Boost Your Day - ReflectOn the Past.Predict the Future
Whether you've gota big project or event coming up, or you just want to have a great day, there are two simple things you can do to boost your chanceof success. Recent research shows that great performance might simply start with what you choose to focus on.
Predicting The Future
What do you focus on at the start of the day? Do you get buried in what's happening right now? Or do you start to focus on how your day is going to pan out and what's going to happen?
Taking time to predict an outcome for your day, or at least part of it, tends to build a more positive mindset. Making predictions leads to an increase in dopamine - our reward and feel-good chemical (click here for the article)
When we make a simple prediction - even if it's silly, like how many people are going to say hello to you today, then we set ourselves up for a little shot of dopamine. And the great news is, it doesn't even matter if your prediction comes true or not. Your positive attitude hangs around regardless. When we make a prediction there are generally no bad outcomes. Either our prediction comes true, or we get information that helps us next time. Both of these things produce a reward response.
But when you've really got to perform in a pressure situation, maybe the best thing you can do is reflect on the past.
Reliving the Past:
A simple mental strategy to perform well when you really need to is to recall a time in the past where you've done really well. It doesn't need to be a related situation - you might think of a great performance you had in your local soccer game, or that time at school when you nailed that exam.
In a study earlier this year (click here for the research) , recalling past success helped people to perform better in the world's most feared task - public speaking. Not only did these people get better scores after recalling their past success (at anything) they also kept persevering in the face of adversity, when their evaluators gave them ratings that they weren't happy with. So not only does remembering that great achievement boost your chances of success, it makes you more resilient and persistent.
So there you have it. If you want to have a great day, then maybe its as simple as being positive about the future and reliving past achievements. Start your day with these two things, and you might just surprise yourself.
** Tony Wilson is a Workplace Performance Expert. He helps organisations build high performance culture and helps people manage their own performance and productivity. He combines the science of high performance with contemporary management theory to change the way people work and lead in the 21st Century. For more, visit www.teamcorp.com.au
To book Tony for a speaking engagement contact his management agency - http://odemanagement.com/tony-wilson/Tony-Wilson.html