Choose to Thrive

We all have a particular mindset that we naturally slip into, particularly in moments of acute stress.

In my work as a coach, I tend to see a big difference between people who adopt a Victim’s Mindset and those who steer towards a Thriver’s Mindset.

Victim’s Mindset: Victims often report feeling seriously powerless. They focus on looking after themselves rather than others. They tend to be motivated by fear, they start hoarding resources and they often end up feeling isolated.

Thriver’s Mindset: Thrivers hold a deep belief in their own capacity to make some sort of powerful difference. They meet challenge with enthusiasm, they’re willing to put others’ interests first and they seek opportunities to contribute.

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Mindsets are not set in stone. You always have the capacity to step back and choose how you want to respond to your circumstances.

If you know that you tend naturally to embrace more of a Victim’s Mindset and you’re keen to make a shift, you might like to try this very simple strategy:

+ Identify: Take a piece of paper and write down all of the challenges that you’re facing at the moment.

+ Prioritise: Then list those challenges in order of priority, so that you can work out how to address them. Beside each challenge, take a note of the resources [both internal and external] that you have available to you.

+ Determine: In relation to that first challenge, determine one thing that you can do, today, to help move you closer to where you want to be. Then another thing, and another.

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Or what about this? When challenges arise, get into the habit of asking yourself the following questions:

• Am I powerful or powerless?
• Will I give or will I take?

Tags: career-coaching, life-coaching, Melbourne