Tag: Leadership skills

Quotes

130 Motivating Quotes For The New Year

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 130 Motivating Quotes For The New Year

This year went by quickly… Am I right?

We barely had the time to breathe or to make sense of everything.

Here are a few quotes to get yourself back together and motivate you for the New Year.

This year is going to be your best year yet. Each step that you take will help you overcome your fears and lead you closer to your goals and make you more excited for the year to come.

  1. Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. – Carl Bard

  2. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.  That’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

  3. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

  4. The most successful people reach the top not because they are free of limitations, but because they act in spite of their limitations. – Michael K. Williams

  5. Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life. – Robin Sharma

  6. Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill

  7. Anyone who has ever made anything of importance was disciplined. – Andrew Hendrixson

  8. Creativity is intelligence having fun. – Albert Einstein
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  9. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. – Lao Tzu

  10. Dream big and dare to fail. – Norman Vaughan

  11. Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other. – Brian Tracy130 Motivating Quotes For The New Year #newyear #motivationalquotes #inspirationalquotes

  12. Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you. – Grace Coddington

  13. What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

  14. You must be the change you wish to see in the world. – Gandhi

  15. Tough times never last, but tough people do. – Dr. Robert Schuller

  16. Keep your face to the sunshine and you can never see the shadow. – Helen Keller

  17. The power of imagination makes us infinite. – John Muir

  18. Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. – Christopher Reeve

  19. Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail. – Charles Kettering
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  20. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. – Mary Kay Ash

  21. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt

  22. Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. – Napoleon Hill

  23. Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. – George Addair

  24. A year from now you may wish you had started today. – Karen Lamb

  25. It is never too late to be what you might have been. – George Eliot

  26. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. – Teddy Roosevelt

  27. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. – Frederick Douglass

  28. What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. – Tim Ferriss

  29. To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. – Elbert Hubbard

  30. Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions. – Albert Einstein

  31. Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward. – Victor Kiam

  32. The best way to predict the future is to invent it. – Alan Kay

  33. Change your thoughts and you change your world. – Norman Vincent Peale

  34. Action is the foundational key to all success. – Pablo Picasso

  35. Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. – Jim Rohn

  36. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky

  37. It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up. – Vince Lombardi

  38. What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. – Napoleon Hill

  39. Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. – Doug Ivester

  40. The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. – Epictetus

  41. Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert Schuller

  42. It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed. – Doe Zantamata

  43. If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. – Mary Engelbreit130 Motivating Quotes For The New Year #newyear #motivationalquotes #inspirationalquotes

  44. It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop. – Confucius

  45. Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain. – Vivian Greene

  46. Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow. – Mary Anne Radmacher

  47. Think big and don’t listen to people who tell you it can’t be done. Life is too short to think small. – Tim Ferriss

  48. The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it. – Henry Ford

  49. The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job. – Zig Ziglar

  50. Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all. – Helen Keller

  1. If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor. – Eleanor Roosevelt

  2. Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – Albert Einstein

  3. If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. – Jim Rohn

  4. If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. – Albert Einstein

  5. Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. – Oscar Wilde

  6. You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated. – Maya Angelou

  7. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford

  8. Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it. – Charles Swindoll

  9. I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean

  10. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt

  11. Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. – Les Brown

  12. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. – Albert Einstein

  13. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. – Stephen Covey

  14. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. – Henry Ford

  15. The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. – Amelia Earhart

  16. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. – Robert Louis Stevenson

  17. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact. – William James

  18. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. – Dalai Lama

  19. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

  20. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

  21. Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. – George Addair

  22. We become what we think about. – Earl Nightingale

  23. Eighty percent of success is showing up. – Woody Allen

  24. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. – Steve Jobs

  25. Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. – Vince Lombardi

  26. Either you run the day, or the day runs you. – Jim Rohn

  27. The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. – Mark Twain

  28. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. – Henry David Thoreau

  29. Start where you are. Use what you have.  Do what you can. – Arthur Ashe

  30. First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end. – Aristotle

  31. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. – Marie Curie

  32. Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. – Joshua J. Marine

  33. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

  34. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. – Tony Robbins

  35. You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it. – Robert Anthony

  36. Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. – Napoleon Hill

  37. Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong. – Ella Fitzgerald

  38. Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments. – Henry Ward Beecher

  39. The first and most important step toward success is the feeling that we can succeed. – Nelson Boswell

  40. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. – Mahatma Gandhi

  41. That which does not kill us makes us stronger. – Friedrich Nietzsche

  42. We must not allow other people’s limited perceptions to define us. – Virginia Satir

  43. If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. – Napoleon Hill

  44. If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. – Milton Berle

  45. The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same. – Colin R. Davis

  46. Life has no limitations, except the ones you make. – Les Brown

  47. He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammad Ali

  48. You will succeed because most people are lazy. – Shahir Zag

  49. The grass is greener where you water it. – Neil Barringham

  50. Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. – Earl Nightingale

  51. Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from. – Seth Godin

  52. If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try. – Seth Godin 

  53. If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney

  54. All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. – Walt Disney

  55. Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you. – George Whitefield

  56. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt

  57. You just can’t beat the person who never gives up. – Babe Ruth

  58. Knowing Is Not Enough; We Must Apply. Wishing Is Not Enough; We Must Do. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

  59. When you know what you want,and you want it badly enough,you’ll find a way to get it. – Jim Rohn

  60. Every great story on the planet happened when someone decided not to give up, but kept going no matter what. – Spryte Loriano

  61. If you’re going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill

  62. You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them. – Michael Jordan

  63. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out. – Robert Collier

  64. ll progress takes place outside the comfort zone. – Michael John Bobak

  65. Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today. – Benjamin Franklin

  66. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

  67. Don’t count the days, make the days count. – Muhammad Ali

  68. Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. – Tony Robbins

  69. You can’t give up! When you give up, you’re like everybody else! – Chris Evert

  70. When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. – Paulo Coelho

  71. Victory is not always winning the battle…but rising every time you fall. – Napoleon Bonaparte

  72. Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. – Earl Nightingale

  73. Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you. – Mary Lou Retton

  74. Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy. – Leo Buscaglia

  75. One finds limits by pushing them. – Herbert Simon

  76. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Sir Winston Churchill

  77. If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. – Katharine Hepburn

  78. Success is not what you have, but who you are. – Bo Bennett

  79. Good is the enemy of great. – Jim Collins

  80. There is nothing impossible to him who will try. – Alexander the Great

 

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Last Words Of Advice!

The above quotes from famous and successful people are meant to motivate and inspire you.

You should read them when you feel demotivated or lost.

Did we miss one of the best quotes of all time? Let us know which quote is your favorite in the comment section.

 

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

 

 

Subscribe to Journey To Leadership

 

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Journey To Leadership

12 Ways To Build A High Performance Culture

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 12 Ways To Build A High Performance Culture

The company culture depends heavily on the leader’s personality, character and vision. The culture of the company affects every level of the company and determines:

  • How you act and operate.
  • How decisions are made.
  • How you treat your customers, employees.
  • How your employees treat each other.
  • How you handle failures and celebrate successes.
  • The acceptable code of conduct.
  • Why certain things are required.

A highly performing company culture increases engagement, retains good employees, satisfies their customers and has better results than any other company.

That is why leaders have to hold themselves to very high standards and realize how much their behavior impacts their workplace.

Wondering how to create a high performance culture?

12 Ways To Build A High Performance Culture #culture #performance #leadership

1. Assess the current state of your company

Leaders have to purposefully create and maintain a healthy workplace culture.

However, they must first be a living model for the culture that they want.

Leaders must take a good look at themselves when assessing the state of the culture: if the culture is unhealthy, then the leadership is unhealthy.

2. Define your why

Leaders must clearly define their purpose, personal mission statement and the vision for your company.

Building a high performance culture is subjective to the leader. It is important for leaders to have an initial idea of who they are, what they want and where they are going before they start hiring.

3. Define your core values

Core values are fundamentals beliefs, a set of principles that leaders follow and that guide then through life.

For example, a company can be based on the core value of radical honesty. In such culture, employees don’t sugarcoat anything, are able to tell the truth no matter the circumstances.

4.  Define your version of success

It is important for leaders to define the short term and long term goals, to give their employees a definition of success so they know what to aim for in the long run.

For example, success can be meeting deadlines and hitting results.

Success can also be defined on different levels of technical competencies or on leadership abilities.

Leaders must be realistic about their goals and set clear expectations for employees. Setting unreachable goals will only demoralize your team.

5. Apply the Golden Rule

The Golden Rule is the principle of treating people the same way you want to be treated.

Because leaders are role models, they have to become culturally sensitive and inclusive.

6. Empower your employees

There are several ways that leaders can empower their teams within the company. They can:

  1. Play to employees strengths and place them in the right roles. Help employees gain awareness and achieve their highest potential. 
  2. Acknowledge hard and good quality work.
  3. Allow employees make mistakes.
  4. Trust in employees decisions making skills. Employees will then feel confident about their abilities and stay engaged.
  5. Encourage training. Employees perform better when they are confident about their abilities.

7. Give your employees a sense of ownership

Employees take more pride and respect more what they do when they have ownership over their work.

Giving a sense of ownership will help you develop great leaders who will in turn inspire and motivate.

8. Promote innovation and change

Innovation is necessary for the survival of each and every company in today’s economy.

When leaders promote innovation and change, people will be more likely to grow, to adapt, ask questions, to try new things and adopt a change mindset.

9. Value transparency

Leaders must encourage a transparent and open culture where information flows freely.

For instance, letting your employees know how well your company is doing will improve trust. Of course, there will be gossip around the health of the company but overall employees will believe that you have their best interest at heart.

10. Practice collaboration

Leaders promote and encourage autonomy and collaboration within their team.

They allow their teams to have fun at work. They have broken down traditional workplace structure, simplified workplace processes and looked after their employees well-being.

11. Appraise customer satisfaction

High performance cultures are hard to come by.

Leaders continuously conduct customer satisfaction assessments because these assessments give a direct indication of team performance and the health of the company.

12. Monitor your culture

There will always be things to improve in a company but it important to strive for more. It is up to leaders to:

  • Nurture, develop and sustain the culture.
  • Deliver a set of tools to drive performance.
  • Show that the health of the company matters.
  • Give regular updates on how employees are doing in regards to their individual and collective goals.

Last Words Of Advice!

Most leaders, when trying to improve their cultures, focus on metrics and not on the people. If your culture is not where you want it to be, remember that:

  • One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.
  • You need to focus on the positives.
  • You just need to take on step at a time. For example, start by sharing your goals or by being transparent about the current status of the company.
  • If you don’t think you can practice of implement the culture that you want, find a manager or a human resources person who has the skills that you are missing.

 

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

 

 

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Book Reviews

So Good They Can’t Ignore You By Cal Newport

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on So Good They Can’t Ignore You By Cal Newport

The culture that we live in encourages people to live their dreams and follow their passions. We don’t necessarily have a guideline to live the dream, to exercise our passions and to find the career that best suits us.

It seems that to get a fulfilling job or to do great work, following your passion is definitively not the way to go.

Why not?

Because following your passions is difficult, rarely successful and dangerous. Studies have shown that:

  • Passions are not determined at birth.
  • Most people can have several passions that have nothing to do with choosing the right job. Some people don’t necessarily have a passion to follow.
  • Passions for a job takes time to develop. It takes time to build relationships, to become efficient at what you do and see the impact of your work.
  • You become passionate when you master a skill.
  • You become confused and anxious when you follow passion.

So Good They Can't Ignore You By Cal Newport #bookreviews #books #success #purpose #mission

What should you do then?

When going after the career you want, you must measure the importance of growing a set of skills and adopt the craftsman mindset.

Indeed, there are two ways of thinking about work. There’s the craftsman mindset and the passion mindset.

The passion mindset focuses on what the world can offer you. It sets you constantly on high alert, seeking for what you don’t like. It leaves you perpetually in a state of confusion.

The craftsman mindset is useful in building the career that you want, irrespective of what type of work you do. It focuses on what you produce and what you can offer the world. It leaves you with clarity and a love for what you do.

How to acquire the craftsman mindset?

Great work is a combination of creativity, impact and control. This combination is rare but valuable.

Matter of fact, great jobs are rare and valuable. To find them, you need to build up great skills and in turn offer skills that are rare and valuable.

The craftsman mindset is the best way to acquire skills Capital.

To grow a craftsman mindset, you can follow these 5 steps:

  1. Decide what Capital Market you belong to.
  2. Identify the type of Capital you want to pursue.
  3. Define clear goals for yourself.
  4. Get out of your comfort zone and stretch your abilities.
  5. Be patient.

How to gain control using your new found Capital?

Gaining control over what you do is an important part of enjoying what you do and is the hardest part.

Gaining control turns out to be tricky: you cannot ask for more control if you don’t have enough Capital to back it up or you have acquired lots of control that you can no longer evolve in your role.

It serves to have a unifying focus or mission for your career. A mission will focus your energy toward a useful goal and increase your impact on the world. To accomplish your mission, you can take small steps that generate concrete feedback.

Review

So Good They Can’t Ignore You is an extremely practical, logical guide to get the career that you want and to be so “good they can’t ignore you”.

In So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport believes that you should not pursue your passions in order to achieve career success.

Instead, you should seek to improve your skills and apply yourself in a particular field. By mastering a skill, you will gain in efficiency and gradually become passionate about the work you do.

According to Cal Newport, people who solely follow their passions end up shifting careers when they realize that their career is not what is cracked up to be.

To get a fulfilling job and the career that you want, he suggests 4 rules or principles that are extracted from many successful people lives and that are difficult to implement.

It was very interesting and somewhat refreshing to hear an unpopular opinion. His principles and opinion are not designed for dreamers. It is however designed for people at entry-level at their jobs, for analytical people who are geared towards efficient performance and who are career focused.

Even if I’m a practical person, I admittedly don’t see anything wrong with pushing people to follow their passions that might get them out of their comfort zone and into their dream job.

I think that there isn’t one approach to success or else everybody would be doing it. Some people are motivated by having a solid plan, others by an unshakable purpose and others by an exciting passion. 

Let me know below what you think about this book!

Favorite quote(s)

Ratings 3/5

Author

Cal Newport

 

 

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Book Reviews

The Successful Introvert By Wendy Gelberg

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on The Successful Introvert By Wendy Gelberg

Many introverts evolve in society feeling like something is wrong with them, like they don’t belong or out of sync with society.

That is because we see people on TV acting out their emotions and interacting with other people.

Introverts Characteristics

Introverts live inwardly and are often engaged in internal activities.

They are uncomfortable in social situations. they find social situations to be draining and enjoy long periods of solitude, which makes it challenging for them to advance in the workplace.

Introverts are good listeners and process information before they speak.

Some of the adjectives that frequently come up in describing introverts are quiet, serious, calm, reserved, detached, restrained, and private. - Wendy Gelberg in The Successful Introvert Click To Tweet

Furthermore, introverts can be seen as “fair, thoughtful, intelligent, competent, diligent, and trustworthy”.

The Successful Introvert By Wendy Gelberg #books #bookreviews #introversion #success #leadership #leadershipdevelopment

How To Manage Your Introversion?

Introverts must understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Introverts must also discipline their active minds. They tend to make assumptions and create stories in their mind that hold them back and are not always true. Instead, they must pick stories that propel them in life.

Introverts must learn how to protect their energy and take breaks when they need to in order to rejuvenate and be more alert at work. 

There are several additional strategies to manage your introversion in order to achieve success:

  1. Focus outward.
  2. Keep your eyes on the prize.
  3. Practice and fake it until you make it.
  4. Feel fear and go towards it anyways.
  5. Be unafraid of rejection.
  6. Embrace solitude. Protect their space and energy. 

The Skills Every Introverts Need To Succeed

Introverts need to learn other extroverted skills to make them more effective in the workplace and to get out their comfort zone.

1. Networking

Networking is challenging for introverts but is necessary and inevitable.

For introverts, networking seems self-serving and distasteful.

To be able to network and connect better with people, it helps to listen to people’s needs, to ask them for advice and to understand that every interaction can pay off in the long run.

2. Communicating Consciously

Because introverts withdraw in their own world, must:

  • Pay attention to their own thoughts.
  • Be careful when and how to communicate with others so that the latter don’t make negative assumptions about them.
  • Stay detached from their work enough to be able to socialize.

3. Promoting Themselves

Self-promotion makes introverts very uncomfortable.

However, your work will not speak for itself.

You have to learn to promote your own work and competencies.

Review

Most books about career development and success are generally geared towards extroverts, which can get discouraging for introverts.

In The Successful Introvert, Wendy Gelberg gives hints on on how, when and where to use your introversion. She shows that there is strength in introversion, that there are places and moments where your introversion is valuable. 

The Successful Introvert by Wendy Gelberg is eye-opening. I recommend this book for shy and introverted leaders (in progress) who want to gain self-awareness, optimize their leadership and develop their career.

Some of us are not leaders yet and wish to become leaders. The thing is our introversion is often times what stops us from getting what we really want in life.

In addition, the corporate world does act like introverts are problematic and often singles them out. Introverts have to learn to accept who they truly are and make the best of their personality type.

Let me know below what you think about this book!

Favorite quote(s)

The key to success is versatility.

Introversion is not a limiting characteristic, although the accompanying traits may require some special accommodations (also true of extraversion, but that’s a subject
for another book). We make comparisons to people who are highly successful and see the ways in which we fall short. Meanwhile, we don’t get to see the struggles or challenges that they had to deal with, so their success looks falsely uncomplicated.

Some of the adjectives that frequently come up in describing introverts are quiet, serious, calm, reserved, detached, restrained, and private. All of these speak to our inner focus, and they can contribute to success when used appropriately.

Ratings 3.5/5

Author

Wendy Gelberg

 

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Author

Wendy Gelberg

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on Wendy Gelberg

MEET THE AUTHOR

Wendy Gelberg is a career coach and the Author of The Successful Introvert.

Book Reviews

Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters By Jon Acuff

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters By Jon Acuff

In life, we must always take a step back and ask ourselves the following question: “Where am I?“.

Everybody successful person who has accomplished something in life went through the following 5 stages in life: Learning, Editing, Mastering, Harvesting and Guiding.

Most people don’t follow these 5 stages and instead choose the Average Path. Why?

Because the Average Path is comfortable and effortless. People who go down the average path are just existing and don’t make decisions.

Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters By Jon Acuff

How to get away from the Average Path?

To get away from the Average Path, you just need to Start no matter how old you are. 

In reality, the way you Start your journey in 100% in your control. You are sure of your Start but you will not know how it will end.

To have a good Start, you must first be realistic about your current situation and your goals in life.

You have to be focused and work hard on your Start.

You must also recover a childlike perception of yourself all while using the tools you have gained as an adult.

Do I Need To Know My Purpose To Start?

You don’t need to figure out your purpose to Start.

You don’t need to determine the end results before taking your first step because doing so puts too much pressure on you.

Furthermore, you will not want to do anything and will not want to fix your life before finding it.

The truth is you don’t need to find your purpose but just do everything with purpose. You can start anything you want without a purpose.

What Happens When I Start?

When you start going after the things you want, fear will show its ugly face.

It will make you question your self-worth and make your journey more torturous.

It will make you think that it’s too late and that you are behind in schedule.

It will tell you that everything needs to be perfect.

You honestly have to find a way to deal with your fears.

You have to live your life without regrets.

The Learning Stage

At this stage, you are in your 20’s.

You are still testing the waters and trying to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life.

The Editing Stage

In your 30’s, you start looking back at your 20’s.

You select what matters most to you and going after what worked for you in the past.

You start focusing on your career and relationships. 

To edit your life, value what you have, search for your passions, find out what brings you the most joy and what activities align most with who you are at your core.

You don’t have to wait for outside to live the life you really want to live.

You don’t have to stay places where you grow as a person or where you have no passion for.

The Mastering Stage

In your 40’s, you mastered every thing that is important to you.

You are more self-assured and are certain about where you are going.

To master your life, you have to put in the hours and hone your craft by volunteering, taking up part time jobs and participating in hobbies that bring you closer to your goals.

In mastering your life, you will face many obstacles and challenges.

The Harvesting Stage

In your 50’s, you reap what you have sowed in your 30’s and 40’s.

In this stage, it is wise to:

  • Treat people right
  • Not get complacent or lazy
  • Treat your accomplishments as rewards and not reasons for what you do.

The Guiding Stage

At this stage, your are in your 60’s.

You are retired and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

You start mentoring, helping people on their journey and start giving back to your community.

But once you are in this stage, you have to return to the Learning Stage and start all over again. To guide people, you must ask people questions and listen to their stories.

Then, you can tie your guiding experiences to something you were always interested in. 

Review

Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff is a funny book with great life lessons.

The principles behind the Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters are very similar to those in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.

Jon Acuff‘s examples and introspective comments are hilarious but also liberating. He shares his strengths, his weaknesses and doesn’t take himself too seriously.

I truly recommend this book because it provides comfort and encouragement. In addition, at the end of the book, Jon Acuff shares a practical step by step guide for you to overcome fear and escape average. 

Let me know below what you think about this book!

Favorite quote(s)

the surprises life gives are always better than the things you think you see coming.

Average is so popular because average is familiar. We all know how to do average. Ninetynine percent of the people on the planet do average. The road is well worn, the decisions are obvious, and the next steps are crystal clear.

Every journey has a first step. Every dream has a first destination.

No matter what fear and doubt tell you, your identity is not at stake with the decisions you make and the actions you take as you learn.

Don’t buy the lie that changing the world has to be a chore or make you miserable. Be brave enough to have fun with whatever you whittle down in your life.

Ratings 4/5

Author

Jon Acuff

 

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17 Risks Every Leader Should Take

by journeytoleadershipblog4 Comments on 17 Risks Every Leader Should Take

We make decisions all day that will affect the rest of our lives.

These decisions have to be thought through in order for us to have the life we want.

They affect our self-esteem, relationships, career, lifestyle, … our everyday.

The truth is, there is always an element of risk in everything that we do.

Wondering what are the risks that every leader should take?

17 Risks Every Leader Should Take

1. Bet on yourself

The best bet you can take is on yourself.

Indeed, you are your best tool for success even if you cannot predict the future or the outcome of your decision.

If you want to achieve great things, you must first believe in yourself then make sure that you are always performing at your best.

2. Get to know yourself better

Getting to know yourself better means trying new activities, seeing what you like and dislike, what you are good at or not.

Being authentically yourself requires courage and the belief that nobody needs to like you.

3. Improve on yourself

Change is scary for most people.

When you try to improve on yourself, the people around you will resist that change, may even think that you are crazy and may not recognize you.

They will pressure you to revert to your old self. You will risk losing friends and family in order for you to grow and to feel good about yourself.

4. Reinvent yourself

Don’t do what is expected of you.

Your life will be dull if you did what everyone else wanted of you.

Your friends and family certainly have your best interest at heart but most of the time they can stunt your growth and bring down your expectations so you don’t outgrow them, so you don’t change.

To break these expectations, start doing things that your entourage will laugh or look down upon.

5. Put yourself out there

Everyone observes and judges others at some point in their life. Honestly, we all do it whether we mean to do it or not.

Everybody criticizes. Criticism can be negative or positive but it can sometimes be useful.

It only hurts if you let it or if you agree with the criticism.

So, put yourself out there:

  • Risk of being judged or appearing foolish.
  • Don’t be afraid to look stupid doing something.

6. Pursue your dreams

Don’t live in regrets and what ifs.

You don’t want to get old and realize that you didn’t do what you set out to do.

Furthermore, the happiest or most content people are driven, purposeful and allow themselves to dream and act upon their dream.

There comes a point in time when you have to chose between your goals and your friends. You have to know that it is OK to miss out on fun events with friends and family in order to work on your goals and advance your purpose.

7. Admit your mistakes

When you take risks, you will always make mistakes.

Mistakes are signs that you are human, trying new things and getting our of your comfort zone.

Sometimes, we think that there is no going back from our mistakes, we cannot move on and we cannot be forgiven for what we have done.

You will ever know if you don’t take the risks and ask for forgiveness.

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8. Learn to forgive

When other people on your team make mistakes, you must learn to give them a second chance. 

The risk or the certainty is that they will mess up again but they will have enough confidence to fix their mistakes.

Consequently, they will trust you more, be more creative and forgive you more when you make a mistake.  

9. Show emotion

In the workplace, showing emotion is risky because people will tend to use them against you.

In order to not be taken advantage of, you really have to own them and discipline yourself. 

10. Ask questions

Leaders must acknowledge that they don’t know everything. 

They must therefore listen, ask questions and value their employees.

It’s better to ask questions and look dumb for a few minutes than say nothing and be dumb for a lifetime.

11. Speak up

Leaders must speak truth to power, speak with truth, power, integrity and transparency.

They must stand up for what they believe in and speak up when it’s right even when it’s hard to do.

In addition, they express their opinion, don’t try to manage other people’s feelings and opinions: they say what they mean and mean what their say.

People who are able to speak up confidently, say what bothers them and what doesn’t are the people who usually go far in life.

12. Analyze opportunities

Before taking any risks, you must always analyze the pros and the cons of your decisions.

You have the right to say no to opportunities that don’t fit you.

You have the duty to say yes more often to things that scare you.

Just remember that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

13. Risk rejection

If you haven’t been rejected in life, then you haven’t done anything worthwhile.

You have to dare to apply to jobs you don’t have the qualifications for, talk to people outside your circle with different affinities.

If people don’t return your interests, then they are the ones missing out. 

14. Let go of things you cannot control

You must take the risk that everything will work out on its own and you don’t have to control everything.

15. Don’t be afraid of getting hurt

Taking risks implies that you will be vulnerable most of the time.

In other words, it means that you open yourself up to get hurt.

Because pain is inevitable, you can go for it and perform at the best of your abilities. 

16. Overcome your fears one by one

You will not feel confident going towards your fears. However, once you have faced your fears, you will feel good about yourself and be ready to take on any life challenges.

In reality, your fears are not as bad as you think and facing them help you build confidence. 

Most of the time, your mind and your ego are exaggerating your fears to protect you.

17. Travel

Travelling allows you to reframe your mindset, to learn new things and meet new people.

It also allows you to try out different versions of yourself.

It costs money but it is totally worth it.

Last Words Of Advice!

Life is an adventure! Don’t live in regrets and live your life to the fullest.

Taking risks is the best chance you have to get to know yourself, predict the future and achieve your highest potential.

The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.

 

 

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

 

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12 Ways Leaders Live Life To The Fullest

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 12 Ways Leaders Live Life To The Fullest

Leaders are generally very busy and have a tendency to spread themselves pretty thin.

They dabble in multiple activities but don’t take the time to relax and to smell the flowers.

While achieving their goals, it seems that they forget to live life to the fullest and can hardly make the difference between Monday, Friday or Saturday.

Wondering how leaders live their life to the fullest?

Living life to the fullest means that you go after what you want without letting fear get in the way.

12 Ways Leaders Live Life To The Fullest #positivity #leadership

1. Leaders focus on themselves

Leaders work towards their goals everyday, focus on themselves and not on others.

Leaders who live their life to the fullest focus their time and energy on things that matter.

In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less, Greg Mckeown urges us to discipline ourselves, to be selective of the activities that you partake in. 

2. Leaders give way to their imagination

Leaders don’t downsize their dreams.

Instead, they dream so big that it scares them.

They expect great things from themselves.

They are just convinced that they will succeed no matter what.

3. Leaders are self-assured

They don’t care what others think about them and don’t live by other people’s expectation.

In addition, they say yes to opportunities that they want, they don’t settle for less, for people or a job they don’t respect.

Furthermore, leaders don’t complain, make excuses, or procrastinate.

4. Leaders go after what they really want

Life is shorter than we think. Years go by in a blimp and leaders know that. 

I can hardly remember what happened last year and the year before that.

All I know is that I didn’t do what I really wanted to do.

To go after what they really want, leaders:

  • Maximize their potential
  • Choose their job and activities carefully (if they can).
  • Are selective of whom and what they give their energy to.

5. Leaders do something that they really enjoy everyday

If you like to read like I do, you can take time off at lunch or in the commute to read and to unwind.

Their life choices are not tied to monetary issues.

6. Leaders don’t take life too seriously

Leaders have huge responsibilities.

Paradoxically, they don’t take life too seriously.

Leaders learn to laugh at themselves and their circumstances.

They relax when they have to, and don’t succumb to negative emotions and behaviors.

For them, being positive is a state of mind but most importantly it’s a choice.

7. Leaders walk in their purpose

Leaders live life from the inside out: they know that how they think will demonstrate itself.

Therefore, Every little thing that they do had purpose.

They stick to their system of values and live in alignment with their purpose.

They have clear defined values and a personal mission statement that they live by.

8. Leaders are present

Leaders consider everyday to be a new day.

They don’t let life rule them, they stay present and don’t look back at the past failures.

9. Leaders are forgiving

They do not hold on to past hurts, memories and to people who degrade them.

10. Leaders are authentic

They are committed to grow.

They don’t want to live someone else’s life.

They don’t want to be surrounded by people they don’t like or respect.

11. Leaders are people persons

They enjoy alone time.

They surround themselves with people who push them to grow, to be better and to do better.

12. Leaders are curious

Leaders get out of their comfort zone.

They seek to know more and to upgrade their mindset.

Last Words Of Advice!

We all have an idea of the person we want to become in life.

Don’t wait to have everything 100% in place to behave like your ideal self.

Remember, it’s your life and you create your own life experiences.

 

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

 

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10 Ways Leaders Manifest Their Visions

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 10 Ways Leaders Manifest Their Visions

Everyone has the ability to manifest their vision. 

With that knowledge, leaders just don’t dream about their goals.

Against all odds, they are able to attract what they want.

They support their dreams with actions, put forth the time and energy towards their goals. They watch what they say to themselves about themselves.

Wondering how leaders attract what they want and need out of life?

10 Ways Leaders Manifest Their Visions #vision #purpose #success #lawofattraction #leadership

We have all heard of the Law of Attraction.

It consists in bringing your deepest desires into reality by focusing your thoughts on them. To manifest your vision, you have to strongly believe that this is what you really want and this is your true purpose.

For example, you can manifest the perfect relationship or on the job you want by focusing positive thoughts and sending positive intentions its way.

1. Leaders are honest with themselves

Be honest with yourself because the truth will set you free.

Everything around is only a reflection of who you truly are. So be who you want go attract.

If you are not aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you will not achieve your goals.

If you are not an improved person you cannot expect the best of the best. You will only get the best for your level.

2. Leaders are grateful for what they have

They are always grateful for what they have no matter how small their possession.

They let go of control and are open to receive what is coming to them. 

You can cultivate the habit of making a gratitude list. A simple list can be:

I am grateful for the clothes on my back.

I am grateful to be alive.

I am grateful for my serenity.

I am grateful for my health.

I am grateful for my team and business.

After writing your list, read it everyday and change your mindset instantly.

3. Leaders value their imagination

Leaders are naturally dreamers.

They allow themselves to dream big.

They use their imagination for their benefit.

Indeed, your imagination is the best tool that you have at your disposal that nobody can take away from you.

Leaders use their imaginations all the time to escape, to motivate their team and to build products, companies. 

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. - Albert Einstein Click To Tweet

4. Leaders live as if their dreams have come through

Because the universe conspires with you on what you want to attract, they act up as if they have already achieved their required level if success.

They fake it until they make it. For example, they will dress for the position they want to have.

5. Leaders focus on their goals

Leaders place their focus on the essentials.

Furthermore, they focus on themselves and don’t compete with others.

They understand that whatever they put their attention on is what is going to grow.

They have a vision or dream board that help them see things more clearly.

They tend to place them in the area that you can always see and visualize yourself in that situation.

6. Leaders believe in intuition

They trust their intuition.

They listen to their feelings and do whatever resonates with them.

If they have negative vibes about a situation, they immediately take a step back and analyze the situation.

7. Leaders monitor their thoughts

They meditate and actively monitor their thoughts.

When a thought comes through that bring up negative emotions, they are instantly aware. Then they fight their negative voice in their head or sleep to give their mind a rest or exercise to get rid of cortisol. 

In addition, leaders constantly elevate their own mood. To make themselves feel better, they use positive words of affirmation.

To elevate your mood, you can read books that comfort you and make you feel better about yourself.

You can carefully choose your activities, music and TV shows, screen what you put in your mind because it programs you. 

8. Leaders live a life of abundance

They are conscious of their personal power and are at peace with themselves.

Furthermore, they walk with integrity, don’t harm anyone and mind their actions. They believe that what they put out is what they will come back to them. 

They are conceived that they will succeed. They are cognizant that something great is on its way.

They don’t set your thoughts on want is missing or on want others want from them.

They are not easily offended or don’t think that they are victims of their circumstances.

9. Leaders know that words have power

They are conscious of the power of their words and choose their words carefully.

Indeed, if you say, “I’m so tired” you will eventually be exhausted for the whole day. If you say, “I’m stressed out” you will definitively be overwhelmed by stress.

To manifest what you really want, start saying and doing how you want to feel and what you want to do.

10. Leaders are altruistic

They care for people other than themselves.

The process of caring for others take them out of their negative space and environment.

For instance, they help their team and people in their communities. 

Last Words Of Advice!

When things are not going your way or you are not achieving your goals, know that you can always turn things around, improve your mindset, achieve your purpose and find your peace.

Fight negativity. Show yourself some love.

 

Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!

Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.

 

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