3.1 Leading Out Loud in 2006
EGL Newsletter Volume 3.1
Hello there,
Welcome to the New Year!
Here we are, facing the enormous opportunities presented by the new year. At the Gaian Group, we have plans to make 2006 the best ever. I’m sure you do as well. If you’ve checked our mission, you have seen that we are all about enhancing human potential through change. Here are some of the fundamentals for each of us to remember as we create our new future.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” This beautifully simple yet profound mantra is often attributed to Ghandi. It is part of the fabric of the Gaian approach to developing leaders. As with every change we encounter in the world, it all starts from the inside and moves to the outside. While many change approaches are focused on the outside world and what we wish to change “out there”, we work with leaders to create a strong sense of what needs to be “in here”. Fronm this place of resolve, we can create a clear picture of who we want to be in the world. This clarity drives creative action, commitment, and compells other to follow.
Create your world in the image of how you want to live. Take a few moments to look around yourself at your physical surroundings. When you look at your work space, do you get a positive and creative feeling in your gut, or do you get something else? When you walk to and from your work areas, is there an aesthetic appeal that matches the kind of world you want to create? Starting from the inside, with the feelings for how you want to live, immediately begin to surround yourself with that look and feel.
Surround yourself with like-minded thinking. As simple and obvious as this seems, people often forget the profound power of choice we have in who we allow to influence our thoughts and feelings. Look at your circle of relationships and take an inventory of those people who most support your own expansion. Now, when I say “like-minded”, I mean those who think like where you are going, NOT where you are. Then, make a conscious choice to spend more time with those who do, and less time with those who don’t. If you don’t have enough like-mindedness in your existing relationships, reach out and find some new ones. Just making this choice through the course of a year can completely change your life.
Create a list of positive, personal affirmations. If you want to predict your future, you can easily do that simply by listing what you think about every day. The inner mechanics of profound personal change require mental practice. That is, shift your thinking from what you don’t want to what you do want. Describe the desirable future in a listing of positive and personal affirmations (present tense please). Those of you who have read my beliefs on change will understand this as simply changing your mind.
Make creating your future a daily practice. Changing your mind means changing habitual thinking and feeling. Most people’s thoughts and feelings do not vary much from day to day. Without practice, you can drift back to old reactions and patterns a bit at a time. Read your affirmations daily, post them in a prominent place, and practice acting them out. To change, we simply need to see the future, describe it, believe it, then step in and live it out.
Start each day as if it was a new year. While we talk about starting the year fresh, in reality, each moment is truly new and is an opportunity to start anew, to shift, to reframe your thinking. So, as a regular reminder, practice it with each day, each beginning. Strive to awaken with child-like enthusiasm and eagerness for what the day will bring.
Be your own leader. The most important leadership lesson we will learn is in how to lead our own path. We all strive to step out and create our own direction. In 2006, just do it. Live large, set outrageous goals and celebrate them accordingly. Most importantly, let your path be known, live it daily with confidence and conviction, and in so doing, you will Lead Out Loud in 2006.
About the Author
