Becoming a Leader – Lead Yourself First

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Being a leader means different things to different organizations, communities, and people. But what does it mean to step up and be a leader to ourselves?

Simon Sinek, a sought after author and motivational speaker tells us to “be the leader you wish you had“. (Of course that sounds similar to Ghandi’s “Be the Change” – but it doesn’t make it any less true.) When we step up and become proactive in a situation, this is a quality of leadership – reacting is not going to help us in most cases, but taking initiative, and looking for solutions to problems as they arise instead of stressing out helps us, and those around us, keep calm. And calm, just like panic, is contagious.   So how do you want to live – disjointed and upset or calm and collected?  The choice is in your mindset, and in your practice of calm.

Being a leader for yourself also means setting yourself up for success just like you would if you were working and leading a team.  You want to make sure that you are prepped for the situation you know you are going into.  In the “health and wellness” movement lately there has been a lot of emphasis on “meal prep”.  Health concious bloggers break it down into easy steps for anyone to do, and it makes sense if you have a hard time staying on track with eating healthy, or have a very busy schedule.  Meal prep is just one example of setting yourself up for success.  Other ideas might include setting our your wardrobe for the next day, elimiating clutter in your space, or having a morning routine that makes it all go smoother.

There are so many other things you can do to be the leader you want to have, but we’re just going to touch on a couple more.  They are doing the hard stuff first, and setting achieveable goals for yourself.  Doing the hard stuff first is actually easy – you just figure out what is the most difficult thing you need to do in a day and do it first.  You’ll feel amazing once you’ve done this, and that sense of success will carry you through your day on a high note, helping you be more productive and cheerful.  This goes hand in hand with setting goals that you can achieve.  A lot of us, no matter our age or background, still struggle to set realistic and achieveable goals.  We either overestimate or underestimate what we are capable of – it’s easier to break goals down into pieces, and then steps in order to know how long they might take.  Simon Sinek also has a useful piece of advice for goals: “The goal is not simply to “work hard, play hard.” The goal is to make our work and our play indistinguishable.”

Are you leading yourself first? Let me know in the comments or on facebook.