I see a lot of clients whose primary concern, or stressor, is how they are performing at work. We spend a lot of time at work. Even for those of us who can compartmentalise well, it inevitably impacts how we feel outside of work too.
Over the last ten plus years I seem to have seen more than my fair share of ambitious, work-oriented individuals who are keen to succeed in their chosen fields. A business owner, who is aware that if they don’t “turn up” then a significant number of employees’ lives may be negatively affected. The business executive who knows that keeping the focus on the right areas is key to ensure promotion rather than being overlooked. A newly promoted Sales Director who needs to get the team working rather than doing the work themselves. All whilst keeping stress levels within manageable levels, and making sure the sacrifice is balanced rather than all consuming.
Whether we live to work or go to work only because we have to, you will find below the keys to performing well at it. I also list some questions we can ask ourselves to help us perform better. The blog ends with how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can make a powerful difference to our performance in the workplace.
Key to Performing Well at Work:
Making Proper Assessments:
Seeing things as they are, not how the emotional mind might be telling us they are.
A growth mindset:
In which mistakes are seen as learning opportunities rather than career ruining.
Good decision making:
Using all available information, not just avoiding worst case scenarios.
Correct Focus:
Making sure we concentrate on those areas that help drive success, not those areas which feel comfortable or easy
Good communication:
With work colleagues up and down the hierarchy and customers outside of the organisation.
What can we do to improve our performance at work:
I like asking questions. The brain is good at answering them. Questions focus the mind, changes our thinking and encourages hope and confidence. Here are some good questions to ask ourselves to help us improve our performance at work:
What are your strengths?
As the stress levels rise it is easy to catastrophise, seeing things from the worst possible perspective. In this situation the perceived size of the task increases and our perceived ability to achieve it shrinks, creating a widening gap between the two. Listing (go ahead write them down!) our strengths can remind us that, the challenge may be a big one, but we do have the skills to meet it.
What is going well at work already?
Even in the midst of the greatest challenges at work there will be areas that that have gone well. What part of your business/job is working well? What have you been pleased with over the last week or two with your workplace performance? Often there is more to celebrate than we think. This increases motivation and gives us energy.
Who can help you?
Spend more than just a few moments on this. Brainstorm the names on paper. Who can help you overcome this challenge, who has done it (or something similar) before? When and how could you contact them? Its important to remember that most people like to be asked to help.
What one skill which if you improved would help you most at work?
I believe life is about growth and continual improvement. Each challenge seen as an opportunity as an opportunity to learn new things. Identifying which one skill, which if we improved it, would help us the most can be an eye opener. Furthermore we can then take steps to improve that skill. Simply being aware that a regular action is a skill, that can be improved, can lead to being more mindful of how we operate in particular situations.
A series of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy sessions will:
- Make you more aware of your strengths (and even uncover strengths you’d forgotten/never knew you had), to build confidence.
- Help overcome procrastination.
- Enable you to think and problem solve more creatively.
- Help you separate what is important from what simply appears to be important.
- Give you an understanding of how the brain works, so that you can understand yourself, and perhaps more importantly, your work colleagues/customers better.
- Help make better decisions based on a proper assessment of your work
- Improve your focus and help you to avoid distractions.
- Help you visualise what good performance looks like…
To name just a few!
Want to know more? Just contact Alex and make the next twelve months your best performing year yet!