Category: Personal Growth

The Satisfaction of Achievement

If you can master a task in less than thirty minutes, at best it will provide very short term satisfaction. But when we spend our time, money, and effort to master a skill over years, the satisfaction that it brings can be life long.

Why can we be so impatient when it comes to achievement? At times I wonder if the pace that we demand achievement has damaged some of our foundational values.Know what you want to achieve.

1. Know your yourself and your achievement goals. Do you have the right goal, and are you equipped to achieve it? Where can you grow yourself and your knowledge to increase your ability to achieve?

2. Invest the time. Make time every day to take one step closer. Twenty minutes a day of effort is over 120 hours a year. If you spent this time dedicated to growing yourself towards your goal, what would be the impact? What if you spent twenty minutes a day for ten years? Do you have the commitment to yourself?

3. Enjoy the process. Be happy about the time you spend growing yourself. Find an alignment that makes it enjoyable, not a chore. Make it fun, and it will become a journey that fills you with satisfaction.

Make a difference in your environment by linking your foundational values with your achievement goals. What are you working on today that brings you satisfaction?

Yet Another 5 Things to Know About Leadership

Round three of things you need to know about leadership. Becoming a leader is a journey, and here are another five things you really need to consider in your leadership.

1. Coachable. You are coachable if you remain humble are open to continual learning, and never lose the adventure of discovery.

2. Self-Discipline. Leadership is about taking people to a new place, but also keeping the standards that are put in place. If you want your team to be disciplined and responsible, then you must show the same qualities.

3. Generosity. You must be generous with the one thing that everyone wants… your time.

4. Initiative. As a leader you are expected to create momentum with the group. Get them started. You can only do that if you have the initiative to get yourself started.

5. Focus. With all the chaos and demands of the day, you must have focus on the outcome you desire. You must continually keep the focus on the future you want to create, and not hesitate to move towards it.

I think fifteen things about leadership are enough to keep you thinking. Leadership is a journey. What steps are you taking today?

Why Are Things So Complex?

Life has a way of becoming complicated, and it is only through great effort that we can keep it simple. How do you keep things simple?

Lao Tzu has said, “In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.”

I think much of life’s complexity resides in our mind. It is the thinking process that creates a list of “what if” scenarios and creates complexity in our decisions. Some people struggle making decisions when the projected outcome is not clear. It is the unknown that also adds to complexity. So what can we do to keep it simple?

Know yourself. Know your values. Know your priorities. Know your goals. Don’t let perfect get in the way of better. Be willing to make mistakes. Be willing to learn from your experiences. Be bold.

Keeping things simple is not easy. It takes work. But the result is usually more clarity.

Overcome Your Fear

Our greatest accomplishments are often linked to instances when we are able to overcome fear. Fear is a barrier that keeps us from being the best version of ourselves. It is the fear of failure that usually keeps us from taking action.

A quote by Ambrose Redmoon says, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” This quote reminds me that it is easier to overcome fear when we are fueled by desire. A desire to achieve something that is important to us.

Fear is not eliminated. We just find we are able to temporarily ignore it. Just enough to act.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure,” said Paulo Coelho.

Fear can also feel like uncertainty. We hesitate, or we miss an opportunity because we are uncertain. I have a friend that is always saying, “Know your plan. Work your plan.” The work becomes taking action even when you feel stuck by adjusting.

Where do you need to adjust your perspective to overcome fear?