Ditch the “Vicious Cycle” and get ready for your “Success Cycle”
Ever heard of a “vicious cycle”? Or, in other terms, repeating the same patterns over and over resulting in the same outcomes? Me too, and I want to be able to shut that off. As we know, it can be tough to break out of old habits because our brains develop a way to short circuit specific patterns.
As leaders, though, it is our duty to shift out of this “vicious cycle” mindset and move into a new and improved “success cycle,” or, according to Susan Mazza in a recent article on her blog, an “intentional process that can help you get on the path and stay on the path to success.” Sounds good, right? Let’s get into it.
In her article, Mazza defines the five practices of the success cycle, including:
- Getting clear about what the outcome is and why it is worth pursuing to identify your underlying strategy;
- Narrowing your focus to what you can and will accomplish so you ensure you don’t sacrifice your productivity;
- Doing the work by investing your time, energy, and mindshare into your end goal;
- Clearing your mind of mental “weeds” as you go through the process; and
- Celebrating often by being kind to yourself to motivate you to keep going.
To effectively lead others, we need to focus on our own personal success cycles to help those in our organizations reach theirs. This works in a team setting as well. By supporting and elevating your employees out of bad habits and negative mindsets into success cycles, we will be able to make our organizations unstoppable.
Life is too short to not take our minds on purposeful journeys they were designed to do. Our brains are strong organs. Time to work on us.