Leading Beyond Recognition

          
Our work has value beyond our desire for recognition. Its worth is innate when we take time to do our best amid the rush of life. This alone gives it merit though we've yet to merit others regard. Conceiving our work so deceives many of us because the desire for recognition bewitches. It also robs us of the joy of creation.

 Beyond Recognition

           Thus, we are routinely moody about things that are ultimately beyond our control. Paradoxically, a desire for praise empowers and impoverishes together because we can't garner it, enough at least to ease our angst. If we aren’t careful, we will devalue our work when we are ignored. Acknowledged, however, we are ignited. Conquering this conundrum requires us to affirm our work (and worth) without recognition. Only in doing so can we overcome custom.

 Beyond Custom

           We are conditioned by custom to view recognition as proof of merit. Discouraged by clicks, how often do we exist in professional purgatory because others ignore our work and its worth? How often do we consider quitting because we aren't getting the hits we imagine, which we use to establish a pattern of success?

 Passion Beyond Patterns

           These patterns matter but they shouldn't maim when they are missing from our lives. During these times, we must affirm emphatically the worth of our work. We must also reject the portrait of persecuted genius --the kind common to artists. Rather than being insulted by others indifference, we should work without regard for the regard we’ve yet to gain, convinced that our work has merit though we aren't raved and recognized.

Your Guess List

 

 

How long is your guess list? Everyone has one, whether they admit it or even know it or not. This list outlines all those things that failed to thrive in our lives, including ourselves routinely, because it’s natural to wonder why things turn out meanly as they do.

Yet rightly used, guess lists are designed to deepen our trust and our ability to understand what truly matters to us. As this becomes clearer, our lists become shorter and our steps surer. Certain things will remain, even as others are added. T

he difference, however, is in our savvy, because so much of what we question and complain about is insignificant once we figure out what truly matters.

 

 

EASY

 

It’s easy to be easy on ourselves. But with each stroke we forfeit our hopes and break our hearts, diminishing also our flame and spark. Those who excel give themselves hell, metaphorically speaking, lest they be content with average. Their idea of easy makes it hard for them to stroke themselves. They aren’t reckless but they are relentless.

 

OUR CONTRIBUTIONS

 

OUR CONTRIBUTIONS

Our contributions are often invisible but this doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable. Unfortunately, however, ours is an age wherein value is valid only when it is known, professionally especially.

So, we obsess over who gets the credit rather than on making the contribution that we should, sharing ourselves freely to help others with achieving their goals.

Doing so makes sense; it also makes society insatiable and insensitive to those whose efforts aren't announced on the news or in the next company bulletin.

Unless these souls are strong they will get the sense that they don’t belong or that their contributions don’t matter.

To prevent this, we should be diligent in discovering those hidden heroes whose actions enhance organizational life. They remain unsung only because they are unsought.

As leaders, managers and persons, our job is to promote others and to provoke greatness in all of its degrees. In doing so, we strengthen relationships, energize organizations and encourage these hidden heroes to contribute without feeling unappreciated.

Make it your task to find one today!

WORK, WHY? DIARY OF A DREAMER

 

WORK, WHY? DIARY OF A DREAMER

 

I'm sitting at work watching people doing nothing. What a waste! Some are checking emails and others are being blackmailed. Time is the ransom they pay for neglecting their talent. Instead they play and complain about circumstances. Who cares? It's up to the person, not the employer to improve himself because jobs aren't designed to satisfy our quest for growth or yearning for greatness. Most only require a partial commitment. Growth begins, however, when we commit. Until then we play, pretend and squander our potential in narrow places. (9/6/2000)

PAUSE, CAN YOU?

 

 

Sometimes we must pause, retracting the claws we use to climb towards success, embracing the moment without design or distress. Otherwise we will continue to be anxious and thankless, annoyed daily and hard unnecessarily on ourselves. Unfortunately, however, most of us confuse pausing with passivity.

So we work without rest thinking that doing so will help us to accomplish our goals faster. Yet this logic is toxic, personally, emotionally and relationally, leaving our spouses to wonder and our children to watch as we work ourselves out of meaningful relationships with them because of an undisciplined desire to provide for them.

Moreover, in refusing to pause we forfeit the power of renewal, which would help us achieve our goals by giving us greater clarity and more energy for our tasks. Yet we choose to labor beleaguered by fatigue because of some misguided notion of self-determination. It’s okay to be determined, driven, even, but neither annuls the need to be renewed, to pause and reflect rather than to push and act indefinitely (often detrimentally).

In this regard, pausing isn’t passivity, complacency or indifference. It simply means that we recognize the need to suspend our efforts without accusing ourselves of abandoning them. Besides, we won’t arrive any faster than we do no matter how we construe our efforts. So, relax, reflect and let time do what only it can. Your loved ones will be glad you did!

 

THE END!

 

Though most of us won’t admit it, we are secretly inhibited (and anxious) about our end, desiring to know when it will end. Maybe that’s why we lose ourselves setting goals and courting greatness. Beyond the natural need to nurture our time and talents, we also do so to help maintain our balance, which is more elusive than we admit.

Even so, we are deeply concerned about our end; not, however, simply about the outcome of our efforts but more so about what happens when life has left us. This concern inspired existentialism, fatalism and every other historical ism. It also inspired the wisdom of the sages as revealed through the ages. A sense of mortality instinctively produces such when we allow it to touch us in ways we routinely deny and ignore.

Then we ask ourselves, “What am I doing this for?” Though rhetorical, this question is also rewarding because it forces us to fix our gaze beyond the ways we devise to achieve our goals and the privileges we hope to gain when we succeed. Thus, some people pursue religion for answers; others pursue pleasure instead, seeking to silence the interrogations that inspired Kierkegaard’s dread.

Even so, we want to know about our end, when it will end. Some of us may even want to know how and where it will end. To deny this inquiry as natural is to make detachment inevitable. How can we rightly relate to others when we are indifferent to ourselves about what matters most? In fact the quality of our lives is determined by the degree to which we have embraced our mortality.

Unfortunately, some people become ruthless and aimless in response. Others become ambitious and obsessed. Yet no goal or gain can censor mortality whether or not we respond. The time will come when we will be disarmed and must answer or perhaps ask, as did the Psalmist, “O’ Lord, help me to understand my mortality and the brevity of my live! Let me realize how quickly it will end.” (39:4)

Unlike many of us, William Shakespeare refused to ignore or deny the sovereignty of mortality. In fact he confessed, perhaps as an antidote, “I have immortal longings in me.” Maybe Shakespeare’s willingness to confront his mortality immortalized his writings. Maybe that’s why he was able to embed creatively what he couldn’t embody existentially. Maybe our work would be more enduring if we weren’t in denial about our mortality. Maybe we could increase our force if it were rightly faced.

Aptly embraced, legacies and legends result, depending upon our influence. But even if we never achieve this status, our lives will be more authentic because we confronted our mortality. Maybe facing it would make us more cheerful and charitable also. If we understood just how quickly our lives do end, no matter how long we live, maybe we would be the difference that makes the difference in the lives of others before nature pulls the covers.

 

CLOSE...

 

Things get easier as we keep aiming towards our goals. It may not seem like it because we aren't always as clear as we imagine on what these are. We generally have more ideas than we do exacts. Ideas get us started but exacts keep us going (and committed). They also enable us to accelerate our pace, and to recognize our place when we reach it.

Consider, for example, driving to a destination, maybe even somewhere you've been before but you aren't exactly sure of where it is. You have a general idea instead, enough to convince you to get in your car and drive. After a while you find yourself in the vicinity but not at your destiny (destination).

Thus, you may feel anxious or excited or even annoyed because you know you are close. You even have a strong idea of where you are but you aren’t where you want to be. Hence the importance of clarity, whether in driving cars or pursuing goals. Here we see clearly the difference between exacts and ideas. Our success is routinely determined by our degree of clarity regarding our goals and dreams. Without clarity we occupy the vicinity but don't reach the destiny we desire.

Today, so many people are vexed by vagueness and victims of the indefinite. They lack the ability to say clearly what they want. Of course this doesn’t mean that they can’t succeed because they can. In fact, sometimes in being too precise we miss opportunities when they emerge because we lack the urge to pursue them, especially if they contradict our conceptions.

Generally, however, clarity is a prerequisite for success. We must be able to express clearly what we desire deeply. In this regard, failure to achieve is often a failure of clarity. Clarity is the ability to express clearly our goals without being clouded or constrained by contingencies. If we can’t express this to ourselves, we will have trouble expressing it to others also, which will hinder their ability to help us.

That’s why it’s important to take time to ask ourselves, “What am I really after; what are my true goals.” Answering this anchors us in our pursuits. It also increases our confidence and changes how others experience us. Clarity enables us to be decisive and assertive rather than tentative and timid. Consider again how we drive when we aren’t sure of where we are or where we are going. In these instances, having an idea isn’t the same as having an exact, practically or emotionally.

Clarity, however, isn’t something we get once and for all. On the contrary, it accrues over time as we take time to assess where we are and what we want. Otherwise we will get in the vicinity without reaching our destiny as we desire.

 

 

 

WHAT ARE YOU COMMITTED TO?

    What are you committed to? When all is said and assessed, what desire has possessed you so that you are willing to go to the end to realize it? Do you have such a passion? Do you dream such  dreams? If not, why not? What would you do if you truly believed in you the way you say? Would you be living the same life as you are today? If so, that’s okay. Still, it’s good for us to ask ourselves, what are we committed to. In doing so, we maintain our priorities rather than adopting those imposed from the outside. More importantly, we renew our strength and resolve to invent ways to achieve our goals, whether personal or professional. So, as you go about your day today, take time to ask yourself, “What am I committed to.” In answering this you take risks consistent with your aspirations, which is the prerequisite for living a life of greatness! Enjoy: http://youtu.be/sI7kabeZqzY

3 STEPS TO LIVING A LIFE OF GREATNESS

     All of us are fascinated by greatness whatever its form, sports, entertainment and even gardening! We love to see people doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways. We feel likewise when seeing extraordinary things being done in extraordinary ways. Something about the sight stirs our senses and provokes remembrances of when we entertained visions of our own greatness.  The good news is that you still have time to design a life of greatness if you are willing. You might not be able to achieve that NBA dream but you can do something that will pique your passion so that you can stop rehashing what might have been.

     The first step to living a life of greatness is to simply DECIDE that this is what you are going to do. Simple as it sounds, many people haven’t decided to live a life of greatness. They talk about it and are enamored by it but they never decide to commit to its pursuit. Characteristically, they are great fans but poorly focused when it comes to their dreams. The problem, however, isn’t a lack of focus but rather indecision. Once you decide, focus comes; plans form and magic follows provided you stay committed. Do it now and you will see how things change.

     The second step to living a life of greatness is DESIGN. You have to design what greatness looks like for you, not what someone else designs for you. Design is the art of greatness which, by the way, is just as important as the science. The great thing about design is that it’s so liberating. In fact design allows you to reflect (and promote) your quirks and your competencies –your unique lifestyle-- which becomes a life-statement of who you are. So, it’s okay to collect ideas, just as you would when furnishing a house or accessorizing your home.  But ultimately you must decide what your design will include, no matter how eccentric. Ignore naysayers because everything is impossible until it's done!

The final step to living a life of greatness is to DARE. You must dare to believe that your dreams of greatness are not only possible but that you are responsible for their fulfillment. This doesn’t mean that you have to stress but you should strive daily for success. Daring, moreover, shouldn’t be draining but charming instead because you never know what will happen as you go forward. That’s what makes life exciting! That’s what makes greatness fascinating. That’s why each of us pauses whenever greatness appears from some unlikely place. These achievers, DECIDED, DESIGNED and DARED to live a life of greatness. You can too; decide today to commit your way to living a life of greatness.

 

BE PASSIONATELY PATIENT AS YOU ARE MAKING IT HAPPENI

The Diffidence of Greatness

It's difficult not to be diffident amid despair. But that's when we must believe that we will get there, though for now how eludes and life elects to deny our progress. Even so, we must continue to go in the direction of our dream. In doing so, we diminish the sting of failure and the nagging "whether" that makes us wonder if we will ever succeed. Yet then more than ever we must believe. Doing so is better than quitting, all things considered.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3NLjUDRFnUjIdn_BF2IECQ?feature=mhee

THE WINNER'S WAY

 

Courage is never given except in a crisis. Otherwise it's unnecesary.

People admire courage but despise crisis. They want to be accomplished but hate to be challenged. Most of them don't understand the law of opposites. So, they think that courage and acclaim are coincidental. But those with both understand their essence. They also grasp the importance of paradox. Thus, while the whimsical wonder what it's like to win, winners lose until they win. They aren't broken by defeats or conquered by crowns because they realize that both are fleeting. They also understand that loss isn't lessened by regret. Neither is victory sweeter by being over-blown. From without, however, the imagination always embellishes.

DISCOVER IT!

 

 

 

It's hard to lift the burden when you're it.

     Making a difference begins with discovering our destiny. Until then we make a mess trying to make amends, collecting enemies and disgusting friends.

CULTIVATING GREATNESS

 

 

When companies close our eyes are opened to understand that our destiny is our responsibility.

     People get fired but problems don't get fixed. The problem isn't with the people but with a culture that is corrupt and corrosive. In this culture average consumes. People do their jobs but not their best. After awhile, crises reveals weakness. People are then layed off or fired in an effort to counter. Companies pursue this course daily, as if dismissing people will help them to recover. It's foolish, however, for them to indulge average over time and then demand greatness over-night.

     People seldom change that fast. Even if they did space must be allotted to defray the effects of average. The market must also have time to adjust. Meanwhile employees will suffer because management didn't demand excellence from the outset. Such is the cycle in the contemporary world of work. If workers don't demand greatness of themselves, managment will. By then, however, money is tight and crises imminent. Then firings are proposed and lay-offs are certain. Unfortunately, this is the only way some companies know how to manage average. Doing so doesn't fix the problem but it does reveal the plight facing today's workforce.

THE FEW

The road to succes is narrow and long

Many begin the journey but few press on,

Along its paths are many who have fallen

Whose goal slipped away along with their calling.

 

Yet for those small few who are willing to plod

Who believe in the dream because they believe in God,

Those who will persist when the outcome appears bleak,

Remaining calm even amid adversity's heat,

These are they who are destined to reach

Life's highest mountain and scale its peak.

ENGAGING GREATNESS

 

If greatness is so engaging why are so many people faking pursuit?

 

          If you aren't willing to go it alone it's best to go on away from greatness toward what is the basis of convention. Consider, however, before you do what compromising will do to you. If after this you can reject the risk of greatness then you make compromise the basis of your life. Nothing is inherently wrong with compromise. After all somewhere daily a dreamer dies to her dream and the thing she once deeply desired. Yet so many people today seem to be faking, acting as if they are taking steps toward greatness. Even so, I understand because its demand often overwhelms. But those who are committed refuse to compromise still.

DENSITY AND DESTINY

You must be porous to hear the chorus that calls some to greatness. Those who can't ignore its chant, being deaf to music.

         

          You have to be dense to do what makes no sense, especially when you do it at your own expense because inwardly you are convinced that you are being spent in Destiny’s service. Thus nights find you working and days find you nervous because your only resource is a fund of courage that renews itself without your help (or permission), compelling you thus to pursue the vision. Meanwhile others behave as if you don’t exist. Those that are aware often stare stymied because you keep aligning yourself with the unseen with no guarantee that you will succeed.

          In your defense you erect a fence between their doubts and your own even as you are driven to labor to manifest a greatness that only you believe in enough to invest despite the stress and ridicule. The only consolation is that you have now become indifferent when, in referring to you, others whisper, “fool.” Instead you flash a half-smile because you too have turned this stile in an effort to turn away from what consumes your days and command your nights. Not even God is the consolation that religion excites. Yet HHe is the Source of Destiny’s summons.

          He’s also the reason your friends start running when they see you coming. It isn’t because you solicit money or anything else. You just sometimes need help believing in yourself. But it seldom happens, so you keep hoping and working that Destiny is certain, and that you aren’t deceived. Yet in reviewing the lives of the great similar parallels you perceive. That’s what makes it hard just to discard the time you’ve invested and to discount the ways you’ve been tested. So, you just vow to die until you are ushered into eternity away from time. At least it can’t be said that you denied your allegiance to the thing that kneaded itself in your soul.

TACKLING TIME

Slow slays haste unawares.

Take your time but not the denials. Learn to wait but refuse to wilt. Scream if you will and curse if you must, resuming afterwards your confidence and trust. The universe is slow but knows how to serve. If not, you can always resign.

A MOMENT

Take a moment to take the matter that is most pressing, and apply yourself to discern its lesson. In doing so, barriers drop and opportunities crop unsolicited. This, in part, is how "they did it."

ON BREEZES

You will if you can. It's all about the demand you make on yourself. Otherwise you will dream yourself to death, only to discover that every other person who eventually acheived stayed committed even when the breeze blew them over. The only difference is that they refused to surrender.