5. Leadership is an inside out process

Therefore, the first four principles are all about you. They invite you to take over the steering wheel of your own life and reflect to discover what matters most to you and what is the ideal picture of yourself. Hopefully you are close to that perfect picture, but reality tells us that there are always challenges and desires to change. Taking a deep-dive into yourself to find out what you really want and what is most important for you personally is quit a challenge. It all starts with understanding the first four principles and how they are related:

Principle 1: I am responsible

“If it’s going to be, it’s up to me”. It’s all about taking initiative and start feeling and acting like the driver in our own life. This means taking responsibility for our attitude, course of actions and future. The word responsibility can be broken up into two parts; response-ability. You have the ability to choose how you respond and create our own future. As Tony Robbins says, “your past in not your future”, so take charge of your future!

Principle 2: I clarify my values

When you think about what matters most in your life, you are reflecting upon and hopefully clarifying your values. You need this clarity to make decisions and to create your vision. High Performance leaders take time to reflect and think deeply about their lives. Their core values are like guidelines that help them to be consistent and live with integrity.

Principle 3: I have a vision

Your values are the fundament to build your vision upon, a clear picture of who you like to be. People without clear vision struggle to define priorities. They don’t feel a sense of passion or a sense of purpose. Each day is ‘spent’ but not fully invested. Many people sell themselves short. Research shows that only 3-7% of people set written goals and of those, approximately 70%?of these goals are achieved. A clear vision motivates you, gets you out of bed early and gives you a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

Principle 4: I live my mission

If principles 1, 2 and 3 are internalized and lived, then principle 4 – ‘I live my mission’ – becomes automatic. It is also called the principle of personal discipline. Each of us gets a gift of 168 hours a week and we need to execute based on our vision and values. This principle of personal management involves organizing and managing time and events according to our personal priorities. Pareto’s law states that 80% of the desired results flow from a few (20%) ‘high leverage activities. To ‘leverage’ our time, we need to consistently do the right things first based on our vision and values and say no to what matters least.?

Make a start

During the reading to understand the first four principles some thoughts might have popped into your mind? About what matters most to you, or what’s in your ideal picture and what is definitely not. Grape a notebook and write or draw down these thoughts. It’s a good start of reflecting on your inner self, to find the keys to a happy, fulfilling and successful life. Make sure your notes are always with you, so you can add new thoughts anytime.