Passion is not enough

...it must be supported by action.

This topic has been on my mind for several years and I've kept putting it off because I did not quite have the content. Now, I have more to say (and show) about this.

As you may know, I'm passionate about a lot of things. For instance, I really enjoy writing creatively and at my husband's instance - more like insistence, I started on and recently finished and published my first book: "101 Quips & Quotes…that will charge and change your life" 

In fact now, I even run Creative Writing Coaching Workshops.

Passion is a great starting point...not an ending point otherwise you will never fulfill your potential.

As we start the last quarter of this year, I encourage and actually challenge you to think deeply about what you're passionate about and then ask yourself, "What have I done/can I do about it?"

You can take action now to see your passion furthered and your potential fulfilled. 

If you need "help", take action, book one or more of our services by clicking here.

Start!

Yes, just start!

This is something I have been struggling with for a few months - actually I'm sure it's been for a few years or maybe even more than a few. Well, in the last couple of months, I've heard people say:

"Start before you're ready."

In looking up the author of this quote, I found and really like how Marie Forleo put it:

"The key to success is to start before you're ready."

 It's one of the best pieces of advice I have heard in a long time...to access success you need to start.

We were raised in and are conditioned by the "Ready, Set, Go" mindset. When I say "start before you are ready", I'm not saying that you should start without any preparation - that would be really unwise and totally disrespectful to yourself and to others. What I'm saying that it (whatever you are starting) doesn't need to be perfect before you start. You can only improve on and perfect something that you have started i.e. tested. Agree?

Another aspect of starting is to start somewhere. "When you see yarn that is all tangled what do you do?" Do you ignore it hoping it will untangle itself or start somewhere to untangle it? Or do you insist on locating the "beginning" of the yarn? I don't think so. Like most of us, we'd either locate one end - any end - and start untangling from there or if it's too complex, simplify it by snipping it to create a new beginning otherwise no progress will be made. Likewise when you are starting something new, start small and start simple. You won't stay small because as you go on...you will grow.

Show yourself...

...some love

L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P - (1 of 3)

Talking some more about Leadership, you may remember that I published a series of posts 2 years ago titled: L.E.A.D.E.R (see links below). Being a lifelong learner, I was curious what others thought and found this article by Rita Balian Allen (@RitaBAllen) (and yes I got her permission to share this). Interestingly, we have 2 leadership skills in common. I added the pictures and my comments in green font.

Top Ten Competencies of Leadership:

Listening Skills - conducting and initiating dialogue that requires active and reflective listening; being attentive to what others are saying, asking good questions, obtaining accurate comprehension; focusing on the other person’s thoughts and perspectives; as well as strong interpersonal skills to maintain a productive and substantive dialogue

Emotional Intelligence - effectively communicating between the emotional and rational sides of our brain; EQ can be developed and is defined in four dimensions - self awareness (self-assessment), self-management (self control), social awareness (empathy) and relationship management (relationship building), according to psychologist and author Daniel Goleman 
EWE: For me, Emotional Intelligence is knowing how to lead others with your heart not just with your head. 
In my opinion, EI also referred to as EQ (Emotional Quotient) is the essence of this quote which has been attributed to very many people from Theodore Roosevelt to John Maxwell (italics mine): 
"People won't (actually don't) care how much you know until they know how much you care." 

Action-Oriented - leading by example and creating a culture that enacts values stated and achieves results; doing what you say you will do and what you ask of others; giving priority to the learning initiatives necessary to achieve desired results; and ultimately, having the ability to develop the people around you, encouraging growth, and risk-taking EWE: I believe that everyone has to have aspirations however, without action, you will never achieve those aspirations irrespective of how much you believe and how long you have conceived that aspiration for.

Diversity Awareness - endorsing a culture that understands and recognizes the importance of diversity for success; embracing the cultural, social and economic needs and differences within this diversity; providing positive influences and role modeling; and promoting the value-add of everyone 

EWE: For my thoughts on this, I welcome you to read my articles: 

Diversity and Inclusion

Variety is the Spice of life

If you want to develop or just deepen your leadership skills, you can contact me for a free ½ hour Coaching or Mentoring Session. Send an email to: empoweredwomenexcel@gmail.com

To be continued...

Source: What Does It Take to be a Great Leader? By Rita Balian Allen

You can read my LEADER series:
L - http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.ca/2016/01/leader.html
E - http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.ca/2016/01/leader_28.html
A - http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.ca/2016/02/leader_1.html
D - http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.ca/2016/02/leader.html
E - http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.ca/2016/03/leader.html
R - http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.ca/2016/03/leader_15.html

Armed and Aimed...

Those 3 words struck a cord in my heart and stuck in my mind as I listened to the audio version of my favourite book.

Do you want to win?

"Win" is a short word that makes a long-term difference:

"I won't let you down..."

I heard a very profound conversation while watching Fielder's Choice last month. When a promising Ad executive said to his boss: "I won't let you down."
His boss responded: "Don't let yourself down."

Hearing that really resonated with me because too many times we go around doing our best not to let others down. Interestingly, the same day I watched this film, I saw this quote:

"One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don't invest any energy in them, because I know who I am." ~ Michelle Obama

I'm not saying you should not work hard and make others - parents, spouse, children, family and friends etc. - proud of your accomplishments. The point of working hard should be to make you happy and content with yourself. No matter how happy and proud those around you are about your accomplishments, if you are not happy, you have wasted your time (& life) living up to another person's dreams. Live your life!

The longest serving First Lady of the US, Eleanor Roosevelt, said:

Your ambition should be to get as much life out of living as you possibly can, as much enjoyment, as much interest, as much experience, as much understanding. Not simply be what is generally called a "success." 

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

 

Being emotional beings, we listen and care about what others think and say however, we need to have courage to dream, believe in our dreams and act to fulfill our dreams. The next time you want to say:

"I won't let you down" to someone

switch and say "I won't let ME down" to yourself.

Slow down to speed up...

So many of us are almost always in a hurry...either rushing to somewhere or rushing from somewhere or even both rushing from and to somewhere. There is always something that needs to be done "immediately." A principle that I try to live, by which a dear colleague has reinforced, several times this year is:

To be successful in anything,

you need 80% planning + 20% execution.

Career Woman

Recently self-assessing, I had to ask myself: "Are you a career woman?"
The answer to that question was very important to me because one thing I had always purposed, even before I got married, was to never let my job/career get in the way of my marriage or family. For this singular reason, I remember saying: "I don't want to be a 'career woman.'" Well, guess what I've found out - some decades later? Yes - I am a career woman and surprisingly, I'm very happy with that "discovery." I actually accepted that simply because the word "Career" starts off with "Care." When the Lord opened my eyes to that, I better understood why He let me become a CARE-er woman.

 

C - He wants me to come up higher; climb the corporate and other ladders and not forget to help others up too. Climbing takes an effort and focus. For too long, the concept of being a "Career woman" has had a negative connotation - so it's up to us to demonstrate the value of being a career woman. Climb and shine to God's glory.

 

A - God blesses and "promotes" us so we can assist others. There are so many ways to lend a helping hand to others. It is sad that some people climb the ladder and take the ladder with them. If your predecessor took the ladder with them, what would you climb? I've found that there are so many opportunities for us to assist others. A wise person said: Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful.  I like to tell people that they are free to ask me any questions they have and that if I don't have the answers, together we'll find someone or somewhere that has them. Think about it, we all know someone who knows someone who knows someone...I could go on but would rather move on to "R."

R - yes, it stands for Relatable. When you think about it, if a tree doesn't stay "related" to the soil, it will not survive let alone thrive. The popular saying: "no man is an island*" is just as true as the fact that "one tree doesn't make a forest."

Just as a forest starts with a tree and more, we all need each other.  Being relatable is about looking out for the other person's best interest and in doing that God takes care of you too. 

E - I know "E" stands for "end" but more importantly, in this post, it stands for "Effective." At the end of everything we do - at home, work, & elsewhere - we need to be effective. This essentially means that we produce results - not reasons or excuses of "why not." John Wooden advised that we must "never mistake activity with achievement."

A CAREer Woman should be a lighthouse -

standing tall and shining to God's glory

and that is my aspiration.

Sources:
*John Donne

Are you Accountable?

 “Accountable” and “Accountability” are two words that have become somewhat popular. Believe it or not, we can all be accountable; it's not difficult - once we set our minds to it. Last year, I found a nice article* on "Accountability." I like the AB&C - acronym-base and content - of the article so here's an excerpt to help us (italics and green font mine): 

A -   ACTION:  “No action creates no results. Facing the fear of inactivity is not easy.” Neither is facing the fear of failure. The way I see it, if you are inactive or take no action, you have failed already. 

C -   With action, comes COMMITTMENT and more questions. If you are not committed to the action, you will not follow through and soon enough fall back into the state of “no action.” What does commitment look like to you? Is your commitment like the occasional spring breezes or is it constant like the changing of the seasons? Are you truly committed to doing what it takes to reach beyond that next level of excellence?  

What if they don't believe?

2 months or so ago, we asked ourselves the question "Who are you?" As God will have it, a week earlier I received this piece - Today's word from Joel & Victoria Osteen - and it tied nicely with that question (comments & italics mine).

Scripture: “What if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” (Romans 3:3, KJV)

So often, people allow the opinions of others to hold them back and water down their dreams. We have to realize, there will always be critics and naysayers in life. One of the most important things you can learn is that other people don’t have to believe in you in order for your dreams to come to pass. Other people don’t set the limits for your life — you do. It’s not what others say about you that affects your life, but what you say and believe about yourself. In today’s verse, the apostle Paul is saying, “It doesn’t matter if other people don’t believe. Their unbelief is not going to keep me from believing in my dreams.” When God puts a promise in your heart, it’s not up to other people to bring it to pass, it’s up to you!

You don’t need everyone to validate you. You have to follow the voice of God for yourself and allow Him to order your steps.

Today, know that God sees the hidden treasures inside of you. He wants to bring those treasures out and make your dreams reality. As you get rid of the old, defeated thoughts and replace them with what God says about you, you will remove the limits so you can live the abundant life God has in store for you!

EW: We are empowered to "deal" with (& displace) others' disbelief when we can hear (& heed) God's voice (see: http://sapphire-and-beryl.blogspot.com/2011/09/voice.html)