Our mental headspace is a powerful place, and what we allow to occupy it can have a profound impact on our lives. 

Successful people understand this.

They make a habit of focusing on their goals - and who they want to be. They still feel fear and anxiety, of course, but the power of their intentions is stronger than their doubts. This allows them to push through their worries and achieve great things.

If you’re a CEO thinking of adding a Chief of Staff to your leadership team, there are a few things you can do to make sure they receive a warm welcome—and that they’ll be effective in their role as quickly as possibly. 

A lot can be determined by how you introduce your new COS to the rest of the leadership team. You want to get this right the first time, or you’ll spend months trying to course-correct.

As human beings, we find happiness and fulfillment in evolving and moving forward in our lives. In some cases, that progress is taking on a new role. In others, it is working toward a long-term goal or learning a new skill. Everyone’s definition of growth is unique.

Your growth edge exists one step outside of your comfort zone. Not ten steps - and certainly not 100 steps. One step.

When we’re declined for a role, we often hear that we aren’t supposed to take it personally. But it’s so natural to feel this way—you just put yourself out there for a role.

Here’s the thing: being declined may have nothing to do with you whatsoever. It’s easy to think that everything is about us, but there are so many factors that go into hiring decisions.

Here are just a few examples for you to consider:

When we want to achieve a goal or complete a project, we understand that it is vital to make the right decisions along the way.

However…Timing is equally important.

Think about applying sunscreen. If you’re about to head to the beach, putting on sunscreen is a good idea. If you’re about to go to bed, it’s a waste of time. 

I was lucky enough to have a great mentor early on in my career…

He’d talk to me about other parts of the business and how it all fit together. …

In one of our meetings he said, almost offhandedly, “Well, you could run that department one day.” To me, he might as well have said, “Well, you could fly to Mars one day.” It was completely outside what I understood was possible for me. 

We’ve all been there. You write someone an email. They write back. You make a mental note to follow up with them as soon as you get a minute - but then work gets a little crazy. 

You are called into a meeting. Your boss needs an urgent report. A coworker has an emergency and requires your assistance. A client calls and asks you to come to their office ASAP.

Eventually, the dust settles and you can finally return to your desk. You pull up your inbox, ready to respond to the email thread, only to find the other person has sent you a follow-up message: 

“?”

When pursuing a new goal, people tend to focus on what new habits or routines they’ll need to start.

This is the obvious way to start working toward a goal: I have a goal, and I’m coming up with the actions I need to take to achieve it. This is a really important, foundational part of a goal-oriented mindset! I’m all about it—seriously, I nerd out on this stuff.

However, something that people often overlook is what they need to stop doing.