Starting Off Right: Ten Choices That Will Revolutionize Your Life

The journey into adulthood is not an easy one. It must be navigated with skill if we are going to experience the significance that comes with living a life that is worthy to society. Any journey has intersections and those who win are the ones who make good trade-offs at the intersections of life. Bob Buford once said, “None of us know when we will die, but all of us, if we wish, can select our own epitaph”. We select our own epitaph based on the kind of life we live. Are you pursuing a better life? If not, here are ten choices worth making that can qualitatively improve your life and a question after each to prompt your decision-making.

1. Choose accomplishment instead of affirmation – Are you going to be one of the boys and get the affirmation of mediocrity or will you step out of the herd and blaze a trail of accomplishment?

2. Choose future potential instead fo financial gain- Will you be enticed by the promises of wealth or will you live for a life of significance based on your true capacity?

3. Choose personal growth instead of immediate pleasure - Are you tempted by the life of ease and play now, or are you motivated by the desire for living your best life possible?

4. Choose significance instead of security - Do you want to live a comfortable life of comfort and convenience or will you soar towards a better life in which you make an even greater difference?

5. Choose excellence instead of acceptance - Are you going to settle for the acceptance of your peers and friends or will you aim for the excellence that comes from the pursuit of your dreams?

6. Choose multiplication instead of addition - Are you satisfied with adding value to your community or will you go for the more rewarding joy of multiplying value to the world?

7. Choose one thing instead of many things - Will you be a jack of all trades and master of none or will you stand out from the pack and be a master of one thing?

8. Choose quality instead of quantity - Are you going to fill up your life with things and events or will you go for the right things and events?

9. Choose success instead of stability - Is your prime desire to have a stable life or are you willing to tap into the success of knowing and realizing your true passion?

10. Choose family instead of work - Are you laboring at your work at the expense of your family or are you creating a legacy for those whom you love?

Only through making wise choices can we truly reach our potential.

Followership Keys to Boost Your Leadership Skills

A couple of weeks ago I found myself stuck in traffic really close to a bakery. I wasn’t thinking of anything specific and allowed myself the pleasure of having my eyes roam about the neighborhood. Within a short time I learnt what had caused the traffic to build up. A bunch of people were standing in front of the bakery getting free bread. I could hear from the noise that they were excited. The smell of baked bread filled the area (As I write this post, my wife is making some banana bread and oh the sweet smell! It’s filling up my home office and making it hard to concentrate. I’ll go take a quick peek and come back to the post in a few minutes).

Ok. Where were we? Oh, at the bakery! I could easily see a crowd in the area right in front of the bakery and my gut feeling was that the bread was being given for free. Right at that moment I decided to be creative and use my time in traffic in developing some thoughts on leadership, based on what I was seeing in front of me. I was able to come up with the following four things that leaders should follow:

1. Follow your ear (I heard the noise)

Learn to act on what you hear your followers whisper. If you can act on the whispers, you won’t have to react to the screams later on. Sensitize your ear to the imperceptible cries of your people. Your ear should be able to vibrate with what is resounding from the lives of your followers. A leader should always have his ear on the ground but not all the time because if you are always bent on the ground and listening you can’t be able to see ahead. There must be a balance. The leaders ear must ring with the voices of the people. 
 
2. Follow your nose (Oh the smell of bread!)

Strive to perfect your ability to smell what is coming. I learnt this from watching leopards hunt back home in the plains of Kenya. Their main advantage is that they can smell their prey from very far. Let us endeavor to smell the future before it arrives. The better your leadership smell buds, the more accurate you will be in anticipating inevitable happenings. The leadership nose is able to determine what is good and what is bad. We like what smells good isn’t it? Leaders should be able to sense the flavor before serving their followers. That’s the key to winning their hearts.
 
3. Follow your eyes (I saw the crowd)

This is where many leaders lose it. They leap before they look. In more adverse situations, they think before they look. I would like to change a very popular saying. They say “Look before you leap” but I say, “Look before you think and then think before you leap.” As a leader, you must be able to first analyse a situation, synthesise it and then pounce on it. Because leaders possess the big picture and see the whole view before their followers, they can easily be enticed by what looks appealing. Leaders should be able to see, then use their minds and determine the right course of action.

4. Follow your gut (I sensed they were getting free bread)

Intution is a leader’s best friend. This is something that many leaders have yet to fully grasp. You can’t teach anyone how to listen to the gut. It’s something that is cultivated personally. Just a little wisdom to help you as you do this: THE GUT SIGNAL is like red lights flashing within you. Leaders should be able to sense things so that they are not caught unawares.

Ear, nose, eyes and gut – the anatomy of leadership!