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Here’s why and how you should make time for your best work, boost productivity, and drive peak performance.

1. Time Is Your Most Valuable Asset

In today’s world of constant connectivity, the pressure to work longer hours can often feel overwhelming. However, research shows that working longer hours doesn’t equate to greater productivity. In fact, distractions can hinder your focus and creativity, making it harder to produce your best work.

Time management is the key to unlocking your true potential. By carving out dedicated, uninterrupted blocks of time for important tasks, you can achieve more in less time. This approach, known as deep work, is about eliminating distractions and focusing entirely on high-value activities.

2. Prioritise High-Impact Work

Not all tasks are equal in value. To do your best work, you need to focus on high-impact activities that align with your long-term goals and drive business growth. High-performance leaders understand that they should spend more time on the tasks that create significant value.

By prioritising strategic work, you ensure that your efforts are directed toward projects that matter most.

3. Create a Focused Work Environment

Your environment plays a crucial role in how effectively you can produce your best work. If your workspace is filled with distractions — be it digital, physical, or mental — you’re likely to spend less time in a focused state. To maximize productivity, you need a distraction-free workspace.

At Optimist Performance, we recommend creating focus zones. These are designated areas where you can work without interruptions. This includes minimising unnecessary meetings, limiting social media access, and setting clear boundaries with colleagues.

4. Leverage Peak Energy Times

Not everyone is productive at the same time of day. Some people work best in the early morning, while others are more effective late at night. Peak performance is about identifying your own energy rhythms and aligning your most challenging tasks with your high-energy periods.

By understanding your body’s natural cycles, you can schedule your most important tasks for when you’re most alert. 

5. Set Boundaries and Learn to Say No

In a world where demands are constant, learning to say “no” is an essential skill. Saying yes to every request or task can quickly overwhelm your schedule and take time away from your high-priority activities. Setting clear boundaries allows you to protect your time for meaningful work.

When you say “no” to non-essential tasks, you make room for the things that matter most — and that’s where your best work happens. 

Tip: Try using a tool like Time Blocking to carve out periods for deep work and focus.

6. Commit to Continuous Improvement

High performance is a journey, not a destination. To do your best work consistently, you must be committed to continuous improvement. Regularly assessing your time management, productivity habits, and focus strategies will help you identify areas for growth.

At Optimist Performance, we encourage a mindset of continuous learning and adaptability. By regularly reviewing what’s working and what’s not, you can tweak your approach and maximise your effectiveness. Keep refining your process until you’ve reached a level of performance that feels sustainable.

Pro Tip: Conduct weekly reviews to track progress and adjust your approach for the upcoming week.

7. Self-Care Is Integral to High Performance

It’s easy to neglect self-care in the hustle to get work done, but in reality, self-care is crucial for maintaining peak performance. Adequate sleep, nutrition, exercise, and mental health practices are all vital to sustaining high performance in the long term.

You can’t produce your best work if you’re physically or mentally drained. Regular breaks, physical activity, and mental relaxation will not only improve your productivity but also your creativity and decision-making abilities.

Actionable Tip: Incorporate mindfulness practices such as meditation or deep breathing exercises into your routine to reduce stress and boost cognitive performance.

8. Celebrate Successes and Learn from Setbacks

Doing your best work isn’t just about the results — it’s about the process. Celebrate your wins and acknowledge the hard work that goes into achieving high performance. Equally important is learning from setbacks. Every challenge offers an opportunity for growth and improvement.

Pro Tip: Start a success journal to track your wins and the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

Conclusion: Make Time To Do Your Best Work

In a world of constant distractions and increasing demands, making time for your best work is the key to unlocking high performance. By focusing on what truly matters, creating a distraction-free environment, and committing to continuous improvement, you can achieve exceptional results without burning out. 

Remember: High performance is a habit, not a one-time achievement. By prioritising the work that matters most and continuously optimising your time and environment, you’ll be able to deliver your best work consistently — and thrive in today’s fast-paced world.

 

How can Optimist help you? Why not book onto one of our upcoming programmes https://www.optimistperformance.com/events/

Start Today: Make time for your best work, and watch your productivity, creativity, and performance soar.

Be kind to your mind – Check out this link: Headspace – Be Kind to Your Mind for mindfulness and meditation tools that can help you improve focus, reduce stress, and enhance well-being.

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In the UK, it’s estimated that alcohol-related lost productivity costs £7 billion each year. And in the US, that figure can reach up to a whopping $68 billion.

But the answer isn’t as simple as just ‘cutting down or quitting’ alcohol. Because trying to do that through sheer willpower alone completely ignores what’s causing these unhealthy drinking patterns in the first place. Research has shown that there are a number of key driving factors behind compulsive behaviour, and it’s only by adopting a holistic approach that you can truly regain control of your relationship with alcohol.

By understanding these factors, you can gain insight into why you behave the way you do, and start making changes for a healthier future.

The driving factors behind compulsive behaviour

Environment

By environment, we mean literally everything around you—where you live, where you work; the physical, mental and emotional spaces you occupy. Are these spaces positive, supportive and encouraging? Or are they negative, draining and demanding?

Trauma

In coaching terms, trauma has a much broader meaning. Whether it’s ‘big T’ or ‘little t’ trauma, all of us have trauma, because after all, just being a child is traumatic. It’s about perceived moments you didn’t understand—these experiences form part of the ego, and every day we make decisions and run patterns in our lives based on the ego and those early events. Most of our compulsive behaviour is rooted in trauma, and becoming aware of elements from the past that are still shaping your daily behaviour today is one of the most profoundly life-changing things you can do. In fact, it’s half the battle, because once you’re able to map the behaviour directly to the trauma, you can do something about it.

Emotional regulation

Dealing with and processing emotions is key to being able to eliminate compulsive behaviour. Many of us haven’t done enough work to understand these old emotions, which is why you need a safe space to process and understand your feelings—yes, and to cry! Then you can begin to build emotional resilience, and meditation is hands-down one of the best ways to do that. 

Habits & routines

You need strong foundations to build a healthy future. That means looking after the basics like sleep, exercise, nutrition, breathwork, reflection and meditation. Get these habits securely in place, and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.

Read  “How to change habits to achieve your goals” here. 

Stress

Stress is like the bullet train that drives compulsive behaviour into the NOW. We live in a very hectic, stressful world. Many of us are in high-stress jobs and have high-stress lives. Unless you learn how to deal with stress, you’re always going to reach for that numb button.

Read “What I’ve learned about stress & mental health since quitting rugby – By Ollie Phillips” here. 

Relationships

If your closest relationships are unsettled or broken, and you’re constantly around these people, then you’ll feel the desire to escape and dull the unhappiness. Cue alcohol, cake, Netflix, gambling; you name it.

Connection

These are your wider relationships—your social circle, people you feel connected to, your clan. If they’re all booze-hounds and don’t understand why you would even want anything different, then you’re going to struggle. It’s imperative to feel a strong sense of connection with people living how you want to live.

Read “Our jobs as a source of community” here. 

Meaning & purpose

As humans, we need to feel like we’re aligned to our values and have a sense of purpose in life. For instance, working in a meaningless job where you feel like you don’t add value and you’re not appreciated, will drive you to find ways to drown out those feelings.

Keep score

Think of each of these factors as having a rating of 0–10. Zero is the rock bottom worst, while 10 is the very best you could achieve in that area. Everyone’s ratings will look different, and no one is at 0 or 10 in all areas. You don’t need them all to be 10, either. But the more 1/10 or 2/10 scores you have, the harder you’re going to find it to control your drinking.

How can you apply it?

You can work through these issues on your own, but that can be hard to do—it’s much easier with support, community, and other people’s feedback. Alternatively, you can invest in a one-to-one coach or therapist for dedicated personalised support.

About the author

Ruari, a trailblazer in the health & wellbeing space, was recently awarded both Great British Entrepreneur of the year and Great British Entrepreneur – Health & Wellbeing of the year for Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as leading OYNB to be named Spectator’s Economic innovator of The Year in the UK.

At OYNB, our eight-week program, Complete Control, offers a comprehensive approach to transformation. Through one-to-one and group coaching, daily content, hypnotherapy, accountability, and remote health monitoring, we help individuals understand and overcome their compulsive behaviors. By addressing the root causes and leveraging coaching and technology, we empower people to regain control and witness remarkable results.

Find more about Ruari Fairbairns and OYNB here:

Website: https://www.oneyearnobeer.com/

Facebook: OneYearNoBeer

LinkedIn: Ruari Fairbairns

Twitter: @oynbuk

Instagram: @oynb

Youtube: @OneYearNoBeer

Apple Podcast: One Year No Beer Podcast

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As a people-based business, we’ve looked at different approaches and the science behind setting goals. In previous articles, we’ve looked at how to change your habits to achieve your goals – establishing new habits and breaking the unhelpful ones.  We’ve also covered setting SMARTER goals and some of the questions you might ask yourself to reflect on where you are now and, looking to the future, where we can improve.

This month, we turn our attention East to the Japanese concept of ikigai and consider how we can use our own individual sense of purpose to influence and set our goals. Ikigai is a word with no direct translation to English; it roughly equates to “that which makes life worth living”, “reason for being”, or perhaps what gets you out of bed in the morning. 

Purpose is profoundly personal

Ikigai is concerned with a focus on a particular sphere of life, activity or social role which offers a real source of identity or meaning. It can be defined as something that truly makes life worth living for a particular individual. This could be aspects of social identity such as work or family or found within a sport or hobby.

Your Ikigai does not necessarily refer to your working life, nor does it need to be something grand or monumental. While one person’s Ikigai might be building a multi-million-pound business, another’s could be volunteering on a particular project or looking after their pet.

Your individual definition of success will be just as unique as you are.

Your goals will be interconnected

In previous articles, we’ve talked about siloed working within companies where departments fail to communicate with each other. Similarly, to ensure your goals are achievable, don’t fall into the trap of not considering your life as a whole when you start to define them. Writing in Forbes, the CEO of BodeTree Chris Myers, talks about Ikigai’s intersection of the spiritual with the physical, which connects all aspects of life. 

He explains: “There’s a difference between the things that are important in your life and your life’s work. Ikigai is about finding joy, fulfilment and balance in the daily routine of life.”

Myers warns against compartmentalising important aspects of our lives, such as our jobs, families, passions and desires.

Striking a balance between goals across different life areas is key.

Write your narrative to success

Writing your goals down and articulating what success in achieving them will look like is advocated in a paper on how Ikigai can optimise human performance and happiness by Prof Dr Michaela Schippers of the Erasmus Research Institute of Management.

Schippers cites the book ‘Redirect: The surprising new science of psychological change’ by Timothy Wilson. He recommends describing the goals you set in “concrete rather than abstract terms” and describes how you can create a new life story by rewriting it, which can help you break free from self-defeating patterns of thinking. 

According to Wilson, writing a ”more optimistic story …will energise you to take action”.

Make your goals positive – and public

In her paper on Ikigai, Schippers describes a study where students were asked to reflect on their goals, which could be academic or non-academic, within their first term of university. They were then asked to commit to one overall goal, which was published, along with their photo, on the university’s website. 

The students were asked to frame these intentions as “I will” commitments. These included statements such as, “I will work as hard as possible to achieve my goals” and “I will sustain the world for future generations,” which were published alongside their name and photo.

Schippers’ study showed an increase of 22 per cent in academic performance compared to previous cohorts who had not taken part in the “I will” intervention and decreased drop-out rates.

Focus on random acts of kindness, along with your goals

Within Optimist Performance, we always talk about the importance of cultivating an ‘attitude to gratitude,’ not just during the season of goodwill, but all year round. According to Schippers’ paper on Ikigai, having an altruistic purpose in life may be particularly helpful for optimising happiness. 

Random acts of kindness were found to be particularly helpful to their benefactor. The study also found helping others, especially in socially engaged ways, was more beneficial to a person’s well-being than providing treats for themselves.

The Optimist View…

At Optimist Performance, we believe that we all can find our Ikigai and achieve that balance and success. However, you don’t need to do it alone, our Optimist Coaches can help you with it, they can support you in fulfilling your potential, clarify your goals and plan your route to success in 2023. 

Learn more about our Optimist coaching here or get in touch with us for a free touchpoint first call with one of our coaches.

The post Look East to set your goals for 2023 – By Optimist Performance appeared first on Optimist Performance.

The end of the year is definitely a marking point, both professionally and personally. With project deadlines, Christmas social events, Christmas shopping, goal setting and all the other things that the holiday brings with it, it’s no wonder it feels more stressful than magical. 

This is why we wanted to dedicate some time to thinking about how we can reduce the stress from the holiday season and make this time of the year as enjoyable as possible both at work and at home. 

5 tips to avoid holiday burnout:

Set realistic expectations

It’s the end of the year, not the end of the world. It’s totally normal to want to push ourselves a bit harder ahead of taking a break. However, we need to know how much we can healthily push ourselves. While a bit of pressure and stress can be beneficial, it’s essential to set realistic expectations about how much we can get over the line in just a few weeks. 

Take some time to plan and prioritise and also keep in mind that just as you are busier than usual, so is everyone else. 

Check our article about the Eustress or positive stress here. 

Looking ahead is great, but don’t forget to look back too

The end of the year is the time when we all start thinking about the new year and our new year’s resolutions, and that’s absolutely amazing, but sometimes it’s easier to forget about looking back at all we have accomplished and how far we have come. Take time to review and reflect and most importantly, take time to be grateful for all you have. 

Check out these questions to do some reflection on the past year and prepare for the future. 

Also, you can read this article to learn more about being grateful can reshape our brains. 

Use the holiday to build or strengthen your connections

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, the holiday season is a great opportunity to build or strengthen our connections with colleagues, friends and family. While it may be cold and rainy, there are lots of ways to connect during the holiday season  – wrap up and get out, do something different, ice skating, Christmas markets, or a show. Make sure you take some time to be with your colleagues, friends and family, and more importantly, make sure you are present. 

Choose wisely

Even though it’s the perfect time to connect with people, it’s important to be conscious of how much we can deal with. As mentioned above, you need to be really present, so don’t feel pressure to attend every single social activity. Christmas can be a beautiful time to enjoy friends, colleagues and family, but it can also be an exhausting holiday if we don’t manage our time wisely. 

This is also an important thing to consider when organising Christmas parties at work. Make sure the events are optional and easily accessible in case people want to go just for a while. You should also think about being inclusive when organising Christmas parties, not everyone will celebrate Christmas, and definitely, not everyone will celebrate in the same way.

Don’t forget to take care of yourself

With so much going on, it’s easy to use our personal time for other commitments. However, as they say on planes, “make sure you put on your own mask before you help someone else”. 

It’s when we are busier than we need relaxing time the most. Taking breaks during the day, keeping your exercise routine and don’t overindulge during the holidays seem like small things, but they can go a long way to ensure that your body, mind and energy are ready for the holiday season and beyond. 

The Optimist View….

We can definitely relate to the feeling of wanting to do everything, all the time, for everyone. But no matter how optimistic we are, we know that we are only human and we can’t do it all. 

This is why it’s so crucial for us to take time to reflect, plan and realistically manage what we want to achieve and how and with whom we are investing our time during the festive season. 

It might seem like stating the obvious, but setting out simple intentions for the holiday season and seeing these through means you’re more likely to enjoy the benefits of some downtime and feel recharged and rejuvenated for the return to work.

We hope you all have a fantastic holiday!!

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Learning something new, whether it’s a new skill, system, language, or approach, requires us to leave our comfort zones, which is, unfortunately, is not everyone’s favourite location. Fortunately, we can all overcome this and become lifelong learners, allowing us to develop to our full potential and achieve more success.

Furthermore, we’ve all been forced to become “students” again during the last two years, learning a new way, adapting to a new world, filling our time with new interests and activities, and so on…

So, knowing that we are able to learn, why should we limit the benefits of new learning only to situations that are forced upon us? Why not adopt a lifelong learner mindset, where we are always seeking new knowledge, experiences and skills?

Why don’t we enjoy learning?

There are a variety of reasons why we are hesitant to learn something new, but the following are the most common:

Fear. As we become older, we get used to being one of the smartest people in the room, so many people are afraid of being a beginner again, asking too many questions or appearing silly. Others may be concerned that they will not be able to learn or that it will take too long, causing them to waste their time.

Lack of motivation or laziness. While many of us will not admit to being lazy, the reality is that when presented with a new learning opportunity, our thoughts instinctively wonder how long it will take, how worthwhile it will be, or how useful it will be in our personal and professional life.

The benefits of being a long-life learner

While there may be reasons why learning anything new can bring negative thoughts, emotions, or feelings, at Optimist Performance, we don’t like to dwell on the negative. There are numerous beneficial results as well.

It can cause long-term alterations in the brain areas related to attention and concentration. People who learned a new skill over a three-month period exhibited an increase in their long-term memory, according to a study by Denise Park of the University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for Vital Longevity.

It will boost your confidence. When we realise how capable we are of learning something new, we gain confidence in ourselves, especially in situations where we may lack prior expertise because we know we can always learn. As a result, we will be more motivated to learn new things and open ourselves to new experiences.

You can find new growth opportunities, both in your personal and professional life. When we adopt a lifelong learner mindset, many of our beliefs and behaviours will also change. For example, suppose there is a new skill that will allow you to opt for a new opportunity, whether it is a promotion, a new job, or even an increase in salary in your current position. By being willing to learn whatever it’s required, we are allowing ourselves more opportunities in life.

Change your mindset to become a lifelong learner

Changing our mindset isn’t a one-day task, but given the benefits, it may bring to our lives, it’s well worth the effort. We’ve compiled a list of suggestions to help us shift our mindset and become the best version of ourselves:

1. Switch your thoughts

We’re starting to realise how significant our thoughts are, and even better, we realise that we can change them. So, if you want to change your thinking, start paying attention to the negative thoughts that arise when you’re confronted with a new learning challenge and replace them with positive ones.

Hayley Bennett, a multi-award-winning equity, diversity, and inclusion consultant and campaigner, is a perfect example. She kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong when she wanted to start her own business until one day; she decided to focus on all the things that could go right. And it was because of this mindset change that she was able to start her own business and is now thriving. (You can listen to the interview here)

2. Take into account the opportunity cost

Whatever decision you make, you are missing something else. So, the next time a new learning opportunity presents itself, and you start making excuses, consider what you might miss out on if you don’t master that new talent.

Consider all of the executives and managers who have refused to adjust to the new working style. Their decision will have ramifications not only for themselves but also for their company; for example, they may miss out on or even lose excellent talent as a result of their decision.

3. Replace your lack of interest with curiosity

Not everyone is interested in the same topics, and a lack of interest will certainly make learning more challenging, if not impossible. If you don’t have a choice (for example, learning a new CRM system at work), try to spark your interest by identifying other advantages associated with the learning.

To use the CRM system as an example, you may not be interested in it now, but consider how much time you’ll have once you’ve learned it to do other things you prefer. (Read more about the benefits of being curious and how to cultivate curiosity here)

4. Embrace the unknown

As humans, we are not particularly fond of the unknown. According to studies, we prefer a negative outcome rather than an unknown one. The reason for this is that uncertainty threats our safety, but we can always change our vision of the unknown. (Check this article for more tips)

5. Accept your vulnerability

As mentioned above, one of the main reasons for not learning new things is that we don’t want to look like beginners or look like a fool. All of these are linked to our fear of being vulnerable. However, showing vulnerability has more benefits than we may think.

For example, if you’re a leader, showing vulnerability within your team can increase creativity, innovation, and collaboration. No one is perfect, and seeing our leader as a person who doesn’t know everything, give us the courage to admit mistakes ourselves, to speak up about new ideas, or to ask questions that can enhance our results. So, the next time your mind tells you about the negative aspect of vulnerability, you can switch these thoughts and replace them with all the positive outcomes you may gain from it. (Learn more about vulnerability here)

The Optimist view…

We believe that everyone has the ability to achieve whatever they want, but unfortunately, not everyone has the mindset needed to do it. To change your life, learn new things, live new experiences, and succeed; you must be able to imagine yourself capable of doing so, which in turn will motivate you to take action.

At Optimist Performance, we don’t want you to miss out due to fear or a lack of motivation. So the next time you’re debating whether or not you should learn that new skill and your mind starts making all the usual excuses, remember that we can all learn, no matter how old we are, that you don’t have to be the best to be successful, and most importantly, remember that time will pass anyway. Still, you can choose how to invest the time you have.

If you are ready to be the best version of yourself, please get in touch with us and learn how our executive coaching can help you achieve your goals. 

The post Is your mindset stopping your growth? – By Optimist Performance appeared first on Optimist Performance.

As Optimists, we believe we can do anything we set our minds to, but we know that just thinking about it won’t get us very far, and because we like to pray what we preach, we have tried a variety of accountability methods. 

These are what we have found to be the most effective ways to keep accountability.

Tips to improve your accountability:

Plan in advance

“A goal without a plan, it’s just a wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

For every single thing we want to achieve, there are a thousand ways to do it, so having a plan or strategy is essential.  Whether you want to drop 20 pounds or grow your business, you need a strategy. 

Goals are (the majority of the time) big and long-term. They are the outcome you wish to achieve, but you’ll need a plan to get there. It’s also valuable because it provides you with clarity and focus. Most people don’t know where to start without a plan, which causes them to delay actions and lose motivation.

At Optimist Performance, we love goals, but we love planning just as much. We set up daily, weekly and monthly plans, and they are as detailed as possible. 

For example, instead of simply preparing to exercise the next day, a team member decides the day or week before, the exercises she’ll do, when and for how long. So, she knows beforehand what she needs to do and when the time comes, she is mentally prepared for it. 

You wouldn’t go into a meeting without an agenda. The agenda is your meeting plan to keep you on track and make sure you make the most out of your time.

Set short-term goals

Short-term goals can help you maintain your motivation, enable you to take small and immediate actions and assure your success. 

Even if you start super motivated, the chances are that it will wear off eventually when we talk about long-term goals. Furthermore, big goals can make us feel overwhelmed. 

Setting short-term goals is a part of the planning process, and it’s a great way to boost confidence. Breaking down your long-term goals into smaller ones gives you the satisfaction of achieving them while also allowing you to see progress and increase motivation. (Check out our interview with Miles Lowry, Strategy Business Partner at Formula 1, where we talk about short-term goals)

In addition, don’t forget to celebrate the small wins. Incentives are one of the most effective ways to ensure goal completion, so pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself on your accomplishments. It feels amazing to complete a marathon, but you can only take one step at a time.

Find an accountability partner 

You are 65% more likely to complete a goal if you commit to someone. That number increases to 95% when you set up an appointment to review your progress, according to a study by The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD).

Having someone with whom you can share your goals and progress will help you become more accountable while also increasing your motivation. 

No one likes to admit defeat or fail, so we’re more likely to follow through when we have to show our progress to someone else.

If you don’t have someone close to you who can be your accountability partner, search for it elsewhere. When we were testing this method, we joined a group on social media.

You can also find a group in your area, search for your tribe or ask for professional help depending on your goals. A personal trainer or a coach can be an excellent resource for planning and accountability.

Learn more about our executive coaching.

Keep track

Once you have your plan and your short-term goals, it’s critical to keep track of them. You can use a variety of methods depending on your preferences; to-do lists, journaling, or a goal-tracking app.

• To-do lists: Did you know that our brains release dopamine when we complete a task? As a result, when we utilise to-do lists, we associate task accomplishment with crossing it off our list, resulting in dopamine release. We know now why one of our team members is obsessed with to-do lists.

• Keep a journal: Not only can you use it to track your progress, but you can also use it to make notes and other observations about your day that will help you review and reflect afterwards. We use it to review our weekly progress and keep track of good habits, for example.

• Goal tracking apps: We tried an app called Strides, and we can assure you that it works. It provides you with the same sense of accomplishment as a to-do list while it holds you accountable with notifications. It’s amazing how these small reminders can impact your accountability. We tried Strides, but there are many other options. (Check out this article for more info)

Keeping track not only improves our accountability but also makes us feel more productive since we can see what we’ve accomplished and how far we’ve come.

Review & reflect 

“Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.”  – John C. Maxwell

Last but not least, we have to review & reflect on our progress and adjust our plans accordingly. 

Even when we plan, we are bound to make mistakes or forget things. Also, things are constantly changing, so we need to be flexible and be able to adapt our plans. Taking the time to review and reflect allows us to identify challenges and improve our future planning. 

Within our team, we review our progress on a daily and weekly basis. Then, every six months, we do an in-depth review to ensure that we are progressing toward our end goals.

The Optimist View…

We can achieve everything we want if we hold ourselves accountable.

Unfortunately, accountability is the most challenging aspect when it comes to goals, which is why outside assistance can be quite beneficial. One of the things that most of our executive coaching customers appreciate is the added help with planning and accountability.

If you’re serious about achieving your goals this year, get in touch with us and discover how our executive coaching programmes may help you.

The post 5 proven tips to improve your accountability – By Optimist Performance appeared first on Optimist Performance.

Reflection is not only important to us, but it is also essential at every step of the way. As previously stated, we live in a society where we can be easily distracted. So taking the time to centre and point ourselves in the correct direction is one of the most effective methods to make the most of our time and ensure that we are on the right path to success.

We discussed self-reflection in a recent piece, but with the year drawing to a close and many of us already planning our goals for the following year, we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take a look back. As a result, we’ll have a better idea of what we need to do moving forward.

15 questions to review and reflect

We’ve put together a list of questions to help you on your journey of self-reflection, but all of them can be used not only by yourself but also with members of your team, friends, family or community.

Answering these questions will not only help you better understand yourself, but it will also help you better understand others, and the better we understand others, the easier it will be to do the right thing for them.

In addition, with many of us working remotely and considering how quickly things are changing in the workplace, spending time to reflect with your team may be an excellent opportunity to bring the team closer together and provide clarity on people’s needs for the coming year.

Let’s start our journey of self-reflection with some questions about the past:

1. What did go well in the past year?
2. What’s your more significant achievement this year? What are you most proud of?
3. How did you grow in the past year?
4. What could have gone better? What would you do differently or don’t do at all?
5. What are you holding on to that is not serving you anymore?
6. What was the most challenging part of this year for you? Why?
7. What have you overcome this year?
8. What challenges do you still need to conquer?
9. How did you take care of yourself this year?
10. Emotionally, mentally, physically?
11. What character trait did you develop most over the past year?
12. What character traits do you need to develop further?
13. What excited you this past year?
14. What disappointed you this past year?
15. What have you not done this year that you wish you had?

Plus 5 more to help you prepare for goal setting

Once we have reflected on the past and are clear about what went well and what we need to improve, we can start reflecting on the future. Here are some questions to help you:

1. Are your goals still valid?
2. Are you closer to achieving your goals? If not, why? What would you need in order to achieve them?
3. What would you like to change in the new year?
4. What would you like to keep moving forward? What would you like to drop? (This can be a habit, behaviour, or anything else)
5. How would you like to better yourself next year? Which areas of development would you like to focus on next year?

The Optimist view…

Taking time to reflect on the past can seem a bit like dwelling, but in fact, it’s the opposite of it. Reflection is a tool to achieve our goals. Reflect is not about punishing ourselves or others for what went wrong, but rather about learning from our mistakes or shortcomings to ensure we do better in the future. 

At Optimist Performance, we make reflections part of our everyday processes. We, like everyone else, sometimes get sidetracked, which is why taking a minute to reflect is so important for us.

Reflections are also part of all our programmes; we cannot change if we don’t know what we need to change. Learn more about our leadership programmes and executive coaching, or get in touch with us today and find out how we can help you and your team. 

The post Review and reflect to set you up for success – By Optimist Performance appeared first on Optimist Performance.

In a world where the only constant we can count on is Change, adaptability is one of the most desirable skills and curiosity is one of our best tricks to get it. 

Curiosity is the feeling of being interested in knowing more about the people and things around them. Curiosity arises when there is a gap between what we know and what we need or want to know. Curiosity is a fundamental human motivation that influences learning, the acquisition of knowledge, and life fulfilment. (Kashdan, 2018)

Furthermore, we live in a time where satisfying our curiosity is easier than ever, thanks to the plethora of information available to us for free and without even leaving our sofa.

In addition, when it comes to curiosity, there are no limits. You can be inquisitive about anything, and there will always be something new to learn about, even if you spend the majority of your time asking questions.

Benefits

But if the feeling of excitement that you get from learning something new is not enough (maybe this is just us), being curious has a lot more benefits. These are some of the main ones:

• It can help you build deeper relationships, and build trust with others 

Would you like to spend your time with someone who just talks about themselves? Or would you rather spend that time with someone who is curious and wants to learn more about you?

According to HBR, “when we demonstrate curiosity about others by asking questions, people like us more and view us as more competent, and the heightened trust makes our relationships more interesting and intimate.”

This is not a surprising statement; we all know that the best way to build a relationship with someone is to spend time with them and have meaningful conversations. This, in turn, will increase trust. (Check out our blog post about the power of questions and how to use them to empower others)

• It helps your confidence, and therefore your success

Imagine you’re attending a meeting with a potential new important client. Would you spend some time before the meeting researching the company, the person you’ll be meeting with, and even the industry so that you can at least have a fluent conversation?

Curiosity is the initial step toward taking intentional action to learn more about our environment, topics we are interested in, or the people we interact with.

Unless we are curious, all we would do is the bare minimum, which would never lead to any kind of success.

• Curiosity helps increase collaboration and teamwork

Curiosity encourages us to have an interest in other people’s ideas, provides us with different perspectives and allows us to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. All of which has a big impact on how effectively people work together. 

Curiosity, according to research, aids teams in achieving greater results.

• It can help us be more empathetic, and increase our emotional intelligence

Curiosity can aid in the development of empathy and emotional intelligence in the same way that it aids in the development of collaboration and teamwork.

Curiosity requires an open mind to thrive, and when we are willing to listen to others, comprehend their viewpoints, and learn more about them, we immediately increase our empathy and emotional intelligence.

• It’s good for our brains and enhances our memory

Because our brains function like muscles, we must keep them in shape if we want them to be healthy. Curiosity is to the brain what physical activity is to the body.

Being curious and taking time to exercise our minds has a positive influence on our brains in the same way as investing time to exercise, eat healthier, and develop positive habits has a favourable impact on our bodies.

Consider this: how much do you recall from your least favourite topic in high school, college, or university? Now consider one of your favourite topics. Curiosity draws our attention, and the more we pay attention to something, the easier it is to learn and remember.

 According to research about the state of curiosity by the University of California, “students who took part in the study were better at remembering answers to trivia questions when they were curious, but their memories also improved for unrelated information they were shown at the same time.”

• It will make you happier

Curiosity has been connected to the release of dopamine, our brain’s reward molecule, according to research.

When something piques our interest, our brains enter the “curiosity state,” which makes us feel uncomfortable because we lack particular knowledge. As a result, the parts of our brains responsible for learning and memory kick in and begin to operate, and we begin to acquire new information. Our brains release dopamine at this point, making us feel better and reinforcing our exploratory behaviour.

• It helps creativity and innovation 

Having a broad understanding of several subject areas allows us to broaden our perspective on problems, which in turn helps us come up with more innovative solutions.

3M, for example, thanks to the assistance of a theatrical-makeup professional, developed a revolutionary concept for reducing infections linked with surgery.

How can we stay curious?

Hopefully, by this point, you’re excited about curiosity and all of the wonderful benefits it will bring you. But you’re probably also thinking that you’re already overworked and won’t be able to find the time to learn anything new or spend hours reading and researching all of your interests.

Curiosity, fortunately, is not difficult to cultivate. We’ve compiled a list of pointers that should help you and the people around you take your curiosity to the next level:

• Keep asking questions

Go back to being the kid who couldn’t stop asking why. Don’t just accept what people say as true or false; instead, ask some questions and make your own decisions. As someone on our team said: 

“Knowledge for me is not about finding answers, but rather about asking better questions.”

Within your team. Before giving an answer, ask a question. This way we allow people to come up with their own ideas. 

• Keep an open mind

This is quite obvious because if you won’t keep an open mind, it really doesn’t matter how many questions you ask. To keep an open mind, focus on listening mindfully rather than thinking about your response as soon as you heard something you don’t agree with. (Check out our article about active listening)

Within your team. Allow people to speak up, find people with different opinions, and ways of thinking, so you can have a diversity of thought. 

• Read, read, and read some more

Reading doesn’t have to mean finishing one book per week; it might mean reading anything that interests you. Read articles (we publish one a month), books (fiction or non-fiction), the newspaper, the news, whatever you want to read as long as you read.

Did you know that reading fiction beneficially impact our decision-making abilities? Or that reading can make us more creative, imaginative, and compassionate people?

Within your team. Promote book exchanges, or gift people with a discount on books, journals, etc…

Subscribe to our Newsletter below to receive monthly content updates. 

You can also follow the hashtag #OptimistsChat on social media to discover new recommendations for books, podcasts, and more. 

• Seek new experiences and new people

Being curious is looking for the new…new experiences, new people, new answers, new knowledge. Find activities, short courses, masterclasses where you can learn something new.

Make a commitment to try something new once a month at the very least. It doesn’t have to be jumping out of a plane to be new; it can be as simple as talking to someone you’ve never spoken to before.

Within your team. Promote new activities within your team, celebrate some special days, or allow some time for people to do something different. (Creating memorable experiences is one of our strengths, so if you don’t want to spend time thinking about it, get in touch with us and find out how we can help you)

Find more info about our Optimistic Experiences here.

• Run away from your comfort zone

If you feel completely comfortable with all you do, it’s time to move one. To spark curiosity, there must be a gap in our knowledge that triggers that uncomfortable feeling in our brains. So if you are completely at ease, there won’t be curiosity.

Keep learning, evolving, taking new responsibilities, talking to new people, anything that makes you feel uncomfortable enough to keep your curiosity alive. 

Within your team. Create programmes for learning and development (we can help you here, get in touch with us). Mix people together so they can use their respective knowledge and perspectives to find out more creative or innovative solutions. 

• Don’t condemn yourself to a static role

When we talk about static roles, we’re talking about jobs where there’s nothing new beyond the introductory period. Similar to the previous example, there are many positions where you already know everything there is to know about the work by the time the trial period ends, and there is no place for new knowledge to be obtained.

Keep running if you find yourself in this situation! We work far too many hours to waste them on a job that provides no positive stimulation.

Within your team. You should not offer a static position to anyone else if you don’t want it. As a result, ensure that everyone on your team continues to grow and evolve within their jobs, that there are opportunities for growth, and that you never accept laziness when it comes to curiosity.

• Hire curious people

Incorporate some questions or activities into your hiring process to find employees who are inherently curious. For example, Google uses questions such as “Have you ever found yourself unable to stop learning something you’ve never encountered before? Why? What kept you persistent?” in their interviews. 

The Optimist View…

With all the new experiences, knowledge and people you will gain thanks to being curious, your adaptability will increase to the roof, no doubt.

As always, we strive to lead by example, encouraging and harnessing our curiosity on a daily basis within our team. 

Because our team is small, some things are obviously easier. However, big or small there is no excuse for leaders not to encourage and nurture curiosity. 

The following are some of the things we do as a team:

• We organise weekly “creative” meetings to share ideas.
• We have a “be more curious” channel, and have created the #OptimistsChat to recommend books, podcast, etc.
• We are continually signing up for new courses, masterclasses, studies, or webinars.  
• We never stop reading. This is actually quite funny because for a person in our team books are almost an obsession. Every time she goes to the office, she ends up buying at least 1 or 2 books.
• We all participate in every area of development, so we can leverage our diverse skills and knowledge to foster innovation and creativity.

If you need help developing learning and development programmes or would like to expose your team to new experiences, get in touch with us today and find out how we can help you.

The post How being curious can boost your adaptability? – By Optimist Performance appeared first on Optimist Performance.

As Margaret J. Wheatley said, “Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”

What is self-reflection?

Self-reflection is the process of thinking about our thoughts, feelings, emotions, behaviours, attitudes, motivations, and desires. This process is a deep dive exercise in order to understand the why behind our feelings and behaviours. 

Reflection is something most of us have done at some point in our lives. For example, we do it when something goes wrong at work, and we have to understand why.

Unfortunately, we don’t seem to spend as much time analysing our personal lives or ourselves as we do with other aspects of our lives. 

Nonetheless, it’s by self-reflection that we can begin to understand ourselves. Furthermore, self-reflection is an essential tool to become the person we want to be. Whether we are looking to make small or significant changes in our life, the journey will always start with reflection. 

Why is it important to self-reflect?

Due to the fast-moving world we live in, it can be challenging to find the time to stop and consider what is going on with us. Nonetheless, taking time to self-reflect has many benefits:

We can gain perspective. It gives us a better understanding of the why. For example, why are we reacting in a specific way, or why we’re not yet where we want to be. 

It’s, therefore, the first step towards change. To use an example, when we start a new job, we don’t just start by making changes. First, we spend some time observing and analysing our environment before we start altering it. 

It’s the beginning of growth. Self-reflection promotes our own learning and development. Because it is centred on us, we stop focusing on external situations and instead focus on the internal ones, which we can change. 

Where to start with self-reflection?

We can self-reflect at many different times and areas of our lives, on our past or our present. We can also reflect on work, personal life, or even a specific area that is relevant to us.

source: thecoachingtoolscompany.com

If you are unsure which area needs work or want to start with the wholesome approach to self-reflection, you can use “The wheel of life”.

The wheel of life is an easy to use tool that will give you a visual representation of every aspect of your life.

You can use the categories that are usually associated with it, or you can create your own. The important thing is that you consider how much attention you put into every one of them and evaluate how happy you are with the results. 

In addition to this, here are some ten questions that we, at Optimist Performance, feel can help anyone start on their self-reflection journey (Woronko):

• Am I using my time wisely?
• Am I taking anything for granted?
• Am I employing a healthy perspective?
• Am I living true to myself?
• Am I waking up in the morning ready to take on the day?
• Am I thinking negative thoughts before I fall asleep?
• Am I putting enough effort into my relationships?
• Am I taking care of myself physically?
• Am I letting matters that are out of my control bring stress into my life?
• Am I achieving the goals that I’ve set for myself?

The Optimists Questions

To complement this further, these are some of the questions that we ask ourselves when we work on our self-reflection (Check out our post about how to use questions to empower yourself and your team):

• What’s your “why”? What are your drivers?
• Are you happy with your present situation? 
• What would you like to change?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What would you like to improve about yourself?
• What’s most important to you?
• Are you living according to your values?
• Are you where you would like to be?
• What are the things you’re grateful for in your life?
• What makes you happy?

The Optimists Tips for self-reflection:

There are many questions, activities and tools we can use to self-reflect, but the most important thing is that we create the habit of self-reflection. Here are some tips our team of optimists use daily:

Schedule time for self-reflection

Due to our busy schedules, it can be challenging to find time to ask these questions. So, it’s essential that you plan and commit to it.

If you find it difficult to create a plan by yourself and be accountable for it, you can always get extra help. Learn more about our executive coaching programmes if you want more insight. 

Prepare for self-reflection

It’s important to be in the right state of mind to self-reflect. You can practice meditation or mindfulness (stay tuned, we will talk more about mindfulness in our next article).

You can also use any activity that helps you be more present and self-aware. For example, you can go for a walk by yourself, use exercise, or even sit in your favourite spot and just take time for yourself. 

(Check out our article “Review & Reflect to set you up for success” here).

Live by an “Attitude of gratitude”

As Optimists, we like to think every day about all the good things we have in our lives and that we are grateful for. We use around five minutes every morning to think about what we are thankful for that day, and it has a great impact on our mindset.

You can do this while you have your coffee in the morning or even before you get out of bed. 

(Read more about the power of gratitude here).

Establish goals for yourself

Whatever it is you want to achieve, it’s crucial that you set goals in order to measure your success. Having goals will also help you create greater accountability for your actions, and give you a clearer picture of your next steps. 

Create a habit of self-reflection within your team

At Optimist Performance, we have one-on-one conversations every one or two weeks to reflect on what we are doing, how we feel about it, and how we can improve in the future (Check out our post about how to use questions to empower yourself and your team).

The Optimist view…

As Optimists, we believe that “it’s always a good time”. Whilst there are always going to be other things on our to-do lists, we must prioritise ourselves.  

At Optimist Performance, we help people in their journey of self-reflection. Our executive coaching programmes are tailored to the individual needs to help them maximise their strengths, achieve their full potential and accomplish their goals. 

Get in touch with us today and find out how we can help you on your journey to become the best version of yourself. 

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