Finding, getting and keeping your mojo is crucial for personal and professional success.
Marshall Goldsmith is widely considered to be the godfather of business coaches. He’s a distinguished teacher and keynote speaker and has worked with the world’s top CEO’s for a long time. He’s also the author of New York Times bestseller What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and the follow up to that Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back if You Lose It.
Mojo gets tossed around a lot as a slang term for being good at what you do, being in the zone, doing things right. Goldsmith defines mojo as the moment when we do something that’s purposeful, powerful, and positive and the rest of the world recognizes it.
I think another way to define mojo is in terms of motivation and momentum. It’s one thing to be good, but it’s another to be consistently good.
Goldsmith has a few ideas for finding and maintaining your mojo. It means controlling four elements:
- identity (Who do you think you are?)
- achievement (What have you done lately?)
- reputation (Who do other people think you are, what do other people think you’ve done lately?)
- and acceptance (What can you change? When should you ‘let go’?)
Goldsmith’s Mojo Toolkit provides practical tips to help achieve both happiness and meaning – not only in business, but in life.
Here are a few of the highlights and more self-explanatory points:
- Establish criteria that matter to you.
- Be the optimist in the room.
- Build and rebuild one brick at a time.
- Influence up, as well as down.
- Adopt a simple measurement of progress.
- Take it easy on yourself, your family, and your friends.
I really like this last one because it’s a good reminder to keep intensity levels high, but also remain flexible and friendly. Find your mojo – and keep your days positive, purposeful, productive – and profitable.
(photo credit: clogsilk via photo pin cc)
Sign up for The Sunday Snippet!
Good ideas to help you prosper delivered fresh each Sunday morning.