Next Foundation Blog

In order to come to this place each of us has to be clear about what the important things are to us and we must also be aware that all of our decisions are leading us towards our purpose or away from it.

Toward a life of integrity or away from it.

Not one of us can be all things to all people.

We have natural limitation, naturally we are not omnipotent.

In order to stay centered, to stay focused we have to establish clear boundaries.

Boundaries are the borders we create around ourselves by the limits that we set.

Limits that again…and I am not trying to be redundant, just reinforce.

I am trying to show you that all of this is interconnected.

Limits that are based upon, and driven by your mission in life and the values that you hold dear.

Limits around time, limits around whom we allow to speak into our life and occupy our life.

Boundaries: are the imaginary lines that tell people how close they can get and what they can expect from us.

They are the points of demarcation that stop areas leaking over from one to another, or relationships or non-essential commitments pulling you away from what is essential.

Robert Frost put it brilliantly when he said:

Good fences make good neighbors.

Good Boundaries put us in charge by consciously allowing us to choose what goes on inside our life, what we allow into our inner circle.

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Let’s not sugar coat this, tough decisions and persistent effort are required of those who seek to live their lives…

Present

Purposeful

and Passionately.

Your ability to say, “Yes” depends upon your ability to say, “No.”

Again…your ability to say, “Yes” to the things that are important depends upon your ability to say, “No” to the things that do not contribute to that.

Often people don’t say no because they are overwhelmed with thoughts like:

“What will they think of me if I don’t do this?”

“What will they say about me?”

“I feel I have to do this.”

Or they don’t say yes because:

“I don’t have the time.”

“Can’t fit it in.”

“I have too much to do.”

What people are doing is that which they don’t need to do at the sake of that which they want to do.

But they no longer have the time, the money or emotional resources….. they are spread too thin.

When a life is rooted in the present, based upon purpose, driven by values, then either a yes or no can be given not on the basis of what others think or out of guilt but rather out of a sense of single focus and life vision.

I was able to help myself in this area by coming to understand that my saying no to something enables someone else to say yes to it.

It creates opportunities in the lives of other people.

It is just not meant to be my opportunity.

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www.nextfoundation.org/nfblog

When facing fear…

Accept the things over which you have no control.

Focus on turning your adversities into advantages.

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Continuing to look at this one by Scott Edinger, John Zenger, Joseph Folkman, found in their study of 200,000 people across different kinds of organizations and within different cultures. The Inspiring Leader is a great book and well worth the read.

Here are the final 4 most common mistakes people make when inspiring others.

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• They provide no coaching or mentoring. The least inspiring leaders lack interest in helping other people develop new skills or capabilities.
• They gunnysack critical information. These leaders prefer to control information and share as little as possible.
• They say one thing and do another.
• They have little or no interest in ideas or input from their direct reports.
• They rarely provide helpful feedback on.

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www.nextfoundation.org/nfblog

Here is another great book for you. This one by Scott Edinger, John Zenger, Joseph Folkman, the Inspiring Leader.

The book looks at how top leaders inspire teams to greatness. It discusses the behaviors exhibited by the most successful leaders and includes advice on how to implement them.

What I found interesting was towards the back it talked about the most common mistakes made when trying to inspire others.

The authors base their research on a four-year study involving more than 200,000 respondents.

I believe that few people are born leaders. An even those of us who find leadership a natural thing, it is always beneficial to look into the mirror and see how we can improve and how we can possibly grow.

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• They lack energy or enthusiasm. When these people walk into the room, you feel the energy leave. They absorb and consume energy, rather than injecting it into the group.
• They rarely provide clarity of direction or purpose. With these leaders, team members are not clear about their goals or how they contribute to the success of the organization.
• They avoid setting challenging goals or objectives. The lowest 10 percent of leaders do what needs to be done, but they always work hard to lower the expectations of others.
• They have no plan for personal development. These leaders assume that their skills are sufficient just as they are.

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