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December 2019
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Holiday Last-Minute Gifts for Self & Others12/16/2019 5 MIN READ  The holidays are here and gift-giving activities are fast approaching. You may be ahead of the game as I’ve tried to be in past years, or you could be way behind on your gift-getting as I happen to be this year. Wherever you are on your holiday shopping, one thing is almost always certain - you didn’t include the most important person on your list, YOURSELF. So in the spirit of last-minute holiday shopping, here are some tips and suggestions as you hastily make room in your bank account and your tree for presents for the loved ones in your life, which includes you. Tip #1 Gift Yourself This time of year can be filled with stress, grief, anxiety, and busy work. Consider giving yourself a self-care gift of time, rest, and relaxation. On my Self-Care page, you’ll find gifts like:
 Tip #2 Buy a Book With so much to learn and so many stories told, why don’t we take a break from binge-watching our favorite shows and pick up a book instead! Whether you prefer audio books, reading from your Kindle, or holding a bound copy in your hand, a good book can be the needed respite from a busy life and stressful activities. In my Bookcase, you’ll find gifts like:
Books for the wonderful kids in your life include:
Tip #3 Make Something From the Heart Gone are the days when we could put our hands in some paint, stamp it on a card, write our name and “I love you!” next to it, and give that to a loved one as a gift. Or is it? We underestimate the value of a thing or work made with our hands and minds, but it continues to be one of the most thoughtful, personal gifts that we can give to someone. Here are just a few examples of gifts that I’ve seen people give as gifts, consider what makes sense for you and try something out of your comfort zone! 
 Poetry, short story, or other writing. I’ve done this for my partner, my Mom, and friends over time. This can be a poem typed and framed, or a printed book of short writings. You don't have to write something new if you have pieces folks have never seen before, bring something out of your treasure chest and make it shine with pretty font on fresh paper!  Arts and crafts of any kind. When was the last time you’ve gone inside Michael’s or Joann’s? My bestie Gina is a fantastic scrapbooker and she also makes dreamy ribbons and bows. My long-time friend Amparo (aka Apple) makes incredible gifts from the heart through crochet. If you check out Apple’s Instagram you’ll get some great ideas for crocheting, or you can reach out to the queen yourself for a special order! Tip #4 There is No Perfect Gift, Just Thoughtful Ones At the end of the day, let’s try to remember that it isn’t about how much money you spend, or if you even expect a gift from this person in return. It’s about what makes you grateful for having this person in your life, and the most natural, cost-effective way for you to show her or him that gratitude. To my Mother, my partner Michael, my grandma Trining, my cousins Janella, Melinda, Justin (may you rest in peace), Evita, Cristine & Mikey (and my second cousins Nate, Jon, and Lizzie), Cassandra & Matt, Dalton, Anna, my aunts and uncles Hedy & Ben, Hanny & Howard, Joel (aka Manoy), Elenore & Bernie, and family spread throughout the Philippines, US, Australia, and elsewhere, I’m thankful everyday to have you in my life and to be part of this beautiful, multi-cultural family! To my best friends Lara, Gina, Erin, Meo, Serei, SJ, Roy, Alerie & Rod, and friends all over the world, I’m grateful for you! To my mentors Dwayne, Sr. Susan, Kevin, Elroy, and so many more that have touched my life, thank you for your wisdom, your well-intentioned feedback, your selfless coaching, and your positive vibes. To you readers out there, I’m so thankful that you read whatever you read on my website, and I hope you have a blessed and joyful holiday season with your loved ones! About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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Defining Your Strengths as a Leader Series: #2 Defining Your Emotional Intelligence Strengths11/4/2019 3 MIN READ  I found a recommendation for “Emotional Intelligence 2” by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves. With the book came a new and enhanced online edition of “the world’s most popular emotional intelligence test,” The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal®. The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal® provides you with a complete picture of your emotional intelligence. This includes an understanding of:
 This appraisal will ask you specific questions about your behavior. How you answer these questions is for your eyes only. A true reflection of your emotional intelligence skills depends on your willingness to accurately rate yourself. This requires a lot of thought into how you are in many situations, not just the ones you handle well. When you read each question, create a clear picture in your mind of how you are in different situations, then answer honestly how often you demonstrate the behavior in each question. Define Your Emotional Intelligence Strengths Activity Read about the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal - Me Edition. Consider if you would like to take this assessment (it costs less for the hardcover book than the online assessment!). If you decide to take it, put it on your calendar by blocking 2 hours and set a reminder for a few days before so that you do not reschedule it.
What if you decide not to take it? Reflect on a colleague or loved one in your life who could benefit from the activity and tell them about it! The accompanying report recommends that I begin practicing on one specific area, Social Awareness, and offers three strategies to nurture my skills in this area:
My Take-aways on the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal
Now that you’ve reviewed one assessment, take a look at Assessment #3 the StrengthsFinder by Gallup (stay tuned!). Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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4 MIN READ  This article is the 2nd in a series. Read the introduction article "Defining Your Strengths as a Leader." I took DiSC through the Tony Robbins website thanks to social justice comrade and career coach Anthony Le’s recommendation. I’ve participated in a Tony Robbins seminar as a teenager, so to take something as an adult almost 20 years later was exciting! DiSC is an observable “needs-motivated” instrument based on the idea that emotions and behaviors are neither “good” nor “bad.” Rather, behaviors reveal the needs that motivate that behavior. Therefore, once we can accurately observe one’s actions, it is easier to “read” and anticipate their likely motivators and needs. DiSC provides your ADAPTED style and NATURAL style, represented as graphs and word sketches. As an example, for People, the words that indicate my needs, fears, and what’s observable are:
Define Your Strengths with DiSC Activity
What if you decide not to take it? Reflect on a colleague or loved one in your life who could benefit from the activity and tell them about it! My Behavior Style is Assessor. Key behavioral insights that stand out to me that I will need to keep in mind to strengthen my relationships are:
The insights I get to take home with me and contemplate as I move forward are lists of “Help Them Tos” adapted for different situations such as At Work, In Social Settings, and In Learning Environments. Lastly, you get a summary of your motivation which tags seven (7) Motivators as Very Low to Very High. My breakdown was:
Knowing that Altruistic motivation is my highest, key universal assets that stand out to me that I will need to keep in mind are:
 My Take-aways on DiSC
Now that you’ve reviewed one assessment, take a look at Assessment #2 on Emotional Intelligence. Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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Defining Your Strengths as a Leader10/28/2019 4 MIN READ  This article is the 1st in a series on "Breaking Knowledge Barriers". This article is the 1st in a series on "Defining Your Strengths as a Leader" I have read my fair share of what some might term “self-help” books. I like to think of them as “self-awaken” books. The “help” part in “self-help” alludes to something being broken that needs fixing. What I appreciate about the books I’ve read since I was little, as well as today, is that self-awaken books point to the strengths, potential, and inner wisdom deep inside of us, already alive and ready, yet often untapped and tucked away hidden from sight. This wisdom manifests as skills and intuition, and I’m keen on developing my ability to tap this wisdom. Self-evaluation is critical for me as a leader, as a manager of teams and projects, and as a woman of color. The Center for Creative Leadership reminds us in their report 7 Emerging Trends for Transformative Leaders that some managers may struggle with interpersonal relationships, affecting their ability to build and lead teams or adapt to change, which can lead to career derailment. To avoid this, “organizations must design programs that develop [managers’] self-awareness, political savviness, communication skills, and ability to influence others...skills that are essential to effectively heading a team.”
As a professional, whether you are an employee of a company or an entrepreneur, understanding your strengths and skill sets is key to building the confidence, resourcefulness, and grit to adapt to any situation. As human beings who have way more going on than just our jobs, you can bet that your personal, educational, emotional, societal, cultural, economical, and religious identities are often at play when you negotiate professional situations. Most of us do not know how these identities manifest themselves in our decisions, risk tolerance, and self-reliance. Most of us have comrades and loved ones we can turn to for advice and feedback, but our hearing is often screening and interpreting with the bias of that relationship and all of its power dynamics. So why take a personality assessment? Because we often don’t know the questions to ask. And even if we did, would we really answer honestly, free of unconscious bias, shame, guilt, regret, or fear? Define Your Strengths as a Leader Activity Take out a pad of post-its, ideally in two different colors (e.g. green and yellow). Find a blank wall or space where you can lay out two sets of post-its and set aside a total of one hour.
We know from the Council of National Psychological Associations for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Interests “Test bias is a primary issue of selecting and using testing and assessment instruments with racial/ethnic minority groups. Past research has shown that tests can produce misleading results with culturally different groups in terms of slope and intercept (or unfairness) bias.” Thus, if you are a person of color, you will need an assessment that will address and consider this intersection of your identity, as well as many others, if you are to feel good about doing anything at all with the results. I’d like to give you a review of a few assessments because, 1) I have taken them in more than one sitting or format, and 2) I have heard from and worked with others who have taken one or a combination of assessments as part of developing themselves professionally at work. I have written a separate blog post for each assessment in this "Defining Your Strengths as a Leader" series. Click here to go to Assessment #1 on DiSC. Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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4 MIN READ  This article is the 5th and final one in a series. Read the introduction article: "Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace." If you Acknowledge who you are, Accept the strengths and challenges in front of you, and develop a risk tolerance to Adapt to situations as they come, you’re in a pretty good place. But let’s go back to the first question that I had to ask myself - What Can I Give Up? This is why I say, Finish Strong. Finish whatever is holding you back with strength. This might be just what you need to move forward on something else. Be intentional about finishing whatever it is, and focus on ending it with a lesson to validate the effort.
spreadsheets and trade them in for Quickbooks Self-Employed or something:
Once you know the owner, size, and the priority of this project you want to START, you can rumble with vulnerability as the great Brené Brown advises in Dare to Lead. You can let go of the need for this project to look and feel a certain way if you’re going to delegate it. You can let go of the anxiety of thinking about it right now if you know it’s not going to come up again for several weeks. I bet you will also realize that you have mad delegation and prioritization skills as well!  Lastly, Back Yourself Up by building a strong bench of people that you can rely on to support you. If you can set up a formal advisory or committee, awesome. If you can find a mentor, wonderful. If you can join a community like a local commission or network like the Women’s Networking Alliance or the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute, way to step it up! The most important part is getting positive reinforcement and honest guidance from outside of yourself, while also building your inner monologue of positive vibes and affirmations. And whenever possible, build a diverse bench. It should have people that look like you and people that don’t look like you. It should have people that will agree with you on some things and people who will disagree with you on some things. Stack your bench with people who will look out for your best interest, which is not the same as Yes-people.
You now have all of the strategies you need to begin to tackle any knowledge barriers or general challenges you may have face as a woman in business, education, law, medicine, etc. You already have the will and the grit to move forward; you only need to take the first step. Know that I believe in you and that I am taking those steps with you. Sincerely, Mer Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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3 MIN 30 SEC READ  This article is the 4th in a series. Read the introduction article: "Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace." How many of us are still making decisions today because of something that happened a month ago? A failure a year ago? A mistake or misjudgment a relationship ago? Instead, I recommend, “Be open to learning new lessons, even if they contradict the lessons you learned yesterday.” Our intersections, our identities, are chock full of lessons we learned yesterday that we are still holding onto. They might be holding us back and we may mistakenly think they’re pushing us forward. ACKNOWLEDGE who you are, how your identities intersect and play out in your everyday. How your heritage/history, education, geography, and income all impact the access you have to the knowledge you seek today. You acknowledge that the path behind you and in front of you is rife with challenges and misjudgment and misunderstanding. So who are YOU today, and what strengths and skills do you have in your toolbox to move forward from this moment?
That is to ask yourself what are you GOOD at, what are your strengths, and how does that play out in your life. Conversely, what does it look like when you are not applying those strengths in your life, and how do they manifest as fears or you getting in your own way or your unhappiness?
 ADAPT by starting from a place of strength in the knowledge of who you are and gratitude for all that you have ACHIEVED to get to this moment, rather than shame or regret. There’s a TED Talk on the 5 Top Indicators for Startup Success by Bill Gross with Idealab, and chief of them is Timing, followed by Team, Idea, Business Model, and Funding. What this tells us is that Timing is the largest factor in the success of any business, so it behooves you to always be present, open-minded, and have a fresh perspective and confidence to tackle whatever comes, when it decides to come, because we have very little control over timing. RECALL YOUR STRENGTHS and let them nourish and remind you that you can do it, whatever IT is, when the time comes. Now it's time for you to finish strong and start fresh, and we teach you how to do this with our final strategy. Click here to go to Strategy #4. Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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2 MIN READ  This article is the 3rd in a series. Read the introduction article: "Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace." No matter how old we are, how successful we are, how much we’ve achieved, who loves us and who is loved by us, there are challenges that we still face as individuals. I believe that our experiences and identities can tell us a lot about WHY. Identity Intersections explore how issues of race, sexual orientation, and mental health intersect with one another (Psychology Today). We are unique in how we identify with our identities, and how those intersect to create our experience, value systems, and personalities. It is healthy and critical to acknowledge and accept your intersections as contributing factors to your success as well as challenges. It is valuable and worth your energy to assess how these play out in your decision making, management, and principles. Often, we don’t even realize that our intersections bias our perceptions not just of others, but ourselves and what we are capable of or deserving of. The two images below offer a few combinations of identities that you can reflect on
Please understand that the outcomes of this strategy will vary depending on the person as we are all different. It is important to take what you need and let go of what you do not. Throughout your life journey, your Identities Map may look a little different given that you will change. You may have to re-identify yourself and that is just fine because change is inevitable. This next strategy in this series will help you embrace it. Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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2 MIN READ  This article is the 2nd in a series. Read the introduction article: "Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace." The Journal of Positive Psychology published a study in June showing that 15 minutes of meditation has the same effects as a full day of vacation. One step into a mindfulness or meditation practice is to practice breathing exercises. Mindful breathing is an incredible, free, readily accessible tool to help you recall the strategies I share with you throughout my Blog.. Next time you’re facing your shame, take some deep breaths. When you have a small win to celebrate, take some deep breaths. Appreciate who you are. Take a precious moment for yourself. Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing aka Belly Breathing or Abdominal Breathing. As part of meditation practice, breathing exercises are known to help manage the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, depression and anxiety, sleeplessness, and more. Breathing leads to a CALM MIND, and with a calm mind, you are more equipped to respond with authenticity, armed with your natural strengths and intuition.
Lastly, another benefit of breathing and lowering your heart rate and stress levels, is so that you can activate KINDNESS more. More for yourself. More for others. More for the world. Consider a free app like UCLA Mindful by the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute (recently highlighted in LA Times!).
"Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges." ~ Bryant McGill Now that you have learned how to relax and be mindful, you will have enough energy to pursue Strategy #2 on Identifying Yourself. Trust, it is never easy to look at "the [womxn] in the mirror." Related articles
About Author: Meredith "Mer" CurryMer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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5 MIN READ  This article is the 1st in a series on "Breaking Knowledge Barriers". I have had the opportunity to work for some amazing visionaries and leaders in Southern and Northern California. I landed some of my first jobs out of college thanks to the help of staffing agencies who liked that I could type over 100 words per minute, knew ten-key, had loads of customer service experience, and was visibly eager to make a difference somewhere. As I grew in skills, roles, and responsibilities, I watched myself stretch and reveled in the expansion that can only happen when you’re granted the opportunities to. My supervisors were pretty good at spotting my drive, resilience, growth mindset, risk tolerance, and desire to learn as much as I could. After being an Executive Assistant, Office Manager, Accounting Coordinator, Program Specialist, Grant Writer, and then Executive Director, I found my passion and strengths as an operations executive. With that passion, I helped start a statewide nonprofit that supports over 15% of California’s public 6th-12th graders with college and career planning tools, and I’ve consulted with multiple nonprofits and leaders to help them achieve their visions. The moral of this short story for me is that every step of the way, when I had the opportunity to bet on myself, I did and often, I won. What I skipped in the story are the massive mistakes, failures, misperceptions, wrong assumptions, and poor leadership that I had to struggle through in order to get new roles, take on new responsibilities, and absorb new skills. If this sounds anything like your own journey, then perhaps like me, you also had to navigate strong bouts of insecurity, depression, loneliness, codependency, nagging self-doubt, and creeping suspicion of everyone and everything. If this sounds like you, then I invite you to keep reading. 
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 | They sounded like:
And then they grew into:
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Until finally, they reverberated in my heart and soul into a thundering:
Hearing myself tell myself what I needed was so powerful, I still shiver just thinking about it.
- I need to give up my need to be anything other than who I am, right now, in this very moment.
- I need to give up my need for something more than what I have, when I have so much to be grateful for, right now, in this place, as I am in this very moment.
Hearing myself tell myself what I needed was so powerful, I still shiver just thinking about it.
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"What Can I Give Up" Activity
Check out my “What Can I Give Up?” Activity that I often share with my clients to help them figure out how to let go of certain things holding them back in their lives. I show a personal example of my use of SMART Goals to create actionable steps towards giving up a specific habit. Included is a free printable for you to do the activity as well. Enjoy! |
Do you watch Parks and Recreation? If so, then this moment of realization for me was like Leslie Knope owning, “I am big enough to admit I am often inspired by myself.” In this moment of telling myself that I was enough, that I didn’t need to be anything more, that I wasn’t something broken that needed fixing, I tuned into who I was again - someone with love and compassion who can inspire the best in others. I had just gone so long without aiming my strengths at myself.
I continue to learn from this lesson, to break it up into smaller chunks, to dig deep into the nuances of my needs. I have some take-aways that I want to share with you as strategies for leadership development and self-care. This is aimed at entrepreneurs, managers, and those who run businesses, teams, and projects. But really, these strategies are relevant to anyone who is struggling with a leadership challenge in their personal or professional life. I have written a separate blog post for each strategy in this "Breaking Knowledge Barriers" series. Click here to go to Strategy #1 on Practicing Mindfulness.
Related articles
- Article 1: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Womxn of Color in the Workplace.
- Article 2: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #1 Practice Mindfulness.
- Article 3: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #2 Roll Call! Identify Yourself.
- Article 4: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #3 Acknowledge. Accept. Adapt.
- Article 5: Breaking Knowledge Barriers Series: Strategy #4 Finish Strong. Start Fresh.
About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry
Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
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We are grown-ups with a lot of growing up left to do
I believe that as adults we still have much to learn and practice when it comes to growth mindset and building mental toughness and emotional intelligence. If you run a business, team, department, or project, you need to be able to triage and communicate goals. In your own life you may need to set one or two SMART Goals a week around things at work or at home to help you get more organized, bring more clarity, or simply create more space in your life for the things you love.
I encourage us all to continuously work on developing our growth mindset, to use SMART Goals as one tool in our toolkit in our everyday routines, and to share our goals with our circles of influence so that support can come to you in the form of intentions and good juju to come.
Want support thinking through your goals?
Let’s talk about the goals you want to set for your life, your team, or your business! Schedule your free 20-minute consultation now.
5 MIN READ
I have been in education for almost two decades and there are a few buzzwords that have stuck with me. One of those phrases is “growth mindset.” Yes it’s catchy, but it is also chock full of hope and reason and strategy. This became really catchy when Carol Dweck’s research first came out in 2016. I further developed my understanding of what it meant to develop a growth mindset by working with non-profit organizations to incorporate the research into lesson plans, or find online tools that could assess for or help to teach elements of the theme to K-12 and college students.
Today, I write about how a growth mindset can be applied as adults. I write to claim that “An old dog can’t learn new tricks” is absolute rubbish and written by those who didn’t want to have to learn any new tricks. I believe growth mindset is a tool each and every one of us can have in our toolkit. I also believe that learning how to adapt SMART Goals into our lives as professionals can help us reinforce our growth mindset from everyday situations to those challenges that come straight out of left field.
Today, I write about how a growth mindset can be applied as adults. I write to claim that “An old dog can’t learn new tricks” is absolute rubbish and written by those who didn’t want to have to learn any new tricks. I believe growth mindset is a tool each and every one of us can have in our toolkit. I also believe that learning how to adapt SMART Goals into our lives as professionals can help us reinforce our growth mindset from everyday situations to those challenges that come straight out of left field.
| What is a growth mindset? I recommend TransformingEducation.org’s Toolkit as the resource to learn more about Growth Mindset. Though the content is written around students, the information is true about people of any age. As adults, we hear ourselves everyday, saying to ourselves or out loud, “I just can’t…” or “I never…” or “I’ve never been good at…” or “I don’t ever want to…” This is considered a fixed mindset. One in which we are inflexible, where we believe we cannot change. This can be fueled by shame, self-doubt, our image of our weaknesses and strengths, and any number of factors. On the other hand, if you have a growth mindset, you believe you have what it takes to change. You understand that if you put in the work, persevere, practice, and push through even when it gets really difficult, you can find a way. |  |
You say to yourself, "This is tough but if I keep trying, I can get better at…” or “I’ve never done this before, but I’ve learned lots of new things, so I believe I can learn…”
Do you see/read how the self-talk is different? Recognize that the fixed mindset sounds awfully familiar, much like the negative self-talk we have about so many other things. Like what we should wear, where we can travel, who we can befriend or date, what job we can apply for, and what we deserve. These thoughts are choices. But sometimes these choices have become so redundant that they’ve become rote, meaning you don’t even think about the choice anymore. This is where SMART Goals comes in.
Do you see/read how the self-talk is different? Recognize that the fixed mindset sounds awfully familiar, much like the negative self-talk we have about so many other things. Like what we should wear, where we can travel, who we can befriend or date, what job we can apply for, and what we deserve. These thoughts are choices. But sometimes these choices have become so redundant that they’ve become rote, meaning you don’t even think about the choice anymore. This is where SMART Goals comes in.
What is a SMART Goal?
SMART Goals are taught to students as a way to help them define and focus their goals for their life. As an adult and entrepreneur, I see SMART Goals as a way to shake the fiction out of our goal-setting (fiction being bias, self-judgment, shame, thoughts, etc.). Instead we can use SMART Goals to get to the facts, the brass tax, about this goal that we’ve communicated to the universe and what we really mean and intend by it. Below is an example of how I used SMART goals to figure out how to better prioritize a minute task that was taking up so many hours of my day.
SMART Goals are taught to students as a way to help them define and focus their goals for their life. As an adult and entrepreneur, I see SMART Goals as a way to shake the fiction out of our goal-setting (fiction being bias, self-judgment, shame, thoughts, etc.). Instead we can use SMART Goals to get to the facts, the brass tax, about this goal that we’ve communicated to the universe and what we really mean and intend by it. Below is an example of how I used SMART goals to figure out how to better prioritize a minute task that was taking up so many hours of my day.
- S = Specific. When you write down your goal it should be as specific as possible which will force you to be clear. Say it in one sentence.
- M = Measurable. What will you measure to know you are successful? How will you quantify your objective?
- A = Achievable. State one or more ways that you will make this goal realistic. Who can you bring in or what tools and tactics can you use to achieve this goal?
- R = Relevant. Note that here, I depart from the traditional SMART Goal definition which is “R for Realistic.” I think as adults, we’re more likely to talk about goals in terms of pragmatic realism, as opposed to being too dreamy. Since we want to think outside of the box, instead I ask us to think about how this goal is relevant to our profession or life.
- T = Timing. Goals need deadlines for real umph. So set a due date, or a range of days/weeks/months in order to accomplish this goal.
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AdvancED Activity WHAT CAN I GIVE UP?
As leaders and entrepreneurs, our daily lives can quickly become overwhelmed with tasks. This two-step activity is meant to encourage you to think about everything you need to do in order to decide what you are willing to give up. Then, you will use SMART Goals to take action toward prioritization, organization, and achievement of your goals. Click here to download the What Can I Give Up Activity sheets (PDF). |
We are grown-ups with a lot of growing up left to do
I believe that as adults we still have much to learn and practice when it comes to growth mindset and building mental toughness and emotional intelligence. If you run a business, team, department, or project, you need to be able to triage and communicate goals. In your own life you may need to set one or two SMART Goals a week around things at work or at home to help you get more organized, bring more clarity, or simply create more space in your life for the things you love.
I encourage us all to continuously work on developing our growth mindset, to use SMART Goals as one tool in our toolkit in our everyday routines, and to share our goals with our circles of influence so that support can come to you in the form of intentions and good juju to come.
Want support thinking through your goals?
Let’s talk about the goals you want to set for your life, your team, or your business! Schedule your free 20-minute consultation now.
About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry
Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.
Photo Credits:
https://www.transformingeducation.org/growth-mindset-toolkit/
Sources:
https://www.transformingeducation.org/growth-mindset-toolkit/
Sources:
- Growth Mindset Toolkit
- LeaderKit_Sample.pdf
- Growth mindset for adult learners, OCTOBER 11, 2017
- Shift to a Growth Mindset With These 8 Powerful Strategies
- Is Mindset Culture Shift Possible for Adults? June 15, 2016
