Introduction

The purpose of this exercise is to have the participant reflect on their beliefs regarding the causes for when they don’t have the success they desire in their lives and making the changes needed to get there. This is best completed in pairs but can also be done with small groups of up to six participants. This is a good exercise after the participants have been exposed to the concept of taking 100% responsibility for their results and completed other introductory exercises.

Process

1. Divide the participants in equal groups of two or three if necessary – have participants sit facing each other or in a circle if more than two participants in a group




2. Instruct the participants to make “I can’t…” statements about circumstances in their life they aren’t happy with – this can be targeted for specific topics such as ‘what’s holding you back from losing weight, hitting sales goals or other relevant topics




3. Demonstrate with a volunteer going back and forth




4. Have the participants alternate back and forth for a minute and then stop




5. Instruct the participants to switch to “I won’t…” statements using the same endings they used during the “I can’t…” round




6. Continue for one minute and stop the activity




7. Ask the participants to reflect on how it felt different between the two rounds – Ask a few participants to share their feelings with the group




8. Instruct the participants to write down some of the “I cant’s” in their life and convert them to an “I will…” statement where they take responsibility for making an effective change to the circumstances




9. Encourage them to write the “I will…” statements in positive future condition and not as a negative statement of what they don’t want

Example

First Round: “I can’t” lose weight

Second Round: “I won’t” lose weight

Final “I will” get to under 200 lbs. by exercising five times a week for 30 minutes and eating fast food only once per week (Not “I will” not be overweight…)

Introduction

The purpose of this exercise is to have the participant reflect on their beliefs regarding the causes for when they don’t have the success they desire in their lives and making the changes needed to get there. This is intended to be completed on an individual basis but could be shared with a trusted individual to validate the participants perspective or provide suggested changes.

Process

Instruct the participants with the following steps without providing much guidance beyond what is provided. You don’t want to influence their responses such that they alter how they write them down initially with regards to taking 100% responsibility.

1. Reflect on a current project, goal or relationship in your life that is realizing less than the success you desire.




2. Write the top three to five reasons you believe why this situation is less than successful.




3. Review the reasons you’ve written down and look for wording that indicates or demonstrates not taking 100% responsibility for the results – look for wording that is blaming others or making excuses




4. Rewrite the reasons stated in a manner as actions where you “take 100% responsibility for the results” and not blaming others or making excuses – write these actions in a way that states the positive condition you want to exist and not the absence of a negative condition




5. Begin incorporating the actions into your daily meditation, goal affirmation and action items

Example

Reason: My marriage is strained because my wife doesn’t listen to me and understand my needs

Action (Positive Condition): I need to communicate more effectively with my wife, so she better understands my needs

Action (Absence of Negative Condition): I need to communicate more effectively with my wife, so our marriage isn’t strained

Directions: Read the set of descriptors for each ‘Top Ten’ characteristic and place an ‘x’ on the continuum where you believe you fall. Be honest with yourself and go with the placement that first comes to mind. There is no benefit to over-estimating your real place on the continuum.

Very strong self-concept; Believe you can outperform everyone else

Know exactly what you want to achieve & think about the income in a positive context

Never play the blame game & always take full responsibility for results

Works harder then all others; Stays focused and on task, doesn’t waste time

Burning desire to win, to be successful, and to be the best

Genuine care for the customer & aim for long-term relationships

Know exactly what they want to achieve, need to do & what actions to take

Believe strongly in themselves, their products and the company/brand

Well educated and well versed on techniques and use them to great effect

Continuously developing themselves every way possible even on own time

Post Assessment Evaluation: Review your results and make note of the top 2-3 characteristics and the lowest 2-3 characteristics. Develop strategies for leveraging your top strengths to increase your effectiveness. Select one or two of the lowest characteristics and add a development goal to your Development Plan to strengthen the lowest characteristics selected.

*Source: Top Achiever Self-Assessment is based on “Top Ten Characteristics of Top Achievers” from Close More Deals by Jeff Smith