Executive Toughness

1. Define Your Purpose and Priorities to Achieve Greatness

"You begin to achieve the success you want by determining your purpose and priorities."

Purpose drives success. Defining your life's purpose and top priorities is the foundation of achieving greatness. This process involves introspection and honest self-assessment to identify what truly matters to you.

Steps to define your purpose and priorities:

1. Ask yourself: "What is my purpose in life?"
2. Identify your top three priorities
3. Write them down and review regularly

By clearly articulating your purpose and priorities, you create a personal "scoreboard of life" that helps you measure progress and stay focused on what's truly important. This clarity acts as a guiding light, helping you make decisions and allocate your time and energy effectively.

2. Visualize Your Ideal Self to Shape Your Reality

"You will act like the sort of person you conceive yourself to be."

Self-image drives behavior. Creating a vivid, detailed vision of your ideal self can significantly impact your actions and outcomes. This "vision of self-image" serves as a powerful tool for personal transformation.

Components of an effective vision of self-image:

• Detailed mental imagery of your future self
• Incorporates all senses (sight, sound, feeling)
• Aligns with your purpose and priorities
• Reviewed daily for 30 seconds

Regularly visualizing your ideal self helps align your subconscious mind with your goals. This practice increases motivation, boosts confidence, and makes you more likely to take actions consistent with your desired future. By repeatedly exposing your mind to this positive self-image, you gradually reshape your beliefs about what you're capable of achieving.

3. Set Product Goals, Emphasize Process Goals

"To achieve greatness in life, you need to put significant emphasis into what it takes to get there."

Goals guide action. Setting clear product goals (end results) and emphasizing process goals (daily actions) creates a roadmap for success. This dual approach ensures you have both a clear destination and a practical plan to reach it.

• Product goals: Specific, measurable outcomes within 12 months
• Process goals: Daily or regular actions that lead to product goals

Example:

• Product goal: Increase sales by 20% in 12 months
• Process goals:
  1. Make 20 client calls daily
  2. Conduct 3 face-to-face meetings per day
  3. Spend 90 minutes on preparation/organization daily

By focusing on process goals, you shift your attention from the potentially overwhelming end result to manageable daily actions. This approach reduces pressure, increases consistency, and ultimately leads to greater achievement of your product goals.

4. Prioritize Your Priorities Through Daily Habits

"If you want to achieve your product goals and live your vision of self-image, process goal completion must be the priority each and every day."

Habits drive success. Consistently prioritizing your most important tasks (process goals) is crucial for achieving your larger objectives. This requires discipline and the ability to say "no" to less important activities.

Strategies for prioritizing priorities:

1. Schedule process goals in your calendar
2. Complete important tasks early in the day
3. Minimize distractions during priority time
4. Learn to say "no" to non-essential requests

Creating a "perfect schedule" that aligns with your priorities can help you focus on what's truly important. This may involve adjusting your work hours, delegating tasks, or eliminating time-wasting activities. Remember, what you do consistently determines your results, so make your priorities a non-negotiable part of your daily routine.

5. Evaluate Your Performance Daily for Continuous Improvement

"Take the time on a daily basis to evaluate your personal progress and effort, and you will inevitably learn to achieve your win."

Self-evaluation drives growth. Implementing a daily performance evaluation routine helps you stay accountable, identify areas for improvement, and celebrate successes. This practice keeps you focused on your goals and accelerates your progress.

Components of an effective daily evaluation:

1. Identify three things done well
2. Determine one area for improvement
3. Plan one action to make that improvement
4. Rate progress on process goals (scale of 1-10)

Using a "success log" to record these evaluations creates a tangible record of your growth. This practice shifts your mindset from perfectionism to continuous improvement, boosting confidence and motivation. By consistently evaluating your performance, you develop a habit of self-reflection that is crucial for long-term success.

6. Control Your Arousal State for Optimal Performance

"Learn to control your arousal state and cause your confidence to build, your brain to function more effectively, and your successes to grow."

Emotional control enhances performance. Understanding and managing your ideal arousal state (IAS) is crucial for consistent high-level performance. Your IAS is the optimal level of physical and mental activation for a specific task.

Steps to control your arousal state:

1. Identify your IAS for key tasks (scale of 1-10)
2. Practice physical well-being (sleep, nutrition, exercise)
3. Prepare intellectually (industry knowledge, customer insights)
4. Use centering breaths to adjust arousal level

By learning to recognize and adjust your arousal state, you can enter your performance zone more consistently. This skill allows you to maintain focus, make better decisions, and execute tasks more effectively, even under pressure.

7. Script Your Way to Success in Key Situations

"Develop your focus by knowing and practicing what you are going to say—before you say it!"

Preparation enhances communication. Developing and practicing scripts for your most important business interactions significantly improves your performance and confidence. This technique allows you to deliver your message clearly and effectively, even in high-pressure situations.

Steps to create effective scripts:

1. Identify your top 3 most important communication situations
2. Write out key points and phrases for each
3. Practice delivery until it feels natural
4. Refine based on real-world experience

Scripting doesn't mean sounding robotic; rather, it ensures you cover all crucial points while allowing flexibility to adapt to the specific situation. By knowing exactly what you want to say in critical moments, you free up mental bandwidth to focus on other aspects of the interaction, such as reading the room or responding to questions.

8. Perform Daily Mental Workouts to Enhance Focus

"Complete a 100-second mental workout every day to dramatically improve your focus and ability to execute consistently."

Mental preparation drives performance. A daily mental workout routine, lasting just 100 seconds, can significantly enhance your focus, confidence, and execution. This practice aligns your mind with your goals and prepares you for peak performance.

5-step mental workout:

1. Centering breath (15 seconds)
2. Identity statement (5 seconds)
3. Vision and integrity highlight reel (60 seconds)
4. Repeat identity statement (5 seconds)
5. Centering breath (15 seconds)

By consistently performing this mental workout, you train your mind to focus on your goals and the actions needed to achieve them. This practice reinforces your self-image, boosts confidence, and prepares you mentally for the challenges ahead. Over time, this 100-second investment yields significant returns in terms of improved focus and performance.

9. Develop Relentless Solution Focus (RSF) for Optimism

"Within 60 seconds, replace all problem-focused thought with solution-focused thinking to dramatically improve your health, happiness, and success."

Solutions-focus breeds optimism. Developing a Relentless Solution Focus (RSF) is key to maintaining optimism and overcoming obstacles. This mental skill involves quickly shifting from problem-centric thoughts to solution-oriented thinking.

RSF technique:

1. Recognize negative or problem-focused thoughts
2. Within 60 seconds, ask: "What is one thing I can do differently that could make this situation better?"
3. Identify a "+1 solution" (any improvement, no matter how small)
4. Repeat until a viable solution is found

By consistently practicing RSF, you train your mind to approach challenges with a positive, proactive mindset. This habit not only improves your problem-solving skills but also enhances your overall well-being and resilience. Remember, the goal is progress, not perfection – even small steps forward count as solutions.

10. Adopt Gable Discipline: Finish What You Start, No Matter What

"When you set your mind to do something, find a way to get it done . . . no matter what!"

Discipline ensures follow-through. Adopting "Gable Discipline," inspired by wrestling legend Dan Gable, means committing fully to your goals and persevering until completion. This unwavering dedication is crucial for translating intentions into results.

Core components of Gable Discipline:

1. Prioritize discipline for critical tasks
2. Finish what you start, every time
3. If you fall short, recommit and try again

Developing Gable Discipline requires practice and persistence. Strategies to build discipline include:

• Limiting temptations that drain willpower
• "Over-practicing" discipline by occasionally exceeding goals
• Using a mental coach for inspiration and accountability

By cultivating this level of discipline, you ensure that your plans and goals don't remain mere intentions. Gable Discipline transforms your commitments into consistent action, ultimately leading to the achievement of your most important objectives.

Last updated: July 20, 2024