February 2013 - Getting Your New Year's Resolutions Back on Track

Letter from the Editor

Last week, I had the pleasure of teaching a course on leadership to a room filled with over 230 men, women, and (1) child. Yes, seated with his father about three rows back was 13 year old Taylor. It was easy to see that he wasn’t there because his father made him go. Taylor looked me in the eye, had a strong hand-shake, and he was eager to learn more about what it takes to be a leader in business, and in life.  Have I mentioned that he’s only 13 years old!?This young man has more ambition, heart, vision, and passion than many adults, and over the last few days as I think about what’s missing in the world and in our businesses, I think of Taylor. We don’t have enough Taylor’s in the world. We don’t have enough parents like Taylor’s parents either.If we want our children to be strong, compassionate leaders who are committed to leaving the world a better place than they found it, we have to be strong, compassionate leaders ourselves. We have to lead by example not only in our businesses, but in our homes too.We need to worry more about loving, hugging, and teaching than we do cleaning. We need to be good examples of integrity and forgiveness. We need to be who it is we want our children to be, and the sooner we provide them with the tools to be outrageous citizens of this planet the more chances there will be for them to make good choices when those opportunities arise. Don’t wait until your children are 18 years old to teach them about responsibility and leadership. Start teaching them NOW!Best regards,

Clay S. Nelson

Getting Your New Year's Resolutions Back on Track

As we make our way through the month of February, many people have already given up hope on their New Year’s resolutions. How about you – have you gotten off track? If so, you don’t have to stay there! Getting back on track, and moving toward what you say you want, is easy!First, stop making yourself wrong for what you haven’t done! Beating yourself up is a natural tendency, but it has no value and it can actually hurt your progress. So, don’t make yourself wrong. The world does that for you for free anyway.Second, review your plan and keep it visible, and as you review your plan, take particular note of who is on your team. If you don’t have a team that you allow to hold you accountable for doing what you say you are going to do, reaching your goals is going to be much, much harder to accomplish. If you could get to where you are going by yourself, you would be there already! So, the bottom-line is you have to ask for help and be willing to be held accountable for doing what you say you are going to do!Finally, when setting off on any resolution or goal, you have to maintain an unstoppable mindset. Many times a person will set a by-when and if it doesn’t happen by that time, they quit and put it in the failure column. Big mistake!! When you miss a by-when date, forgive yourself and then simply set a new one, recommit, ask for more accountability, and be in action. And, most importantly, never give up… be unstoppable!In the end, getting any New Year’s resolution back on track is about forgiveness (of yourself), team, and commitment! So which do you choose – to wallow and question: “Why me?” or to be in action, getting what you say you want in 2013? It is up to you. Remember: You are the only person who has a say in how your life turns out!

Leadership Essential: Be an Emissary of Change

Change is everywhere, and none of us are immune to its effects. Just one change across the world can create a ripple effect that we all feel, let alone the ripples we feel from the change happening in our own homes and businesses. The current economic climate around the globe is a perfect example of that, and to have the life and business you say you want to have, you’ve got to be in action… not reaction… to the change around you! Meaning you can’t live life hiding under your covers. As a leader, you’ve got to be out in the world dancing with what the world throws at you! How do you do that?First, stay present to the fact that you are the only person who has a say in how your life turns out. You have a choice in life. You can either choose to complain about what life throws at you or create a life you love with what the world hands you. What do you choose? The power of choice is yours!Second, the choice to be a master of change or a victim of it is yours! Choose to be in action instead of reaction. Make a commitment to be outrageous and unstoppable, and remember, the only thing in the world that you can control is who YOU choose to be in the face of change.Third, be aware that those around you aren’t necessary quick to change either. So when you are moving forward and others are stopped cold, you must have patience and understanding and lead by example. Leadership is needed most when it is missing. So, step up and show others how to get into action; conquer their own fears and worries, instead of being stopped by them!Fourth, don’t underestimate the emotional component of change for either yourself or others; be present to the feelings that change brings out in you and those around you. Get those around you to open up and communicate what they are feeling, and you need to do the same. Deal with your feelings; burying them will only serve to stop you!Fifth, give up “I know." Change is challenging to deal with because it usually means doing things in a way we haven’t done before. In other words, we don’t know what is ahead, and to move forward successfully, we have to give up “knowing” and instead, get committed to what we want, look for what we don’t know and move ahead accordingly!Sixth, have a written plan! Know what you want and where you want to be and by-when, and when change comes knocking on your door, don’t chuck your plan out the window. Instead adjust your plan (in writing) where necessary and keep marching forward!Seventh, communicate with those around you. When you are inside of change in your own life, it is not only difficult for you but for everyone around you! So don’t isolate yourself. Instead, communicate what is going on with those around you -- allow them to help you where they can! If what you want to accomplish could be done by yourself, you would have already accomplished it. Plus when you ask people for their help, you get people involved and in action too!Finally, instead of fearing change view change as an opportunity! Yes, change can be challenging, but as they say, “When one door closes, another one opens!” There is always opportunity for learning and growing inside of every situation we are faced with, but we often have to look for those opportunities and be open to receiving them. Even the slightest changes can open up a huge space for something new to occur… something better.Think about change this way: You are looking through a kaleidoscope. You first see a set pattern, but with the tiniest twist to the right or left, the entire picture changes before you and results in a new, surprising design.Change is the only constant you can truly rely on, and you have to be able to manage it in order to make opportunity of it! As John F. Kennedy once said:

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

Change is a dance you do in life, and each moment in your life, every move you make creates change, and change is something we should all look forward to. After all, it is change that shows us what we don’t know, and it is at that point where learning truly begins!