LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel, that is the purpose of life." The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

Last week, I referenced the film, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and received a number of comments about how much people enjoyed this movie.

I decided to spend a couple of weeks looking at some of the great quotes from the movie, and the first one I found was this:

"Hey Todd, I can't really talk right now. I'm on my way to a volcano."

Instead of diving into the depth of that one, I pulled the one above.

What does this say to you about the purpose of your life?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans." From John Lennon's Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

While Lennon used this line in his song, the words have been spoken by a number of people prior.

I thought this idea went well with the Steve Jobs quote from last week:

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life."

It's early October, and time does seem to be speeding up. As we enter into the final quarter of the calendar year, I find myself re-thinking my aggressive list of goals and projects I had hoped to accomplish this year. I'm running out of time, so I'm crossing things off the list, merging projects, and trying to figure out what is the most important.

However, the danger is as I focus frantically on the tasks at hand, I run the risk of missing out on some of the things that are right in front of me... LIFE.

Here's the simple reminder today: Don't get LOST in your planning. There are things that are happening all around you every day... don't miss them!

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living somebody else's life." Steve Jobs

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I was researching this quote, and found a commentary where someone made this statement as to what Jobs might have meant when he said this:

"Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

I love this insight into the quote, and I'm sure Jobs had some other thoughts on this.

What about you?

What does it mean to you, "Don't waste it living somebody else's life."

We all end up doing things that we don't want to be doing. Part of that is work, part of that is personal time control. What would be a WASTE to you?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Humans are not driven by the past, we're pulled forward by the future we're most committed to." Dr. Benjamin Hardy

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I heard someone speak about vision this past week and he did a great job of framing the timeline of vision by looking at where they had come from, and painting a compelling vision of where they were going.

This quote from Dr. Benjamin Hardy reminds us that we are PULLED FORWARD by the vision that we are working towards.

Have you ever been PULLED by something or the idea of something?

In LifePlanning, there is a tool where we stop what we're doing and we create an image of what life will be like in 10 years. I have clients write simple descriptive statements about what they will be doing in 10 years in different domains of their life.

We're creating a picture of the future, of the future we are being called to, the future we are wanting to create.

Paint yourself a picture. Choose one domain: Personal, Family, Vocation, Community or Faith: What will this look like in your life in 10 years? What do you see?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about." Winston Churchill

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I'm diving into some great quotes from some famous authors of the past, and I've had a handful just jump out at me. Take a look at the past 3 quotes HERE, and today I rediscovered this quote from Winston Churchill.

I love this quote from Churchill. It's a CHARGE and a CHALLENGE to keep going and to not give up. A number of times he used words like: "We will never give in" or "We shall never surrender". Sometimes he even repeated the words.... never, never, never to make a point.

So here he is simply telling us to not give up on something that we are spending a lot of time and energy focused on.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind? What are you thinking about everyday?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." Mark Twain

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I'm diving into some great quotes from some famous authors of the past, and I've had a handful just jump out at me. Take a look at the past 3 quotes HERE, and today I discovered this quote from Mark Twain.

Twain was simply making an observation about people when he compared them to the moon: We can never see the full moon, or both sides of the moon, and people are like this. Often people just want us to see their "good side" or the "sunny side", but the reality is that everyone has a "dark side" or better said, a "hidden side".

When we say DARK it sounds so mysterious and maybe evil. That might be the case, but I think Twain was simply saying that there are things that we never show to other people, we keep some things hidden. He doesn't say this is bad, but is simply making an observation.

What do you think he is saying?

Do you agree that everyone has a side of their lives that they keep hidden?

What about you? Are there things in your life that you don't want anyone else to see?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Life is a journey, not a destination."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

I'm diving into some great quotes from some famous authors of the past, and I've had a handful just jump out at me. Take a look at the past 2 quotes HERE, but today, Emersons quote just resonated.

Sometimes I am so focused on goals, plans, being strategic and getting stuff done that I forget that getting the list all checked off isn't always the most important thing. It's important, and I will continue to encourage people to "get stuff done", however when I only focus on my lists, I have the tendency to forget about what is going on around me. I'm so focused on getting the tasks done, that I miss opportunity for conversation, for deeper relationship and for enjoying where I'm at.

The quote reminds us that there is a balance between DOING and BEING, between CONTROLLING and LETTING GO, between PEACE and PURSUIT.

If you're like me, you miss some of the most important things.

Remember, it's a JOURNEY and the destination is important, but it's not the only thing.

Think about some of the things you might be missing because you're so focused on GETTING THERE that you're missing the experience of the JOURNEY?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

After last weeks quote from Shel Silverstein, I starting thinking about what some of my other favorite authors have said, and this one line, pulled from a longer quote from Tolkien is a great thought.

We tend to value production over experience. When we think of the word "wander" we assume it's because someone doesn't have anyplace to go, or I might use it as an excuse for being lost.

We don't value the idea of "wandering around" because this appears to meaningless.

The reality is that sometimes in our wandering, that's when we find something of value or importance. We find something that we would have missed had we been on an uninterrupted journey.

When was the last time you just "wandered" around? This can mean taking your time from point A to point B, or it can be wandering around without a destination? Can you remember?