Soar!

“He did everything he wanted to do in life,” the preacher said at the funeral I attended a few days ago.?“The words, ‘I can’t’ simply were not in his vocabulary.”

?Wow! Doing everything you want to do in life? ?That’s AMAZING! Never doubting yourself or pulling the rug of self-confidence out from underneath yourself!? Staying the course until you achieve it? How many of us live like that?

?Few.

?Why is that?

There are many reasons, but in the end, it’s all about leadership.

?Leadership is not limited to a formal title or a position. Leadership is way of being. Leadership is about vision, resilience, courage, flexibility, and adaptability. It’s about learning and growth, humility and empathy, commitment, and consistency, positivity, and persistence.

It’s not something you’re born with. It’s something that’s learned, like tying your shoes, or how to drive. It’s as individual as handwriting.? And it begins and ends with one person: YOU.

It’s up to you to develop a clear vision of where you want to go in life. It’s up to you to do the work, make the connections, build the relationships, tackle the hurdles, navigate the failures, cast aside the doubts and criticisms, and stay the course, keeping your focus on solutions and outcomes.

?Thus, you become the leader of your life, which is, let's face it, what life is about.

So, how will you live your “one wild and precious life” as Mary Oliver, the poet asks? Bitter, better, or best? It's up to you. But hot tip: By taking control of how you show up daily with an unwavering focus on BEST you'll start living the life you have imagined, no matter what comes your way.

Most of us imagined all kinds of lives for ourselves when we were kids: Archaeologist or astronaut, businessperson or forester, general or president, Olympian or rock star, living in ranches or villas, with diamonds, yachts, racehorses, Porsches, and so much more!

Then we set out in life and ‘reality’ set in: Competition, rejection, fatigue, failure, bills, taxes. In view of all this, living the life you imagined becomes a woo woo platitude.

?"Come on!," you say in silent protest to yourself. "Life is tough!" Full of curve balls and dropped balls. Nobody really does everything they want to in life. That's just a pipe dream.

So why did the poet Langston Hughes tell us to ‘hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly”?

Because life without dreams is dreary, emotionally dull, stagnant, and demoralizing.?It’s bad for people as individuals and for society as a whole.?

YOU need your dreams for motivation, growth, and fulfillment.

?WE need your dreams for inspiration, guidance, and support.

Yet too many of us choose to be emus weighted down with “can’ts,” convinced that our wings are not just broken, but never made for flight.

Those who take leadership over their lives know that's an illusion. And if you were to talk to one they'd tell you this:

1.???? Stop moving so frantically.

2.???? Start listening to the quiet voice in your gut.?

3.???? Revisit the callings of your childhood.

4.???? Take an interest in other people and commit to helping them.

5.???? Begin daydreaming.

6.???? Ask yourself, “what if?

7.???? Tell yourself “why not!”

8.???? Eliminate “can’t” from your vocabulary and mind.

And they will assure you that as these become habits, your leadership skills will grow stronger, and pretty soon, you’ll not only get airborne, you’ll SOAR, living the life you’ve imagined!

?Cheery bye,

Susanna

Leadership and Personal Development Co

#leadership, #leadshipdevlopement, #bethechange, #purposedrivenleadership, #womenandhorses, #executivecoaching ?

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