Fight the urge to look back at the past. Looking back at the past, where you’ve been, whether good or bad, will cause you to miss the beauty of the opportunities ahead of you. It’s easy to look back. Too easy. Too many people do it.
No matter where you have been, or where you are at right now, you need to look forward. You can learn from the past, but you can’t stay there or keep looking back at it.
It takes courage to keep looking forward, but that is where the new opportunities are. Opportunities to be better personally and professionally. Opportunities to positively impact others and help them to be better.
Don’t look back. Keep looking forward so you can see where your journey will take you next.
There are people in your life that like, ok they may love, to be critical. They will let you know what’s wrong with a situation, a project, or even you.
It can get old real quick dealing with people like this, but let’s take a quick look at why they may be like that.
1. They are unhappy. 2. They see the glass as half empty. 3. They love to create conflict (drama). 4. They can’t think outside of their box. 5. They don’t want solutions.
Does the critic have the life that you wish you had? Are these the qualities you want to be known for? No, not at all.
Remember, that these people will always be around, but you don’t have to spend anymore time with them than you have to.
Your strength may eventually let them see the benefits of living a happy, glass half full, solution oriented life, but you don’t have to feel bad about living and leading the way that you do.
Keep your focus on living life the way that you want and know that you should. You don’t want to live life the way the critics do anyway.
Leadership is rewarding. Leadership is fascinating. Leadership is productive. Leadership is ambitious. Leadership is intentional. Leadership is…alot of things.
Leadership is also frustrating. Let’s be honest. Many days it is more frustrating than anything else. Why? Because of people.
Some people just seem to live to make the leadership difficult and the leader frustrated, and they are very good at it.
There are some workplaces where you can just get rid of them, but there are many places where it is just not that easy. So now what? Here are four ideas to consider.
1. Control what you can control. Control your attitude and your reaction to the different situations that arise from the antagonizers. At the end of the day that’s all you can really control.
2. Talk to a trusted friend or colleague. Don’t keep it in. It is good to talk about it. Chances are the person(s) you talk to have had similar experiences and may offer some valuable and helpful insights.
3. Be bigger than others small aspirations. You are where you are, doing what you do and because you have pursued being better. Those who are happy to just survive rather than thrive will not change, and you cannot change them.
4. Realize and remember that more people appreciate what you do than do not, and if you feel like that is not the case, keep showing up for the few that do appreciate you.
Leadership is what you have been called to do. It is not always easy or fun, but in the end it will always be rewarding, and much more. Always.
You don’t get the best of it without enduring the worst of it sometimes, but the best of it makes it worth enduring.
Does anyone remember the “old days” when you had to get up and physically change the channel on the TV that got three channels, plus public television?
The TV viewing experience has changed alot in the last 50-60 years, but changing the course of your life has not.
Don’t like where you’re at, what you’re doing, or how you’re doing it?
It’s really just like the old days. Get up and change it. Nothing will change unless you get up and do it.
Made For This Moment 