I often contemplate how I as an individual can be better, live a more
fulfilling life, and really gain success and satisfaction. Answers don’t always come easy and when they
do come, following through is a constant challenge. In my never ending struggle to be better, and
in working with others to help them maximize their efforts, two interesting
things have stood out to me recently that I know can help each of us be our
best self.
#1 Stay Free
So many of us become slaves to worthless habits in life. I suppose this is simply human nature since
all of us do it. From drugs, to negative
thoughts, to procrastination most of us are victims to habits that destroy our
freedom and therefore make us less than what we can become. The sad truth is that most of us do not
recognize we are addicts to harmful behavioral patterns in our life. And many of these poor habits seem innocent
as they can be as simple as excessively surfing the web, over eating, or
constantly checking our mobile device for more updates. These not so obvious poor habits become a way
of life for us and zap our energy and prevent us from being our best. Our actions, even the very small ones, impact
our life and have consequences. The good
thing is that we are in control and we can choose to do those things that will
inspire us to be better. So, we need to
examine our lives and get rid of the harmful things we are addicted to no matter
how small! We need to live free! Poor habits, however harmless they
may seem, limit our potential and prevent us from being our best
selves.
#2 Live Courageously
Most of us live with fear rather than courage. Again this is probably human nature but most
of us do not do what we want to do or even what we ought to do because we are
afraid. Though at times fear may be
necessary to guide us in the right direction, fear can also greatly limit our
ability to progress, especially when we allow it to rule our everyday lives. When we know we should do something, we
should act. When we really want
something, we should act. Don’t let fear
paralyze your progress. Don’t let fear
dictate your life. Instead courageously
do, say, and act the way you know you should.
Stay true to your values, work hard toward your goals, and press forward
with your belief in self.
These are two pit falls in life I’ve noticed I need to work on and I’m sure
you do to. Though challenging, I believe
that every effort we make to stay free and live courageously is worth it. I know that as we strive to do these two
things we will be able to maximize our efforts and be our best selves.
I recently read an interesting article entitled “Why our Imaginations Suck
and How our Lives Depend on Fixing Them,” by Alex Portera. In the article there are some interesting
points that are helpful for those of us who are trying to improve our lives and
be the best we can possibly be in any aspect of our life. Below is a summary of the points I felt were
both interesting and beneficial in reaching our potential.
#1 We Have Powerful Imaginations as Adults
The article challenges the age old belief that children’s imaginations are
simply better than adults. The author
claims that as adults our imaginations are just as powerful as they were when
we were children, however we’ve been conditioned to believe otherwise. I agree that in our society it is not as
“acceptable” for adults to use their imaginations as it is for children and as “grown-ups”
we are expected to be rational and only view the “real world”. Our society norms and beliefs encourage
adults to imagine less if at all.
However, breaking this thought pattern and allowing ourselves to dream
and use our imagination as a child would, will help us to be more successful in
our adult life.
#2 Positive to Negative
Another point from the article is that often when we are children we use our
imaginations to do some pretty amazing things.
Form saving the princess form an evil dragon, to becoming the queen of
England, or catching the game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, we do
amazing and positive things with our imaginations as children. Unfortunately, as adults we do just the
opposite. When we actually use our
imaginations we usually create worst case scenarios that bring unneeded worry,
stress, and fear in to our lives. Rather
than slaying dragons we imagine being terminated or ruining a
relationship. This use of our
imagination limits our growth and brings us down. Instead of thinking in this way, we must use
our imaginations like we did as children and create positive scenarios that
will impel us to be our best selves and reach our potential.
#3 Imagination Propels us to Action
As we begin to use our imaginations to create positive experiences and
thoughts, it will propel us to action.
When we imagine ourselves winning the “Best Parent of the Year” award,
receiving a lucrative job offer, or helping a good friend through a difficult
problem, we find that we will begin to do things that will help us to become
more like the people we are imagining.
This may seem silly to us “rational” adults but it’s true. The imaginations we have of ourselves,
whether good or bad, propel us to act.
At the end of the day this article reminded me of the Law of Attraction and
how we must use our imaginations to envision the future we want to create. The more we can “feel it”, the more likely we
are to obtain it. I’m convinced our
imaginations can be powerful and strong as adults and we can use them to our
advantage. As we learn to do so, I have
no doubt we will find greater success and improve our lives.
“Too many people today think leading is exclusively about their own
performance."
Robert Joss
In today’s competitive world, leaders have to discover new ways to be
successful—often times employing methods contrary to traditional wisdom or
leadership styles. In fact, today’s leader will not be fully effective
utilizing many of the conventional tactics of leadership without discovering
new strategies to lead. With this in mind, below is a list of some of the top
“don'ts” and “do’s” of effective leadership today.
#1 Don’t Dictate—Do Inspire
The most effective leaders today do not dictate rather they inspire. People
do not want to be told what to do rather they seek encouragement and motivation
from leaders. Leaders must learn how to inspire those whom they lead through
many different means. Inspiring and encouraging rather than compelling and
mandating will help leaders get full effort, respect, and participation from
those they lead. And in the end will produce greater results.
#2 Don’t Direct—Do Persuade
Similar to number one, winning people over to your way of thinking or
helping them believe in your plan goes a lot further than directing them
constantly in what they need to do. Good leaders today know how to effectively
persuade others to follow them and do what they’d like them to do.
#3 Don’t Criticize—Do Praise
It has been said that a pat on the back goes a lot further in helping
someone to do a good job than a kick in the fanny. People respond well to
praise and appreciation. Our world is full of criticism and most people already
have enough critics. Thus, leaders who are able to see the good (and frequently
point it out) rather than focus only on the bad will be much more effective in
their leadership.
#4 Don’t Blame—Do Protect
When things go wrong, the effective leader takes full ownership of the
results of his team and protects individual team members from ridicule or
embarrassment. Good leaders prove they trust their team by standing by them and
sticking up for them during the good times and the bad. Leaders must avoid
pointing fingers or blaming others in order to be fully effective.
#5 Don’t Dominate—Do Involve
Successful leaders today do not dominate the decision making,
idea-generating, or brain-storming, of the team. Rather, whenever appropriate
and possible, they seek input, ask questions, and look for feedback and input
from others. They strive to find the best solutions through collaboration
because they understand that they do not know it all and that buy-in from the
team is important to their success.
#6 Don’t Question—Do Believe
The effective leader believes in their team by empowering them to make
decisions and raising their vision of themselves. In essence, the great leader
gives their team a great reputation to live up to. Leaders who are constantly
questioning motives or the abilities of their team will fail.
In today’s competitive atmosphere, it is time for leaders to embrace new
leadership tactics and methods in order to more effectively lead. These are six
ways to quickly improve our leadership abilities and our success. As we
inspire, persuade, praise, protect, involve and believe in our team we will
discover our ability to lead will increase. And though some of these tactics
may force us to change, I believe each of us has the ability to implement
them. And as we do, I know our results
will improve.
