“Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider.” Saint Augustine
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” Mark Twain
Significant Leadership Summary of Point 1-
THINK- “The Principle of Leadership”
Recognizing leadership is a choice that begins with a decision to lead yourself by continually elevating and exercising your ability to consciously and independently think, choose and act.
That is why it is so important for us to THINK first. When we do we are much abler to make good CHOICES based on our values instead of based on our instincts. This is the first responsibility of being a Significant Leader of yourself and others.
When you take a moment to stop and THINK, you recognize you have the ability to Lead yourself as soon as you choose to lead. This Leadership Choice allows a person of any race, position, social status, financial status and background to instantly change their life by choosing to live free and independent of chance and circumstance.
It is an awesome Power. A power that is in our possession to be used at any given moment. However, the power of choice is often greatly weakened because it is exercised unconsciously. Why, because we are making choices with our senses and immediate reactions instead of with our minds and hearts.
When we think about our choices we become cognizant of the cost of every choice. Nothing in life is free. Not even love. When we choose one thing we must give up something else. Even when we choose to do nothing there is a cost.
The key for us to make good choices is to make them consciously and to make sure they line up with what we value most.
Whether it’s playing golf, surfing the internet, spending time with friends, buying a new car, or watching TV; there is a COST and a CONSEQUENCE to ever choice.
When we exercise the power to THINK and then consciously CHOOSE, we maximize our potential for making the best possible choices and therefore achieving the best possible results. Beyond making more conscious choices we must also learn to take full responsibility for our choices.
One of the ways we surrender our power to choose is when we choose to focus on what we can’t control or change. By focusing on circumstances and the faults of others we become powerless to take control of our own choices. We take on the victim mentality. By blaming others and our circumstances, we somehow justify our own failure. “It’s ok if I lose my temper because my dad always lost his.”
By simply changing our focus and taking back the power to choose our thoughts, our feelings and our actions we can immediately take back the power to Lead. We need no more money, time or talent then we already have. We just need to THINK, Choose and Act in accordance with our deepest held Beliefs, Values and Purpose. (That is why tomorrow we will begin to THINK BOX- The Principles of “One Thing.”)
Our prayer becomes-
“Lord, give me the grace to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Adapted from the words of the Serenity Prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr a Protestant theologian.
72. THINK about the people in your life. Who are you influencing (Leading) by your daily choices and actions?
73. Are you leading the people in your life to a life of consumption, blaming and enslavement or to a life or contribution, personal responsibility and freedom?
“The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice!” Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
William Jennings Bryan
