Are you in pursuit of your dreams?

Are you someone that wakes up each day wondering, what if?  What if I haven't made the right decision? What if I'm not going in the right direction?  What if I haven't provided the right guidance to my kids?  The what ifs can mount up and weigh you down to the point that you stagnate, and you cause those around you to shut down as well.  Take a look at this movie clip….

Jon Gordon, in his book "The Energy Bus" referred to those who suck the positive energy out of a room as "Energy Vamps".  Energy Vamps have a hard time of seeing the forest through the trees and are reluctant to see that new directions can be taken and fostered through positive energy.

One of the things that this clip represents to me is that no matter how old you are, never give up on your dreams.  If you are not where you want to be today, are you going to allow others to remain there.  The great thing dreams is that you decide how you get there.  All your present situation allows for is to create a foundation for future growth.  When a person is reluctant to grow, they stagnate.  When they stagnate as a leader, everything around them becomes stagnant and future progress for the organization  is stifled.

As a leader, not just in the workplace, but in your personal and volunteer worlds as well, if you are not willing to be part of the solution.  You have to first make sure that your vision is alignment with the organizations vision and then do everything you can to achieve those goals.

Too frequently, when we see people leave an organization, there are probably clues that they checked out long before their security ceased working.  When that person leaves, they join a new organization with a renewed energy.  Why as leaders do we have a such a hard time harnessing that energy and enthusiasm?  Instead we allow those individuals to just leave.

I challenge others, as I am challenging myself to figure out what their dreams and aspirations are first, and then begin to work with those around you to see where they are?  Have they checked out?  Do they present a sense of hopelessness of future success like Will Smith's character does in the above clip?

This is my first post in almost a month.  I have spent a lot of this past month working on recapturing the energy that has allowed for opportunities to present themselves for me in my career.  There is still much introspective work to be done on my part, but the process has been underway since the beginning of the year.  What I do know, is that you never know who you have had a positive impact on.

"Don't let anyone ever tell you, you can't do something". - Will Smith from the Pursuit of Happiness

It's a Journey, not a Sprint!

As many high schools, colleges, and universities prepare for commencements over the next month, many students will enter the "real world".  As stated in the song "Closing Time" by Semisonic, "Every new beginning is some other beginnings end."

For students they may enter the workforce, the military, or choose to continue their education at one of this country's institutions of higher education.  When the pomp and circumstance is over, each person will now have to make their individual decisions for the rest of their lives.  Some will make good decisions, others, not so good.

In my house, we have volume's of the "Book of Dumbass" as we affectionately refer to it.  Each day we live, we add another page, each month another chapter, and each year a new volume.  My boys know that each decision they make has a consequence, both positive and negative, and my wife and I hope we have instilled good decision making qualities in both of our sons.  For them making a bad decision is not the end of the world, as we all have made them in our lives.  Life is a journey, not a sprint. 

It is important throughout our careers and our lives that each of us remember that what we do is a journey, not a sprint.  We need to enjoy all that our experiences offer us.  You hear professionals comment all the time how the low points in careers made them stronger and better equipped to make tough decisions, or execute a plan, or a play in the future.  The experiences we all have as professionals and individuals provide us the tools and resources to draw upon to make better future decisions.

As leaders, it is up to us individually to mentor those around us.  Allow others to draw on our experiences, but also allow others to make mistakes as they create their experiences.  Losing or failing should never deter anyone.  Look at Abraham Lincoln.  Business failures, bankruptcy, elections losses, and ultimately became one of the most important figures in American or for that matter World history.  For him, life was a journey, not a sprint.

I had the privilege to coach youth football with someone in Oklahoma.  One of the mantra's of that team was "Never, never quit".  We would chant it before each game.  It instilled an attitude of long term success, even if the short term results were not successful.  Each player that played for him is developing into a winner in their own rights, both on and off the field.

As each person begins their next chapter in life, remember it is a journey, not sprint.