Leadership Aficionado

When you are doing something that you are passionate about, your Why is obvious. It is the thrill, excitement and sense of accomplishment you feel while doing it. But what about when it is a job or career that you may not be so passionate about; or something that involves more time or more mental and physical effort. It is crucial that you identify your why ASAP. This requires self-awareness. It must be your Why, not someone else’s. This is a personal choice and you may have to tune out the noise of those around you. I speak from the heart on this because I trapped myself in a 23 year career that left me unfulfilled and empty. It’s never too late to identify your Why. Please have that long over-due conversation with yourself. Discover your Why and run with it. When you do You, for You, with all you heart and soul; and you do You every day, this is where the magic happens.

Motivation is the state of being motivated or having a strong reason to act or accomplish something. Motivation is the reason behind the thing you are doing - the why. When you combine your love and joy for something - your passion, with strong reasons for doing it - your Y, you become unstoppable. Whatever your passion may be, dig deep down to expose your internal why and when you combine the two, that, my friends, is where the magic happens.

When I was in college, I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZAMM), the 1974 philosophical classic novel by Robert M. Pirsig. I didn’t have enough life experience at that time to fully appreciate it and my only take-away was “how cool would it be to ride across America on a motorcycle. On my Instagram page, Leadership Aficionado, you can view several one minute video clips depicting a middle aged man riding his Indian Motorcycles across America with my words of wisdom as background audio. You can say that this is my modern version of ZAMM. Check it out and let’s take the journey with him.

Passion is more than just enthusiasm; it is ambition that is materialized into action. It is when you put as much mind, body & soul into something as possible. One of Tony Robbins’ many mantras was “Live with Passion”. I believed in this philosophy but I didn’t execute it. Sadly, we are just one moment away from a negative life-changing event. Please live every day like it is your last. Don’t wait to tell people you love them. Do what you love to do every day. Live with Passion and let the magic happen.

Fear prevents us from opening certain doors, driving certain roads and climbing certain mountains. What are you really afraid of? The unknown, failure, or the opinion of others. Not facing your fears leads to a life of mediocrity, unfulfilled dreams and lack of growth. The only way to overcome your fear (F) is when the pain of not moving forward (P) plus the desire for something more, your why (Y) is greater. Then you will succeed (S). When P + Y > F = S. God gave you Heart, Soul, Spirit, Hope & Free Will. Use these gifts to face your fears with all your might and get what You want out of life.

What are you giving your children? What Legacy are you leaving for them? The best thing you can do for them is to become the best person that you can be. To actually become the men and women who you are encouraging them to be. Show them that life is about being happy and that they should follow their dreams. That success is not money, a fancy title or power. Show your children that success is doing what you want to do; when, where, and how you want to do it - on your terms. The best way to show them this, is for you yourself to become happy and live life on your terms. If you can provide your children a glimpse of what their future can be as a result of your actions, that is Legacy; and that my friends, is where the magic happens.

Listen to a compilation of motivational clips to put a little fire under your butt this Monday morning.

To achieve any goal, you have to become the person who can and will achieve that goal and you need patience to become that person. The patience to keep grinding even though results are not immediately evident. You may be on the road to success but do you have the patience to see it through.

Professional goal setting is a little more involved because it requires Self-awareness. Before you can Do, you have to Be. Do you actually have a profession or is it just a job? Are you capitalizing on who you are; your DNA, or are you just trying to fit a square peg into a round hole? Assuming that you are doing whatever it is that moves you, then here are some tips.

2019 Financial Goals: 1. STOP SPENDING- you cannot move forward financially if you are constantly buying bullshit. 2. PAY OFF DEBT- credit card debt can paralyze you for years. 3. DOWNSIZE- the more stuff you have or more expensive, bigger stuff you have, the harder and longer you are going to struggle financially. 4. INVEST- once you have stopped the bleeding, paid off debt and made life simpler for yourself, start buying dividend producing stocks when they go on sale.