Tag: Self-development

Journey To Leadership

9 Ways To Grow As A Leader In The Age Of Social Distancing

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 9 Ways To Grow As A Leader In The Age Of Social Distancing

As a leader, you are really spread thin and barely have time for yourself. It is good to take this opportunity to relax.

You might want to use this time to reflect on your life. There are many activities that you can do to get back into the growth mindset.

You want to improve yourself and get you act together to reach your goals and insulate yourself from further failure.

Wondering what you can do as a leader to grow during the era of social distancing?

9 Ways To Grow As A Leader In The Age Of Social Distancing #leadership #selfdevelopment #selfimprovement #success #socialdistancing #socialdistance #journeytoleadership journeytoleadershipblog.com

1. Communicate with your inner self

You can start the self-improvement process during quarantine by checking in on your inner self so you can to come out quarantine better than when you entered.

Sometimes, we are so busy that we don’t take the time to slow down, breath, embrace solitude and see how we are mentally doing.

Some choose to meditate and others to journal. Journaling is a great way to communicate with yourself. By writing down your thoughts, you free up you mind, confront and let go of past troubling experiences.

2. Make an honest assessment of yourself

When you know who you are and where you are, you will know which steps to take to reach your goals.

It requires real honesty and an ability to confront every part of yourself — the best parts as much as the horrible parts of yourself. 

Doing that will give you a sense of who you are. Assessing yourself will help you gauge your strengths and weaknesses, get i touch with your purpose, identify the situations and opportunities that fit you. 

3. Understand your worth

You have to believe that you are worthy as a person and still have room for improvement.

Furthermore, as you improve yourself, you will realize your worth, become wiser and make better decisions. 

4. Reevaluate

You can use this moment to reevaluate, reset yourself and organize yourself for the future. You will know how to tackle your goals as soon as things get back in order. To do so effectively:

  • Think about all the things you have to do.
  • Write down your goals and tasks. Then, set a time-frame, a level of impact, an order of importance and emergency.
  • Foresee the potential obstacles that are ahead of you. 

Not because you are cozy at home or remotely working that you have to let yourself go or give up on yourself or your goals.

5. Learn to compete with yourself

Nobody really knows what to do in life but the first step you can take is evaluating yourself and ensuring that your future self is better than your older self. 

To compete with yourself, it helps to think as yourself as a brand, to have a prioritized task list and to regularly track your progress.

6. Unclutter your space

You may not be able to immediately improve on yourself but you can fix small problems around you that will free up some mental load and enhance your mental health. 

The clutter around you occupies the space in your mind. To unclutter, you may want to organize your room or repair things around your house for example.

7. Do something worthwhile

To grow and get out of a somewhat negative space, it is imperative that you take responsibility for yourself.

Besides, you cannot stay in one place self-loathing or blaming someone else for your situation.

There is no need to dwell on your problems and go down the rabbit hole. Instead, figure out your purpose and do something with meaning that can outweigh your negative situation.

8. Connect with others

While you are bored in the house, we can get activated and still improve ourselves indoors or while social distancing.

For those who love to be social, you can use all this time to your advantage, connect more deeply with your entourage and build deeper trust.

You can talk to someone, who will help you grow, about your inner turmoils or your dreams.

9. Read all the books you can

Sometimes, we are stuck in one way of thinking. 

It takes an external event or person with deeper knowledge to promote our mindset.

Books contain knowledge that you couldn’t acquire on your own, events that probably have or won’t happen to you. Either way, books will broaden your sense of self and open up your mind.

Nowadays, podcast and audiobooks provide us with the same purpose as books.

Last Words Of Advice!

Social distancing is hard for some.

As you use the era of social distancing as an advantage, be very careful on what you focus your mind on.

 

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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Journey To Leadership

12 Signs You Are Loving Yourself Just Right

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 12 Signs You Are Loving Yourself Just Right

If we listen to Society, we would constantly be hating ourselves, changing ourselves to fit in and show that we are worthy of belonging when there is naturally nothing wrong with us.

The truth is there is more things that are right with you than there is wrong.

You have to take a good look at yourself, acknowledge that you are good enough and figure whether or not you are loving yourself the right way.

Wondering what are the signs showing that you are loving yourself the right way?

12 Signs You Are Loving Yourself Just Right #selfdevelopment #selfawareness #leadership https://journeytoleadershipblog.com

In life, many things that would make us question ourselves and not love ourselves. However, there are a few signs that show that you are on the path of self-love.

1. You put yourself first

You take care of your people, make place for the essentials but you make time for yourself.

In addition, you prioritize your health, needs and wants no matter what.

2. You are authentically yourself

You cannot fake your way through life or spend your time fulfilling someone else’s expectations of you.

You must believe that you are free to be yourself because who you are is beautiful and are good enough.

3. You are honest with yourself

You know and value your flaws, qualities, strengths, weaknesses, limitations and blindspots.

4. You express yourself freely

You express your thoughts and opinions freely without holding back and without fear.

Furthermore, you are not ashamed of your ideas because you understand that they are valuable and worth sharing.

5. You trust your abilities

You have learnt a lot through the years.

When push comes to shove, you are able to hone your skills and employ your abilities where you need to.

6. You trust your intuition

How many times have you felt something in your gut, not listened to it and ended up in a problematic situation?

Trust your intuition. It will never steer you the wrong way.

7. You quiet your inner critic

You don’t listen to your inner critic and to the lies you tell yourself.

Furthermore, you don’t beat yourself up when you have failed.

Instead, you pull yourself back up by your bootstraps, forgive yourself and keep it moving.

8. You embrace solitude

You are capable of spending quality time with yourself.

You are at peace with yourself, you enjoy yourself alone and use that time to recharge.

9. You treat yourself

You take care of your mind, body and soul.

For instance, you enjoy grooming yourself and buying yourself some gifts. 

10. You celebrate success

You celebrate your successes and those of others.

You take time to acknowledge your achievements, give yourself full credit for your success and focus on more than your failures.

11. You have a strong support system

You refuse to surround yourself with toxic people.

You have been able to build healthy relationships with people who you confide in, who act as your sounding board and who you lean on.

12. You are independent

Basically, you don’t need other people to help you feel good about yourself.

You believe that you are good enough and can stand on your own two feet.

You don’t need validation from others and have stopped worrying about what other people think about you.

You don’t compete or compare yourself with others.

Finally, you don’t trash people to make yourself feel better.  

Last Words Of Advice!

If you don’t love yourself, nobody else will!

When you love yourself, you will be able to handle life better, focus on your personal progress and achieve your goals.

 

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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Journey To Leadership

The Importance of Accountability In Leadership

by journeytoleadershipblog1 Comment on The Importance of Accountability In Leadership

Right now, there is a serious need for accountable leaders in all aspects of the world and at all levels of life.

Accountable leaders are responsible for their team and organization.

In reality, accountability goes beyond responsibility.

Accountable leaders have a sense of ownership that has been developed for tasks, decisions and actions. It is intrinsic to each leader and is independent of the outcomes of said tasks, decisions and actions.

Wondering why accountability is so important and how leaders can develop a sense of accountability?

The Importance of Accountability In Leadership #selfdevelopment #characterdevelopment #accountability #leadership #journeytoleadership journeytoleadershipblog.com

Accountability is important, hard to define and even harder to implement.

1. Get To Know Yourself

I will never cease to repeat that to lead others, you must first lead yourself.

Before you become a leader or an accountable leader, it is also important to know your why.

2. Become Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

You are going to experience the unexpected, be constantly reviewed under a microscope and have to handle an extreme amount of pressure.

You have to develop enough resilience and determination to seek discomfort and be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

3. Acknowledge Failure

There is no room for victim mentality or the blame game.

Accountable leaders are not victims of their circumstances.

Accountable leaders are willing to acknowledge their past failures. They know when, how and why they failed in the past. Most importantly, they know how to repair their mistakes, forgive themselves and move forward.

4. Understand Your Impact

Accountable leaders know the influence they have on their team and in their organization.

That is why, most of the time, they will need to demonstrate strong leadership skills, a lot of professionalism, a high level of maturity and self-awareness.

5. Look Out For Temptations

There are so many temptations that come with the money and power of leadership.

Accountable leaders know their shortcomings. They are humble, ethical and disciplined enough to control themselves.

To avoid temptations, it can be helpful to have a strong support system and a healthy work-life balance.

6. Create A Culture Of Accountability

To create a culture of accountability, leaders need to:

  • Increase employee commitment and engagement.
  • Allow employees to make decisions for themselves.
  • Build long term trust.

Last Words Of Advice!

You have to be accountable to yourself first before demanding that others are.

Being a mediocre leader is no longer acceptable. You don’t have to stay in a bad situation under bad leadership.

 

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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Journey To Leadership

103 Questions Every Leader Should Answer To Get To Know Themselves Better

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 103 Questions Every Leader Should Answer To Get To Know Themselves Better

We spend most of the time with ourselves.

We go through life’s pains and joys with ourselves.

We are out best friend or worst enemies but we don’t really take the time to get to know ourselves.

How can we lead the way if we don’t  really know ourselves?

Indeed, leadership is all about self-improvement.

To be a great leader, you need to start by leading yourself.

Below are 50 questions that will send you on the path of self-discovery.

Wondering which questions you should pose to get to know yourself better?

103 Questions Every Leader Should Answer To Get To Know Themselves Better #questions #answers #leadership #success #selfassessment #selfimprovement #leadershipdevelopment #characterdevelopment

Childhood

1. What is your best childhood memory?

2. What is your worst childhood memory?

3. Which best describes how you were as a child?

4. What advice would you give your younger self?

5. What is the best advice you have ever received growing up?

6. If you went back to school, what would you major in?

Self-Image

7. How do you visualize yourself?

8. What do you like the most about yourself?

9. If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?

10. What makes you unique?

11. What is your best quality?

12. What would you say is your kryptonite?

13. What are your skills, strengths and weaknesses?

14. What personality traits do you value the most in yourself?

15. What character traits do you value the most in yourself?

16. What personality or character traits turn you off?

17. What would you like to improve about yourself?

Mindset

18. What is your system of belief?

19. What are your 5 main core values?

20. Who and what fulfills you?

21. How well do you embrace solitude?

22. What do you think of before you go to bed?

23. If you had one last day to live, what would you do?

24. What do you believe to be true about the world?

25. If you could know the absolute truth to one question, what would you ask?

Comfort Zone

26. Where do you feel most comfortable?

27. What gets you out of your comfort zone?

28. How would you describe your perfect day?

29. What makes your day better?

30. What inspires you the most?

Life & Self-Actualization

31. What would you do differently if you could go back in time?

32. What is the worst that ever happened to you?

33. What is the most insane thing you have ever done in life?

34. What was one of the most amazing moments in your life?

35. What is the most valuable lesson have you learned in life?

36. What is the most valuable lesson you have learned about yourself?

37. What do you want to achieve next year? In five years?

38. Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?

39. What would you say is your purpose is in life?

40. What do you expect most from yourself?

41. What do you look forward to the most in life?

42. What do you think is missing in your life?

43. What area of your life would you like to improve the most?

44. What legacy do you want to leave on the world?

45. When do you have the most energy?

46. Where would you ideally want to live?

Career

47. What is your best work experience?

48. What is your worst work experience?

49. What was your childhood dream profession?

50. Are you sure about your current career path?

51. What is your dream job and is it attainable? 

52. If you didn’t have a care in the world, what would you do?

Skillset

53. Are you comfortable with change?

54. What’s your decision-making style?

55. What is your leadership style?

56. What is your communication style?

57. When you have something exciting to share, how do you tell people?

Goals & Success

58. How do you define success?

59. What are your greatest accomplishments?

60. What do you want to accomplish someday? 

61. What are the obstacles that you regularly face?

62. What is one obstacle that you have overcome?

63. If money wasn’t an object, what would you do?

64. What is holding you back from achieving your goals?

65. What are your greatest regrets in life?

66. What keeps you up at night?

67. Has there been a time where you felt like a failure before?

68. How did you handle being or feeling like a failure?

69. Where do you get your best ideas?

Habits

70. How do you start your day? 

71. How do you rate your health habits?

72. What bad habit would you like to eliminate and why?

73. What good habits would you like to acquire?

74. Are your habits helping or hindering you from reaching your goals?

Emotions

75. What are your emotional triggers?

76. What really makes you angry?

77. What emotionally charges or drains you?

78. What is your worst fear?

79. When and why did you last cry?

Fun Activities

80. What is the most beautiful place you have ever been to?

81. What is your favorite or ideal travel destination?

82. What is your favorite way to travel?

83. Which movie title best describes your life?

84. Which TV shows or genres describe you the most?

85. What is your favorite book to read?

86. Which quote or lyric resonates most with you?

87. What is your favorite joke?

88. What are your favorite meals?

89. What activity brings you the most joy?

90. What are your passions and hobbies?

91. Which hobby or activity you would like to take on?

92. What is you favorite thing to do on a given day?

93. If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Your Interactions With Others

94. What do you like the most about your support system?

95. Do you enjoy giving or accepting compliments?

96. Who are you closest to?

97. Who is closest to you?

98. How would your friends describe you?

99. What do you think people misunderstand about you?

100. What is the question you would like to ask people but are too afraid to do so?

Mentorship

101. Who inspires you?

102. Who is your ideal mentor?

103. Who do you model your behavior after and why?

Last Words Of Advice!

You may not be able to answer all these questions in one sitting.

However, you can always come back to these questions and work on your answers.

Just the mere fact that you are reading this says that you are on your way to self-discovery.

 

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

Mental Toughness: Essential Principles of Leadership and Success By Mak Hill

by journeytoleadershipblog2 Comments on Mental Toughness: Essential Principles of Leadership and Success By Mak Hill

No matter your decisions in life, obstacles will always present themselves. You will have to be able to build up your resilience and your ability to solve challenges.

For that reason, mental toughness is required in all areas of life.

Mental toughness is the inner drive to push through and pursue your goals.

Furthermore, it is an integral part of your character and prevents you from being a quitter. It gets you places that your personal skills, strengths and talents cannot. 

Mental Toughness: Essential Principles of Leadership and Success By Mak Hill #bookreviews #books #mindfulness #leadership https://journeytoleadershipblog.com/

Mental Toughness Leads to Success

Mental toughness is a “muscle that needs occasional flexing”. 

Mental toughness constantly requires nurturing your self-esteem and improving your attitude.

In addition, it involves letting go of fears, taking on challenges, staying focused and failing up.

Mental toughness keeps you motivated, overcomes self-doubt, helps you face your fears, regulate your emotions, listen to your inner voice, accept, learn and bounce back from your mistakes. 

The Habits Of Mentally Tough Leaders

Leaders have to handle difficult situations on a daily basis in the workplace and still have to make space for their personal lives. 

Furthermore, they have to build a vision from the ground up, communicate and maintain their vision. At the end of the day, to be successful and efficient, leaders need to be mentally tough.

Generally, mentally tough leaders have been through challenging situations and came out stronger.

1. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Self-Confident

They experience life outside of their comfort zone, take risks and overcome failure.

2. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Able to Manage Their Emotions

They are able to control their emotions. Furthermore, they are selective of the people around them. They share their emotions only with the people they can trust.

3. Mentally Tough Leaders Face their Fears and Take Action

They overcome their fears and risk failure to achieve success.

4. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Selective Of Whom They Associate With

They patiently select their support system. Their support system is positive, will celebrate their success, and share their vision and mindset.

5. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Self-Disciplined

They maintain a routine, a healthy diet and exercise regularly to secure their health and wellness.

6. Mentally Tough Leaders Know how and when to say No

They don’t people please and say no without feeling guilt or regret.

7. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Independent

They do not compare their progress with that of others. They are their own competition. They mind their own business, don’t care about people’s opinion of them and are accountable for their decisions.

8. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Ready and Equipped for Anything

They don’t operate out of fear or under pressures of office politics. They do the right thing and keep their conscience clear at the risk of losing their job.

9. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Obsessed with Productivity and Positive Outcomes

They are focused on becoming more productive and successful.

10. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Strong

They are ready to fight for what they want until the end.

11. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Responsive

They aim to make a sound decision whether it is under pressure or not.

12. Mentally Tough Leaders Are Willing to Learn

They need to keep learning, evolving, and adapting to changes.

13. Mentally Tough Leaders Possess Control

They have control over themselves, their thoughts and circumstances.

14. Mentally Tough Leaders Focus On the Right Priorities

They value quality of work over quantity.

15. Mentally Tough Leaders Realize the Likelihood of Developing Decision Fatigue

They know that they can burnout so they maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep making the best decisions for their teams. every task takes away energy and a fatigued mind is ineffective. 

16. Mentally Tough Leaders Build Themselves Up

They maintain a flexible schedule for activities meant to build up their mental toughness. They take care of themselves with specific and routine activities.

17. Mentally Tough Leaders Stay Positive

They are positive in their way of thinking and associate themselves only with positive things. They think positively about themselves and their team. They believe that they are what they think.

18. Mentally Tough Leaders Put Quality first

They delegate and encourage their team to produce quality work.

How do you become mentally strong?

To become mentally strong, there are several skills you need to acquire. Suitable skills are developed after many trials and failures. After years of training yourself, you can develop:

A Hyper Focus Mindset. You don’t allow distractions to clutter your mind and take you out of your zone. 

A Winning Mindset. You must believe in your expertise and believe that you will succeed no matter what.

Willpower. You must be able to stay on to of your goals until you have achieved them, despite the obstacles or your fears. Your willpower has to be maintained through relaxation methods and healthy activities.

Composure. You are able to stay calm under pressure.

An Ability to Handle Failure. You must acknowledge that a mentally strong person can fail too. If you have failed, you must extract a lesson from it.

Accountability. You must own up to your mistakes, overcome negative emotions, learn from failure and move on.

Preparedness. You must plan and prepare for the unexpected.

A Readiness to Take On the Challenge. You must face and embrace whatever challenge comes your way.

An Ability to Optimize Stress. You are able to take advantage of a stressful environment and still reach your objectives.

A Capability to Stretch Out the Limits. You stretch your limits and are able to achieve your objectives in spite of physical discomfort or mental stress.

The Qualities Needed to Develop Mental Toughness

Mentally tough people possess numerous qualities too that shine through when push comes to shove.

These qualities are ingrained in their personalities and in their character. In general, mentally tough people:

Are Self-Motivated. Your drive to succeed comes from within and you are capable to endure for what you love to do.

Maintain Positivity. You are able to get in the zone, to stay focused on positive thoughts amid the chaos or in high pressure situations.

Visualize The Life They Want. You visualize the outcome of a task from beginning to end before performing it which makes it easier to implement.

Meditate. Meditation reduces stress, clears your mind and allows you to relax.

Talk Positively To Themselves. You can coach and motivate yourself with your own words. 

Constantly Seek Discomfort. You get out your comfort zone frequently and are able to handle whatever life throws at you.

Are Prepared For The Unexpected. You will have to be prepared and have experienced everything in life in the worst possible conditions so you don’t break or have to be taken by surprise.

Review

Mental Toughness: Essential Principles of Leadership and Success by Mak Hill is an easy to read and straight to the point motivational book.

Truthfully, I had this book on my shelf and was eyeing it for a very long time.

Though the principles in this book are known, this book has put a lot of things in perspective for me and has reminded me that perseverance is key to success.

I truly recommend this if you are seeking more for yourself, want to quiet their mind and take back control, are going through challenges or have taken heavy hits lately.

As cliché as it may sound, it teaches you that:

  • You have to believe in yourself and stand up for what you want.
  • When life gives you lemon, you have to make lemonade. 
  • Quitting should not be made a habit. 

Try one principle at a time and observe the results. Everytime, you acquire a skill, move on to the next one until you become mentally strong.

Let me know below what you think about this book!

Favorite quote(s)

Mental toughness for an individual is his ability to deal with pressures, stressors, and challenges, and to give the best possible results, in spite of the circumstances that individual finds himself in. Others define it as the ability to rise after failures and setbacks, and the resolve to spot and take hold of the opportunities that come up.

Experts swear by the fact that grit, or mental toughness, plays a critical role in your achievement of anything in life. This is excellent news to many of us who desire success in some activity but do not carry the genes. We can still be top achievers, if only we become mentally tough.

In itself, success is not an event that finds you; it is a state of mind. The courage and strength to win develop internally, in the brain. If you want to reach your goals and become a success, you must learn how to get that mental strength by yourself.

Keep in mind that calm, smooth seas do not make adept sailors; it is the violent and turbulent ones that do.

The challenge you encounter in the course of your life will not matter, what matters is the reaction you will have towards it. Developing the right attitude towards failure will require you to know that failure does not condemn your abilities; it is merely a reaction or feedback to the effort put.

Ratings 4/5

About the author

Mak Hill

 

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Journey To Leadership

8 Powerful Strategies Leaders Use To Bounce Back From Failure

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on 8 Powerful Strategies Leaders Use To Bounce Back From Failure

Failure is a painful experience and a hard pill to swallow for most.

The pain of failure is difficult to recover from and the memory of it just keeps replaying itself in your mind.

That being said, leaders cannot allow themselves to focus on the past, stay in bed and self-loathe.

Leaders have to find ways to go through life without fearing failure, to learn from their negative experience, to recover from them and to not let failure define them because failure can also be informative and transformative.

Wondering what strategies you can apply to recover from failure?

8 Powerful Strategies Leaders Use To Bounce Back From Failure #failure #success #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #journeytoleadership journeytoleadershipblog.com/

1. Tell yourself the truth

It is challenging to look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself the cold truth.

It is challenging to recognize that you have indeed failed. 

It is challenging to admit your shortcomings and implications in your personal failure. Sometimes, it’s not your fault. Sometimes, you have just been passive. Other times, you have brought it down on yourself.

You have to take a good look at the facts, events and at your pain.

You have to stand in your truth. Otherwise, someone else will use it against you, or worse you will never grow.

2. Know your Why

In Start With Why — How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action, Simon Sinek defines your why as your origin story. “By looking to our past and teasing out the most significant threads—the experiences we’ve had, the people we’ve been influenced by, the lives we’ve touched and the highs and lows we’ve faced—we can identify patterns.”

Your Why is a collection of your standout memories and defining moments. If you don’t know your Why, you must find it. it will give meaning to every single one of your failures and help you cope with them.

Knowing your Why will help you define your personal mission statement that you can review on a daily basis.

With your Why in mind, you will be able to surmount just about anything in life.

3. Don’t take failure personally

Failure happens to just about everybody and as hard as you try, there is not much you can do to avoid it.

So, there is no need to take it personally.

Don’t get distracted by your failure, focus on something greater than yourself and acknowledge that you cannot change the past.

Instead, prepare yourself for upcoming success. If you have missed an opportunity, prepare yourself for another one instead of dwelling on your mistakes.

4. Be kind to yourself

It is easy to self loathe, dwell in your pain and replay your failures.

By doing so, you are not only attracting similar events to you but you are not allowing yourself to grow or to move on.

You will unfortunately stay stuck in the same pattern of behavior and thought.

The best and healthiest way you can internally deal with failure is to forgive yourself, stop beating yourself up and to use past events as fuel. You can use your failure to become stronger, more disciplined and kinder to yourself.

5. Take time to take care of yourself

Sometimes, we need to take a step back and put some distance between yourself and your failure.

You can take time off to exercise, eat right, see family and friends, do something you love, go on a trip or do something that you have always wanted to do.

Nobody can make you feel better about yourself but yourself. It is up to you to seek the comfort or the happiness that you need.

6. Embrace gratitude

Another way to get over your pain and some of your problems is to be grateful for what you have and the problems that you don’t have.

Gratitude is a great way to focus on the positives, celebrate past successes and build a success mindset.

Failure is only temporary and there are different ways that you can bounce back.

7. Face your fears head on

You don’t want to stay stuck in your failure and avoid the pain at all cost.

Facing your fears head on is a great way to move on from your failures and empower yourself.

8. Help someone other than yourself

Failure can be distracting and make you self-absorbed.

Get out of your head and see if someone around you needs assistance.

Last Words Of Advice!

It is Ok to fail.

It is not OK to repeat the same mistakes and expect a different result.

Just remember that every failure brings you closer to success. 

 

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

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World By Admiral William H. McRaven

by journeytoleadershipblogLeave a Comment on Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World By Admiral William H. McRaven

Sometimes, you are not living the life you want and other times, life itself is fighting with you.

However, there are several strategies you can apply to help you handle whatever life throws at you.

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World By Admiral William H. McRaven #bboks #bookreviews #leadership

1. Start Your Day with Making Your Bed

making your bed in the morning has a great impact of the outcome of your day.

Making your bed in the morning is a daily act of self discipline, self-love, motivation.

It is a small task that should be part of your routine, bring a sense of pride and a sense of structure.

2. Value Teamwork

Teamwork can help you achieve difficult tasks.

Your team has the ability to remind you of who you are and to support you through tough times.

3. Develop Grit

When it comes down to it, money, skin color, background don’t matter.

What matter are your grit and your willingness to see things through.

4. Acknowledge That Life is Not Fair

Life is not fair. The sooner  you understand that the better your life will be.

You have to learn how to deal with life effectively.

If something unfair happens to you, there is no need to dwell on the way you were treated, to blame yourself or the way you were raised.

No matter what happened to you, you just have to keep on moving.

5. Embrace Failure

Failure teaches you your limits, shows you that you are human, and gives you the motivation to do your best at all times.

You musn’t be afraid to learn from your failures and try again.

Not because you have failed as a leader that you are a failure or lack leadership.

6. Dare Greatly

Life is filled with many difficulties.

To get things done, you must learn to push your fears aside and trust yourself.

7. Stand Up to the Bullies

Don’t let bullies run your life and take advantage of your fears.

You have to find the courage to stand up to them or they will prey on you.

8. Rise to the Occasion

In time of needs, in your darkest moments or in your deepest pain, you have to find the strength to be your best and to rise to the occasion.

9. Give People Hope

One person can make the difference, can inspire the people around them ro rise above the pain, to take courage and to carry on.

10. Never, Ever Quit!

Even if it seems like the only reasonable solution, quitting doesn’t make things easier and only creates regrets.

Someone always has it worse than you do.

Review

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven is a motivational book, geared towards leaders or people wanting to start a military career, gain leadership qualities and to overcome personal challenges.

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World is easy to read and gets straight to the point. 

At first, I thought that it was one of those self help books who just reiterate the general knowledge about leadership. However, Admiral William H. McRaven gives good advice and tough love.

In addition, Admiral William H. McRaven shares lots of military examples that are simple and patriotic. I have to say I did not really enjoy the military examples as they were not relatable, felt embellished, glorified the horrors of military life or felt like a lot of details were swept under the rug.

However, everyone is free to narrate their experiences or to share their opinions.

After reading it, by omitting the examples, I felt invincible, filled with confidence and adherent to the general message that some things in life can get you down. You just have to keep moving and looking forward.

Let me know below what you think about this book!

Favorite quote(s)

Those mornings that I stayed in the barracks I would roll out of my Navy “rack” and immediately begin the process of making my bed.

I learned early on in SEAL training the value of teamwork, the need to rely on someone else to help you through the difficult tasks.

SEAL training was always about proving something. Proving that size didn’t matter. Proving that the color of your skin wasn’t important. Proving that money didn’t make you better. Proving that determination and grit were always more important than talent.

You will pay for your failures. But, if you persevere, if you let those failures teach you and strengthen you, then you will be prepared to handle life’s toughest moments.

Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever present, but those who live in fear of failure, or hardship, or embarrassment will never achieve their potential. Without pushing your limits, without occasionally sliding down the rope headfirst, without daring greatly, you will never know what is truly possible in your life.

Our goal, which we believed to be honorable and noble, gave us courage, and courage is a remarkable quality. Nothing and nobody can stand in your way. Without it, others will define your path forward. Without it, you are at the mercy of life’s temptations. Without courage, men will be ruled by tyrants and despots. Without courage, no great society can flourish. Without courage, the bullies of the world rise up. With it, you can accomplish any goal. With it, you can defy and defeat evil.”

Ratings 3.5/5

About the author

Admiral William H. McRaven

 

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Book Reviews

Admiral William H. McRaven

by journeytoleadershipblog1 Comment on Admiral William H. McRaven

MEET THE AUTHORAdmiral William H. McRaven  is a retired commander from the U.S. Navy Retired and the is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling book, Make Your Bed.

Journey To Leadership

17 Things Every Leader Should Own

by journeytoleadershipblog1 Comment on 17 Things Every Leader Should Own

Successful leaders, who have gone through life, have a few things in common.

What that they own speak volumes about their character, purpose, mindfulness and self-awareness. Their acquisitions are the basis of their success and have consequently improved their leadership.

Wondering what are the things that every leader should own?

17 Things Every Leader Should Own (1)

1. A healthy sense of self

Most people don’t know who they really are.

The play the roles that are expected of them and never try to discover their most authentic self.

It becomes detrimental for leaders to get to know themselves by themselves, to embrace solitude, and discover their strengths and weaknesses.

2. Peace of mind

In life and at work, there are many things that cause inner turmoil.

Leaders who are emotionally intelligent understand the need remain calm under pressure, in control of their emotions and to let go of things that they cannot control.

3. A purpose, dream or vision

Having a purpose, dream or vision gives meaning to your life, grants a sense of direction and eases up the big decision-making process.

You focus on what matters most, avoid distractions, are fulfilled and go after what you really want.

4. A job

Even though you may not love your job or it may not align with your purpose, your job provides you with structure and stability.

You will be able to grow and learn skills that you can apply in your everyday life. Your job or purpose will also provide you with a steady and legal source of income.

5. A hobby or passion project

Hobbies and passion projects are an outlet, create positivity in your life, make you feel better about yourself, strengthen your sense of self and increase your chances of success.

6. A great support system

Finding true friends and a support system that uplift you, gives you a sense of belonging and act as a sounding board is not easy.

A great support system improves your health, energizes you and gives you a boost to meet your goals.

7. A safe place

A safe place can be your home, a room in your home, a place in nature and in your mind.

Having a safe place to be and to live in is detrimental to your health and overall success.

Your safe place takes you out of fight or flight mode and offers you a place where you can relax and be yourself.

8. Self-care habits

Leaders understand that they are their only real asset and tool for success.

They have developed habits that allow them to take care of themselves, take time off when needed or adjust their work-life balance.

9. A morning routine

Leaders are intentional with their time and their morning routines because their understand that their morning habits determines their day and can help them achieve their long term goals.

10. A home library

The knowledge found on the internet can be redundant and limited.

A home library, however small it is, shows that you are knowledgeable, can do research, are a continuous learner and are interested in more than yourself.

Your book collection has to be curated by you and for you. We all have a mental list of our favorite books that completely changed our lives.

11. A power suit

In the world that we live in, what you wear speak volume about you and shows whether or not you are ready for success.

A power suit commands respect and comes often handy in the workplace when seeking a promotion.

12. A notebook and a pen at hand

With the rise of technology and applications, handwriting is becoming a loss art. People don’t take time to write down their thoughts anymore.

Having a notebook and a pen at hand will help you externalize our goals, thoughts and ideas.

 

13. A signature

If you are a leader, you will be signing a lot of documents on the daily.

Your signature says a lot about you and is completely unique to you. It represents your personality, hopes, dreams, unspoken wants and inner needs.

14. Business cards

Business cards are still an effective marketing tool and essential for leaders.

Every business card should have the logo of your organization, your name, and your different contact methods.   

15. A garden

Your garden can be small, on your desk, on your balcony or in your backyard.

Having a garden can have a beneficial impact on your mental health and personal growth.

Your garden makes you spend time with nature, care about another living creature and distracts you from yourself.

16. A journal or goal planner 

Journals and goal planners are therapeutic.

They increase free thinking, free expression, creativity, honesty, clarity, mindfulness and reduce stress.

They ease your busy mind, promote a sense of calm, put your life into perspective and help you organize your life.

17. Contact methods

Leaders own different means of being contacted and staying connected with the world.

Depending on your line of work, you will be needing a computer, a phone and a strong internet connection.

Last Words Of Advice!

Acquiring all of these things takes time but is worth it.

 

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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