Personal Leadership for Women: Who We Are

We are who we are because of the choices we have made. 

If we like who we are, then we can continue to make the same choices.

If we want to be something other than who we are, then we need to make different choices.

It is that easy and that difficult.

Personal Leadership for Women: Finish What You Start

For me, starting projects is easy.  New projects are fun and exciting.  The difficulty is in finishing them.  Finishing is what matters, however.  It is in finishing the project that we get the results that we want.

Do you finish what you start?  Or as one project gets old or difficult, do you leave it to start new project?  If so, why?  When we can identify why we do something, or do not do something, we have a better chance of changing. 

Also, we have a better change of finishing if we focus on the result we want to achieve.  This can give us the motivation and dedication to finish.  Finishing matters!

Personal Leadership for Women: You Can Lead a Horse to Water…

We have all heard the phrase, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”  There are two points I would like to make about this statement.

If you are the “handler,” you cannot make the horse drink.  You can lead it to water and do everything to encourage the horse to drink, but you cannot force it to do so.  In the same way, you can provide information, education, resources, assistance, and encouragement to others, but you cannot make them learn and you cannot make them change.  It has to be their decision to learn and change.   

There may come a time when you need to decide that it is just not worth trying to get someone to “drink” any more and instead spend your time and effort where it will make a difference.

Let’s look at this from another perspective.  What do you do when you are the “horse?”  If someone leads you to water, do you drink?  If someone is offering you information, education, resources, assistance, and encouragement, do you learn and change?  Or do you refuse?  If so, why?  

If you can determine the real reasons you do not want to learn and change when given the opportunity, you may discover the hurdles that are reining you in from achieving the professional and personal that success you desire.

Personal Leadership for Women: Do Things That Make You Smile

It is said that laughter is good for the soul.  I believe that.  I think there are wonderful things that happen to us when we laugh.  I think good things happen to us when we smile, too.

When we find something that makes us smile, it makes us feel better, if only for a moment or two.  That can lift our spirits and give us a new perspective on the situation we are facing.

I realized this many years ago when I was going through a very difficult time.  I happened to glance out the side window as I was driving to work and I saw a rabbit sitting by the side of the road.  It made me smile.  That was a turning point for me.  I knew then that I would survive the tough time I was facing.

There are so many little things that we can do to make us smile every day.  Pictures of those we love on our desk can make us smile.  (Of course, we have to remember to look at them throughout the day!)  I have a special ringtone on my phone for my husband.  Every time it rings it makes me smile.  I really enjoy nature, so for me just looking out the window can often make me smile just by seeing something as silly as a squirrel.  Pets can make us smile, and often make us laugh out loud.  A list of our accomplishments can make us smile when we look at it.

What makes you smile?  What can you do to set the stage for frequent smiles throughout the day?

Personal Leadership for Women: Just Do Something

There are great resources available on time management.  One common recommendation is to work on those items that will make the most impact on your life.  It can be easy to get bogged down in doing little things that are not really that important.  Yet we like to do them because they are easy, because they are quick, or we just like doing them.  In general, I agree with this advice.

There are times, though, when I just do not feel like doing anything.  Can any of you relate to that?  Sometimes I just do not have the energy or focus for a large project.  I have found that it helps just to do something, anything.  Once I start doing something, even if it’s one of those little things that will not have that big of an impact, it gets me started.  Once I get started and build a little momentum, then it becomes easier to get involved in the bigger projects that do matter.

I think something important to remember is that each of us has to find what works for us.  There is no one right way.  As long as each of us is getting the results we want, then our method is working for us.