Goals, Dreams, Ideas.....Success

"The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dream unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.

It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach."

~ Dr. Benjamin Mays ~

What Is Success?

You Cannot Achieve What You Have Not Defined......

The problem for most people who want to be successful is not that they can't achieve success. The main obstacle for them is they misunderstand success. Maltbie D. Babcock said, "One of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic, something or other which we do not possess."

What is success? What does it look like? Most people have avague picture of what it means to be a successful person that looks something like this:

• The wealth of Bill Gates
• The physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger (or Marilyn Monroe)
• The intelligence of Albert Einstein,
• The athletic ability of Michael Jordan
• The business prowess of Donald Trump
• The social grace and poise of Jackie Kennedy

It sounds absurd, but it's closer to the truth that we would like to admit. many of us picture success as looking like one other than who we are-and we especially can't be six other people! And more important than that, you shouldn't want to be. If you tried to become just like one of these other people, you wouldn't be successful. You would be a bad imitation of them, and you would eliminate the possibility of becoming the person you were meant to be.

Superior Leadership....

Experience is what creates a superior leader. It takes complete dedication and a resilient attitude to reach any goal. Always make a supreme effort when confronting the challenges ahead. Your ability to overcome and ultimately prevail, are true qualities of a successful leader.

Where Will Your Dream Take You?

Dare to dream and act on that dream. Do it in spite of problems and circumstances and obstacles. History is filled with men and women who faced adversity and acheived success in spite of it.

Oliver Wendell Holmes noted "The great thing in this world is not so much where we are but in what direction we are moving." This is also one of the great things about having a dream. You can pursue your dream no matter where you are today. And what happened in the past isn't as important as what lies ahead in the future. As the saying goes, "No matter what a person's past may have been, his future is spotless." You can begin pursuing your dream today!

One of the most rejuvenating activities you can participate in for wellness is some form of regular spiritual practice during which you are present in the moment. It could be praying, chanting, meditating, gardening, hiking, even drinking a cup of coffee ritualistically every morning—anything you do in which you stay in the moment. Frustration occurs when our ego mind says, The world isn’t the way I think it should be!

This allows for no trust in a higher power, no faith in a bigger plan than what can currently be seen or comprehended with our limited understanding. Anytime you feel yourself becoming frustrated, ask yourself, What is happening here that I think should be different? Should it really be different, or am I frustrated because I am trying to control something, insisting on my way? Releasing the need to control can immediately shift our frustration to a more relaxed state, allowing us to function in better ways.”

Physical Fitness = Better Business

On the surface it doesn't seem to make sense why a person who sits at a desk most of the day working on a computer or on office papers would need to be as fit as someone who does a more physically demanding job like working on a farm. Performance physcologist Jim Loehr has a good explanation in his book "The Power of Full Engagement". "The importance of physical energy seems obvious for athletes, construction workers, and farmers. Because the rest of us are evaluated more by what we do with our minds than with our bodies, we tend to discount the role that physical energy plays in performance. In most jobs, the physical body has been completely cut off from the performance equation. "In reality, physical energy is the most fundamental source of fuel, even if our work is almost completely sedentary. It not only lies at the heart of alertness and vitality but also affects our ability to manage our emotions, sustain concentration, think creatively, and even maintain our commitment to whatever mission we are on. Leaders and managers make a fundamental mistake when they assume that they can overlook the physical dimension of energy and still expect those who work for them to perform at their best"

http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadershop/2674-7excerpt.html

"Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow." --Vince Lombbardi

What makes a leader inspirational?

• The ability to inspire people to reach great heights of performance and success is a skill that leaders need. Passion, purpose, listening and meaning help make a leader inspirational.
• The ability to communicate that passion, purpose and meaning to others helps establish the inspirational culture of your organization.

These are just a few ideas. Please share yours as well as give a few examples of real life leadership stories.