PASSION INCREASES WILLPOWER

One of my roles as a motivational teacher is to try to help people reach their potential. For years, I tried to inspire passion in audiences by going about it the wrong way. I used to tell people about what made me passionate, what made me want to get out and do my best. But I could see that it wasn’t having the effect I desired – people just didn’t respond. I couldn’t ignite others’ passion by sharing my own.

I decided to change my focus. Instead of sharing my passion, I started helping others discover their passion. To do that, I ask these questions:

·     What do you sing about?

·     What do you cry about?

·     What do you dream about?

The first two questions speak to what touches you at a deep level today. The third answers what will bring you fulfillment tomorrow. The answers to these questions can often help people discover their true passion.

While everybody can possess passion, not everyone takes the time to discover it. And that’s a shame. Passion is fuel for the will. Passion turns your have-to’s into want-to’s. What we accomplish in life is based less on what we want-to’s. What we accomplish in life is based less on what we want and more on how much we want it. The secret to willpower is what someone once called wantpower. People who want something enough usually find the willpower to achieve it.

You can’t help people become winners unless they want to win. Champions become champions from within, not from without.

Ask people on your team what they sing, cry, and dream about.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP

When I began my leadership career, I was very ineffective as a leader. I believed I had talent. But when I got into the real world, I fell far short of my expectations. How did I turn things around? By making small decisions that were difficult. With each one, I gained more confidence and more courage, and I began to change. The process took me four years. At the end of that time, I had learned many valuable lessons, and I wrote the following to help me cement what I had learned:

Courageous Leadership Simply Means I’ve Developed:

1. Convictions that are stronger than my fears.

2. Vision that is clearer than my doubts.

3. Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion.

4. Self-esteem that is deeper than self-protection.

5. Appreciation for discipline that is greater than my desire for leisure.

6. Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo.

7. Poise that is more unshakeable than panic.

8. Risk taking that is stronger than safety seeking.

9. Right actions that are more robust than rationalization.

10. A desire to see potential reached more than to see people appeased.

You don’t have to be great to become a person of courage. You just need to want to reach your potential and to be willing to trade what seems good in the moment for what’s best for your potential. That’s something you can do regardless of your level of natural talent.

Make a small decision today that will increase your confidence and leadership courage.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

VISION

My observation over the last twenty years has been that all effective leaders have a vision of what they must accomplish. That vision becomes the energy behind every effort and the force that pushes through all the problems. With vision, the leader is on a mission and a contagious spirit is felt among the crowd until others begin to rise alongside the leader. Unity is essential for the dream to be realized. Long hours of labor are given gladly to accomplish the goal. Individual rights are set aside because the whole is much more important than the part. Time flies, morale soars upward, heroic stories are told, and commitment is the watchword. Why? Because the leader has a vision!

The word vision has perhaps been overused in the past few years. The first goal of many a management workshop is to develop a statement of purpose for the organization. Others will look at you oddly if you cannot recite your organization’s purpose by memory and produce a card with the statement of purpose printed on it.

Why all the pressure to develop a purpose for your organization? There are two reasons. First, vision becomes the distinctive, rallying cry of the organization. It is a clear statement in a competitive market that you have an important niche among all the voices clamoring for customers. It is your real reason for existence. Second, vision becomes the new control tool, replacing the 1,000-page manual that is boxy and constrains initiative. In an age when decentralization all the way to the front line is required to survive, the vision is the key that keeps everyone focused.

Rely on vision instead of rules and procedures to guide you and your team.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

BREAKTHROUGH

Every major difficulty you face in life is a fork in the road. You choose which track you will head down, toward breakdown or breakthrough. Dick Biggs, a consultant who helps Fortune 500 companies improve profits and increase productivity, writes that all of us have unfair experiences; as a result, some people merely exist and adopt a “cease and desist” mentality. He continues,

“One of the best teachers of persistence is your life’s critical turning points. Expect to experience 3-9 turning points or “significant changes” in your life. These transitions can be happy experiences… or unhappy times such as job losses, divorce, financial set-backs, health problems and the death of loved ones. Turning points can provide perspective, which is the ability to view major changes within the larger framework of your lifetime and let the healing power of time prevail. By learning from your turning points, you can grow at a deeper level within your career and life.

If you’ve been badly hurt, then start by acknowledging the pain and grieving any loss you may have experienced. Then forgive the people involved – including yourself, if needed. Doing that will help you move on. Just think, today may be your day to turn the hurts of your past into a breakthrough for the future.

Don’t allow anything from your personal history to keep holding you hostage.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

THE POWER OF A DREAM

I believe that each of us has a dream placed in the heart. I’m not talking about wanting to win the lottery. That kind of idea comes from a desire to escape our present circumstances, not to pursue a heartfelt dream. I’m talking about a vision deep inside that speaks to the very soul. It’s the thing we were born to do. It draws on our talents and gifts. It appeals to our highest ideals. It sparks our feelings of destiny. It is inseparably linked to our purpose in life. The dream starts us on the success journey.

A dream does many things for us:

·     A dream gives us direction.

·     A dream increases our potential.

·     A dream helps us prioritize.

·     A dream adds value to our work.

·     A dream predicts our future.

Oliver Wendell Holmes noted, “The great thing in this world is not so much where we are but in what direction we are moving.” This is also one of the great things about having a dream. You can pursue your dream no matter where you are today. And what happened in the past isn’t as important as what lies ahead in the future. As the saying goes, “No matter what a person’s past may have been, his future is spotless.” You can begin pursuing your dream today!

Dare to dream and act on that dream.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

THE POWER OF THOUGHTS

The human mind has a tremendous amount of power in our lives. That which holds our attention determines our actions. Because of that, where we are today is the result of the dominating thoughts in our minds. And the way we think determines what our attitudes are. The good news is that you and I can change that. You can control your thoughts, and because of that, you can control your attitude.

Let’s do an experiment that will show you what I mean. Take a moment to think about the place where you live. No problem. You decided to think about it, and you did it. Next, imagine for a moment that the place where you live has burned to the ground, and everything in it is gone. What kind of emotional response did you have? Maybe you were sad because many irreplaceable things would have been lost in a fire. Maybe you were happy because your current living situation is terrible and a fresh start would do you good. The point is that your thinking prompts your emotion. That’s key, and here’s why:

Major premise: We can control our thoughts.

Minor premise: Our feelings come from our thoughts.

Therefore: We can control our feelings by changing how we think.

Why is that important? Because your attitude is your emotional approach to life. It’s the framework through which you see events, other people, even yourself. That’s why I believe the saying, “You are not what you think you are, but what you think… you are.”

How are the dominating thoughts of your mind affecting your attitude?

CREATE A GROWTH ENVIRONMENT

Just as the growth of tropical fish is limited by the size of the aquarium in which they live, you are affected by your environment. That’s why it’s crucial to create an environment of growth around you. That kind of place should look like this:

Others are ahead of you: When you surround yourself with people from whom you can learn, you are more likely to grow.

You are still challenged: Complacency kills growth.

Your focus is forward: If you’re thinking more about the past than the future, your growth has probably stopped.

The atmosphere is affirming: Industrialist Charles Schwab said, “I have yet to find the man… who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.”

You are out of your comfort zone: Growth requires risk. Ronald E. Osborne stated, “Unless you do something beyond what you’ve already mastered, you will never grow.”

Others are growing: When it comes to growth, it’s better to swim in a school than to try to do everything on your own.

There is willingness to change: Clayton G. Orcutt declared, “Change itself is not progress, but change is the price that we pay for progress.”

Growth is modeled and expected: In the best possible environment, growth is not only allowed, but leaders model it and expect it from everyone. And when that happens, everyone’s potential is off the charts.

Take responsibility for creating an environment of growth for your team members.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.