• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

All in the Mind – Building Better People

Training Organisations in Resilience, Communication, Productivity

Header Right

You are here: Home / Blog / Task Focus vs Outcome Focus

Task Focus vs Outcome Focus

Occasionally, I coach people on presentation skills.  I know that a lot of people have a fear of speaking in public, in fact, it’s the biggest fear in the world, and NLP has some great tools to help with the fear AND the presentation strategy, set-up and delivery.  What I find most people fear is the outcome when they should task focus instead  They will practice their presentation until they’ve memorized every word and every slide.  Then, when it comes time to deliver their amazing speech, the only thing in their mind is the audience’s reaction, “Will they like it?”  “What will they think?” “Will they laugh at my joke?”  “Will they even know it’s a joke?” “Are my images too bright?” “Are my fonts big enough?”

When we focus on the outcome, we lose our ability to do the task

When we focus on the outcome we start playing the “what if” game and place ourselves in the future creating all sorts of anxiety.  The pressure builds up as we weigh on the possibilities of what can go wrong.  It’s natural.  Our brains love to come up with negative stuff.  It a self-preservation system.  The only problem is – most of the time – it’s completely out of control!  We create a sense of overwhelm when we are focused on the outcome of our performance rather than the task of just doing it.  And this is where the fear comes from – feelings of anxiety, pressure and overwhelm.  No wonder so many people hate giving presentations.

For my coaching clients, I have them focus on the task at hand.  Where does the laptop go?  Do you need a sound connection?  Where can you stand and not stand in the room?  Where in the presentation do you slow down?  Where do you speed up?  I focus on the mechanics of the presentation because if someone is doing this – then they are present in their presentation.  They aren’t in the future creating all sorts of things that could go wrong.  They are just focused on the next task on the list.

This applies to all sorts of fields, not just presentation skills

When a chef creates your meal in a restaurant, do you want him more focused on what you’ll think of it or do you want him focused on actually cooking it?  Where should his mind be?  Or what about the airplane pilot for your next holiday?  Do you want her thinking of your opinion of the inflight movie system and whether you’ll fly again or do you want her focused on the safety checklist and flying the plane?  Where should her mind be?  And in an organisation, do you want your team focused on the seemingly impossible goal handed down from the executive suite or the tasks at hand that will drive the company to the natural outcome?

For your future success, focus on the task rather than the outcome.

checkout our Raise Your BAR Strategic Planning Course on how to apply this in your organisation

About Lindley

As a certified NLP Trainer & the President of the NLP Association Singapore, I have shared my experiences with NLP to thousands of people around the world. NLP is my passion!

Previous Post: « 3 Things to Review Now
Next Post: 3 Confidence Killers »

Primary Sidebar

Search by Category

  • Blog

Search by Tag

nlp NLP Singapore Overwhelm

Footer

Contact Lindley

+65 8387 3219
Or (just text “email please” and I will respond to you with my email address)
Or complete the form
 
Get in touch and let's chat...
 
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • (please check your spam/junk folder for replies)
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Site Footer

Copyright © 2019 All in the Mind Asia's Leading Provider of NLP Based Training
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
  • Individual Journeys
    • Individually Economic
    • Individually Business Class
    • Individually First Class
    • Back
  • Corporate Journeys
    • Corporate Economy
    • Corporate Business Class
    • Corporate First Class
    • Back