Ten Daily Actions to Live By

If we begin dissecting my list of "Ten Daily Actions to Live By", it is easy to see how our SAGE Leadership model follows each Daily Action.  Let’s take a look at the first action:

“My life is a message, I will make it what I want it to be.”

As we look at our life we need to dream about what it will look like?  Who do you want to be?  What do you want to achieve?  When they write your obituary what do you want family and friends to say about you?  Another way to do this exercise is to think about your 80^th birthday, celebrating your life.   Imagine the setting, visualize who is in attendance. Do you see every person that is important and plays a key role in your life?  If they were each asked to stand up and say a few words about you and what you have meant to them, what would they say? Are you nervous or confident?

Some people live their life by the clock and not the compass.   The correlation is simple, the clock is to time as the compass is to direction.  So, which do you live by, time or direction?  Are you so busy completing tasks or watching the clock, that you have forgotten where you’re going?   If you live by direction, what guides you?  Do you listen for God’s voice to direct your message?  As a child we dream BIG dreams but as we become adults we supress our dreams.  Open your mind, BELIEVE that you can still achieve your dreams no matter how old you are or what has happened in the past.  The SAGE Leadership model can be your roadmap to establishing a message, YOUR message!  Determine where you want to go from here, and WHY!

SAGE, a profoundly wise person.  As we begin the journey of our life and strive to become a SAGE Leader we develop an understanding and appreciation for the different components. The first component, Energy; is the food for our mind, body and relationships.  The vibrancy of our life is directly related to the compass or direction we are headed, the message we want our life to be about.  Connections are key relationships, those that are most important to us.  Our connections are tools that help us stay the course, to achieve.  Let the "Ten Daily Actions To Live By", guide your compass, be a practical tool that will help you work through daily challenges.  Our influence will be with those individuals that are most important in our life.  We impact others not just by words but even more so by our daily actions. 

Great Results will be the development of strong relationships such as those with our family, friends, associates and God.  Great Results are not just achieved by reaching your goals, but in the journey itself.   To reach the top of a mountain, or goal, by yourself is very lonely.  The true measurement of a SAGE Leader is not how many goals you accomplish but how many others reach the top with you.

Now, view your life from the lens of the future.  It’s your 80^th birthday, imagine the setting, visualize who is in attendance at the party to celebrate your life, what will they say about you?  Did you live your message?

Gary

Attitude

 

When we look at the SAGE model and break it down into the components that comprise a SAGE Leader, I feel attitude plays a key role and affects each component.

 

How is it best to define attitude?  “Attitude” is the emotion we share with others either positively or negatively.  As we look at our own life think of one person right now that has a positive attitude and one that displays a negative attitude?  Which one are you more like?

 

Attitude effects everything around us, so lets look at how it relates to the SAGE Leadership model.  Energy is the first component toward becoming a true Sage Leader.  Does our attitude affect our energy?  YES!  Who has more energy, an optimist or pessimist? The energy level we have in life will be directly impacted by our daily attitude.  Are you a sunny or a cloudy person, cheery or dreary?  Charles Swindoll, while reflecting on attitude states “ Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” How do you react?  Does your energy reflect a positive outlook, or a negative one?

 

The second component of a SAGE Leader is Connections, it is in this area that we really see how our attitude impacts those around us.  A positive attitude helps nuture, grow and develop these connections.  Where a negative attitude will kill a relationship.  When we allow our attitude to guide our connections our relationships will be either growing or dying. 

 

A SAGE Leader uses Influence to enhance relationships.  What kind of Influence would  you have if a negative attitude was what you were projecting to others?  That’s right, very little.  A negative attitude will drive relationships away, it is only through a positive attitude that we are able to truly enhance our connections. 

Attitude is vital to achieve Great Results in the SAGE Leadership model.  The question to ask yourself is:

Is your attitude worth catching?

Remember a true SAGE leader is a profoundly wise person.  Your positive attitude is a key piece toward helping you become who you were meant to be.

Gary

Extraordinary Results!

By following The SAGE model and combining your Energy plus your Connections, plus Influence, you will produce the Great Results wanted in your life. 

The challenge is balancing your personal and professional life.  We tend to focus on only one aspect of our lives but it is equally important to have well defined goals in both areas at the same time.  To achieve great results you must focus not just on professional but also personal goals.  We often hear that someone has become a great success only to have lost their family, friends and spouse in the process.  The SAGE model is about developing the wisdom to realize it is not about the destination but rather the journey.  Be present each day with those who are most important to you.  Life moves fast and you don’t want to look back and wonder; how did I miss that?  Two of my Daily Actions will help you live in the moment and enjoy the ride as you find the life you want to live. 

“My best preparation to live a good tomorrow is to live a Great today.”

 

Take each day and make it the best.  We don’t know how many days we have, so live life to the fullest.  Often we hear older people say; “If I only had known, I would have done . . . .” Live your life looking ahead NOT looking back.  As we grow daily in our faith we realize that God should be the center of our lives.  Our Faith will center us and provide clarity on the journey.

 

“I am a person of great faith.  I believe all my talents and gifts come from God.”

 

When we recognize that our gifts and talents are God-given we can overcome the challenges, obstacles and roadblocks we face daily.  The strongest leaders realize they need help to become their best.  Achieving great results in your life is the opportunity to become the person God is calling you to be.

 

Gary

How do we create influence in our lives?

As we transition through the SAGE Leadership model our next field of study is Influence.  Influence is an action!  Influence is created by the daily actions we show and do in our everyday life.  Let’s talk about ways in which we can create an influence on others.  

 

Have you ever noticed how easily people with a positive attitude can influence you?  Very quickly you realize the people who are optimistic or pessimistic, whether their cup is half full or half empty.  Influence is not power, it is more a sharing of wisdom or knowledge.  The SAGE Leadership model is about recognizing the wisdom within ourselves.  As we grow to be a leader it is by our actions and not necessarily by our words that we develop Influence.  It is not having power over others but rather having discipline over our thoughts, words and actions. 

 

Three of my “Ten Daily Actions to Live By” are directly associated with Influence, the first is:

 

“I choose to have a great attitude.  I am a happy person

and I will have a positive attitude toward others.”

 

I designed this Action to create a discipline of self; enabling you to influence others and share yourself within the community of people you impact daily.  My second Action states: 

 

“I know where I want my life to go. 

I have chosen my path to follow daily.”

 

True leaders lead themselves first before they ever try to influence others.  Do you have a plan for your life?  Have you created goals? Have you created a discipline to follow the path you have chosen?  I authored this quote and it has helped me;

 

“Goals are like having your headlights on,

because you know where you are going”

 

My last Daily Action impacted by Influence is choice; how we choose to live our life with others: 

 

“I will greet every day with a forgiving spirit. 

I will forgive myself and others.”

 

As we are able to forgive ourselves and others our influence grows and the people we impact daily expands.  Why is it so hard to forgive?  The main reason is pride, it gets in our way.  Whether we recognize our pride or not, others see it and it lessens our influence.  When we forgive openly we begin to create a deeper relationship with our self and others.

 

As we grow stronger in our faith we influence our self, enabling us to be stronger in all of our relationships.  Why?  Because, when God is our center, we develop greater clarity or understanding of self.  He then helps us visualize ways in which we need to grow in our relationships with others.

 

The first action we must take is to Influence our own life and then our impact will multiply, infinitely influencing others.

 

Gary

The SAGE Leadership Model

As we work our way through the SAGE Model we transition from Energy to Connections.  Looking at the connections in our life we begin the process of examining ourselves, evaluating our identity so to speak and the roles we play. 

First we must examine our personal identity; asking the question, Who am I? By examining ourselves emotionally and physically, we begin to understand our true identity. Self-examination allows us to recognize our strengths, weaknesses and unique passions for life.  Take an inventory of the roles you play in your life; like husband, father, boss, leader, son, faith leader, friend and business associate.  This process allows us to recognize the connections we have to others.

Two of my Daily Actions directly deal with connections.  The first is,

My life is about loving and helping people.  I have a caring and decided heart.

 

As we develop this action in our life, it allows us to impact everyone we come into contact with.  Just think if your mindset for everyone you come in contact with was to love and help?  The key is we must have the caring and decided heart to make this happen. 

 

The second action is,

 

I make people and things flourish by the amount of time and care I give them.

 

Analyze the inventory you took of your roles.  These should be the people you connect with on a regular basis.  Do you give them your time and care daily to help them flourish?  If not, look at ways you can increase your time and care with those who are important. 

 

Story:  When our children were young my wife and I established a nightly bedtime routine.  We would read to our children and then put them each into their bed.  We then spent some one-on-one time with each giving them a back rub.  I never understood why my wife felt this routine was so crucial, but she explained that this routine gave her peace and she wanted to convey that peace to each of them as they went to sleep.  One weekend after attending a Cursillo weekend (a short course in Christianity) she heard of a person that also blessed her children before bed.  So, we added that practice to our nightly routine.  Still today our children want us to tuck them in bed, give them a back rub and bless them.  Over the last 6 months I have added a practice I read about at a conference, I say: 

 

I feel and sense the magnificence in you.

 

These rituals create a connection between mother, father, son and daughter.  Remember your connections are passed on and are a reflection of how others view you.

 

So, how do your connections view you? Positively or negatively?  Remember your emotions are also conveyed by your actions, are you mad, sad, happy excited etc…?  Your connections are directly linked to who you are.

 

Gary

SAGE Energy

In the Sage Leadership model we say SAGE is a very wise person.  How does a person become wise?  It starts with the mindset for a willingness to learn and grow, to be a Leader. 

The first area you as a SAGE leader, must consider is Energy.  Energy is the fuel required for us to become the Leader we want to be.  What are the sources we consider when we want energy?  Determining our passions creates energy. 

As we determine our purpose in life, energy begins to build.  Health and exercise allows our body to create physical energy.  The friendships we share in our lives and our faith will produce mental energy.  As we create disciplines and habits we produce the energy necessary for our life.  This energy allows us to grow our knowledge and learn new things which in-turn increases our energy. 

The second Daily Action is:

“I take responsibility for who I am. 

I am responsible for my past and future.”

As we accept responsibility and own our lives, it gives us the energy to make changes and live the life we truly want.  Take ownership today of what you want to achieve for your life.

The third Daily Action is:

“I am a person of action. 

I choose to seize the moment and I choose now!”

This discipline of choosing or choices will be the future energy in our life.  As we choose our direction, goals and faith; our energy will follow that path.  The discipline we create in our life through deliberate, focused choices, will determine the results.  As we create disciplines they become habits, as they become habits they become daily routines that allow us to grow to become the person we choose to become.  If you want to create more energy in your life, look at one way today you can choose to create a habit that will change something in your life in a positive manner.

Gary

What is SAGE?

You thought I was referencing a spice, didn’t you?  Well I wasn’t, Sage is also defined as a profoundly wise person.  So, my question is:

“How do we become a wise person?”

I believe wisdom comes from within, molded by our experiences, learning and growing daily in our lives.  We grow in our daily lives by increasing our knowledge in areas like education, leadership, faith and health.  As we want our life to grow, we must also grow the time spent within these areas.

A colleague and I have been working on a new Leadership model that I feel will walk you through the necessary steps toward becoming a true SAGE Leader.  The SAGE Leadership Model develops the wisdom from within ourselves allowing us to pursue our passions.  To develop and learn the skills we need in our life, guiding us in becoming the person we want to be. 

Wisdom is the first action we must seek to truly find our passions, giving us the energy, connections and influence necessary to get greater results daily.  As we become aware of this Wisdom, it allows us the freedom to seek different ways in which we can attain knowledge.  A true Leader does not always have the knowledge but they are always willing to learn and grow in the search.  This process follows the first of my Ten Daily Actions:

“My Life is a message.  I will make it what I want it to be.”

 

The person who discovers their message is well on their way to becoming a SAGE Leader because they have established what they want their life to be.  Over the next several weeks we will talk more about how you can incorporate the Sage Leadership model into your daily life.

 

Gary

PS.  My contact information is:

Gary Wilbers

Executive Coach

573-644-7300

gwilbers@ascendbusinessstrategies.com