One of my advisors has an interesting take on where she thinks many professionals are stuck.
She says, particularly in the drag race that is New York, many hard charging men and women have had the mojo beaten out of them.
Whereas most of us started our careers feeling unstoppable, somewhere in our twenties and thirties, after sustaining inevitable setbacks, many of us feel like we’ve lost a step.
And while it can sometimes feel like that mojo got left behind with Austin Powers, like a well-driven Aston Martin that has taken a few dings over the years, often we only need a little touch-up.
This comes down to the way that you are fueling your mind. Cycling limiting thoughts and reminding ourselves of our constraints only holds us back, when it can be easy to give yourself a shot of mojo for driving forward.
Deep down we all know who we are and what we are capable of, and like a spark that ignites the fuel and drives a piston, sometimes all it takes is a series of small reminders to tap back into feeling you at your best. Try these two steps:
1. Tap into past memories: Inside our minds we each have many examples of past success and finding your mojo can be as easy as reminding yourself it’s still there.
Close your eyes for a few minutes and cycle this question: When was I being my best? Once you get a memory, relive it. See yourself there, imagine you are there again, and MOST IMPORTANTLY tap into the feeling of what it’s like to be your best. The more often you do this, the longer you do it for, the more events you find in your past, the more mojo you tap.
2. Prove it to yourself through small victories: It’s one thing to find the mojo in your mind, but to “prove” to yourself you still have it, you must use it in the real world. For a few moments, imagine today 1-3 ways in which you will bring your best, and see yourself doing it now. Then, do it! And, at the end of the day, close your eyes and remind yourself how you did it, and how you will do the same again tomorrow.
Even just the tiniest examples of exercising your mojo will prove to you that you still have it, and the more you practice this, the more mojo you will find.