Change

 Are you open minded? I mean really open minded. Are you seriously open to learning another viewpoint? Or, are you steadfast in your opinion and always ready to defend your existing viewpoint? Consider this…

- The single most effective habit is the willingness to change your own mind. 

I would like to focus on a key word in that statement, “willingness”. If we start out unwilling to change, it does not matter what we learn. Changing your mind is a powerful concept. 

Be willing to change your own mind! 

You Define You

 “It is okay to take “No” for an answer. It is not okay to let that “No” define you.”

- Cody Johnson – Singer/Songwriter

He actually said this between songs, at a recent live performance. His words struck me. The declines, pushbacks and snubs in our life should not define us. We can’t let them. It is more than just the “No’s”, it is other people’s decisions and opinions. We cannot let them define who we are.  

We get to define who we are! Don’t let others take that away from you. Think about it…

By the way, there is another MMM about a Cody Johnson song entitled, “I am still learning to be human”.

Never Stop Learning

 

Do you think people really mean it when they say we learn something new every day?  They should.  Too often we treat the learning process as something with a specific end to it.  We tend to say we "went to school" or "received our education".  That sounds like we are done learning!  Often in fact we hardly begin learning about life until we are finished with our formal education.  Perhaps we need to think of our education as an ongoing process not something that we have completed in the past.  We really can learn something new every day, and, we should.  Think about what you will learn today!

Leadership and Delegation

 

Great leaders understand the power and importance of delegation. For me, it is something I am still learning. But we cannot delegate everything. As leaders, we do not delegate responsibility. Projects, initiatives, organizations, and businesses are the responsibility of leaders. That responsibility remains ours and it should never be abdicated. We can delegate tasks. We often delegate decisions. Action items and implementation are delegated. Ultimate responsibility remains with the leader.

Delegate tasks, decisions, and action items. Never delegate responsibility.

Experiences

 

Two weeks ago, the MMM talked about how life experiences make us who we are. Another aspect of that concept is how we use those experiences to help others.

We all have a story. We all have experiences. Don’t waste your story. Someone needs to hear that story. They may benefit from hearing how you made it through. We have overcome challenges. We have significant accomplishments and lesson learning failures. We have conquered, learned, persevered and grown. Those experiences make up our story. Don’t waste the opportunity to share your story.

“One day my story will become some else’s survival guide”

-         Unknown

 

*Portions of today’s MMM come from Rick Torrison of Right Now Leadership, LLC

Choices

 

Life is made up of a series of choices. We make choices each day of our life by prioritizing activities and choosing courses of action. It can be frustrating and challenging to make these choices. The alternatives are equally appealing, and the ramifications of the decisions seem so serious. The best we can do at any one point in time is to make a choice with the information and knowledge available to us at that point in time. Consider your alternatives, study your options, seek spiritual guidance, and make an educated decision.  Once a choice has been made, go on down the road of life. There is no value to be gained from beating ourselves up over past choices and decisions that did not work out. Sure, we should learn from past decisions, but there really is no need to re-live poor choices or to constantly second guess ourselves. Learn from those choices and grow. Make the best choice you can with the information available to you at the time.

 

Have a blessed week making choices.

The past is the past…

Knowledge of the past can be useful.  We can learn from it, be proud of it, and reminisce about it.  But it is the past, and it cannot be changed.  Often, we spend too much time in the past.  We cannot re-write the past; we can only author our future.  Each and every day is a blank page, an opportunity to write the future, a chance to impact what happens next.  Those opportunities do not exist regarding past events.  They do exist for today and tomorrow.  The days, minutes and hours which are yet to happen, are blank pages in your book of life. Enjoy the quote below…

 “The best way to predict the future is create it.”

-          Abraham Lincoln

Sixteen Years of the MMM!

The Monday Morning Minute was born sixteen years ago this week.  It began as an encouraging internal communication at Fleetwood Retail Corp. Since then it has grown into a widely distributed blog with the goal of starting your week with a challenging or encouraging thought.  People need a jump start on Monday morning to get back into work mode.  We all need a reminder about our leadership roles as we begin each week.  More importantly, we must continuously learn and grow.

 Some of you have been along for the ride from the very beginning, others have joined more recently.  Many of you I know, some of you I do not.  Whatever the case, I hope you get a little something from my shared thoughts each Monday morning. 

Make One Change

The world as we know it has drastically changed over the last 120 days.  What have we learned from all of this?  I am not talking about how to use Zoom or buy groceries online.  What have you learned about yourself?  Has being at home with your family presented some growth opportunities?  Does working remotely lead to more efficiency or more frustration?  Think about how you have changed and what you have learned.  What positive change do you plan to take with you from this experience.  Pick one significant change; make it meaningful and challenging for your personal growth.  It can be like a New Year’s resolution made on June 1^st instead of January 1^st. 

Make one positive change from these challenging times…

We Can, and We Will

This pandemic will end, and we can learn from it. Our job as leaders is to guide businesses, organizations and families, through to the end. To get there we need to be positive and encouraging, while promoting growth and positive change. A good friend recently reminded me the power of the simple words, “can” and “will”. These small words completely change how a message is received. Consider a few messages we can send as leaders…

·       Our team can be productive from home

·       We will be a closer family

·       You can adapt under pressure

·       We will maintain relationships with clients

·       You can grow as a person through this crisis

·       Our business will have better contingency plans

·       We can work more efficiently 

·       Our non-profit will survive and adapt

·       We will be better off on the back side of this

·       I can make a difference by being a leader

We can and will get through these crazy times. Our challenge as leaders is to ensure that our teams grow, learn and change for the better!

Coming out of this better…

There is a lot of commentary out there on how things will be different after COVID-19.  Certainly, we are learning what we miss the most and what we deem to be really important.  Discovering creative ways to work from home and how to be flexible are daily challenges.  Of course, we are also being reminded of the importance of health care workers, first responders, truck drivers and grocery store staff.  Oh, and maybe most importantly, Teachers! 

But what are you doing to come out of this a better person?

·       Are you going to have better family relationships?

·       Will you learn a new craft or skill?

·       Are you growing in your faith?

·       Have you discovered new ways to give back in your community?

·       Will you be more serious about saving of 2-3 months of living expenses?

·       Has your perspective about work/life balance changed?

·       Do you have new goals and objectives for the balance of the year?

·       Will you bring a new level of commitment and energy to your job or your business?

·       Have you read a business or self help book you have been putting off?

This is not over, but most of the above take some time.  Take advantage of the opportunity of time. What are you doing to make sure you come out of this a better person? Think about it.

You miss every shot you do not take.

It is an interesting thought and really quite simple.  If you do not take a shot, you will not score.  You must make an attempt in order to give yourself a shot at winning.  Said differently, we cannot be afraid to try.  We shouldn’t be so conservative that we never give ourselves a real chance to accomplish something.  Oftentimes, I fall prey to this myself and tend to be somewhat cautious and conservative.  In order to grow, I need to learn to take more shots.  I am not just referring to the big decisions in life such as spouses and careers.  This certainly applies to those decisions, but this analogy also applies to little things throughout the day.  Maybe you need to take a shot at meeting someone new, at changing something at work, at becoming more involved in your community.

Take a shot.  Give yourself a chance to score in the game of life!

Some days are diamonds. Some days are stones.

Some days are in fact diamonds.  Those are the days when all seems to be right with the world.  Other days are more like rough uncut stones, when nothing seems to go smoothly.  Most days fall somewhere in between.  There are rough spots during the day offset by bright spots at other times.  Some days we even have opportunities to turn stones into diamonds. For the most part we learn to take the good with the bad and roll with the flow, knowing that there are always more diamonds to come.  Maybe not tomorrow or next week but there are more days of diamonds.  Remember however, the stones will likely never totally go away.

Brokenness

We are all broken.  Don’t believe those who want you to think that they are perfect; no one is. We are all human…we have sins, shames, regrets and dark sides. However, we do not have to act like we are broken. Don’t let the baggage of your past weigh down your journey to future.  We just need to be aware of it, own it, and move on.  You are the only one who knows your baggage and can control how you react to it. Life is all about how we learn, grow and move forward.  Don’t let others control how you see yourself.  We are each uniquely made in God’s eyes.  Each of us has strengths, talents, beauty and personalities that overcome the brokenness.  Be broken, just know it and deal with it.  More importantly, draw your strength from your unique gifts, the strength to overcome the brokenness. 

You are broken, but truly UNIQUE AND SPECIAL!

Take the High Road

Everybody has heard the saying "take the high road", and most people probably have their own idea as to what it means.  I recently read some thoughts by John Maxwell on this phrase.  Consider the following simple thoughts regarding taking the high road...

·         Don't keep score

·         Forgive others quickly

·         Learn to serve others

·         Don't be concerned with getting even

It involves being humble and selfless and what's even harder, not holding a grudge.  Life is too short, take the high road!

Lesson from the Geese

We have all seen a flock of geese flying overhead in their “V” formation.  There is a lesson to be learned from them.  Did you know that as each goose flaps its wing, it creates "uplift" for the birds that follow?  By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.  Pretty interesting fact!  I am not sure how someone actually calculated the 71% but the concept make sense.  The same is true of people who work together.  People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Are the teams you work on flying in the same direction and in formation?

Attitude & Perspective

Many a MMM have dealt with the power of one’s attitude and perspective on life.  It is easy to forget how much control we have over our happiness.  Does that me that we can control all of our problems and their outcomes?  Nope. What it does mean is that we can control how we respond to them, what we learn from them, and the attitude we have while working through them.  Life is not about what happens to you, it is about how you respond to what happens to you!  Consider these two thought provoking quotes…

“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

-       John Wooden

“You either ride life or it rides you. Your mental attitude determines who is the rider, and who is the horse.”

-       Napoleon Hill