What life taught me

What life has taught me.

In the process of thinking about my next topic I decided to rather tackle a life hack on what life has taught me. This title came to mind as I reflected on leadership and business lessons and how they appear to merge as ultimately they are human lessons and apply to us all whether we run businesses or are managing ourselves through them.

A few days ago I was on a Skype call with my mastermind group and it was our last call for the quarter. Each of us had grown considerably from where we were initially. The hurry we each once had had quietened down replaced by a deep focus and peace with the places we each found ourselves at.

The mastermind group had been started with the intention of helping us reach our individual dreams of success and it was by fortunate coincidence that we all desired to establish profitable business so from the onset our paths were aligned. Week in and week out we planned and fine-tuned our ideas celebrating the wins for each week. This process fuelled us even more awakening within each of us what felt like a sleeping giant. We became automated producing results in a very short space of time given that others in our positions took months even years to achieve a large part of those things.

Now looking back, we began sharing the lessons that we have learnt particularly those that we intend to apply going forward.

It appears that everyone has lessons that they have been taught by life (through the process of living), if we all took a moment to reflect on those lessons, we’d be better people, and perhaps the world might even be a slightly better place for it.

My top 5 of what life has taught me is inspired mostly by the books I’ve read or audio books I’ve listened to, the leaders I aspire to become like, those I model and most importantly my mastermind.

1. Find yourself and understand who that is, you can’t be of value to anyone if you are not living your truth. It was in one of Oprah’s Master Class videos that Oprah said authentic power is when the personality comes fully to serve the energy of its soul. That is one lesson that has stayed with me. I understand now that everything will change yet in that turmoil let your soul guide you to who you are at that point and all will be well. Be true to who you are, always!

 

2. Relationships are key:

The inner circle: One of the most important relationships you will build is one with members of your inner circle. These are people who you can trust to be honest with you at all times and not when it serves them. These people will also grow you emotionally and support your dreams. They are the people who will remain, choose them carefully as there needs to be commitment, reliability and perfect harmony in your relationship with them. To quote Napoleon Hill, “there are two characteristics of the Master Mind principle, one of which is economic in nature and the other psychic”. He goes on to say that “the economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of people who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of perfect harmony”.

The psychic phase of the Master Mind principle is much more abstract, Hill states that it is much more difficult to comprehend, because it has reference to the spiritual forces with which the human race, as a whole, is not well acquainted. “No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.”

Communication: another key aspect of relationships is you cannot not have them and therefore you cannot not communicate. I learnt to always read the mood of the day with people because this will guide you how to approach them particularly if you need something from them. Added to this, providing feedback to others requires tact. And when you realise that you may have offended someone, always go back to close the loop which essentially takes away that awkward tension of leaving things on a bad note. This earns you respect and shows others that you are an adult.

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”~ John Maxwell.

3. Reflection is necessary

Most, if not all of us, are striving for something and we are prepared to keep going in pursuit of worthy goals without end. Sometimes till we deplete our last strength. This point is generally a good place to look back and take stock of where you come from, where you had expected to be and reconcile with yourself. It is here that you develop your sense of peace and find your flow. From personal experience I have found that reflection is a place where I rest my mind, it tends to create a sense of congruence within me and thus focus. When my mind is rested, my body is good to keep pursuing away. Wallace Wattles in the Science of being great said, “You are not developed by what you read but by what you think of what you read”. I interpret this as saying go through the various experiences then filter them and get a sense of your understanding of them then apply those lessons as you move forward.

4. Energy doesn’t lie

John Maxwell in his book, The 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership speaks of the law of magnetism. To me this is the same as energy, and my understanding is that energy or vibes that people or situations send out to you, tend to be honest 90% of the time and we need to;

• Manage the energy we give off because others pick up that vibe AND
• Manage our energy because we attract whatever energy we give off
• Trust our intuition (gut feeling) about this energy because it’s your sub-conscious mind warning you. It speaks in whispers and tends to only speak once and then honours whatever decision you make

If you listen to any person considered a leader or influential you’ll note they speak about that small voice inside, others will say it’s God or even their inner self. What you call it is not important, it’s what you do when that voice speaks to you that matters. In the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, the inner voice plays a big part in Santiago, the shepherd’s story. Don’t silence your inner voice and possibly miss your big moment.

5. Success is a result of remaining with the problem a little longer than the next guy.

The simple lesson here is to keep going, it will be hard sometimes and most times you will appear to be going against the tide. You may slow down too but just don’t stop, don’t betray your vision. Remember Muhammad Ali’s “I will show you how great I am..I’m so mean I make medicine sick! ”

Watch video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm78J0JvtQA

I challenge you to list your top 5 things that life has taught you, I’m certain your list will be longer than that and that you’d be amazed by what you learn!