How Do You Get Into The Success Zone? - Part Four: Reflection

This is the fourth and penultimate instalment that explores what it takes to become successful. It follows my 'MALARD' System for Success, which is a model I have designed and utilise with great effect with my coaching clients. 

Today we take a look at the 'R' in 'MALARD. This represents the need for 'Reflection':

As with proper planning, there are those who think they can skip over the reflection stage of this system and still benefit from quick wins. They might, but let’s be clear: those wins will be weak and any initial gains made will be short-lived. So, let them do that, if that's what they want; I recommend you do this...

Success is a product of continuous improvement, and to tap into that, we need to reflect on what we have achieved (or what went wrong) so that we can rework our plans based on the new information and then set out once more in the pursuit of our goals.

When things go wrong, change the plan not the goal.

Reflecting may be the fourth stage of the MALARD System for Success but, as a process, reflection takes places on an ongoing basis. The reason for this is simple: there are always things that have happened that we can reflect on, learn from, and improve on. That is the nature of what we define as ‘continuous improvement’. When striving for success, we cannot limit our minds by believing that absolute perfection has been achieved. That is Fixed Mindset territory and a downward slide from thereon. #AlwaysRoomForImprovement.

Through the principles of continuous improvement - that is, a mindset and behaviour towards constant learning and development - we may consider the efficacy of our planning and 'Activity' (see the article from last week) so that the questioning about the possibility for success becomes redundant, and success itself becomes an inevitability. It merely becomes  question of 'when' instead of 'if'.  

This is an excerpt from the full 'Five-Step MALARD System for Success', which can be accessed for free here: https://bit.ly/3iOo3zh.

Remember to check back in next week for the final instalment into this hugely successful model for making success happen.