This just might be the most important Monday Morning Stretch I have ever written.
As you read this, within 24 hours, we will elect a new American president. Whatever the results, half of the country will be disappointed, if not downright angry, frightened, and despondent, except for (I hope!) our readers.
I’m banking on the notion that if you’ve been following us for any length of time (and some of you have been loyal followers for more than 20 years! Thank you!), it is likely that you already have a heightened self-awareness, empowered mindset, and a strong internal locus of control. This is what sets great leaders apart from not-so-great leaders. Great leaders are not only leaders in business but also leaders in life.
At this crossroads in our country, there has never been a more important time for leaders like us to show up to light the way and to be the example of what is possible. My fervent rally cry to everyone in our LionSpeak Nation is that we will all commit to demonstrating the following principles on Tuesday evening at our dinner tables and on Wednesday morning as we stand before our teams, patients, and clients:
- We get to decide. Inner peace and confidence are not established by external circumstances or events. These are decisions we make personally regardless of what’s happening around us. We create our own truth and our own experiences. Period.
- Choose carefully. We will find whatever we are looking for and evidence of what we believe is true. Be very careful and intentional about what you look to prove true and in what you will put your faith.
- Get on the winning team. Many, if not most, people will accept what the television, Internet, and pundits tell them is true and they will believe that the economy, election results, and life events have either ruined their life and prospects of an abundant, happy, prosperous life or somehow supported it. But some people, families, and businesses will find a way to thrive regardless of who is in the White House, what the economy does, or what life throws their way. They already know that as long as they find a way to serve, uplift, and create positive and needed services and products that they will be successful. I want to be on that team, don’t you?
- Start local. The best way to make a positive impact on your profession, your nation, and your world is to make a positive impact on your daily life, in your own family, and in your business and community.
- Answer darkness with light. The best way to combat separation is to unite. The best way to combat weeping is to sing. The best way to answer destruction is to build. The best way to answer darkness is to light the way. It will look weird (if not straight up dumb) to people who believe the world has just gone to hell to see us walking and talking prosperity and optimism. Do it anyway. They will roll their eyes. They will make fun of us. They will say we are Pollyanna, ostriches with our heads in the sand. Do it anyway. Even if they don’t see it, it still benefits them and us.
- Write the story. We create the story, and our stories creates the outcomes. We’re making it all up. We take neutral events and assign them the meaning that we believe is true about it. Others give the same event very different meanings. It’s all one big story, and we are the authors. Be the author of a great story—one that heals, one that prevails, one that thrives and creates unlimited thriving for you and others.
- Let go. Letting go of who you were allows you to step into who you could be. If you have played the role of the victim, let it go and step into the role of an empowered creator. If you’ve felt overwhelmed with negativity and pessimism, be willing to let that identity go and step into the role of a positive, optimistic leader. It will feel like an ill-fitting jacket at first but as the results come rolling in, you’ll start to love that coat of unlimited success and positive impact.
- Feelings are our most accurate barometer. How we feel is indicative of how we’re doing and what is to come for us. Do you feel optimistic, excited, hopeful, delighted, eager, confident, solid, protected, loving, and deserving of love and success? Or, do you feel discouraged, scared, bitter, frustrated, or pessimistic about the future? Those feelings are your dashboard for what is and your predictor for what your future is serving up for you. If you like what you’re experiencing and what you see ahead, stay where you are. Keep feeling the way you do. But, if you’d like something different for yourself and those you care about, pay attention to how you feel and let it be your guide to making the small shifts that make a huge difference in your outcomes and your day-to-day experience of it all.
- Get quiet every day. Your inner being is connected to a greater intelligence that is the ultimate peace and knowing, and it always takes the long, long view. Connecting with it at least once a day is a practice that yields exponential results. Whether prayer, meditation, or a quiet walk in nature, it will keep you connected to a greater truth despite what you hear to the contrary from other sources. It will remind you that all is well and that you have the capacity to be, do, or create anything.
- Hope rules. The darkest of dark occurs when it feels that all hope is gone. And all hope is not gone. Not even close. Be the voice of hopefulness to your children, employees, and strangers you meet on the street. Speak it into existence. Be the very change you wish to see in others and in the world.
Imagine the news we will wake up to on Wednesday morning. Imagine the pain, anxiety, possibility, even chaos and madness for many. As leaders of our teams, families, and neighborhoods, we will have a choice about how we show up for those who look to us for direction, hope, and an example of how to be, think, and act. Let’s proclaim today that, regardless of what happens or how others choose to act, we will announce to those in our charge and within earshot of us that, for us, the future is bright. For us, the world is our oyster. For us, this is an amazing time to be alive, to have an impact, and to make a real difference. Let us proclaim that we will be the voice of hope, the definition of resilience, the model of success, and the example of love and light. Let us proclaim that we are the authors of our story, not the news nor the naysayers. We expect to do great things and for great things to make their way to us. Let us proclaim that, regardless of how we are treated by others or how we observe people treating others, we will meet everyone with love, grace, and empathy.
LionSpeak Nation, WE CAN DO THIS. We MUST do this. Everything in our world depends on us showing up strong, bold, and on fire for the next big, great chapter to come.
