For the past 15 years or so I have been studying and working with leaders and leadership.
It has become more and more clear to me in the last two years that in order to be a good leader for others (whether in your private or professional life) you first have to be a leader in your own life, to practice self-leadership.
Many people have written about, and defined, what self-leadership means and one definition goes like this:
Self-leadership is having a developed sense of
who you are, what you can do, where you are going
coupled with the ability
to influence your communication, emotions and behaviors
on the way to getting there.
So what does this mean in practice? Why is this important and what do you have to do?
This is important because in order to get to where you want to be, you have to know and be well aware of yourself, you have to be responsible for yourself; your thoughts, your behaviors and habits, your time, your actions and so on.
Here are some practical bite-size chunks on this subject for you to think about:
Know yourself
How confident are you? How well are you doing in communicating with others? How do you respond to different situations and different people? How to you feel about yourself?
Is there something you need to work on regarding those issues?
You were not born or destined to have a limited dose of self-esteem or communication skills.
If you think you could be doing better regarding those issues that is for sure something you can strengthen, either with help of literature, courses and programs or professional help (from coaches, psychologists etc.). You need both good self-esteem and communication skills to get to where you want to be.
Know your dreams and what makes your heart sing
Know what you want. – Get clear on your dreams and vision; listen to what your heart keeps trying to tell you.
Think about what you want and if it makes your heart sing you will find a way.
Don´t outsource your decisions to society´s expectations. If you knew you couldn´t fail what would you do?
Nourish yourself in a good way – Think about what you consume through food, media, people, books etc., is it dragging you down and killing your dreams or helping you grow as a person and in your challenges and supporting you on your journey?
Know your strengths and opportunities
Keep on developing yourself – you are your most important vehicle in life so make sure it is working well and able to keep up with what´s ahead.
Know and use your strengths, make your choices, go grab your opportunities and create some new, don´t be afraid of shining and succeeding.
Don´t give other people the power to hold you down, because they are too lazy or afraid of doing what they want.
– Sure there may be some obstacles but choose to focus more on your opportunities and more on what is right with you.
Choose the lens you want to use to view yourself and your world.
All of this means that you have to be responsible for yourself, that you can´t blame your situations or others if things are not like you would most like.
Start; now is as good time as ever, there is nothing to wait for. Be a leader in your life and have the wellbeing and success you for sure are capable of.
I have written before on a similar topic, where I asked you “In what division you play?” please check that out if you want to read more related to this week´s thoughts.
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If you have any tips or tricks regarding success and wellbeing that might help me or others – please feel free to share them here below, in the comments section.
Good luck!
