How much time do you spend focusing on trying to change things you can’t actually influence?
It’s easy to allow ourselves to get wound up about what’s out of our control. Unfortunately, when we do, it is demotivating, depleting, and contributes to disengagement. We aren’t going to see progress and get results. It’s a waste of our energy resources.
Examples of uncontrollables we tend to spend energy on at work include:
- Trying to change others mindsets or behaviors without them being interested in growing
- Being overly focused or obsessive about everything that’s wrong in the organization
- Resisting the pace of change happening within the organization
- Having a victim mindset around the extensive demands of leadership
Instead, think about how much energy you spend impacting what you could influence. How much do you focus on illuminating what’s right about your work, leadership, team and organization?
We only have so much energy; directing it in the right place matters. Our energy is best served in the places we can control and influence. When we do, it’s motivating, energizing, and leads to higher engagement.
Overall, we are in control of the choices we make and can become empowered in ourselves. Examples of what we can control in the workplace includes:
- Being the masters of our mind and having an ownership mindset
- Having a positive attitude and how we show up
- Choosing how we respond to the stimulus around us
- Prioritizing our well-being and vital leadership
Instead of swirling about what’s outside our sphere of control and influence, we can learn to let those things go. Take time to reflect on what’s in and out of your control:
- What do I have control over? What can I influence?
- What is out of my control?
Asking yourself these questions can be a powerful illuminator of where you might be spending your energy in the wrong place and how to focus more productively to grow your mental abilities.
Strategies to Grow our Mental Abilities
Psychological capital, a well-researched concept in Positive Psychology and underutilized in the business world, provides an approach to build our mental abilities.
“Psychological capital is a collection of four healthy psychological states that enhance well-being and performance” (American Psychological Association). It includes four interdependent elements, with the acronym HERO: Hope, (Self-) Efficacy, Resilience, and (Realistic) Optimism.
1. Hope
Hope is about believing in a potential path forward to a better future. It can help intrinsically motivate us to set and pursue goals.
In order to build hope, we must build our capacity for gratitude.
What’s right about your workplace? Take time to reflect on what you are grateful about and what’s working well. Areas could include: the work itself, how you show up and lead, your team and organization, and your environment. Incorporate having gratitude for small aspects of your work that you don’t typically think about because they consistently function. Proactively express your appreciation and say “thank you” to others.
Reflection: What are you grateful for in your workplace?
2. Self-Efficacy
Self-Efficacy means to build confidence in your ability to accomplish what’s in front of you. It’s the belief that if you put in the effort or learn what’s needed, you can succeed in a particular situation.
To have a growth mindset, we need to develop our self-efficacy.
How could you feel empowered in yourself and that you have the skills and capabilities you need? Consider how to continue to build your own self-efficacy.
To develop your self-efficacy, create situations where you can be successful. One way to do so is to set reasonable goals for yourself and create small wins.
As a simple example, if you want to improve your physical well-being, you could commit to increase your daily movement, for instance by walking 15 minutes more every day. Then, when you follow-through, celebrate the win. By starting with something small within your control, you are more likely to see success, which builds your self-efficacy. Overtime, you can expand the goal.
Reflection: How could you develop your ability to accomplish what’s in front of you?
3. Resiliency
Resiliency is about our capacity to bounce back from adversity. One of the greatest things we can do to encourage resiliency is to build our well-being.
Vital Leadership, our inner physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual energy resources, creates the needed foundation to support our greatest resiliency. It increases our capacity to respond to the pressures and demands of daily life.
By encouraging our well-being every day, we direct our attention to what we can control. We can choose to prioritize our well-being no matter the challenges we are facing. Simultaneously, it’s important to increase our awareness of what is draining about dealing with factors outside of our control.
Reflection: What fosters and drains your vitality? What’s one thing you could add to your life consistently that would help you replenish your energy?
4. Optimism (Realistic)
Realistic optimism means to maintain a grounded view of reality while focusing on having a positive outlook for the present and future. It counters the unrealistic and damaging ideas of delusional optimism—of putting an extreme positive spin on every situation—and toxic positivity.
To put it in context, we have a significant amount of information coming at us that’s left to our interpretation. How do you take in the information? If it can be interpreted positively, interpret it that way.
For instance, if executives make a change in the organization, the rest of the organization often does not know the complete picture of what’s behind the decision. You can assume positive intent: the executive team made the change to determine how to function optimally for the organization to accomplish the strategy. This example assumes you work in a healthy, non-toxic, work environment.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” -Wayne Dyer
Reflection: When you receive information that’s left to your interpretation: what’s the positive interpretation?
Be the light
Sometimes, impacting the broader organization or external factors can feel outside of our control. Yet, we still have a choice in how we show up every day and lead. We can lead with a positive mindset and shine our light, which attracts others. We create influence by being the light we want to see in our organization and team.
