Get out of your head

Ready to level up in 2024? It’s time to adopt the following mantra:

Get out of your head

Over the years I've seen many of my students get stuck before they even get started, overanalyzing questions like:

• Is now the right time to ask?

• How would this arrangement even work?

• How will they pay for this?

• How would this impact the rest of the team?

• Did I accomplish enough to justify more?

While I’m a big fan of doing the pre-work and developing a sound approach, it’s too easy to become bogged down in minor details or questions you can't completely resolve. This often leads to feelings of discouragement and a lack of decisiveness, often stalling the whole negotiation process.

Instead of letting the excuses, fears, and uncertainties take over, it's more productive (and fulfilling) to begin by taking concrete actions to test the viability of your plans. A good place to start is to:

• Identify an achievable target and broadcast where you want to go

• Regularly communicate with key decision makers and stakeholders

• Familiarize yourself with the landscape (e.g. people, priorities, gaps, opportunities)

• Update plans as needed (based on results and findings from above)

By having a bias for action, you can learn and discover things that you would have no way of knowing if you were otherwise consumed with overthinking. For example, you’ll be more in tune with developments that have a direct impact your situation (e.g. shifts in leadership or priorities, new projects, organizational restructuring) and adjust your plans accordingly.

Make 2024 the year where you finally get out of your head and get where you need to go.