🫂 How would the best version of myself show up in this situation?

In the course of a single day, I find that I am multiple different people. I don’t suffer from a disorder, instead I enjoy cognizant context shifting. A fancy way of saying that I am aware that I wear “different hats” in different situations.

I am guilty of often bringing business talk into places where it isn’t welcome. I love talking about business, I find it exciting and interesting. My partner isn’t so keen on every conversation revolving around business as sometimes we just need to switch off and talk about something else while on a walk. Context shifting helps me, and I think it could help you.

You probably see that similar shifts in your role are necessary throughout your day. You may need to show up during different windows as a:

• Loving parent

  
  

• Supportive spouse

  
  

• Dedicated gym goer

  
  

• Caring friend

  
  

• Innovative entrepreneur

  
  

• Focused leader

  
  

That's a lot to manage - which is one reason we frequently struggle to do so. The innovative entrepreneur isn’t always the right personality to be a supportive spouse.

The idea of a "Persona Residue" can be useful here. The sense that you have a little bit of residue from the prior persona that bleeds into your present persona.

It can be hard to turn off work mode and turn on family mode. It can be hard to turn off family mode and turn on gym mode. But when we get caught in between, both ends suffer.

For example: Let's say I'm headed to a family event. The best version of myself would show up as present, loving, and supportive. By identifying those traits, I can work to turn them on and show up as that ideal self.

Awareness is the first step to solving any problem. We need to identify what the current situation is, and what we believe the ideal situation is. Identifying the traits of the person I wish to be in a situation is useful to helping myself trigger those appropriate traits now and reduce the negative effects of persona residue.

Consider how your ideal persona would show up in a situation. Then, consider what actions you can take to trigger that persona in yourself.

I often help my clients to do this in the context of becoming that innovative, motivated, entrepreneur. We identify what being the perfect person in a situation looks like for them, and then identify what things we can do to trigger that state. For example, if you want to feel pumped before a sales call you may do 10 jumping jacks to trigger that mental state. It is a simple change, but it radically improves outcomes (some of my clients from gone from closing rates of 20% to 60% from making this one change). This framework isn’t confined only to business, it can help in your personal life too. So, today, I ask you to ask yourself:

1. How would your best version show up in this situation?

   
   

2. What traits or mental state is the correct one for the situation?

   
   

3. What can you do right now to help trigger those traits or mental state?

A busy parent, what state are they in?

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I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-june-26-2024

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