“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
— Leonardo Da Vinci
At some point, action is required.
It just is.
And you must “do.”
It is a trait of leadership to be able to not only recognize this vacuum but pour yourself into it. That singular moment that must be met and filled. With effort. Commitment. And character.
There is no manual, class or team dinner game sheet that will tell you when.
You just have to be fully embraced in it, be aware of it, and respond.
You may fail once, twice or ten times.
But simply knowing when the moment arrives and knowing what to do will not suffice.
It was once said that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the choice you make in the face of fear. Similarly, focus does not exist in the absence of distractions – it exists in spite of them.
Focus, then, also represents a choice. The decision you make to maintain and hold fast to your “vision” regardless of the situation, temptation or challenge.
It is highly unlikely that you will ever find yourself in an environment totally free of distractions. You can always count on something to be there to draw your attention, pick away at your resolve or make you second-guess your intentions, abilities and actions.
Distractions – especially now – are going to be more than abundant.
Some of these will present themselves as the self-inflicted variety. Usually born of doubt.
The ones you create and then tell yourself. You know, those little white lies that excuse the failure you are ultimately setting yourself up for. The rationale you use to lessen expectations, dim the light of your talents and diminish your purpose. The fiction that only serves to deflect attention from performance.
The prose that is generated to soften the blow when you tell yourself that you are not quite up to the challenge, because you think it might require too much of you. All because you choose to allow doubt to wedge its way into you.
Then there are those distractions that will act to divert your focus from the outside in. Perhaps it is your peers chipping away at your self imposed discipline, sacrifice and commitment. Or the press and the punditry that look to fill their space with copy and your head with nonsense. The chirping opponent looking to draw a flag.
A hostile playoff venue to take you out of your game. If you allow yourself to succumb to these types of “noise”, your eyes may come off the ball. You might lose your way. Failure may appear.
You have the ability to overcome these distractions, maintain your focus and relentlessly pursue your vision.
But this talent needs to be exercised regularly. Your ability to choose to remain focused in the face of distraction can become powerful – but only if you consistently challenge yourself to do so in all cases.
Confront every distraction and put it in their place. Recognize their origins and intentions. See them for what they usually are – self-doubt.
Keep your eyes on the prize, your head in the game and your heart full of purpose.
“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
Henry David Thoreau
Perhaps you find yourself at a crossroads. And by gaining a sense of this, feeling its tug and gaining an awareness of gravity, do you regroup? Engage in a course correction? Some element of self transformation?
Consider how the mass of your collective thoughts, words and deeds have led you to this instant. How they came to impact oneself. Make you something. Leading you somewhere.
They all matter. And even now, in this moment, both they and you are still being shaped.
Taking all that you have been up to now and making you into what you are to become. The embodiment of all that is the best in you; character, excellence, perseverance and leadership.
Your intentions can finally and irrevocably become reality. A convergence of age, ability, experience. The confluence of discipline, desire and dreams.
In something altogether new. That will stand alone and the test of time. That will never happen precisely in this fashion ever again.
Long ago, you may have entertained the smallest germ of a thought. A glimmer of a dream.
At that moment, you decided. You chose a destination.
A path was needed. Direction determined. A pace to be set.
So you let go. Abandoned yourself, while exerting the will to expend yourself in all aspects of your being. Succumbing to a level of self- discipline that ultimately created this extraordinary circumstance.
Creating a singular vision, originating from a common perspective. Led by the thoughts we chose to dominate our life. Following the deep mental path we walked along and through.
Guiding us to who, what and where we always imagined.
To epitomize attitude is often easier said than thought, understood and applied.
But attitude truly is everything.
In the right hands, a coach, mentor or leader can make attitude a powerful weapon of mass instruction. Instilling in others an awareness of its impact and how it can promote achievement and success. How it ripples ever outward. And ultimately, creates unanticipated growth.
Of all the things that we seek to control and temper throughout the course of our daily lives, attitude tends to be the one thing that is overlooked or taken for granted. Perhaps because it often requires more effort and perseverance than was ever anticipated. After all, it is not something that can be held, defined or KPI’d. It is only just attitude.
But then again, attitude is EVERYTHING. It alone belongs to and answers to us. It is a personal, business and life changer. If we can fully recognize and honor that.
However, more often than not, we choose to cede our authority to it. The wrong one. Allowing it to run rough-shod over us and others when we allow it. Attitude alone has the ability to transform any adversity into opportunity. Attitude provides one with the proper perspective regardless of the severity of the situation. It is our ally when we understand its goal. Enemy when we do not.
Attitude – good or bad – can go viral. It can become a highly contagious element. For good. And, for bad.
You must be willing and able to become the relentless source of a positive attitude for all. Not just for you. But for all.
And then?
Be willing to administer the vaccine should all negativity happen to turn it into a bad infection.
There is a misconception about the relationship between emotion and passion.
Both might be considered sources of energy, enthusiasm and effort in the context of performance. But truth be told, they are neither equal nor interchangeable.
When it comes to impacting performance, emotion is like kindling. Twigs, branches, scrap lumber. Remnants of something fallen. Leftovers of things that used to grow, and sustain life. Now? Readily combustible. Prone to sudden ignition. Just waiting to be lit. And given certain conditions, situations or settings – elements that can be dangerous. Exhibiting the potential to erupt into an uncontrollable flame. Kindling – like emotion – can burn white hot in an instant, spread rapidly without regard for its surroundings and consume all in its path. Even ultimatley, consuming itself.
Emotion follows whatever happens to start it and then feed it, but only for that moment, burning a path wherever it happens to be led. More often than not it comes as a response without regard for consequence, leading to actions built on misdirected energy, focus and intention. Haphazard. Indiscriminate. And entirely unsustainable. Much like kindling, pure emotion can behave absent of any purpose other than to consume. Entirely contingent on the right setting, circumstance and source for ignition. A reaction for reaction’s sake alone.
Passion, on the other hand, is an altogether different kind of energy source.
It is more akin to oak, maple or birch. Hardwoods, that grow sturdy in the elements, forged by the relentless challenges of the environment, weathering the storms of each season. Made to soldier on despite drought, flood, blizzard or injury to limb. Unlike the scattered forces of emotion, passion – like the oak – is an entity that is firmly grounded. Its roots are set deep and poised for growth. Passion is about exerting one’s full intention no matter the elements. Maximizing capacity regardless of the environment. Soldiering on, above and beyond each and every obstacle raised.
True passion is a fuel that is meant to be stoked by purpose.
One made present in a form that can be tempered contingent on the circumstance. Like seasoned oak, passion is intended to burn for the long run. Capable of sustaining a high level of energy for a relentless drive that commands a consistent and persistent release over time without condition. Passion is a source of energy that is made to be delivered with precision. Producing light when things look their darkest. Enhancing clarity in moments of truth. The catalyst that forges steel.
Emotion alone is incapable of sustaining this kind of effort. Only passion is equal to this task.
Don’t get me wrong, emotion is important. It is an integral part of our personal infrastructure. An element well suited to ignite new ventures.
But in the context of the life-long pursuit of achievement, success and excellence, emotion can only take you so far. It may enable you to perform briefly at a high level. But only in the correct setting, proper circumstance and timing. Emotion is dispensed in unsustainable, sporadic bursts. Moments that once extinguished, are out.
And gone for good.
Passion is the only genuine and self-perpetuating source of energy for all that you choose to accomplish. It is born of your mindset. One grown in the open, exposed to the harshest conditions and unrelenting environments. Only passion girds you to weather the storms of the season, keeping you firmly grounded, roots set deep, poised for growth.
Passion is all about exerting your full intention no matter the elements or the competition. Maximizing your capacity regardless of the environment.
Passion leads you to soldier on, above and beyond each and every obstacle raised.
So before you take that field tomorrow night, head to the office or look to find your role. by all means, light that fire. Stoke it white hot with a level of emotion reserved for each day of the week.
But then, as things happen, good or bad, be sure that you feed others with your passion. Guide your collective energies with intention. Drive yourself forward with purpose. Soldier on, as one, above and beyond each and every obstacle raised.
Fuel your performance as one with something more sustaining than just kindling.
...my temporary assignment. 