Plan, schedule, execute, refine, and repeat. Would that describe most business practices? How often do we plan, schedule, execute, refine and repeat our personal mental iron goals? Oh, maybe I should ask this question first: Do you have any mental health goals for yourself as a leader? If not, may I suggest some?
- To live according to your values in spite of constant external stressors
- To be able to reduce the physical and emotional effects of stress daily
- To maintain emotional stability and balance
- To restore inner calm and resilience daily
Mental iron is the strength and resilience to lead with character for life.
Marshall Goldsmith strongly suggests that making lists of questions will help us along a healthier path as leaders.
Using his suggestion, create a spreadsheet of questions to rate yourself on at the end of every day on a scale of 0-10. It will help you identify areas to keep working on in order to build mental iron.
Here are some questions you might ask yourself daily: (Modified from Marshall Goldsmiths list of daily personal performance questions.)
- What did I do to set specific goals to maintain my inner strength today?
- Did I do my best to reach my goals for peace and tranquility today?
- Did I do my best practice stillness today?
- Did I do my best to focus on being fully present in all situations today?
- Did I do my best to be happy today?
- Did I do my best to find meaning today?
You get the idea. Sounds simple, but here’s the kicker: you will slack off after a few days of practice. That is human nature, so it is essential to get an accountability partner. Arrange to speak to someone every day about your scores on these questions.
That is when you start being serious about transforming into a leader with mental iron for life.