How to Avoid Being Average

averageThe average person is, well, average. Why would you want to be only average, when you have the chance to excel above average? There are a few things that you can do that will help you lift yourself to a performance above average.

The average person puts limited effort into being better. If you spend some of your energy to improve, you will become better than average. Here are three things that can help you get started.

1. Be with better people: If you want to be better, then spend your time with people that are better than you. They will help you set your vision on improvement. If you spend all your time with people that are not as good as you, then you will seem better than you really are.

2. Work on it every day: Improvement does not happen overnight. It also doesn’t happen just because you decide to get better. However, making small efforts to improve every day will make a huge difference over months and years of effort. No one becomes great without practice and effort. Put time in your daily agenda to invest in yourself.

3. Know where you want to be: Becoming better than average is a great goal, but better than average in what? I know it is impossible to be better than average in all things. You must have a focus and a target of what you want to achieve. Create a goal that you can track for your progress.

These three points are not difficult to implement. They do not require hard labor. To avoid being average you must think, plan, and act on what it is you want to achieve. However, most people are satisfied with average and quit. As Orison Swett Marden once said, “It is just the little difference between the good and the best that makes the difference between the artist and the artisan. It is just the little touches after the average man would quit that makes the master’s fame.”

Participation in a mastermind group is a great way to develop the skills to take you beyond average. You can find out more information about groups that are forming now, by registering at the following link: http://newroadsleadership.com/mastermind

Do You Know the Three Words of Success?

successEveryone has goals they would like to achieve. Normally success does not occur by accident. You can increase your level of success by learning a process for growing and achieving.

Let’s review the three words of success that you should know. These three words provide the basis of success regardless of the goal.

1. Awareness: The first step towards success is awareness. If you want to get from where you are to where you want to be, you have to start by becoming aware of the choices you are making. Some choices lead you towards your goal, and other choices are moving you away from your goal. No matter your goal, expanded awareness helps you make better choices.

2. Intentionality: The second step towards success is intentionality. Take action to turn your dream into reality. What you do matters. Your goal is attainable if you face reality, know where you are starting, know the cost to succeed, and then intentionally work at success daily.

3. Accountability: The third step is being accountable; not being accountable to someone else, but to yourself. The biggest gap in our success is the difference between what we know and what we do. Regardless of the goal we are trying to achieve, our knowledge is greater than our action. To be most effective most people need a third person or a neutral partner to help them with accountability.

Whatever your plan for success, you should continually grow and raise your awareness, act intentionally, and find someone to help hold you accountable to your goals. By continually taking these three steps, your level of success becomes unlimited. It won’t keep you from encountering set backs and making mistakes, but it will allow you to learn from your failure and moving forward.

A mastermind group is an incredibly powerful way to increase your awareness. Visit our mastermind page for upcoming events. http://newroadsleadership.com/masterminds

 

Failure or Regret? Which Hurts More?

regretWe all experience failure and regret in our lives, because no on is blessed with success all the time. No one enjoys talking about their failures or their regrets because these experiences hurt.

In this article, I am going to share three ways to view failure and regret that will help you generate more success and limit your pain.

1. Turning thought to action: Failure can cause people to freeze, and withdraw. The longer you wait to react to your thoughts of regret or failure, the harder it becomes to take action. Remember that you only fail when you give up. So take that negative thought, and turn it into action. What is the next thing you need to do to find pursue success? Define it, and then do it.

2. Turning failure to learning: Great discoveries usually come from examining failures. Learning why something did not work can often lead to an idea for another way. Hiding from failure will keep you from finding that other path. We all have failures, but the value is in looking for a discovery in our failures.

3. Using reflection: Reflection is a great tool for evaluating our activities and results. I think that most people are not good at reflection because they lack the discipline to do it every day. If we reflect only when we have a bad day, then our reflection process is less developed, less practiced, less sensitive to all of our experiences. If we reflect on our experiences every day, then we become skilled in learning from those experiences. And we will be better equipped to understand the bad days.

Failure and regret is unavoidable, but how you experience and react to those situations can greatly affect your level of success. You have failed only if you give up. Your feelings of regret are birthed only when you stop trying. You are in control, if you take control of these situations. They both hurt, but you can lessen the pain.

New Roads Leadership helps people grow through their experiences. Please join our mailing list: http://newroadsleadership.com/maillist/?p=subscribe&id=1

 

A Lesson from Abe Lincoln

lincoln3I was part of a group of John Maxwell Team members that had the opportunity to watch and study leadership lessons from the movie, Lincoln, starring Daniel Day Lewis. John played the movie, but stopped after nearly every scene to teach leadership lessons that were brilliantly displayed.

In this article I am going to demonstrate three of many lessons we can learn from Lincoln.

Lincoln surrounded himself with great leaders. His cabinet was filled with strong powerful characters. A weak, insecure leader will surround themselves with weak people. Lincoln was an even greater leader because he was secure in surrounding himself with with these strong people. A great leader is willing to have the best people around them even if sometimes those people are hard to lead. Lincoln was challenged by his cabinet every step along the way. It made him better.

Lincoln used the influence of others to lead. He needed help from Preston Blair, the opposition, to succeed. Strong leaders are humble and ask for help. They don’t ask for agreement. A great leader will always need to use the influence of others. You will never get to a point that you don’t need it. A strong leader learns how to build consensus without compromising their goal or values.

Lincoln heard over and over that passing the 13th amendment was impossible. A great leader is optimistic despite adversity. Leaders must be dealers in hope. Hope that is backed by strategy and a will to win. When you become a leader you cannot be controlled by other people’s emotions. You do not give up compassion, but you must be committed to your vision.

There are countless lessons in the life of Lincoln, and they are captured beautifully in this movie. It is a movie that should be watched more than once. After you enjoy the picture, you can watch it a second time to focus your attention on the leadership principles. All of the main characters were great leaders, but Lincoln was the greatest among them. I hope you get chance to enjoy this movie several times.

If you want to learn more about leadership, join our free lunch and learn session. You can register at this site: http://newroadsleadership.com/lunchandlearn.