The Power of Yet
There is no question about it, your mindset affects every area of your your life – your spirituality, your relationships, your emotions, and your very outlook on life.
How many times have you heard that one person views the glass as half-full, while the other person views it as half-empty? Each viewpoint is expressed through the lens or perspective that they view situations and what they believe is possible – their mindset.
How can you use the Power of Yet in Your Business or Career?
1. Change “Never” to “Not Yet”
In a Ted Talk that has been viewed by millions, Carol Dweck spoke about ‘The Power of Not Yet.’ In this talk she shared that at a high school in Chicago, teenagers who were not passing a class received a grade of “NY,” meaning “not yet.” The goal of this program was to encourage students to embrace a growth mindset. They were not failures, even though they had not received a passing grade. They were on a learning curve and could improve by embracing the growth mindset.
When you encounter a situation that’s beyond your current skills or abilities, it’s easy to retreat to a fixed mindset. You might say, “I’ll never learn how to use Quickbooks. I should not even bother.”
I had that belief and attitude about Quickbooks, even though my Tax Professional advised me many years ago that it would make my life a lot easier when it was time to prepare my taxes.
I had to shift my thinking to, “I don’t know how to use Quickbooks…yet.” I could learn. I could teach myself as I had done on many other occasions, and get help for any area I did not completely understand. When you approach a problem this way, you put the focus back on your growth, rather than your skills or abilities.
It does require a change in your mindset or set of beliefs, and is not always easy to do.
What is one thing that would make a difference in your business that you’ve not learned or mastered…yet? Is it email marketing? Customer follow-up? Blogging? Remember that even though you’ve not mastered it yet, you can.
2. Be Honest with Yourself
None of us like to embark on new things, even though we know the return may be very good and positive. As humans we resist change because we like to stay in our comfort zone, and frankly, it feels scary to do something new or different. It can be tempting to downplay it or even retreat to safety. But if you have a growth mindset, you can acknowledge your discomfort and remind yourself that you can do it. You just have not done it…yet.
For example, you have been thinking about raising your rates and your best client will be affected. You’re concerned that although she loves working with you and gets results, you could lose her. You could either allow fear to stop you, or you could consider the opposite viewpoint, “I know this discussion will make me feel uncomfortable. But I can negotiate with my client calmly and professionally.” While you don’t know what the end result would be, you’re willing to step out of your comfort zone and have the discussion.
When you’re willing to use the Power of Yet in your business, you’re in control. You embrace the growth mindset, which in turn, empowers you to see that you can achieve what you ardently desire, even if you’ve not done so yet.
4 replies to "How to Use The Power of Yet in Your Business"
There are many things I have not done…yet. Yvonne. All I need to do now is move the yet closer to now.
I’m right there with you, John. It’s a struggle that we all have…yet I believe that we move the things we want to do closer to the things we accomplish by starting with the mindset where we believe in ourselves and our goals. Thank you for coming over and leaving your thoughtful comment.
Love this Yvonne – you had really captured my interest with your clever blog post title.
The “not yet” mindset is something we all should pay more heed to and stop stressing over what “could have been only if” type thinking.
Thanks for such an easy to read and extremely helpful post
Peter
Thanks for stopping by to rad and leaving your awesome comment. I’m grateful you found the article helpful and easy to read,.