“Do your best everyday and your life will gradually expand into satisfying fullness.”
To achieve your personal best means making the best possible choices and decisions each day of your life.
But how can you be in the frame of mind to make the best decisions every day?
We are human and are bound to make mistakes, but we can still strive to achieve our best.
Here are our top 7 strategies.
1. Build Your Confidence
Insecurities hold you back from putting your best foot forward. Confidence helps you to overcome insecurities so you can take risks and pursue exciting business opportunities.
You can boost your confidence with these proven principles.
Stay organized and prepared.
Staying organized and prepared at work requires a combination of planning, focus, and adaptability.
- Create a to-do list. You can also use a task management tool to keep track of your tasks and deadlines. This can prevent you from feeling overwhelmed or lost.
- Plan your workday in advance. Set priorities for the tasks you need to complete. Then allocate time for each task accordingly. This can help you avoid getting sidetracked. Of course, be ready to adjust your plans when necessary.
- Keep your workspace clean and organized. Make sure you have all the tools and materials you need to do your job effectively. This can prevent you from feeling frustrated or overwhelmed by clutter or disorganization.
- Prepare for upcoming tasks. This might involve reviewing your notes or materials beforehand, or practicing your presentation skills. By being prepared, you can reduce uncertainty and anxiety and feel more confident and in control.
Staying organized and prepared will help you reduce stress and complete your work efficiently without getting distracted.
Be persistent – don’t give up easily.
Confidence comes from facing challenges and obstacles and overcoming them.
To overcome challenges you face, remember to stay focused, adapt your plans when necessary, and celebrate your successes along the way.
- Stay focused and motivated. Persistence requires focus and motivation. If you find yourself losing focus or motivation, take time to reevaluate your plan and make any necessary adjustments. You may also want to find ways to stay motivated, such as setting small, achievable goals along the way, or finding a support network to help you stay on track.
- Be prepared to adapt. Setbacks are an opportunity to learn and grow. No plan is perfect, and you will inevitably face challenges along the way. When this happens, don’t give up! Instead, assess the situation, and revise your plan if needed.
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Celebrate your successes along the way. This will help you stay motivated so you can keep pushing forward, even when things get tough. Whether it’s a small accomplishment or a major milestone, take the time to celebrate your hard work and achievements.
Be proactive and take initiative.
Confidence comes from taking action and making things happen, rather than waiting for others to do it for you. When you take initiative and do something yourself, you’re proving to yourself that you’re capable of achieving your goals. This build self-confidence and shows others what you’re capable of handling.
On the other hand, when you wait for others to take action, you are essentially giving up your power and control. You are relying on others to make things happen for you. This can erode your confidence and self-esteem.
Surround yourself with positive and supportive people.
Building your confidence is much easier when you have the support of others who believe in you and want to see you succeed.
When Sheryl Sandberg was considering becoming the COO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg was instrumental in convincing her to take the role. He believed in her abilities and saw her potential. His support and encouragement helped Sheryl build the confidence she needed to take on the challenge.
Learn about “fear-setting” and other advanced tips.
For more practical tips on building confidence in business, check out our article “15 Tips to Build Confidence in Business.”
2. Learn from Your Past
Learning from your past experiences can be a powerful tool for making better decisions in the future.
In the early 1990s, Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job as host of a local talk show. Oprah took time to reflect on what had happened and why. Then she launched The Oprah Winfrey Show, which quickly became one of the most popular programs on television.
Here are some specific tips for how a business professional can reflect on their past, learn from their mistakes, and apply those lessons to their future endeavors:
Take time to reflect.
This is an important first step in learning from your mistakes. Consider what you could have done differently, and what you learned from those experiences.
Be honest with yourself.
To truly learn from your past, you need to be willing to be honest with yourself about your mistakes and shortcomings. Don’t make excuses or try to blame others. Instead, take ownership of your mistakes and be willing to learn from them.
Seek feedback from others.
Ask for feedback from your colleagues, supervisors, or mentors. Be open to constructive criticism: Listen openly, acknowledge what is being said, and resist any temptation to argue. Feedback lets you see yourself from a new perspective and identify areas where you can improve.
Be open to new ideas and perspectives.
To achieve your best, you need to try new ideas, test new activities, and explore new approaches. This will help you stay open-minded and flexible, and will ultimately lead to better decision-making.
Put your insights into practice.
Once you have reflected on your past experiences and identified areas where you can improve, it’s time to make changes to your behavior or approach. This will help you move forward and apply the lessons you learned from your past to your future endeavors.
3. Think Outside the Box
Your thinking is limited to your knowledge and experiences.
There are many resources that you can use to broaden your thinking and enhance your decision-making capabilities.
Read books and articles.
Reading business books and articles written by experts in your field can provide valuable insights. This can help you learn from the experiences and successes of others.
Attend training and workshops.
Attending training sessions or workshops can provide you with practical tools, tactics, connections, and techniques.
Work with mentors and coaches.
A mentor or coach can provide guidance and support as you work on improving your decision-making skills. An executive coach can help you identify areas for improvement, provide feedback and advice, and offer crucial encouragement and motivation.
Leverage professional networks.
Joining a professional network or association can provide you with access to a community of like-minded individuals who can share ideas and experiences. This can help you learn from others and gain new perspectives on decision-making.
Use online resources.
You can connect with others, share ideas, and gain insights on decision-making by participating in webinars, online courses, podcasts, forums, and discussion groups.
By taking advantage of these resources, you can learn from others, gain new perspectives, and develop the skills and knowledge you need to make your best decisions in the future.
4. Don’t Rush the Process
Take time to think about what you want to achieve.
Do the research and get as much information as possible. Evaluate the pros and cons, the benefits and the risks.
When Satya Nadella was appointed CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he faced a difficult decision about the future direction of the company. Rather than make a quick decision, he took time to think about what he wanted to achieve. He sought advice and feedback from others, including Microsoft’s board of directors and key stakeholders.
Evaluate pros and cons before making a decision.
After carefully evaluating the pros and cons of different options, Satya decided to focus on cloud computing and mobile technology, and to shift the company away from its traditional focus on personal computing.
This was a risky decision, but it paid off in the long run. Under Satya’s leadership, Microsoft’s stock price has soared, and the company has regained its position as one of the most valuable and successful tech companies in the world.
5. Work Backwards
Form a vision.
Having a clear vision in your mind will help you set appropriate goals.
Know what outcome you want to achieve. Use this as a starting point. Then work backwards.
When Sara Blakely founded Spanx in 1998, she had a clear vision of the business she wanted to build: a global leader in slimming women’s apparel. To make this vision a reality, Sara and her team set goals, identified the actions required to achieve each goal, prioritized goals, and then created an action plan.
Set goals.
To achieve her vision, Sara set specific goals for Spanx: expanding the company’s product line, increasing the company’s presence in retail stores, and building a strong brand and reputation.
Identity required actions.
Sara and her team then worked backwards to identify the actions needed to achieve each goals. For example, to expand the company’s product line, they researched new products, developed prototypes, and tested them with customers.
Prioritize goals.
Next, the Spanx team prioritized their goals based on importance and feasibility. This allowed them to focus their efforts on the most important and achievable actions first.
Create a plan.
Finally, Spanx created a detailed plan to execute the actions needed to achieve each goal. They broke down the timelines, budgets, and resources needed to complete each task.
This approach of working backwards from a business vision allowed Spanx to systematically and consistently expand into a sizable business. Spanx now sells products in more than 50 countries around the world and generates hundreds of millions in annual revenue.
6. Make Realistic Plans
To do your best work, you need to develop realistic, well-defined plans for each of your goals.
Balance realism and ambition.
Finding the proper balance between realism and ambition in a project plan can be challenging, but it’s an important part of ensuring the success of your projects.
One way to find this balance is to start by setting goals that are ambitious but also achievable. This means setting goals that will stretch your abilities and push you to achieve your full potential, but that are still within the realm of possibility.
Set goals and work on achieving them.
This can help you build your confidence by giving you a sense of accomplishment and progress.
Setting realistic goals and working on achieving them is an important step in building confidence in business. Here are some tips for doing so:
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Identify where you want to build confidence. Get specific. For example, you might want to be more confident in making presentations, networking with potential clients, or leading a team.
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Set SMART goals. SMART goals are: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. If you want to be more confident in making presentations, you might set a SMART goal to prepare and deliver a presentation to a group of potential clients within the next month. Keep in mind, just because a SMART goal is supposed to. be achievable doesn’t mean it can’t be challenging or push you out of your comfort zone.
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Create an action plan. Include specific steps and tasks that you need to complete. Set deadlines and milestones to track your progress.
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Take massive action. This might involve practicing your presentation skills daily, reaching out to potential clients, or developing a plan for leading your team. Whatever you do, make sure you take consistent action, preferably every day.
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Review progress and make adjustments. Reviewing progress regularly will help you stay on track. Making adjustments as needed will ensure you’re making progress towards achieving your goals.
Use goals, plans and deadlines.
Let’s say want to network with potential clients.
- Set a goal: You might set a goal to attend two networking events in the next month, and to make at least three connections at each event.
- Make a plan: Your plan might involve researching networking events in your area, creating a list of potential people to meet, and preparing a 30-second elevator pitch to introduce yourself.
- Set a deadline: You might also set a deadline for completing these tasks and a milestone for attending your first networking event.
By making realistic plans, you can succeed at networking with potential clients.
7. Create a Personal Best Board
What is a personal best board?
A personal best board is a tool that allows you to track your progress towards specific goals. It typically includes a list of your goals and a way to track progress on each goal on a daily or weekly basis.
This visual tool can help you mark milestones and celebrate your achievements. You can customize your personal best board to suit your preferences and goals..
How does a best board help?
After you pick a goal, track it on a daily basis on your visual best board. As you go along, make sure to share your progress with an accountability partner.
What gets measured gets done, and what gets tracked usually improves!
As you achieve milestones, your motivation and excitement will grow, driving you to take even more action.
Conclusion
Keep striving to be your best, but don’t worry about being perfect. As someone once said:
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
It’s your turn to put your best self forward! What personal best are you reaching for?
If you’ve found yourself stagnating and would like to reenergize, book a consultation with a business coach. It’s a great way to reinvigorate your goals and give yourself the accountability you might need.
If you would like a free executive consultation, book a free strategy session with Allison Dunn, owner of Deliberate Directions.