The CHAMPION Mindset

To put a growth mindset into practice so it becomes a habit, I developed my CHAMPION process. I have used this process to achieve in several start up’s & numerous business ventures or career changes that necessitated me to make a change and upskill over the past few years. CHAMPION is an acronym for:

C Chunk it down
H Have a go
A Assess your results
M Mindset maintenance
P Hang out with the right people
I Investigate the best
O Own the outcome
N Never give in

Chunk it down

People often overestimate what they can achieve in 12 months, yet underestimate what they can achieve in three years. Very often they have a well-thought-out, achievable goal, but give up on it because they didn’t achieve it in the unrealistic time frame they allocated to it. One way to avoid this is to break the goal down into manageable chunks, which can be completed before moving on to the next one. Remember to achieve your impossible goal, start with the first step that is possible!

Have a Go

Positive thinking is great, but positive doing is when the magic happens. Having a go means not just having a go once; you need to keep having a go, again and again, learning each time and noting your progress. Think back to when you learned to ride a bike, drive a car, surf, or play netball. It took effort and repetition, and only with persistence were you able to master the activity. You were persistent then, so you know you can do it this time too. The Design Thinking strategy of Build-Test-learn is perfect here.

Assess Your Results

There has never been a truer saying than ‘what gets measured gets done’. When we know what we are aiming at and how we’re tracking it’s so much easier to achieve our goals. Metrics need to be clear, concise, and easy to assess. I also believe in transparency: you should share your metrics with a coach or mentor so they can keep you honest about how you are going. You must continue to understand what the metrics are and then check-in to see if you are on-track or off-track and make changes accordingly.

Mindset Maintenance

It’s not just a matter of getting your mindset right once and then forgetting about it. As you take action, you must continually re-evaluate your mindset and make sure you are still on track. Being entrepreneurial can also be lonely and full of self- doubt and this can stop a worthy pursuit. Try and spend some time daily with positive messages and positive people that inspire you. This can be through a podcast, event, sporting activity. The key is to smooth out the super highs of success and the depth of the downturns when a poor result eventuates.

Hang Out With the Right People

In my experience, motivation is 50 percent ourselves and 50 percent of the people we hang out with. The take-out is this: if your current network of friends, family, or work colleagues is not supporting you and encouraging you to grow, you will never have the opportunity to be who you could be. You need to seek out those who believe in you and your goals and can encourage and guide you on your journey.

Investigate the Best

Once you have a goal or dream and are committed to it, part of your strategy should be to find out who does it best in the world and study them. Because we live in Australia this might mean taking some overseas trips. But the internet, podcasts and webinars and Ted talks are also a great source here. A key is to master what the worlds best are doing now before changing it to suit your own opinions. Get good first, then change it up.

Own the Outcome

If you want to become a true Possibility Leader, you must always take active responsibility for your actions – whatever the result. If you get a positive result, be happy for yourself for putting in all the effort and work that went into it. Don’t play it down, and don’t let anyone steal the glory. But, if it all goes horribly wrong, don’t look for someone to blame. Take responsibility, admit your error, and then get on with locking down the learning and move on.

Never Give in

You will be tested. There will be negative people. There will always be critics and those people who woulda, coulda, shoulda but haven’t. You need to have self-belief, resilience and pure grit sometimes. Steve Jobs said we need to believe that all dots will connect down the road to give us the confidence to follow our hearts.

This blog was submitted by one of our book club authors, Rob Hartnett. Check-out Robert’s latest book and stay in touch at itsallpossible.com.au.