Episode 12 How to Get Your Leadership Mojo Back!
In this empowering episode Sarah dives into a challenge that many leaders face: losing their leadership mojo. Whether it’s burnout, feeling stagnant, or simply being overwhelmed, Sarah shares actionable strategies to help you rediscover your energy, passion, and leadership identity. Packed with practical tips and inspiring insights, this episode is your guide to regaining confidence and leading with purpose.
Show Notes:
[00:00:00] Welcome and Introduction
[00:01:00] The Mojo Disappears
- Explore common reasons leadership mojo fades, from overwhelming responsibility to a lack of challenge or energy.
[00:03:00] Signs You’ve Lost Your Mojo
- Sarah discusses feelings like stagnation, burnout, and disengagement, and shares her personal experience of losing her business mojo.
[00:06:00] Recognizing the Opportunity for Reflection
- Use the loss of mojo as a signal to pause, reflect, and grow.
[00:07:00] Leadership Identity and Values
- Reconnecting with your leadership identity and values to find renewed purpose and passion.
[00:09:00] The Energy Check-In
- Practical tips for improving energy levels through better sleep, nutrition, and self-care.
[00:10:00] Priming for Success
- Daily practices like meditation, intention-setting, and mindfulness to shift your mindset.
[00:12:00] Reframing Challenges as Growth Opportunities
- Adopt the mindset of “life happening for me, not to me,” and use challenges as opportunities to build resilience.
[00:14:00] Transforming Your Language
- The power of positive self-talk to boost energy and motivation.
[00:16:00] Recap and Closing Thoughts
- A quick summary of the strategies discussed and encouragement to start experimenting with small, impactful changes.
Useful Links
Sign up for Weekly Career Inspiration
Learn about Leadership & Advancement Coaching Programmes
Join The Love What You Do Facebook Group
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
Resources
Insight Timer App: A tool for guided meditations to help you set the tone for your day.
Rate & Review the Podcast
If you found this episode of Unstuck & Unstoppable helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Sarah know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: sarah@careertreecoaching.co.uk
Transcript
Welcome to Unstuck and Unstoppable,
the podcast for ambitious female
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:leaders who want to create more impact,
income, and influence in their careers.
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:feel connected to their passion
and purpose, but without
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:selling out or burning out.
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:I'm Sarah Archer, a leadership coach
and career strategist, helping women
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:like you thrive in leadership roles
while staying true to your values.
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:I'm the founder of CareerTree
Coaching and have over 15 years of
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:coaching experience and significant HR
leadership experience to share with you.
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:I know as a female leader it can
be hard to find time to focus
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:on your career aspirations.
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:The day job can be all consuming.
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:Plus, no matter how senior you are,
there are always going to be times
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:when you feel stuck, when you have
self doubt, or feel like an imposter.
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:And that's where unstuck
and unstoppable comes in.
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:Each week I'll be sharing practical
strategies, insightful interviews and
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:inspiring stories to help you boost
your confidence, lead with purpose
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:and achieve sustainable success.
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:If you're ready to stop playing
small and unlock the incredible
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:potential you have within you and feel
unstoppable, you're in the right place.
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:Let's get started.
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:So today's topic, let's dive into it.
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:This is all about how to get
your leadership mojo back if it's
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:disappeared, gone and walk about.
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:Because let's face it, we've probably all
at some point in our career experienced
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:that sense of our mojo just not being
there, just not feeling that same.
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:energy or engagement or
passion for what we're doing.
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:And certainly in my career I have
experienced that at different points.
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:And it's certainly led me, to
make changes in my career, it's
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:led me to change organizations,
it's led me to change career.
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:What we're going to explore today is
things that you can do both short term
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:and long term if you feel your career mojo
just isn't there and you're really missing
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:it because it's what gives us that.
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:Energy and that engagement, isn't it?
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:Let's think about why it might go.
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:Why you might be experiencing
a dip in your leadership mojo.
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:It could be that maybe you're feeling that
there's a huge amount of responsibility
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:sitting on your shoulders that maybe
it's all on you that you feel like
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:you're just pushing this huge rock
uphill to either affect change or to
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:get your team to deliver or to make
something happen in the organization.
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:And it feels like it's just you and
you're on your own . Trying to move
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:this rock and it's a huge heavy weight.
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:Or it might be that you've done
everything that you need to in your role.
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:When you took the role on,
it was about transformation.
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:It was about making a difference,
having an impact, and maybe
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:you've achieved all of that.
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:And you've got that sense of
nothing new, no challenge.
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:I'm just plateauing Just feeling that
I've done everything that I wanted to do.
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:Or maybe the organization has
become in terms of its growth
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:or its place, it's become more
systemized, more process driven.
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:Maybe you feel there's
less room for innovation.
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:for managed risk taking, for creativity
and you're just not turned on by
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:this kind of plateauing, or the
organization's in maintenance mode
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:before it moves to growth, but
it's not giving you that same buzz.
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:So your mojo's disappeared.
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:Maybe you are putting everybody
else's needs before your own.
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:So you're beginning to just feel a
bit like there's no space for you.
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:There's no room for you.
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:You're doing everything for everybody
else, both personally and at work.
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:Or maybe there's too much change
going on in the organization and it's
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:beginning to feel it's taking its
toll and you're, you can't summon
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:up the same level of enthusiasm and
energy to make those changes happen.
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:Or it's a bit situational.
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:You've just come back from a holiday.
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:You need a holiday.
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:You've had a milestone in your
life some way, age or something in
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:your life that's happened recently.
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:Or you've just had a spate
of bad experiences at work.
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:Things just not going your way and
it's making you feel a bit meh.
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:about work.
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:It can be, short term situational,
or it could be these longer term
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:things where it could mean that
a change of role or a change of
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:organization is on the cards for you.
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:If in some of those situations, you can't
see that things are going to shift at all,
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:it might be then that you've got to put
your energy into finding something new.
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:But what we're going to explore
today is what things you could put
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:in place to get some kind of shift
in your mojo, which doesn't require
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:you to leave the organization.
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:But it's also recognizing
when it might be time to go.
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:And maybe you've been putting
that off because it feels quite
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:a hard job to find something new.
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:How does it make you feel when
you've lost your leadership mojo?
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:It might be that you're feeling
a bit adrift, that you just feel
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:like there's no anchor there.
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:I'm just, feeling a
bit, yeah, disconnected.
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:Maybe you're feeling overwhelmed.
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:There's just too much going on.
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:Just feeling that sense of
approaching burnout , or not being
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:able to see the wood for the trees.
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:Maybe you're feeling disengaged
from the organization and
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:what it's trying to achieve.
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:Maybe you're feeling
a bit uncertain about.
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:where's my place?
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:What's next for me?
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:Or even uncertainty in the
organization and where it's moving to.
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:Or maybe you're feeling a bit stagnant
that there's just nothing inspiring you.
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:All of those feelings are not
great to experience, are they?
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:I know certainly about 18 months
ago in my business, I was feeling
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:like I'd lost my business mojo, not
in my coaching practice, but in the
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:business because I've been running
my business for over 10 years.
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:And I just felt I'd lost it.
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:that energy, that mojo to move it forward.
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:And I did have to take action.
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:What I decided to do was find some
external support, find a business coach
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:just to help me bring that creativity,
innovation, energy back into the business
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:because I couldn't do it on my own.
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:I think the great thing about recognizing
that your mojo has disappeared is
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:that it gives you the opportunity to
just press pause and engage in some
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:reflection to work out what is going on.
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:It's just a helpful sign that
something needs to change either
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:in a small way or in a bigger
way in your existing situation.
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:It's quite a useful thing to notice
so that you can then take action.
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:What we're going to look at today is
some ideas to help you regain that.
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:But the first thing to think
about might be to think about
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:your leadership identity.
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:Having the opportunity to just press
pause and reflect, because we are
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:always growing and evolving as leaders.
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:So it might be just worth thinking
about, okay, what kind of leadership
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:identity do I currently And what
do I actually want my leadership
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:identity, my leadership brand to be?
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:And what's the gap there?
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:Being able to do that reflective piece
can be helpful in terms of noticing
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:that actually you're about to engage
in a period of growth as a leader.
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:Or you need to do some reconnection with
your values and passion as a leader.
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:I was coaching someone
a couple of years ago.
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:She was a senior leader in financial
services and she'd just been promoted
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:and she wanted to do some work around
her positioning in the organization.
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:But actually, as we started to unpack
it, there was some work to do around her.
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:Leadership mojo and her new identity
and her new leadership role.
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:And what she wanted to try and do
was reconnect with her values and her
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:passion, which was around people and
enabling people, especially women to have
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:success in the financial services sector.
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:She didn't want to leave her organization.
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:She was really good on her
delivery and what was making
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:her a great leader in terms of.
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:strategic piece, but she really
needed to have something additional.
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:And so what we did is some work
around reconnection with her values,
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:which led her to then engage in some
leadership activities, which were
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:outside her day to day leadership
role, which were more about EDI.
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:which were more about how she
could promote women in leadership
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:externally to her organization, how
she could develop a mentoring scheme
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:internally within her organization.
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:And that enabled her to re
engage with her leadership
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:identity, change it to a degree.
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:And she felt her mojo returning in terms
of her position in the organization
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:and how much time she wanted to spend
in that organization going forward
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:because she didn't want to leave.
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:She had to find a way of reconnecting
with something that enabled her to feel
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:passion for the organization and for
her different roles in the organization.
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:Doing that piece around what's my
leadership identity and what I want
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:it to be can be really powerful.
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:The second thing to do is a practical
check in and I'm not going to spend very
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:much time on this idea, but it's just
a useful thing to do is just to think
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:about your energy levels and what you
could do practically to increase them
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:because that contributes to your mojo.
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:So that's those things around sleep,
nutrition, hydration, and the elements
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:that feed you and that give you energy.
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:Doing a check in, am I
relying on stimulants?
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:Am I relying on coffee and
sugar to get my energy?
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:Do I need to do some tweaks
around my hours of work?
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:My food I'm putting into my body,
how much sleep I'm getting, etc.
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:So that's a little side to make sure
you're not neglecting that piece as well.
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:And then the next couple of strategies
I am borrowing from Tony Robbins.
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:So I'm just going to credit him with
these ideas, but I think they're
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:really useful at helping shift your
mindset, particularly if you think,
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:okay, I want to stay where I am,
but I need to get my mojo back.
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:The first one would be to
prime yourself for success.
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:And what do I mean by this?
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:It's a a mindset shift, but this
is a small thing that you could do
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:every day that can just shift how you
feel about what you're about to do.
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:It might be about starting with a
bit of meditation or some mindfulness
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:just to get you in the zone.
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:And if you find, you struggle with
those activities, there's a brilliant
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:app called insights timer, which has
basically a meditation for everything and
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:has hundreds of practitioners on there.
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:So you'll be bound to find one that
you like and that you can engage with.
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:And literally you can just
choose a five minute meditation
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:just to get you in the zone.
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:And then you want to be setting
an intention for the day.
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:And these are really powerful, so that
might be something like, I'm going to
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:be really productive today, I'm going
to feel positive about the ten meetings
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:I've got scheduled for today, I'm going
to power through the key things on my
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:to do list today, or whatever, is going
to make you feel, a lift in energy
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:when you set that intention for how
you want that particular day to go.
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:And you're probably going to have a
different intention for every day, but
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:it's about Setting the tone for your
day and it can shift how you then
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:go on to experience that day and how
you can set yourself up for success
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:because if you've lost your mojo, then
you'll probably be feeling that you're
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:not having impact, that you're not
having the success that would drive
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:you and enable you to push through.
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:So by setting yourself up for
success, by priming yourself, it
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:can make a difference to your day.
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:Because also what you'll notice is when
you've lost your mojo, those limiting
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:beliefs, that inner critic will be louder.
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:And so you have to work harder,
which then drains you to manage those
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:.
Inner voices.
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:So doing things like priming yourself
for success can be helpful with that.
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:, if you're struggling with your inner
critic and those voices, you might
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:want to have some coaching support
around helping you with that.
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:But another thing you can think
about doing is embracing the
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:concept of life happening for you.
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:and not to you because when you've lost
your mojo and you're feeling low in
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:energy, you feel like you don't have
so much control of your situation and
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:you can get into that why me dialogue.
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:And it's.
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:Good to be able to reframe this
again so that if you have a difficult
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:situation or an event that hasn't
gone your way or hasn't gone well,
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:being able to see it as an opportunity
to grow, to become resilient, to
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:develop your capability, to cope with
adversity can be really powerful.
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:And it's partly tapping into that
Buddhist philosophy of being able to
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:be thankful for something happening
that allows you to grow and to develop.
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:Being able to be thankful.
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:Okay.
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:I'm thankful that actually I'm
feeling that I've lost my mojo
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:at the moment because it gives
me an opportunity to pause and
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:reflect and think about my growth.
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:It's just one way to start repositioning.
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:what's happening to you at the moment and
seeing it as it's happening for me so that
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:as a leader I can become a better leader
or I can find a better organization that
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:allows me to thrive or I can learn how
to manage my energy when it's not always
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:there in the way that I want it to be.
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:, you could think about amplifying your
gratefulness practice if you have
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:one if you don't have a gratefulness
practice maybe engaging one The positive
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:psychology research shows that even
if you indulge in finding three things
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:to be thankful for every day for a
week, the research shows it increases
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:your well being for up to six months.
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:Making it a regular practice can
be powerful at boosting your
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:well being, which is ultimately
going to boost your mojo.
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:Thinking about how you can maybe
engage in a gratefulness practice,
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:but also noticing if you're having a
bad experience, thinking about what
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:can I learn from it and how can I
be thankful that this is helping me.
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:And sometimes that can feel a stretch and
I do realize that, it can feel a stretch
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:to do it, but if you can start to reframe
those experiences, it's just going to help
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:you throughout your leadership career.
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:And then the final thing to think
about is transforming your words in
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:terms of how you talk to yourself, but
also talking about how you're feeling.
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:If you're saying, Oh, I'm really tired.
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:I'm really exhausted.
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:I've lost my mojo.
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:Then your body is going to respond
to those words and you are going
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:to feel how you've described.
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:Whereas if you say I'm feeling energetic
today, I'm feeling really positive.
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:I know I'm going to have a great day
and I'm going to make a difference.
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:Even just saying that now , I can
feel how my body is responding to that
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:and how just my posture changes and
I feel that sense of uplift because
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:when we talk to ourselves negatively
or we express things negatively,
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:we can create that self fulfilling.
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:prophecy that feeds into
how we might be feeling.
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:Noticing what's my language around
my energy, what's my language around
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:my mojo and what makes me feel great.
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:And just experimenting with it
and seeing what the difference
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:can be for you can be helpful.
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:Let's do a quick recap of some of the
things that could be helpful for you.
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:Noticing, is this a long term loss of
mojo or is it something short term?
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:Because that will help
you decide how to address it.
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:Then thinking about this is an
opportunity for me to pause and reflect,
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:to think about my leadership identity.
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:And then to think about what actions
I want to take and experiment
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:with some of the ideas around
transforming your language, so
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:thinking about the words that you use.
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:Seeing it as an opportunity to reframe it
as life is happening for me, not to me.
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:And then priming yourself for success.
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:By setting an intention every day.
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:And also thinking about
how you can amplify.
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:Or start a gratefulness practice.
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:I hope this short session has given
you a boost to think about how you can
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:start getting your leadership mojo back.
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:You can also watch this episode live
over on LinkedIn, and I will put
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:something in the show notes for you.
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:And while you're over on LinkedIn,
if we're not connected, please
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:do send me a connection request.
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:Thank you so much for listening
to this episode of the Unstuck
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:and Unstoppable podcast.
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:I have lots of free resources you
can access on my website, ww.career
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:tree coaching.co
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:uk, and I'll also put
links in the show notes.
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:If you found this episode
helpful, then please subscribe
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:so you don't miss the next one.
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:And please do share it with a
friend and leave me a review
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:and I will personally thank you.
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:Remember, you're capable of more
than you know, shine brightly.
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:Lead boldly and unlock the
extraordinary potential within you.
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:Be unstoppable.