By now, we all are solidly settled into 2016 and fighting through the winter funk. It’s easy to spend January snuggled up and waiting out the dark, cold, rain and snow to get going on all of those important projects when the days get longer. Human nature is to slow down when it’s cold and dark, which is why, I think, it’s exactly during this time that we need to gear up, refocus on our priorities and prepare for an epic 2016. This is not about skills, strength or endurance. It is about your mental and emotional game.
To talk about starting and finishing strong I need to tell you about what I did four months ago. I started working out with a trainer named Angela. She is tough, has the driest sense of humor and will listen to me talk about work as I struggle through lunges, squats and runs that make up our time together. Early on in my workouts with her I had a cycle of starting slowly, working hard during the middle and really flagging at the end. I thought I was doing great.
After a few weeks of this, she smacked me on the butt as I was slow jogging during the last 10 minutes of a workout and declared that I was going to start and finish each workout strong. I asked how that was possible. She told me that I would find a way.
The benefits of starting and finishing strong are often discussed, but what is most overlooked are real examples of how to do it. Here are four ideas to get you motivated:
1. The Plus 1 Mindset: I am obsessed with this idea because when I see it in action, it’s magic. The idea is to take whatever you are working on and make it a little better. And I mean slightly better. When you make something a little better—more research into your customers or add some insightful analysis in the email to your boss—you stand out as someone to watch, someone to fund, someone to partner with, someone to work for or someone to hire. When fighting to get going, start applying the plus 1 mindset to everything you do.
2. Focus on You: It is very easy to spend a lot of time looking around at the competition. If you are looking around you take focus away from your performance and disperse your energy. When I started in tech I was always looking at colleagues’ promotions and new jobs with envy and it slowed down my performance. Around that time I found a copy of a quote called the baseball players’ creed: Stay within yourself, focus on your goals, be better than yesterday and outperform yourself. My results are always better when I focus on my own performance.
3. Get Inspired Inside and Outside of Your Industry: There are hyper-performers in every industry category that can be inspirational when you start to doubt yourself. I work in tech and am inspired every day by different inventions, startups and people. What really helps me finish strong is to look outside of my industry.
When I am feeling on the losing side and not making progress on a project, I think back to the 2010 Olympics Team Canada vs. Team USA game in the gold medal round of hockey. It was tied up at 2-2. Canada should have given up but it played well into the overtime period and Sidney Crosby scored the overtime goal that won the game. Team Canada players talked afterward about how they committed to each other before they hit the ice in overtime that they would play like it was the first period and bring everything they had. Total inspiration for finishing strong.
4. You Are Not Who you Think you are: Another way to put this is that you are not who you used to be. Maybe you were, at some time, lazy, scattered, unfocused. Well, using a cliche seems appropriate here: That was then, this is now. You have changed and will continue to change and operate at levels you thought were out of reach until now. I read a story once about an intermediate skilled skier who got on the wrong chair lift and found himself at the top of the advanced runs. He stopped someone going by and asked if he could help him find a way down. “You ski down, man,” was the answer. “This is your new level.”
If you need help getting straight on who you are now and what you are capable of, go find the last few people who hired you or promoted you and get their help. This isn’t a selfish exercise but a core part of helping your self-perception catch up with where you are today.
Going back to where we started with my workouts. Now the first and last 10-15 minutes of my workouts are the hardest parts. I run until it hurts and then I have to run faster. Though I still dread it, I’ve definitely got momentum. By deciding to start and finish strong I am declaring how I show up and that will make the best start and finish to 2016.
CONTACT: @hekernahan
This article originally appeared in the January 18, 2016 issue of PR News. Read more subscriber-only content by becoming a PR News subscriber today.