#7: How to Get Different Results in Life and Business Using the Results Pyramid
In today's episode, we're talking about how to get different results using the results pyramid. The results pyramid is something that I've taught in the past more for companies and teams, but it very much applies to individuals as well. I wanted to share it with you here because it can be a really powerful tool to understand and start to notice how things show up for you. The results pyramid itself is something that was created by Roger Connors and Tom Smith and it talks about how our experiences foster beliefs and then our beliefs influence our actions and our actions produce results. A lot of people think in order to get different results in life, you just have to change your actions. They try to pick something and do something different with it and expect different results, but it actually goes much deeper than that. This is what the results pyramid talks about. It talks about how it's not actually your actions that get different results. It's your experiences that drive your beliefs, and then your beliefs drive you to different actions, which then propels you to different results. It’s very, very different and very important to understand that if you want to really see things show up differently in your life.
What is the Results Pyramid?
If you imagine a pyramid or a triangle, with the base being the longest part of the triangle, it's split horizontally into four sections. The bottom bar of the four sections is Experiences. And then as you work up the pyramid, the next one up is Beliefs, and then the next one up is Actions. The top little triangle of the pyramid is the Results.
The experiences are the base. I'm going to go through an example with you so that you can really get a flavor and understanding of what this means. Basically, you work your way up the pyramid. So let's jump into an example. I'm going to do this in the context of, let's say, a business example, but you can apply it really to anything in your life.
An Example Using the Results Pyramid
If you were hosting some kind of event, either it was in person or online, doesn't matter. But you didn't get the amount of people that you wanted. You didn't hit your goal. That's the Experience. If we move our way up the results pyramid, you may believe from that that you can't make your business work, that nobody wants what you're offering, that you're not worth it. Insert any negative Belief that you'd like to say about yourself. We all have them in spades. If you don't, that's fantastic. It means you've been working a lot on that. Wonderful.
That Experience is driving you to believe certain things about yourself, about your business, likely in a pretty negative way. Then, what does that do? If we move up the results pyramid from the Belief that you can't make your business work, or that you aren't worth it in some way, or people don't want this from you, it may lead you to an Action of not trying again, of throwing in the towel and saying, actually, no, this didn't work, so I have to go do something else.
This is very important to understand, especially for you reading because you're likely someone that wants to really live in alignment in your life. You're someone that wants to fully express yourself and feel connected to your purpose and feel connected to a deeper meaning in this world. Because what are we here for if we're not doing that, right?
It’s really important to see and understand that your Beliefs really shape these things. And then it can cause you to take an Action that may not be the action that's most aligned with where you want to go long term. With that Experience, the Action is potentially not trying again. And then you're left with a Result of what? Of not hosting another event or of dragging your feet or, saying, oh, well, I'll do one later, because actually now you want to go run and hide and you feel like a failure, so on and so forth. Or maybe you close your business because of that.
When you have a certain Experience, you create these Beliefs, and then it causes you to take Action in a certain way, and then you get a certain style of Results. If you're not aware of this, you'll likely end up getting Results that you don't really want at the end of the day.
How You Can Change Using the Results Pyramid
The good news is, when you're aware of this, you can change it. As you become aware that your Experiences are shaping your Beliefs, your Belief is actually telling you something. You're making an Experience mean something. When you can get curious about that and look deeper into that piece of it, then you can shift things more. You can give yourself a different Experience, or you can tell yourself, “hey, this is a test. I'm going see how this goes, and then I'll try something else. I'm not going to make this mean something about me as a person”, which I feel like a lot of us usually do. I've done this to myself. I see my clients do this too. It's everywhere, okay? So don't feel bad if you do that.
Really giving yourself grace with the process, paying attention to the lessons, and identifying the good things that came out of it that can help you to shift your beliefs even from a certain experience.
I invite you to consider:
How can you shift your Beliefs from that Experience?
What are the good things that came from it?
What are the lessons that you're taking forward so that you can change your actions in a more positive way and then from there get different results?
When you look at those lessons, when you look at those good things that will help you give those little more positive reinforcements and dopamine hits to your brain to say, okay, I can do this and I just have to do it a little differently. Then, you can take a different type of Action.
If it was with this example, an event where you didn't get the turnout you wanted, say you only had one person join. Okay, well, you could beat yourself up and say, oh well, only one person joined, this is worthless. Or you could say, one person joined. How amazing is it that I got to spend this one on one connection time with them? They were really listening to what I had to say or what I wanted to share with them. That one person is also creating their own ripple effect in the world. So even though I only spoke with one person at this event, that person is now going to ripple that out to others. We are never really impacting only one person. We are always impacting the collective. Because things have knock on effects both directions. For positive things and negative things.
My point here is that if you look at the Experience differently, if you give yourself different Beliefs about it, if you really pay attention and get curious and try to reshape those beliefs in some way, then you will work your way up the results pyramid in a different way.
It's a pretty simple tool in a way. It's a way to bring you awareness around what's happening, a different way to look at things in case that also spurs something in you. It takes work, of course, but you can get curious and see what are the ways that you are looking at things. What types of Experiences have you had that have shaped your Beliefs.
The results pyramid can apply to anything. It can be for work, of course, it can be with the way you parent and looking at your own experiences and beliefs from childhood. Whenever we have certain things happen in childhood, we may make that mean something about ourselves. And then here we are as adults doing the same thing to our children in some way. It's really something that works on a lot of different levels, which is why I love to teach it and use it as an example.
Conclusion on How to Get Different Results in Life and Business Using the Results Pyramid
In terms of a homework for you for this episode or reflection in some way, I invite you to consider the different aspects of the results pyramid.
Consider the experiences that you're having and how those are driving you up the results pyramid.
Pick one experience and find the belief in that one experience. Then, look at what actions you've taken from that and how that's impacted your results. Take one thing and apply it to the results pyramid and see if it's something that you'd like to change.
Run through the pyramid again with a different take on it and say, “if I looked at it this way or if I gave myself this different experience instead, how would that change my results?”
That's your homework if you would like to do it. If you really want to give yourself also a different experience and learn something new, I invite you to the decision making workshop. It's something that I think actually applies really nicely to the results pyramid because as you learn different information, as you have Experiences to shape things for you in a different way, it really does give you different Results. Human Design is a wonderful tool for that. Decision making is something that is so truly important. And when you do it differently like this, when you really start to connect to your body to make your decisions, it has a huge impact, I'm telling you.
Resources mentioned:
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If you'd like to stay connected and you want to reach out about unlocking the next step in your personal development journey, please feel free to reach out. I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram. I'm also on Voxer at @MaryClavieres.
If you want support with where you are right now, I'd be honored to work with you. You’re invited to check out my Human Design readings so that you can learn more about your own energy and how you operate. This tool is a powerful building block that will allow you to live life with less stress and more peace.
If you found this episode helpful, please feel free to share with a friend or a loved one, anyone that you may think about that would benefit from it. If you're looking for support on your journey in any way please don't hesitate to reach out. I am here for you, and I'd love to support you.
As always, thank you so much for being here and for listening today. I appreciate you. Have a wonderful rest of your day.
Previous Podcast Episodes to Listen to:
How Small Steps Lead to Big Changes
How to Overcome the Fear of Making Decisions
The Easiest Way to Practice Gratitude in One Minute a Day
