Risk

I do not consider myself to be much of a risk taker.  Maybe that is not totally true since I am a small business owner.  Unfortunately, not much in life can be accomplished without risk.  A risk-free life might feel safe and comfortable, but it may also feel empty and lacking purpose or direction.  I cannot think of anybody that I consider successful who has not taken risks.  In fact, most have failed multiple times on their path to success.  Risk taking is even more important to leaders.  As leaders, we must often take the risks that others are not willing to take.  We take the risk for the team.  Consider these quotes…

"Progress involves risk. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."

            - Frederick Wilcox   

"Leaders take risks. That's not to say that they are reckless, because good leaders aren't. But they don't always take the safest route. Rarely can a person break ground and play it safe at the same time."

            - John C. Maxwell - The Right to Lead

Relationships

Humans are meant to live in community.  We are not built to tackle life alone.  Our lives are a series of unique relationships with those around us.  Unfortunately, in this social media driven world, those relationships can be shallow and meaningless as they are measured in likes, follows and heart emojis.  There are a lot of different types of relationships, they all play different roles in our lives, but we need at least a few truly meaningful people in our lives. Those are the people you can sit in silence with, not feeling the need to speak. You can call on them any time of the day or night. They are more than friends.

Here is the key to great relationships.  You have to understand that they are never fifty-fifty. True relationships are often sixty-forty, sometimes eighty-twenty.  Sometimes, you will be the twenty and at other times you will be the eighty!  The key is to accept and be okay with that.  If you expect a relationship to be fifty-fifty all the time, you will be greatly disappointed.  If you try to keep score for when you are the sixty verses when you are the forty, you will be frustrated.  Relationships are as much about giving as they are receiving. They require hard work. 

Life is all about relationships.  Understand that they are not fifty-fifty and make sure you are investing in the relationships that are important to you.

What’s in a number?

Numbers impact our lives in so many ways every day, especially us accounting types.   Where would we be without numbers, math, and the ability to calculate?  Numbers track prices, times, markets, returns, currencies, blood pressure, dates, profits, the temperature and so much more.

…then there are age numbers.  We use numbers to track the years we have spent on this earth.  For some reason, the numbers associated with our age seem to stir our emotions.  They also draw varying reactions from those around us.  We tend to make a big deal out of birthday numbers.  The type of big deal varies with age and personal preference, but birthdays seldom pass without some comments and cards, if not a full-blown celebration.  Even a bigger deal is made of certain milestones, often those numbers ending in zeros.  What is it with numbers that end in zero?  After all, they are just numbers like all the other numbers we encounter every day.  They just represent another year like the other nine in a decade.  Why do we let age numbers, especially the milestone ones bother us?  Sure, the larger ones indicate that we are getting older.  They also mean that we have more experiences, more good times, more challenges we have overcome.  We have had more tears but more smiles as well.  They mean we have more to be thankful for.  We have had more years to make us who we are.  Hopefully, that means we are wiser possibly more seasoned.  It is not that I am suggesting that we stop counting, although some might prefer that.  I just think we need to step back and think about the numbers associated with age.  They are just numbers and larger ones are not necessarily a bad thing!

Choose Growth

Personal growth occurs only when we are challenged.  It is in those moments that we have the best opportunity to grow.  We don’t grow when our lives are trouble free, and things are taken care of for us.  We likely won’t grow when all is well at work and home.  Difficult times give us the life experiences from which we cultivate change.  If we take those opportunities and use those situations to learn, we become better people.  We must choose to tackle the challenge and grow from it.  The pandemic has been challenging, but it has also provided us with an opportunity to grow in how we lead at work and at home. We can choose to grow in how we positively influence others. We can choose to grow in our faith and trust in God.  We can choose to mature in our leadership roles.  We can choose to grow our life’s perspective. 

Now as much as ever, we can choose to grow. Enjoy the quote below…

 “Challenge yourself. It’s the only path which leads to growth.”

-       Morgan Freeman