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Posts Tagged ‘Taking action’

Tomorrow (28 January 2014) will be the last day I am able to offer this for FREE!!! Write yourself a reminder to stop by Amazon and download it.

Get your free download of The ‘What Matters Most’ Manifesto! It will help you start down the path of creating more meaning in your life.

Share it with friends, colleagues, and family! Then, please, take a minute and review it on Amazon!

Remember: You don’t need to own a Kindle reader to get it. You simply need a Kindle Reader App, which will run on smart phones and tablets.

Click here on 28 January for your copy!

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I hit a new low last Friday, and it was a delightful experience. It was on my scale!

The number that appeared on my scale early Friday morning isn’t important to anyone except me, and truly even the number isn’t the most important thing about this experience. What is, is the person I’m becoming.

My son turned 7 years old at the end of November. In December, I was finally at a weight a few pounds lower than I was when I got pregnant. For most of that time in between, I wished I would lose the weight — and I had lost most of it, hovering near my pre-pregnancy weight for much of that time — and feel better and get back in shape, but I didn’t really do anything to make it happen.

About 18 months ago, I started making some changes in eating and drinking habits. Last July, I started doing DDP Yoga at least four times a week. It’s not the kind of yoga that encourages quiet meditation; it makes me sweat, twitch, and tremble, and I love it! I’m still making changes in my approach to health. I try to get a brisk walk in on non-yoga days. I eat smaller portions and healthier snacks. The lure of the fast food drive-in no longer has power over me. I quite drinking coffee every morning because when I really thought about it, it didn’t taste like anything. I have even (wait — are you sitting down? This is BIG!!) stopped eating chocolate chips by the handful every day! I do treat myself to a piece of chocolate now and again, and when I do, I savor every bite.

The most amazing part of this is my thinking has changed, which is the most critical part of all of this. For example, when I think I’d like a treat and remember how yummy chocolate chips are, it’s almost as if some protective shield drops through part of my mind and pushes me to the fruit bowl on the counter instead. And I don’t feel deprived when it happens; I feel powerful and focused.

In fact, in my mind I’m cheering myself on to continue making healthier choices and demonstrating healthier behaviors. I’m becoming more intentional and demonstrating that I have the discipline to follow through. This is the important part because it means I am becoming the person who can bring my dream into reality, and let me assure you — it’s a BIG dream! In fact, I’m working through a process with one of my Coach/Mentors who has given me a homework assignment: Rewrite my dream, 10 times bigger than it already is. WOW!

The bottom line is, it’s about creating a vision for what we want in our lives, then developing a plan and following through — with a  PROCESS — that will allow us to bring that vision into reality. What’s most important is following through with the process. Getting back to the process when we’ve allowed ourselves to get derailed by some other issue, distraction, or challenge.

What do you dream of being, doing, or having in your life?

What process are you following?

Who is in your inner circle — those people who will support, encourage, and push you to be the person you are striving to become?

What will you do when you hit a bump and get off track?

Who are YOU becoming along the way?

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Changing anything, if you want the change to be sustainable, requires a process. While it would be delightful (and nothing short of miraculous!) to be able to not eat any sweets for one full day — for example — and lose all the weight you want to drop and look amazing in your clothes the next day, we know it isn’t possible.

Making the change begins with an idea, a desire…to do, be, or have something different than your current conditions and circumstances allow. Once the idea has grown and developed and taken root in our minds, we must then make the DECISION to act. Action requires forethought, intentionality and commitment to continuing to act, DAILY!

Here’s an example. It’s the story of an Australian woman who recognized the need to make some significant changes in several areas of her life, and she started with one small, simple act: Gratitude posts on her Facebook page. Some days they were pretty mundane, some days more significant. The point is, she looked for reasons to be grateful, and found them! When she found them, she considered them and shared them. These are small, daily steps in the right direction.

I would imagine that on some days it was pretty challenging, other days might have been easier — with the challenge being more about which one thing to focus on out of many reasons to be grateful. As her year progressed, she made other changes in her behaviors, sometimes enlisting support from her friends (think — inner circle — those people who should support, encourage, and complement you).

It’s a process. Process begins with a single step, followed by more single steps, and before you know it, you’re on track and moving forward.

What is it you want to change about yourself or your conditions and circumstances this year?

What is the one simple step you can start with?

What will you allow to get you off track once you’ve started?

Whose support can you enlist to help you along the way?

Start today! You’ll be better for it.

Then come back and tell me what you did and how it felt. Looking forward to hearing your stories!

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Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.  ~Henry David Thoreau*

This is so true; don’t you think? Consider this…how would your life be different today if you hadn’t believed in yourself?

How would your world be different today if other leaders hadn’t believed in their potential, their vision, their mission?

What if:

  • Abraham Lincoln hadn’t believed slaves should be freed?
  • John F. Kennedy, Jr., hadn’t believed a man could walk on the moon?
  • Martin Luther King hadn’t believed in the dream of equality for all?
  • Susan B. Anthony hadn’t believed women should vote?
  • Jonas Salk hadn’t believed polio could be cured?

These are just a few examples; given time, and putting our heads together, we could probably come up with a list that would span countless pages of how others’ (and our own) beliefs have changed our lives, our communities, and our world.

Regardless of what stage of life — and leadership — you may be in, know that the first step you must take to move forward is the believe in yourself, in your dream, and your ability to accomplish it.

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.  ~Charles F. Kettering

Do so, and success will surely follow.

Do so, and you will change the lives of more people than you can imagine, at levels you may not even be aware of.

Do so…we need you!

___________

Note: This concludes this 12-month, focused Intentional Leadership journey. Thank you for accompanying me. Remember, it is a journey; even though our study together is ended, it doesn’t mean you must or should stop working through this process. This work, this guide, is archived for you on this site, and you are welcome to revisit it — even go through the whole process, or pieces of it, as the need arises — at any time in the future.

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact.

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Assuming you decided to move forward and act on the opportunity you wrote about yesterday, let’s make an action plan, then share it with someone whose opinion you respect and whom you trust. *

Ask that person for his or her candid feedback on your plan, then ask them to hold you accountable for taking the steps you need to take over the next 30, days; schedule some time with him/her to review your progress when that 30 days has passed.

What beliefs must you hold to step confidently into this opportunity?

What specific daily actions must you take to step into this opportunity?

What actions must you take that will fuel existing or allow you to develop new beliefs you must hold to fully realize this opportunity?

Be sure to schedule those actions on your calendar; after all, if they are not a high enough priority to hold space on your calendar, when will you take those necessary steps?

We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.  ~MaxDuPree

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact. 

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What opportunities lie before you today, that you don’t want to overlook for yourself or others? *

Describe it:

Now, imagine yourself — in relation to this opportunity — 3 to 6 months from today, assuming you acted on the opportunity. Describe who and where you (your team) will be in 3-6 months.

Imagine yourself in 3-6 months, if you don’t act on the opportunity. Describe what that will mean for you (your team).

What decision will you make — to act or let the opportunity pass?

 

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact. 

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Reflecting on my childhood today, got me thinking about today’s post. I grew up in Southern California, about 15 minutes away from Disneyland. Talk about an undertaking that required an undeniable belief in one’s dreams!

If you’re not familiar with Walt Disney’s story, and how he built his empire, I recommend you do some reading. The man clearly had a dream — several of them, in fact — and he didn’t let much stand in his way of reaching his goals and bringing his dreams to reality. Disney dropped out of high school, spent some time in France with the Red Cross, returned to the States and sought employment as a newspaper artist. That didn’t work, so he went to work for an art studio, where he met one of his first partners. Their endeavor didn’t last long, however, as Disney was not a good money manager; their studio went bankrupt. Undeterred, he moved to a studio in Hollywood, where he went into cartooning, animation, and story-telling.

Blessed with creativity and imagination, Disney dabbled in a lot of different things before deciding to build a theme park for children. He developed the idea in the late 1940’s, and the park eventually opened in 1955, and as you are surely aware, the Disney empire continues to grow and expand to this day.

Along the way, he faced and overcame numerous obstacles and challenges; faced with the same hardships, many people would likely have given up. Walt Disney had big dreams, however, and a firm belief in his ability to bring his dreams to fruition. For a long list of his accomplishments, you can look any number of places: Wikipedia, The Walt Disney Company, his biography, etc…

The point is, belief will fuel your results.

What results have you achieved because you believed in yourself and your abilities as a leader?

Write it down…

What have I accomplished?

How did my beliefs fuel those accomplishments?

What would I like to accomplish in my future?

How do my current beliefs support those dreams?

What do I need to believe — that I don’t believe today — in order to achieve success in this area?

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Have you refined your mission statement to a point you are ready to say it’s final? This doesn’t mean you never revisit or revise it, but are you satisfied with it as a guide for your next 6, 12, 18 months? Perhaps even longer…?

If so, let’s make it real and visible — a daily reminder.

Print it out in whatever format you prefer (just words, something visual, big, small…). Frame it, if that works for you. Put it in a place you will see it daily, to remind yourself of what you are striving to accomplish.

Now, just to be sure you are really ready to move forward, get your journal out and spend some time writing about the obstacles you are likely to face in pursuit of your mission, and how you will address them.*

 

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact.

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Get out your journal and spend some time reflecting on what’s happening as you demonstrate new behaviors in support of your new belief. *

What was easy?

What was difficult?

What surprised you?

What resistance did you encounter (either internally or from others)?

What have you discovered about yourself through this process?

How are you thinking differently about how your beliefs affect your vision?

Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing that assures the successful outcome of any venture.     ~William James

By the way, for those of you who observe this holiday, Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you, my faithful readers, who give me a reason to be here daily, sharing my thoughts, beliefs, lessons learned, and hopefully, making a positive difference in your lives.

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact.

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Let’s work on the negative beliefs we identified yesterday. Choose one and spend some time thinking about how to change it, and change your life in the process.*

Old belief:

Daily actions that supported that belief?

What could you believe to be true, instead?

New belief:

New daily actions in support:

Now that you’ve given this some thought, and identified how you can change the belief, change your behavior, and change your life…commit to the new actions and put them in your calendar, so you have no excuse for not following through.

If you’re willing to share what you’ve come up with, send a note in the Comments box. I’d love to hear what you’re working on.

 

*From the Intentional Leadership booklet, by Giant Impact.

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