbation. You will be surprised at how much more enjoyable the holidays become when you do things because you really want to rather than because you feel you “must”. Don’t be a musterbator this holiday.

Enjoy this time of the season. There is so much to take pleasure in.