Creating the Best Possible Results
The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. If you want better results from your students, your classes and your school, then you’ll need to DO something different! I don’t believe that we can change our outcomes just by thinking positively. We need less positive thinking and more positive doing! Don’t misunderstand – attitude is vital to our success. The key here is the application of ‘optimism,’ rather than ‘positivity.’ The word comes from the Latin ‘optimus’ which means, “best or most favourable.” The Oxford Dictionary describes optimism as, “a tendency or disposition to look for the most favourable outcome.” In my definition, there is also a critical aspect that includes taking action – doing something about it.
Three critical elements need to come together to create and deliver optimal results in your career and your life. They help you build and maintain an optimistic approach – what I call being in the “OZone.” Working on the three key activities in each element gives you the ability to identify opportunities, maximise your opportunities and create better outcomes.
1. Attitude Awareness
The focus in the first piece is to recognise that ‘best possible’ results don’t come from just having a positive attitude. It’s about having an awareness of what your attitude is at any
particular time. How contagious are your good moods? How about your negative ones? What are the triggers that can take you down? What are your ‘helium balloons’ that are guaranteed to give you a lift? It’s also about recognising that there are peaks & troughs in a day, in a week or in a semester. Sometimes you should just take it easy because things are not going so well. When you are aware of your attitude, you can take absolute advantage of when you are feeling 100% full of energy and get the most from your efforts! Looking at the rhythm of the school year, and the seasonal impact of the semesters on everyone’s attitude, can also create better outcomes for you and your students.
2. Activity Management
Piece number two is about understanding exactly what it is that you need to do, then turning up ready to do the right activity at the right time. It’s also about making sure that you measure and monitor the things that you need to track. There are many elements that make up a successful school year, so it’s important to prioritise and manage tasks, projects and curriculum development and delivery. Be careful not to get so caught up in what’s the right thing to do that you end up in analysis paralysis: “I don’t know whether to do this thing or that thing.” Here’s my
suggestion – do something. Get into action and the universe will give you feedback. You will sense if you did a great thing and should continue or if it didn’t work out or needs to change direction. Get into activity and then measure the bits that work and do more of those.
3. Achievement Focus
How well do you see the big vision that you are headed towards? How do you find success for yourself, your students or your department or school? Make sure that you have clearly articulated where you want to go and what you want to achieve: First for yourself and then for other stakeholders involved with the school. It’s also important to identify the things that might distract you from this focus. Work out how to remove, reduce or limit their impact. To improve your success rate, create visual reminders of the goal that will help keep you on track. Monitor and reward your progress, as well as completion of tasks or projects to stay motivated!
Balancing the “Three A’s” will deliver great results, for your personal and professional life. A practical way to approach this is to assess your current level of activation in each area, then consciously choose to take action in the areas that need some extra attention. More optimism creates more opportunities to create ‘best possible’ outcomes for all the parts of your world!