How to change your mindset

Ahoy legend. Welcome to the next episode of the team buffalo podcast, where every day I answer one leadership question and tackle one leadership topic. Just to give you the insights, tools, tips and tactics, you need to be a kick a$$ leader back in the organization, you work in business, etc. Welcome, today's topic is a great one on mindset. mindset. mindset. Yes, mindset. The focus today, on mindset, super important and near and dear to me, what I'm seeing incredibly high levels of burnout across leaders and organizations, seeing people in their businesses start to fall out of love what they're doing and who they're doing it with, and the customers are doing it with. There's a lot going on in the world that is affecting us. There's a lot of externalities, pandemic we've just kind of come out of, but it's still lingering there. There's stuff still happening, we're still dealing with the leave and the issues that that conjures up. You know, people's businesses have suffered on the back of that we're now in a recession, really, for being honest. inflation's absolutely bananas and kind of out of control. So if you look at all those things, oh, my God, who like what, what are we doing here? It's hard, like, no one's going to reject the fact that these are incredibly difficult operating conditions. But the first time in history, really, to any degree that leaders and organizations have had to face adversity, you know, the classic tale that most people tell in the tech and startup community, as you know, that all the greats like Airbnb, and Uber and a number of others long list were all born during a busted bubble and a downturn in this kind of poor scenario, and recessions. And you know, the GFC. And there are there were there were a lot of great organizations that grew and a lot of great organizations that were led to better places throughout the turmoil that comes with these types of operating environments. It's, it's possible. So you have to go well, if I accept that the operating conditions around me are a $hit show. There's not a whole lot I can do about the operating mess that's around me. It's a nightmare. I'm tired of all the $hit. But I love what I do. I really want to see the thing I do be really successful. I care about my career, I care about my business, whatever it might be. As long as those things are true, then we go, what can we actually control in this scenario, we can't control a global skill shortage, we can try and attract great people retain top talent, I'm sure you're doing as best you can. If not, we can work on that. You know, I'll try and look after myself as best I can through this process in terms of compensation and setting myself up for success. But there's a big thing that almost everyone is overlooking at the moment, and no one really wants to talk about. And it's mindset. Yes, we've discussed all the factors that are out there, I understand those play a toll I'm not on affected by those factors. I have a business just like everyone else, listening to this, I have a career like everyone else listening to this, and one of those two buckets. That doesn't change the fact that you are ultimately responsible for your mindset. The people around you, your boss, your partner, your friends, your family, they will help you they can be there as a support. But if you have a poor mindset about what's happening to you, if you suffer from a, you know, a victim mentality, particularly in the workplace, I'm not going to we're not doing deep psychological work here. That's not the spaceport nor is that what we're about here. We're about leadership development. But if you've got this kind of victim mindset about the workplace, particularly in things that happen to you, you know, every time I hire someone, someone quit so difficult, you know, the economy's hard. My business is rough. Yes, those things are all true. But you can choose to either let that be the case and be apathetic and almost submit to it. Or you can start to understand well, what things can I do that will help at least as best possible recharge my battery and keep me as sharp and focused and attentive as possible, because in spite of all the adversity, you still have to show up, if you're a leader, you have to show up, you have to do awesome $hit, and you have to be there for your people. There's no opportunity to screw around, you've got to be the best version of yourself as often as possible. You be authentic. When you're down, you're struggling, it's fine, but you need to pull yourself back up as quickly as possible. Your ability to self manage your mindset is a great determinant of success. Your inability to manage your own mindset will hinder your growth and business trajectories. So some of the things you can consider to boost that mindset to really make sure that you're at the top of your game when it comes to just a few quick tips. And I'll go a little bit into each of them. The first is to just monitor your energy levels without taking your low points out on your team and super Critical, you know, be aware of when you're having a bad day, you know, you wake up, you show up, something happens. Someone pisses you off whatever it is, there's this kind of energy, you can feel it's carrying it around, I'm in a bad mood today, I'm not dealing with it. Okay, well, look, who is that going to help, it's not going to help you for sure it sure as $hit isn't gonna help the people around you. But it's definitely not going to help you carrying that around as toxic as an impact to you and everyone around you. And I don't think it's as productive as you might feel that it is and living in the moment of you know, I don't feel good today. So I'm not going to act like I feel good is not constructive. You know, putting too much emphasis on how you feel right now is a recipe for delay and gold delay towards the progress you're after. So keep an eye on your energy levels, but don't take them out on your team and do something to lift them. Second is seek and apply feedback from people you know, and trust. You know, if your mindset is a bit rough, go seek out the facts. Don't say, you know, I'm feeling gloomy because of this. What do you reckon? That's hard? Because people are gonna go well, yeah, you're right. That is difficult. Don't start with that. Go, you know, what, have you heard about staff turnover at the moment? Or How are you coping with the hyperinflation that's coming our way? You? How's that going for you in your business? seek that out? And then the next question is, well, what are you doing to manage those things helped me understand what are some of the tips and things you've tried? What's not working? Well, what's working? Well, you take more of a clinical assessment approach to those issues, rather than Whoo, can you tell me your life's hard to because I'm feeling like my life's pretty hard. And they always say misery loves company. Sure $hit does. And if you tell someone you're kind of grumpy and down, others will go, yeah, that grumpy and down as well. So don't start that way. You seek feedback from other sources on what's going on that environment and on your own leadership. Then third, is have strategies to recharge, including, and this is super, super important, including taking time off, I don't care how awesome you are, how many goals you smash, how many projects you land, how amazing your career is, I have never met someone who can go 24/7 nonstop and not have to take time at some point. It's not about escaping, it's not about you admitting that you're failing or tired or whatever you might put those labels on, you need time to recharge. And if you can't subscribe to that, at a minimum, the secondary benefit of all of that recharge time is you get mental clarity, you gain more clarity on the issues, your brain starts the process, the deeper things that need to happen, you find novel solutions and start to pick apart your business. It's one of the best benefits of taking time away. And then as I said, you also need to have strategies to recharge. So hobbies, reading, whatever it is, if you're reading all the time, don't just read freakin business books, because that can have a negative impact on you creates this kind of admiration effect I've seen in people where you go, Oh, this book says this person did this by this time. And I'm only here. It's not great, not great, just kind of Instagram effect applied in the same way. So have strategies to recharge including taking time off. And then last but not least, and we did cover this in an earlier episode called your inner critic. So I definitely suggest you check this out. But it's a good reminder, because it fits on the whole mindset side is watch how you speak to yourself. Think about how you talk to you. Like actually take the words you would say to yourself, the next time it happens, listen to them, and go, Holy crap. Did I just say that to myself? Like, oh, you're terrible. Oh, what an idiot, or? Oh, that was really stupid. Good job screwing that up. Travis. That's terrible. If and I said this in that episode, and definitely suggest you checking out because there's a deeper dive on it. But if that person were that voice where another person, you go, Oh, I'm not gonna hang out. This is an abusive relationship. Yes, it's helpful from a performance perspective to have the inner critic that pushes you to go further. But if it's speaking to you in a toxic and destructive manner, that's not helpful. It creates all kinds of complexities in the way you operate. And it creates these real performance gateways and misconceptions you've created for yourself that don't actually exist and are not helpful and have you know, utility. So I'd suggest being aware of the way you speak to yourself and making a conscious effort to modify the way you speak to yourself. So if you fail to hit a target, or you have a bad quarter, or whatever it is, don't say what an idiot or you're a loser or you're not as good as you thought you were. Say, Well, I missed that. Okay. What did I do that I could have done better? What did I not do better that I should have known I needed to do better? And what will I commit to doing? You know, all the normal kind of questions around assessing is if someone else you were giving them performance feedback that they had missed targets Take that same approach with yourself, you'll find that it changes not only the quality of feedback you can draw from your own reflections, but also changes how you feel about yourself. You don't feel as negative about kind of being alone with yourself and thinking about what didn't go well. So that's today's episode, as I said, you know, four kind of areas, monitor your energy levels, but don't take it out on the people around you. Seek and apply feedback from trusted sources clinically, you know, ask those real questions that are objective, have strategies to recharge including taking time off and watch how you speak to yourself. As always, I've been your host, Travis Thomas, you can check out more great content on our website at teambuffalo.co/newsletter where I've got a weekly newsletter that actually drops this tomorrow. So definitely get on the list and I look forward to seeing you in the next episode of the team buffalo podcast, chat with you soon and keep being amazing