I have always loved this quote. Most of us do one or the other: we work for tomorrow and refuse to enjoy today. Or we party like rock stars today and pay no attention to the future. The secret is to do both. Figure out where you want to be in a month, year, 10-years… and then take the small steps it takes to get there. The only thing that needs to change is that each step doesn’t have to be terrible. Enjoy the ride. What good is it to reach your 20-year goal and realize it sucked getting there?
“I wish I knew that 10 years ago…I would be much better off.” We all have said a version of this at one point in our lives. For some reason we like to dwell on the one thing we can’t change: the past. Why not challenge the future? In ten years, I am going to be … We have the power to impact what happens in the future. Focus on that.
We can never lead another human being until we are able to lead ourselves. One of the first things I was taught as a new Air force NCO was to get to know my team. If I didn’t know my team’s strengths and weaknesses, we would not be able to impact anything and not be able to improve. More importantly, the same goes for us. Until we learn our strengths and weaknesses, we will never be an effective leader.
Yesterday, I shared an article about know-it-alls and found this. It is much more important to realize we have so much more to learn than it is to show how much we already know.
We have all seen this one play out on a deployment. You are in the sandbox in a remote area of a developing country with little infrastructure. Mortar rounds are coming over the fence and you have been eating MREs for 60-days straight. Yet, somehow, you and your team make the best of it and find ways to make it fun. We are experts at doing this in crap situations, but suck at it while basking in the comforts of our home units. Seek out a way to make your workcenter fun while you are all working hard…just like you did on that deployment.
I bet if you look back to those tough times in your lives, you will see something that came from it. When we go through a divorce, loss of a loved one, bankruptcy, injury or anything else life-changing, we think our lives are over. In a way, life as we knew it is over, but we found a way to redefine that part of our lives and move forward. Most successful people (if not all) have a pivotal point in their lives where they hit rock-bottom or major adversity and made it through it. If you are going through this pain now, know it is just a season and you will get through it.
My favorite book on the topic is: Resilience by Eric Greitens.
This is a true statement. How many of us ever achieve anything in a perfect straight line? I am a very focussed person when it comes to getting a task completed. I remember taking my kids to the park and being determined to get them there so they could have more time for fun. Then my daughter decided to stop to literally smell the flowers at a neighbor’s house and I just had to laugh at the irony. She taught me something that day I never forgot: the journey is just as precious as the destination.
This is a sad but true statement in the literal sense. However, in the daily war we all fight, is death the only real end? Maybe that will be the true end of the war; however, we get to look back on our day and decide if it was a victory or a defeat. If we learned how to live tomorrow better, that is a victory.
Even though this is meant for gym rats, it is a perfect quote for us all. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Too often we are not happy with our title or position and decide to just go through the motions until we are placed in a position that suits us. No one looking to fill a leadership role is looking for someone just going through the motions…just saying.
