Keepin it Real

Hey y'all! It's been a LONG time since my last post. Honestly, life has gotten busy and I haven't had as much time to think through things - I'm not going to post for posts sake. One of the things that I've been grappling with lately is what I really want to do with my life. Everyone makes it sound so simple - have a family, a career, travel the world, etc. That isn't really what I'm talking about, though those are great goals to aspire to - I'm talking about what do you want to do day to day to be happy and fulfilled. THAT is a much harder question. The thing that makes it so hard is that you THINK certain things will make you happy and they do, but the over time, it becomes another chore in life.

Personally, I struggle with the whole closure thing. I'm not good at knowing that something good has run its course and having the courage to walk away. I'm always trying so hard to hold onto every little positive thing or success that sometimes I hold on too tightly and end up stressing myself out. I also loathe the phrase "Are you stressed? when my entire life is stress. It might not be stress about my survival, more like, self imposed stress. I'm trying to do a good job with everything I do and make sure I can balance my many commitments. I'm digressing, but I wanted to make that point - life is stress for me.

Back to my earlier point, how do you know when to walk away from something and try something new? What would that something new be? Well, as I said, I'm not the best at identifying that. Typically, something happens that forces me into a new position. I'll admit, the biggest obstacle is overcoming my own fear. Even if things are going badly, I think about that it could be worse and the unknown is worse. That isn't necessarily true, but that's my line of thought. People always say the grass is greener on the other side (until you get to the other side and then it's not as nice as you think it is).

I also struggle with knowing if I'm giving up or not. I'd describe myself as persistent and resilient and I don't want to feel like a quitter. I always am trying to get better and trying to do more, but at what point is that futile? I think that it takes a good look in the mirror and some honest questions - is this helping me or the other party anymore? Is this great job, relationship, hobby, etc. what it should be? If not, is it worth my energy to repair it, or do I need a break or to move on?

Now, I've admitted I'm not good at this, but one thing I know is that every time I've lost a job or relationship that is stressing me out, I've felt like a huge weight is lifted. I'm upset, sure, but I feel like I'm breathing air rather than drowning in water. Maybe placing yourself on the "greener" side theoretically would help, maybe jumping headfirst in would help.

By doing the above, you can start to get real with yourself. What do you want out of life? What do you want to contribute? What do you hope to see, do, experience? I'm a NOT a planner as it limits me, personally, but a rough understanding of yourself is necessary to be open to opportunities or experiences that will change your life. Keep it real with yourself and your life.

What is Thought Leadership?

I’ve been thinking lately about how people define thought leadership. I define thought leadership as being a pioneer when it comes to identifying future solutions and trends. That means taking into account the past of a given subject, idea or industry, understanding the changes that it underwent to reach the present and what things about the present will ultimately drive the future. Thought leadership means different things to different people, but that’s my definition.

What frustrates me the most is that many individuals claim to be thought leaders because of their expertise and experience. While I am not trying to discount those things, that is only part of the big picture. Expertise and experience only help you to understand the past, the present and how you got to this point. The real differentiator for those that are actually thought leaders is the ability to understand the reasons for change and how that will affect their initiatives.

Inexperience offers a clear disadvantage as the only way to research how things were and became so is to ask others or research it alone. A lot gets missed when you haven’t “walked the path.” That doesn’t mean that inexperienced individuals cannot possibly be thought leaders. Inexperience offers an advantage as well.  Often, those that are inexperienced are young and idealistic. Youth can be defined as young to the industry, role or situation and/or young in terms of age. Youth can offer the advantage to not being set in a particular way of accomplishing things or generating ideas. This can be leveraged to initiate more creative solutions and visions for the future. 

In addition, thought leaders are not those that follow current trends without looking out ahead to see how they will develop and evolve. Individuals can be “superstars” currently in their industries, but if they don’t actively keep up with how things are changing, they are sure to fall behind. This issue sometimes goes hand in hand with the experience myth. Experience and current success does not automatically make an individual a thought leader. Thought leaders push the limits of things, look and plan ahead and develop multiple strategies for the future. 

While I don’t claim to be a superstar or experienced, I think that I am an emerging thought leader in a few different areas. In addition to seeing the future big picture, I think thought leaders really can change the direction of certain trends or overall practices. Things that are in place “just because” can be changed to be more efficient, or just make more sense for the current situation, time, environment, etc. Not all things should be changed “just because” either. I think thought leaders can identify those things that can be done better and actually come up with a solution to make it better. 

My last thought about thought leaders is that they don’t merely identify issues or trends. Thought leaders DO things, STRIVE to do things and ACHIEVE results. Just identifying something is less than half of the battle. Strategizing ways to leverage a trend or solution is the hardest thing to accomplish, and I believe true thought leaders do this. Any thoughts on thought leadership?