Burned Out? Take a 'Do-Nothing' Day

Had Enough? Take a Do-Nothing Day

Don't feel like:

• Answering the phone or email?
• Socializing?
• Being creative?
• Being productive?

Don't!

You know you work too hard and burn yourself out. Sometimes in order to rekindle that fire in your belly so you can be more productive and creative you need to stop and do nothing.

Nada.

Think about it--When was the last time you did nothing without feeling guilty about it? There's no day like today to enjoy doing nothing.



La De Da...Give it up for Your Do-Nothing Day

• Lose the expectations
• Give in to that nap
• Un-schedule your time
• Do stuff that contributes to no one
• Be unproductive
• Zone out
• Waste your day

The only way to get the most out of your life and the best out of yourself is to regularly give yourself time to recoup your energy through the 'sit and do nothing' exercise. What are you waiting for? Go waste your time and enjoy doing nothing!


Share the Love--Lightarted Postcards, and Heart-felt Gifts

Visit the Ashland Art Center in Ashland, Oregon for Lightarted Designs in the Main Gallery, or contact Susan for a personal viewing or custom-made gift. New cheerful designs are always available.

 
Sign Up for Free E-mail updates

For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the Lightarted Living mailing list. Sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

What Would Make this the Best Day Ever?--Learning the Right Questions to Ask

What Would Make this the Best Day Ever?

 

In Search of the Most Satisfying Life Ever

Einstein said, 'asking the right question is half the solution'. Perhaps that's why I spend so much time in the inquisitive side of life:  I'm trying to figure out how to make this and every other day my best day ever so I achieve an overall satisfying life.

Despite Hard Times Life Can Still Be Satisfying
 
Life isn't always easy--and sometimes it's downright painful. In the course of living we deal with rejection, fear, betrayal, shame, disappointment, loss and failure. 

So how do we figure out how to have the best day ever, much less the most satisfying life ever in the midst of difficulties? We figure out how to turn difficult experiences into deep, rich experiences by changing how we think about them.

If you ask them, people who rate their lives as overall very satisfying will tell you they too experience their fair share of less-than-stellar times. I am one.

I can honestly say I've had a very satisfying life--despite dealing with extremely painful and unsettling times. It comes down to knowing you are equipped to handle whatever life throws at you, and you are steering your life in a good direction while navigating through the muck and murky waters of daily life.

Your satisfaction with life is determined by a combination of your past and future, i.e. how you feel  or perceive your life has turned out so far, and how you see it going in the future. Your perceptions and attitudes have a lot to do with your experiences in life--helping to determine how satisfied you are as well as what choices you think you have for improving your situation.

Over time, the 'ups and downs' of how satisfied you feel will be influenced by what's happening at the moment, while how you rate your overall life satisfaction is determined by the least satisfying, or most painful part.

'Each moment of my life is new, fresh and vital'



Knowing the Right Questions to Ask Yourself is Half the Solution to Creating a Satisfying Life

While you don't always choose the situations you're in, you always choose your attitude and responses. You can greatly increase the probability you'll have the best day or life ever by learning the right questions to ask yourself to guide your daily thoughts and actions.

The trick is to ask yourself questions in such a way you can be honest in answering--without skipping over the truth. Picturing yourself five years down the road with positive and negative outcomes, for instance, can help you see if the path you're currently on in love, career or life will lead to the most satisfying outcomes.

"You already know the answer to these questions before you ask them. It's a matter of asking the questions in a way that will allow you to accept the truth consciously and act on what you know."

Life's Most Important Questions

Pick out one or more of the areas of your life to assess using the questions below. Take time to write down the answers to these questions and let the answers sit with you without doing anything. When you're ready, take one step you know will help you make today your best day ever.


What would you say about your life?

• How satisfied are you with your life right now?
• How would you rate your life satisfaction over all?
• What's your least comfortable or satisfying part of life at the moment--love, friendship/family, work/career, or how you feel about yourself?



Love

• When have you been the most satisfied in a relationship?
• When have you been the least satisfied in a relationship?

If you're currently in, or contemplating getting into a relationship, imagine yourself five years down the road:

• If you're still in the relationship what made you stay?
• If you moved on from the relationship what made you leave?
• What could your previous partner have done differently to keep you in a relationship?
• Do you want it to work out?



Work

• When have you been the most satisfied in your career?
• When have you been the least satisfied in your career?

If you're working with a company, or contemplating working with a company, imagine:

• Its five years since you started working with this company--and you're still here. What have they done right to keep you?
• Its five years since you started working with this company--and you left. What occurred to make you seek other work?
• What could your previous employer have done differently to keep you?



Life

• When have you been the most satisfied in your life?
• When have you been the least satisfied in your life?

• Looking five years down the road and you are content with your life. What have you done right to make you satisfied?
• Looking five years down the road and you are unhappy with your life. What choices have you made that lead you to be discontented?

"Knowing what you know now, what choices can you make today that will leave you feeling more satisfied with your love, work and life in the future?"

"Life's two most important questions are 'Why?' and 'Why not?'--the trick is knowing which one to ask." Gordon Livingston MD


Share the Love--Lightarted Postcards, and Heart-felt Gifts

Visit the Ashland Art Center in Ashland, Oregon for Lightarted Designs in the Main Gallery, or contact Susan for a personal viewing or custom-made gift. New cheerful designs are always available.

Sign Up for Free E-mail updates

For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the Lightarted Living mailing list. Sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

Carl Jung: Who Looks Outside, Dreams; Who Looks Inside, Awakens



Don't Be Afraid to Live Life to the Fullest

Where are you at this moment in life? Would you like to dream and achieve, or awaken and come alive?

Perhaps life has dealt you a blow and you feel beaten down or lulled to sleep to avoid the pain of reality--and you are neither interested in dreaming or awakening--you're just surviving.

Or perhaps you are in a moment in time when you're anticipating future negative events--layoff, retirement, divorce, illness, failure, or being left behind--and the fear and anxiety clouds out any thoughts of dreaming and looking forward with optimism.

Sure, sometimes life is harsh making you retreat and give up. We've all been there.

But don't be afraid to refresh your desire to dream or wake from your deep sleep. By redirecting your attention from your past or future onto today you can focus on the desires of your heart. Keep asking yourself what would make you feel fully alive today to let your mind focus on it.  

As Paulo Coelho said, "When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."



Don't be afraid to stick your neck out to create the life you desire. Life is a series of trials and challenges for all of us. No matter how many times you fall down, the correct response is to get back up. Be willing to look foolish in search of your dreams. Sometimes you must risk feeling foolish to come fully alive.

"You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen." Paulo Coelho

 





It's never too late to reclaim your dreams and rekindle your spirit. Take time to create a clear vision for the life you want to live now. Look within to discover what makes you come alive. Step back into the world to put your dreams into action. It is never too early or too late to create a good and joyous life.

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens."   Carl Jung

 

Share the Love--Lightarted Postcards, and Heart-felt Gifts for your Valentine

Visit the Ashland Art Center in Ashland, Oregon for Lightarted Designs in the Main Gallery, or contact Susan for a personal viewing or custom-made gift. New cheerful designs are always available.

Sign Up for Free E-mail updates

For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the Lightarted Living mailing list. Sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

I Am Good, I Do Good, I Feel Good--The 'Me Too' Test

Do You Feel Good about How You Deal with Others?

I don't know about you, but I like to think of myself as a person who strives to 'do good and feel good' about the way I work with others. Yet I fall short of doing the best by others on a daily basis. And I know the truth.

You are the only one who sees what really goes on behind your eyes. And you are the only one who can truly know what's in your heart. You can present a good face to others--and also present a good face to yourself. But a good face is not the same as a good heart. And it is so easy to lie to yourself by skipping over the truth.

Does Your 'Feedback' Technique pass the ME TOO Test?

Here is one simple way to test the truth of how 'good' your interactions and intentions are with others.

Think about your interactions with others in the last week.

• How did you talk to (or about) people who messed up or did something wrong?
• Did you begin by pointing out what needs improvement or what they did wrong?
• Were you disapproving and judgmental (in your head or in your words)?

Now compare how you dealt with others (either in your head or in your words) with how you want to be treated.

• How do you want to be dealt with if you do something wrong?
• Would you feel defensive if others talked with you about your deficiencies the way you talk with (or about) them about theirs?

Does your feedback approach pass the me too test? Can you honestly say if the conversation was reversed and you were the recipient of the 'feedback' you just gave you would feel good about the interaction and go away feeling you had food for thought?

I have to admit as 'good' as I think I am, I regularly fail to pass the 'me too' test--especially in the conversations that take place in my head. 'So what?' you say.

If you want to feel good and at peace with yourself you need to find a way to make peace with where others are too. Quit 'making them wrong' and make peace with where they are too.

At the end of the day, it is you who is left with the results of your actions and thoughts. Base your intentions on kindness and compassion--and reach out to others in a way you want to be treated.

Good Enough for the Dog is Good Enough for Me

After reading 'The Help', I began to end my daily walks with my dog, Arrow, by telling him, "You is smart. You is kind. You is important."  As I speak these words to him his tail raises higher, his head and chest stand proud and all is well with the world. And as I speak these words to him, I also speak them to myself--allowing me to look for more ways to be kind and do right by others.

 

Another Way to Right Wrongs and Help Others Remember Who they are

"I was recently told of an African tribe that does the most beautiful thing.

When someone does something hurtful and wrong, they take the person to the center of town, and the entire tribe comes and surrounds him. For two days they’ll tell the man every good thing he has ever done.

 The tribe believes that every human being comes into the world as GOOD, each of us desiring safety, love, peace, happiness.

 But sometimes in the pursuit of those things people make mistakes. The community sees misdeeds as a cry for help.

They band together for the sake of their fellow man to hold him up, to reconnect him with his true Nature, to remind him who he really is, until he fully remembers the truth from which he'd temporarily been disconnected: "I AM GOOD"."

 

From Sun Gazing

http://www.sun-gazing.com





Share the Love--Lightarted Postcards, and Heart-felt Gifts for your Valentine

 Visit the Ashland Art Center in Ashland, Oregon for Lightarted Designs in the Main Gallery, or contact Susan for a personal viewing or custom-made gift. New cheerful designs are available.
 
Sign Up for Free E-mail updates

 For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

 If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the Lightarted Living mailing list. Sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

 

 

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

 

'Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.' Samuel Johnson

Difficult People Make Us Feel Unsafe

You know who they are--those people who drive you crazy, stirring up trouble--and making you feel unsafe. In my family we call them '*hit Disturbers'.

These creators of chaos and drama stir up a whirlwind of trouble that sucks you in and wreaks havoc on your emotions, perhaps leaving you feeling anxious and uncertain about your relationships, or future with the company.

So how should you deal with these disturbers of your peace?  Try kindness first.

How's that, you say? How does one just put on a happy face and handle these twits with kindness when the truth is you really don't like them and what you'd really like to do is 'get' them and make their lives miserable? 

Why on earth would you choose to deal with them with kindness when a good kick in the behind would serve them well?--Because it's best for you.

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

Before you  dismiss this as Pollyanna drivel for how to deal with these purveyors of distress, consider Teddy Roosevelt's use of 'speak softly and carry a big stick', an African proverb he picked up while traveling in West Africa in 1900.

While Governor of New York, Roosevelt fought with party bosses, particularly one that threatened to ruin him. Despite the threats, Teddy conveyed his stance in a speech with the adage 'speak softly and carry a big stick'. Roosevelt stayed steady and eventually the bosses gave in to the direction he wanted to go--and he certainly was not ruined.

The adage 'speak softly and carry a big stick' evokes an image of a person who is clearly in control of his or her emotions and actions. This is a person who is slow to anger and slow to react. And while you may start out softly in your words and deeds, you always know you can pull out the stick if you need to--and they do too.

Don't let your life be led by the *hit disturbers. Choose to be in charge of your own life and create a life based on your own values.


How to Speak Softly when You Really Want to Blast Them

• Suspend judgment
• Hold your tongue
• Count to ten--no wait--make that one hundred
• Engage in self-calming activities
• Wait
• Put time between when you want to blast them and when you respond to their trying behavior
• Remember who YOU are
• Remember what you want to build in your life

 

'You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.' Publilius Syrus

 

Share the Love--Lightarted Postcards, and Heart-felt Gifts for your Valentine

 
Visit the Ashland Art Center Main Gallery in Ashland, Oregon for Lightarted Designs, or contact Susan for a personal viewing or custom-made gift. New cheerful designs are available.

 

Sign Up for Free E-mail updates

 

For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

 

If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the Lightarted Living mailing list. Sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

Plant Kindness--Harvest Love

Kindness can Accomplish what Force cannot

Throughout the ages all great sages have spoken on the importance of being kind.

As we step into the Valentine season I offer herein a few words on kindness from the likes of Aesop, Lao Tzu, Benjamin Franklin and William Wordsworth for you to ponder and perchance to lead your actions.

We can all make a difference in the lives of others. Choose to reach out in kindness even in the face of adversity. Each day choose to lay the groundwork for love and happiness. Your small daily decisions over a lifetime add up.

He Who Plants Kindness Gathers Love

'A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.' Saint Basil

'No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.' Aesop 

'Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.' Samuel Johnson

'Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.' Lao Tzu

'A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness there can be no true joy.' Thomas Carlyle

'That best portion of a man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.' William Wordsworth

'If you would be loved, love and be loveable.' Benjamin Franklin

 Remember:

'There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity.' Nathaniel Branden

'Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.' Albert Schweitzer

 

 
Share the Love--Where to find Lightarted Postcards, and Heart-felt Gifts for your Valentine

Stop by the Ashland Art Center in Ashland, Oregon for First Friday Artwalk and look for Lightarted Designs in the Main Gallery, or contact Susan for a personal viewing or custom-made gift. New cheerful designs are now available.

Sign Up for Free E-mail updates

For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.  

If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the Lightarted Living mailing list. Sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

Practice Mindfulness to Cure Hurry Sickness

 
"Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively." Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

Hurry Up!

• Do you suffer from hurry sickness? Are you always feeling rushed and worrying you're missing out on opportunities or letting others down because you're rushing to get things done but are always one step behind?
• Do you sometimes feel discombobulated, like you just can't figure out how to keep up with everything no matter how hard you try—leaving you flustered and tired?
• Do you continue to feel rushed long after there is any need?

 I don't know about you, but I tend to push myself to achieve imaginary deadlines that only I—or more correctly my deep unconscious—knows what that deadline is.

 

I may not have a severe case of hurry sickness, but I do find myself rushing to pick up speed and save a few minutes so I can get there faster. The problem is I'm not sure where 'There' is.

 

I've Got Good News and Bad News 

This dilemma is illustrated in the story of an airline pilot who comes on the loudspeaker to chat with her passengers.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I hope your ride has been smooth. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is we're making great time; the bad news is we're lost."

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Sure there are times in our lives when we must function at top speed to achieve specific goals and meet real deadlines. But why do we continue rushing at high speed even when we don't need to anymore?

As the Chicago song says, 'What goes up must come down' --and that includes the frenetic speed and stress that goes up when we're rushing to meet those real deadlines. A constant state of hyperactivity and hurry sickness isn't good for any of us.

To get where we want to get in life we must slow down and rest the mind so we know what we want and how to get there.

Nature Does Not Hurry, Yet Everything is Accomplished 

'Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished' said Lao Tzu, sage from 6th century BC. Grass does not try to grow. Water does not try to flow. Flowers do not try to bloom. They just do. There is no hurry in plant time, just the simple flow of life in the right time. 

So pull back, quiet your mind, and allow the simple flow of your life to happen in the right time. Children grow up. People find mates. People find fulfilling jobs. Roads and bridges get built. Communities heal. Hurts heal. 

Stop hurrying to build that bridge to nowhere. It'll still be available to work on later if you really must. But chances are, going forward with a stilled mind; you won't see the need to busy yourself with going nowhere. With a cleared mind and an open heart your life will be cleared for things of importance--and the universe will unveil all its secrets to you in the right time.

Slow Down, Still Your Mind

Lao Tzu also said, 'To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.' While we would like to think we are smarter, wiser, and much more advanced than those who lived centuries before us, so much timeless wisdom written centuries ago still speaks to us as if it was written today.

When you catch yourself with a case of hurry sickness, practice mindfulness, and apply the wisdom that came to us from so long ago. Stop. Adjust. Breathe. Relax. Still your mind. Accomplish your dreams.

 

What have you been in too big a hurry to slow down to enjoy or take time to do?

• Call family and friends to enjoy a leisurely chat.
• Reach out and help a friend in need.
• Dream.
• Discover opportunities in Chaos.
• Engage in flow activities.
• Still your mind and calm your heart.

Give yourself the gift of time--unclutter your life, still your mind and learn to find your opportunities through the chaos of life.


Apply What You Know

Why not follow in the footsteps of one person who has stepped in to still his mind and get more out of his life? Here's how one person has applied what he knows:

Here's my publicly stated goals and guiding thoughts for 2013 based on some hard lessons learned in 2012 --Sean Royce Gibbons.

-Say what you mean.

-Reach out to people in need of help.

-Dream bigger.

-Find opportunity in chaos.

-Clutter free space gives room to imagine.

-Home is where you build it.

-Anything can go on a blank sheet of paper.

-Call your friends and family.

-Wake up early.

-Isolate disappointment. Circulate accomplishment.

-Journal over Facebook.

-Engage in Flow activities.

-Other people cannot make you happy.

-Be honest with yourself.

-The harder you work, the luckier you get. (from a sign hung up in Hop Vine reminding me everyday that I needed to find a better job)

-Ignore FOMO anxiety.

Thanks to Sean Royce for giving me permission to share his 2013 goals.  How will you apply what you know in 2013?


"Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Would you like to Host a Lightarted Event?  

For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before. Contact Susan to schedule life change coaching, weekend retreats, or engaging Lightarted experiences to share with friends.

Carrying Negative Baggage? Let it Go

"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."  Johann Wofgang von Goethe

Uncovering the Naked Truth

Lately I've been thinking about the story of two monks who happen upon a naked woman standing by a river. The woman wants to cross the river and asks the Monks if one would carry her to the other side. One Monk agrees while the other steps back in horror, but says nothing.

When they get to the other side, the Holy Man carrying the woman puts her down at the bank of the river and the two Monks walk on, traveling the next 10 miles in silence.

The Monk who maintains his purity by refusing to touch the woman ponders the incorrectness of the other's action. As he walks down the road, he simply cannot get the image of the naked woman out of his head. He sees the image of his Brother carrying the naked woman playing over and over again in his head.

Finally at the end of the day the uncontaminated Monk can stand it no longer. He breaks his silence and says, 'how is it you soiled your body and mind by touching that naked woman?'

To which the other Monk replies, 'I left her at the bank of the river while you, on the other hand, have carried her with you all day.'

Which Monk Are You?

We all have the capacity to carry both Monks within us. There is the side of us who jumps into life with simple, straightforward non-judgmental action, and the other side who is filled with 'shoulds', 'don'ts', rules and judgments--who continues to ruminate and second-guess our actions and experiences long after they're over.

Which Monk do you relate to most? Do you spend more time carrying negative thoughts and experiences with you? Or do you strive to walk through your perceived negativity so you can let it go, and move on with your life?

'Naked Lady' Experiences Leave You Feeling Vulnerable

Let me share one of my 'naked lady' stories with you. Early in my career in Los Angeles, when I was a trusting and fresh-faced professional I had a charismatic colleague--who I admired very much--methodically turn other co-workers against me. This was a very public experience that left me feeling exposed and vulnerable, and influenced my outlook for years.

Initially when I revisited Los Angeles after moving away, my mind would be drawn to revisit that uncomfortable experience, and I had to deal with the feeling everyone was judging me each time we came in contact.

Yet years down the road as I was conversing with a colleague who was a major player in THE EVENT I discovered she had no memory of it at all. My naked lady experience I carried within me as a HUGE memory she put down immediately after things transpired.

Furthermore, when I checked in with other people who were involved in my BIG EVENT, their recollection of the experience was minuscule or non-existent. There was no group memory of what transpired--only what I carried with me in my mind. I could have put down my naked lady experience instead of carrying it with me all those years.

What 'Naked Lady Experience' are you carrying with you today?

• What events, experiences or embarrassments are your 'naked lady' experiences causing you to feel exposed and vulnerable?
• Have you been publicly embarrassed, laid off, divorced, or 'made a fool' by a love interest?
• Are you embarrassed because you've lost your home, failed to get a job, or while you may have a job you're being underpaid for your skills and talents?
• What do you need to name, examine and let go?

Most people are too busy with their own lives to maintain an inventory of the negative events and experiences of yours. Don't let your 'naked lady' experiences get a toe-hold in your mind. Let them go and move on with your life.


"The basis of your life is absolute freedom, the goal is joy, and the result of that perfect combination is motion forward, or growth. Your goal is to find objects of attention that let your cork rise."  Abraham

Credit to Sun Gazing Facebook Page



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If you're interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the Lightarted Living mailing list. Connect with Susan on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

Would you like to Host a Lightarted Event?

For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before. Contact Susan to schedule life change coaching, weekend retreats, or engaging Lightarted experiences to share with friends.

Are You a Leader? Do Your Actions Inspire Others to Dream More, Learn More and Become More?

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." Peter Drucker

Do you fancy yourself a leader?

I hope so. All of us are in a position to positively influence the lives of those around us. That makes you a potential leader no matter what official title or position in life you may hold--even if you are jobless at the moment.

Sometimes I feel like a Leader-less Child.....

'Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.' Peter Drucker

Perhaps in your current situation you feel 'leader-less' despite being surrounded by high-titled 'Senior Leadership' or other such formally sanctioned persons. Why not step in and fill the leadership void in your life?

Yikes! You mean just Take Charge?

No. Leadership is not about exerting power, it is about acting in ways that others want to follow you. The best leaders are calm, clear, focused and understated.

So how do you fill the leadership void in your life? What is a leader--and how do you qualify as one? Personally, I like the definition of a leader provided by John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States:
 
'If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.'

While anyone can call themselves a leader, few sanctioned leaders satisfy this powerful standard set by John Quincy Adams. In fact, many who call themselves leaders do the opposite of inspiring others to become more. Through their own self-centeredness or fear they leave others feeling powerless and full of self-doubt.

But there is no reason why you cannot choose to become this leader, inspiring others--as well as yourself-- to dream more, learn more, do more and become more through your own actions.

Inspire Others through Your Own Struggles

So what is your situation at the moment? Are you in the middle of a confidence crisis? Have you temporarily lost your ability to dream? Have others made you doubt yourself?

Take heart. You have within you the strength and ability to handle whatever life throws at you. And you are the perfect person to inspire others.

We are inspired when we witness others continuing to reach for their dreams despite difficult circumstances. The most inspiring stories--like that of J.K. Rowling, author of the highly successful Harry Potter series--are always about people who recovered from dire circumstances to go on to achieve great things. We want to see others dare to dream and achieve so we have the courage to do the same.

Choose An Inspired--Or Spirit-filled Life

Dr. Wayne Dyer says moment by moment we choose to live inspired or not. We are either enthused--or spirit-filled--or not. We have a choice.

Inspire literally means in-spirit---or filled with a spirited, animated or exalted influence. It also means to inhale or to breathe life into.

Now, more than ever, we need leaders who can inspire others--as well as themselves--to dream more. Too many have lost their ability to dream as hope fades, fear rises, and good jobs seem to disappear. But without dreams we cannot create for the future.

So be of good cheer--and chose an inspired life. Choose to have the courage to dream and take action to follow your dreams--especially in troubled times. Through your courageous actions you'll inspire others to follow your lead.

 

What are you doing to Inspire Yourself?

• What are you doing to keep the dream alive in yourself?
• What are your aspirations?
• What actions are you taking to step into your dream?
• How can your actions be an inspiration to those around you?

 

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” -Howard Thurman

Susan J Meyerott, M.S. Do you need help keeping your dream alive? International speaker and award-winning author, Susan Meyerott provides dynamic interactive workshops for people ready to better manage their work, life and health. Her programs have won national recognition and have been used in homes and organizations throughout the United States, England and Canada.

For more than 25 years, Susan has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. As a speaker and writer, Susan blends her unique background in health promotion, accelerated learning, and communication with a very personal, practical, and humorous style. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before.

To Think is Easy. To Act is Difficult.To Act as One Thinks is the Most Difficult.

"What is the hardest thing you can possibly do?" she said

when I went to her for advice on the darkest day of the first half of my life."

 

"Why must I do what is hardest?"

 

"Because you are an instrument of God.

Don't leave the instrument sitting in its case. Play!

Leave no part of your instrument unexplored.

Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can play the 'Gloria'?"

 

Abraham Verghese, Cutting For Stone

Dealing with the Dark Days of our Lives

We all have our dark days when faced with adversity or defeat when we question if anything we've ever done--or will do--is worthwhile. Perhaps you're having one of those times now.

Maybe when you look around, you see others seemingly flying past obstacles and meeting with success, while you alone sit in solitude and pain. You want to take a step but you're not sure how to pull out of the darkness that has invaded your life.

As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote in the 1800s:

"To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult."
 

To pull out of the dark days of your life, as Verghese says you must do what is hardest, and as Goethe says, the hardest is to take action--in ways you believe are right for you.

• What do you believe you are destined to do?
• What do you think is the right thing for you to do at this moment?
• Where do your interests take you?
• What do you wish someone would ask you to do?
• What is your 'Three Blind Mice' way to play life? What is your 'Gloria'?

 

"Everybody wants to be somebody but nobody wants to grow." Goethe

Is it Time to Ask for Help?

When the dark days hit it IS difficult to take action. That is the time to reach out to others who can help you find your dreams, and nudge you to act on them. We all need help at times re-discovering our dreams and gaining the courage to act on them.

Who are the one to two people in your life you can call on? Contact one of them and ask for a chat today.

Don't just sit in darkness--reach out to one person--and let that be the action that gets you off your 'three blind mice' track onto the path to playing your Gloria.

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

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 For more than 25 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes changing easier than ever before. Contact Susan to schedule life change coaching, weekend retreats, or engaging Lightarted experiences to share with friends.