Permanent link for Mentoring Mondays - December 6, 2021 on December 6, 2021

“Powering Growth through Momentum”

“Don’t you love those wonderful days when you wake up before your alarm clock goes off, your hair looks just right, you hit all the green lights on the way to work, you have a great day planned, and with every minute that passes things just keep getting better and better? . . . . You are on a roll!”

That perfect start to your day is called momentum. We have been learning about the power of small changes. Once you get the ball rolling toward change in your personal and professional life, you begin powering the process of growth. Your momentum speeds you through the challenges of daily life and even helps you overcome those large obstacles that periodically stand in your path.

“The process of powering growth through momentum involves five stages:

• Identifying your starting point;
• Aligning your energies with your life’s purpose and passion to begin the process of change;
• Drawing upon your strengths to create a strategy that will shape your identity;
• Creating systems to regularly feed growth;
• Keeping your growth on track toward long-term goals.”

One of the great lessons in life is that it is the difficult times that strengthen us. One writer puts it this way “great leaders stand out when times are hard.” Hard times or challenges can force us to stop and re-evaluate and create a plan for pushing through. As you begin to re-evaluate your life, focus on your purpose and passion and the goals you set a few weeks back. Don’t take your eyes off your purpose and passion – keep the ball rolling and continue to gain momentum. 

The author of “The Seven Minute Difference: Small Steps to Big Change,” focused her attention on growth in the following four areas:

• Education: She read more, studied, and attended conferences to increase her understanding of her profession (financial advisor);
• Productivity: She wanted to improve her understanding of the current technology;
• Organization: She wanted to de-clutter her work environment and create a system of paper management to make her life more efficient;
• Processes and Systems: She wanted to implement repeatable processes and systems to increase customer satisfaction.

Wherever you are in your professional life, you must decide to move toward meaningful change if that is your goal. You need to understand what is sweeping you along your current trajectory.  The following micro-actions can aid in getting you started:

Micro-Action: Describe your starting point by asking yourself a series of questions, such as:

a)     Does your job allow you to utilize your gifts and talents fully?

b)     Is a lack of skills preventing you from moving forward in your company/institution?

c)     Are you able to share your strengths in your current workplace?

d)     Are you really in the right career?

After completing the analysis of your “starting point,” take the necessary steps to get the ball rolling – align your work with your purpose, passion, and strengths in order to gain momentum.

Micro-Action:  In the next seven minutes, write the answers to the questions in the first micro-action.

Micro-Action:  If you want to be different, you must create a strategy and your story. We spoke in previous weeks about developing your elevator speech – a statement that sets you apart from others in your professional environment. 

Micro Action:  Create your story.  Your story gives you a competitive advantage. Take seven to ten minutes to describe your story. 

If some of these micro-actions appear to be repetitive, remember that change does not happen instantly. We have to be persistent in our efforts. We have to keep doing some things until they become second-nature. “We have to practice changing day after day in order to become a different person and to use the momentum of each day’s successes to power on through a lifetime of growth and development.”

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Source: The Seven Minute Difference: Small Steps to Big Changes, by Allyson Lewis, Kaplan Publishing.

Posted on Permanent link for Mentoring Mondays - December 6, 2021 on December 6, 2021.