The beginning of every year brings about resolutions and promises of self-improvement. Most people make them with an excitement and dedication that spark their ambitions to go further. On a professional level, we make internal resolutions about ‘improving work product to get promoted’ or ‘finding balance,’ only to eventually revert to old habits out of perceived exhaustion. Despite how well-intentioned our resolutions are, they’re so focused on the ‘ending’ that they entirely ignore the journey itself.
On a personal level, we talk about ‘special diets’ and ‘healthier choices’ without truly understanding what we need to achieve them. That’s when new gym memberships, education-enhancing product purchases, or food subscription services become more appealing. We see the vision of what we want long-term but don’t focus on what is needed to get there – we just guess. Regardless of whether your pursuit is professional or personal, the journey is key to achieving the vision. Understanding what a journey should look like is even more pivotal than the resolution itself. So, what’s the key to bringing it all together? A Performance-Based Mindset that empowers you to take control of your journey.
Unlike resolutions focusing on broad ideas and “achieved” status, a performance-based mindset focuses on actionable, consistent, and realistic behaviors with measurable progress markers. After all, “achieved” titles and “perceived” status do not signal achievement because they imply finality. Instead, a focused mindset is the game-changer for all success.
A performance-based mindset boils down to these simple questions:
- What actions help me move toward the vision I’m trying to attain?
- How can I track these actions?
- What does overall success look like if I keep track of these actions?
The questions, instead of idealizing one point in time where you’ve “achieved” success, help you understand that your strategized habits will help you improve your outcomes (and life overall). A performance-based mindset improves your ongoing happiness, resolve, and overall desire to keep going regardless of what hurdles you may come across.
There are specific rules to invoke when establishing a performance-based mindset. First and foremost, you should always focus on systems instead of goals. Resolutions are the outcomes (or goals) you want to achieve, but systems are the processes that get you there. For example, saying that you want a job promotion is too abstract. Instead, dedicating 30 minutes a day to listening to podcasts about your job, scheduling a monthly or quarterly check-in with your manager/coach to discuss performance and areas for growth, and committing to 15 minutes each week to documenting your accomplishments and reflecting on how well they align with your company objectives, will help you gain control of what you want to achieve. The processes (aka: the consistent actions) will help you build additional momentum that removes unspoken pressures of hitting a specific goal.
The next rule is all about staying true to objective data. Subjectively, we give ourselves credit for achievements we perceive as significant because we genuinely devote time and care to them. Devotion, while necessary, is only helpful if it points to the correct actions. This is where your data tracking comes in. It’s not about how many tasks you can complete in a day but how many help move the marker toward what is required. Consistent reflection is necessary, and with it comes the need to adapt your ways. For example, if your vision is to get that promotion and one of your data points measures how many emails you review daily, you need to determine if reading a lot of those emails makes you “better” at your job to earn your promotion. Odds are, it’s not just about reading those emails; it’s about how you respond and what you do with those emails that matter.
Thinking about it logically, reading emails doesn’t sound like a helpful metric, so you should determine what else you could objectively measure to determine that you’ve added value to your tasks. The more you can question, evaluate, adapt, and evolve, the stronger your performance-driven mindset and, by default, your results.
All mindsets deal with consistency in one way or another. That’s why you don’t get “abs” after only one day of healthy eating. The journey isn’t momentary and shouldn’t be a predetermined period. Instead, it should be ongoing. Measurements can be over a given time, but a performance-based mindset should become a lifestyle.
This is where the following rule comes in: focus on small, consistent actions that will compound over time. Just like a 401K grows exponentially after years of smaller deposits, your success will be similar due to the smaller actions you take regularly. Use this mentality to focus on any additional micro-actions you can take to help you. It might be weekly reading on personal skill improvement or spending 10 minutes each day to review industry-related news, but these smaller actions help keep your mind sharp, up-to-date, and dedicated toward your professional development.
The final rule of a performance-based mindset is about your environment. All mindsets require a conducive environment, but performance-based mindsets thrive in such conditions. Improving your performance-based environment involves three key factors that can significantly impact your personal and professional growth.
Surround yourself ONLY with others who genuinely want it.
Do not ever deviate from this. The more you surround yourself with people who share your energy for achievement and focus on positive, supportive actions, the more success you will experience. Engage in conversations with them and avoid conversations with all others who seek to alter your mindset.
Embrace continuous learning.
Mastery means understanding how to continue using strongly developed skills in innovative ways. This implies that you must always be open to learning. Combine that with the first factor of environment, and you will build a group of like-minded friends/coworkers/teammates who will see setbacks as learning opportunities with you.
Bridge the gap between personal and professional performance.
Manage your time effectively and always allow time for your personal well-being. Schedule your checkups, give yourself time to journal or meditate, and get rest from your professional life regularly. Recovery is critical for everyone, so prioritize it. Remember, a performance-based mindset is not just about professional success; it’s about achieving a balanced and fulfilling life.
Once you’ve dedicated yourself to the rules listed above and the environmental factors that help guide your recovery, your mind will start to see that celebrations are about progress, not perfection. That’s when you disempower the “resolution” and empower the journey toward success and happiness. People tend to think they need to choose one or the other, and professionals tend to convince themselves that it’s about pushing through one to get to the other, but from either point of view, that’s not the case. A performance-based mindset understands that an unwavering commitment toward success comes with objective forward motion. Imagine how much happier you would be if you experienced professional success through a personal commitment to consistently positive habits. It’s life-changing.
After all, the energy behind the motto, “Great Practice, Great Life” encapsulates the essence of a performance-based mindset. By consistently practicing positively defined habits and focusing on progress rather than perfection, you can create a great balanced life for yourself, both personally and professionally.
