Success appears to come so naturally for some while others struggle. What differentiates those who succeed from those who don’t?
One of the biggest challenges to success is our ability to tackle change.
Change is almost always required when implementing a forward-thinking strategic plan, yet as we all know can be extremely difficult. Interestingly, research has shown that what motivates people to change, or what holds them back, is the level of tension involved.
Tension, contrary to what you might suspect is not always a bad thing. People step up and stretch to do amazing things with a high level of challenge. However, if the level of tension involved in overcoming the challenge is perceived as too high, stress and often paralysis takes over. If the tension is too low people tend to become apathetic and lazy. Success requires getting the tension just right!
The level of tension involved in any set of activities can predict whether you will act to initiate change and do what it takes to climb over the hurdles along the way, or whether you will stay stuck. Every goal or activity has a perceived level of tension associated with it. Tension is comprised of a combination of three things; your ability, the perceived level of challenge, and how important you view the task.
The most successful companies have figured out how to set big goals and match them with the right set of abilities to get them done in a motivating way. As you go about putting together a roadmap for the coming year you can strengthen your ability to predict success by taking a closer look at the tension involved.
I look forward to hearing about your success. Happy Planning!
Author: Helene Mazur
Helene is the founder of Princeton Performance Dynamics, an executive coaching and strategic planning facilitation company for business and non-profit leaders and their teams. Helene’s passion is helping her clients to focus their goals, see new perspectives on their current situation, put in place realistic, motivating plans, and execute to achieve new levels of success.
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