If you want a simple list of areas that you should evaluate in your personal life on a regular basis, here they are:  Your Habits, Your Health, Your Relationships, Your Time, and Your Money.  These are the areas that require consistent self leadership and if neglected eventually make their way into your professional life and effect your ability to perform at your full potential.  You might take some time this week to ask yourself some honest questions about these 5 areas and give yourself a personal evaluation.  If you find an area that needs improvement, identify 3 things you can do in the next 24 hours to start the process of changing.  Finishing well is not automatic and requires self leadership and this is something that no one else can do for you.  Be willing to make whatever changes necessary so that you can experience your full potential.

I am always on the lookout for areas of a leader’s life where they lack clarity.  Throughout the coaching process, we work together to find places in their thinking where there is uncertainty and hesitation.  My job is to consistently ask guiding questions to help them not only discover areas that need work but also to discover the reason why certain questions have gone unanswered.

By nature, leaders are wired to advance, to win, and to lead others to do the same. This is what they do and where they are most comfortable.  When they lack clarity, it becomes very difficult for them to do what they do best.

There are many areas where a person needs to be clear but let me mention two that are most surprising to my clients; purpose and possibilities.  My job as a leadership coach is to help others become clear on their purpose to the point that they can communicate it back to me and convince me that they have reconnected with their core.  If they can’t convince me then the odds are they will not be able to convince anyone else.  Also, I work hard to help them reconnect with the possibilities of finishing well.  This is a natural source of passion and energy that revitalizes their confidence.

Suggestion:  Spend 15 minutes thinking about your one and only life and identify areas where you lack clarity.  In particular, focus on your purpose and possibilities.

No one likes mediocrity but many settle for it because they don’t realize that experiencing their God-given potential is actually possible.  However, it requires self leadership, vision, and a commitment to moving your story forward.  Although contrary to pop culture wisdom, you can’t become anyone you want to become.  You can however, become the very best you if you are willing to lead yourself well and pay attention to your unique design and harvest the vision that lies within.  Mediocrity means settling for anything less than your God-given potential.  Assuming you believe in a divine creator, it is important to discover exactly what He had in mind when He created you.  My experience is that He won’t do all the work for us but helps us discover and find the courage to re-arrange our lives towards our true potential.  Each day then begins to have new meaning and purpose and our stories move forward.  It is a great feeling to know we are stewarding our lives in a way that will lead us to finish well.

I will never forget the day I was sitting in my office and realized that mediocrity doesn’t require much work nor much focus and that it happens almost by default.  The longer I sorted this thought the more I found myself becoming agitated that I had allowed myself to settle for less than my full potential.  Then and there I decided to make changes because I didn’t see a long line of people who were volunteering to make the changes for me.

On average, I spend 8-10 hours each week discussing practical solutions with clients who have a deep desire to finish their lives well.  This includes both their personal life and their professional life.  My general profile of people who seek out leadership coaching are men and women who are fairly successful but who feel that they are losing their edge and are repulsed with the idea of mediocrity or settling for something less than their potential.

Each person bears the responsibility for stewarding their one and only life and focusing daily on finishing well.

I usually hit universal pay dirt when I talk about the need and importance of self leadership.  Everyone resonates with the core principle that if you can’t lead yourself well you will always struggle to lead others well.  Self leadership is a really cool idea but it is not for the faint of heart.  The most difficult person you will ever lead in your life will be yourself.

I would much rather lead other people than try to lead myself to higher levels of effectiveness.  Yesterday, I was working with a new client and she was frustrated with her attempts to lead herself better.  To help her understand why she was consistently struggling, I asked her to ask herself the following 4 questions.

Question #1: Do I have a clear vision for change? You must always start with some mental image of a preferred future and it needs to be as clear as possible.

Question #2: Have I made the decision to pursue this vision for change and if so, what actions can I point to demonstrate my decision? To grow, a person must make the decision to actually pay the price of change.

Question #3:  Do I have a plan that I can share with others that I believe will lead me toward my vision? Change doesn’t happen by accident or as a result of just a ton of effort.  You need a plan that makes sense, is doable, and also very simple.

Questions #4:  Have I made a commitment to do a daily mental review of all of the above? Expect resistance and failure.  It will happen!  With a daily review of the first 3 questions it will help you continue to grow and strengthen your commitment toward change.

These 4 questions usually will reveal the reason you are not moving forward (if you really want to know).

The following truth is at the very core of all of my coaching; your story is not predetermined!  You and I have the opportunity to respond to what God has entrusted us with including our talents, passions, vision, resources, and opportunities.

You will find yourself becoming more motivated on a daily basis when you make the decision to do a better job of stewarding your one and only life.  This is the very essence of self leadership; stewarding what has been entrusted to you.

The work involved in stewardship is the work that will bring you closer to finishing well.  If by chance you are in a low season of life, consider closing out this chapter, turning the page, and then doing the work required to write a new chapter in your story.

Usually, I can have people moving in a good direction within a few weeks and we always begin by simply listing out where they would like to be in 90 days.  Then, I have them schedule personal development time on a weekly basis to review and refine their 90 day vision. I reviewed mine this morning and found a couple of places that need more attention.  Give it a try!

Was talking to a client the other day on my way to catch a plane and didn’t have much time to explain my thoughts so I said, “Listen to me.  You won’t like what I am going to say but you need to hear it.  Although you are a very successful leader you are also very needy.  But guess what, so am I.”

It is one of those things about human beings that is just a fact.  We were created for community.  We need one another.  I am just like the next guy who would rather be independent, stand alone, self-reliant, and basically superman (one that can’t fly).

Self-leadership is difficult but doable, yet also near impossible when attempted in isolation.  All of us need to at least one person in our lives that knows what we are working on and can give us their support and encouragement.  I like to win but I like it better when others cheer me on.

If you want a simple list of areas that you should evaluate in your personal life on a regular basis, here they are:

Your Habits, Your Health, Your Relationships, Your Time, and Your Money.

These areas require consistent self-leadership. If neglected, they eventually make their way into your professional life and affect your ability to perform at your full potential.  You might take some time this week to ask yourself some honest questions about these 5 areas and give yourself a personal evaluation.  If you find an area that needs improvement, identify 3 things you can do in the next 24 hours to start the process of changing.  Finishing well is not automatic.

Of course, that’s where our services and resources can help move your story forward.