What are the main elements of how we appear when we are “at our best?”
Each new day is a unique opportunity to start again and live it out. My father who passed away in February of this year was an energetic morning person like myself and he would enthusiastically say in the morning, “It’s a great day for the race!” The first time he said this, I responded with inquisitiveness, “What race dad?” to which he replied, “The human race!”
Today and your next day are great days — maybe your best day if you can live them out with a few key principles:
- Be Hungry
Do you wake up and approach the day wanting to learn? Every day is full of opportunities to learn and grow–if you’re willing and hungry. Carol Dweck at Stanford University wrote a book in 2009 entitled Mindset. She contents that a “growth mindset” is the most invaluable attribute one can possess. She states that the world is divided into those who are “learners” and “non-learners” and it is the “learners” which influence the world everywhere. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, writes in Proverbs to his son and others to grasp for wisdom and learning and treasure wisdom as if it was fine gold. Would those who know you at work, play, and home describe you as a learner? Do you approach life and each new day ready to learn? The opposite of this is not very attractive, even if you do know a lot.
- Take the Initiative
As you encounter life and situations–take action. Leaders are driven by action. Ask yourself, “If not me, who?” and “If not now, when?” Clare DeGraaf wrote a simple book in 2013 entitled The 10 Second Rule, in which he contents that we often are moved to act, and if we do not within the next 10 seconds we will talk ourselves out of that action. He advises people to act upon what they are “reasonably certain God is instructing someone to do” before our selfish nature refuses in disobedience. My own life story is one of a very shy childhood in which I feared speaking to people, until I was convicted in my heart that God desired more from me. I understood that I was not live in insecurity, but act to influence those around me and that path led to leadership throughout the rest of my life. In the Scriptures, the shepherd boy David acted according to his faith to fight Goliath when all those who could have acted froze in fear and inaction. Are you a person of action? Do you courageously move to deal with things or is your tendency to just observe and be silent so as not to be critiqued? You would be surprised how many people around you are just waiting for you to act or speak up so that they will also be emboldened to act and speak as well.
Make it your best day by practicing these two principles today! I’ll share two more later. God bless you!
Ken B. Kemper
