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| Leadership Essentials for leading YOUR life |
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October 11, 2009 Hello Sisters! This week has been very focused on “vision” and “direction.” I heard from a number of different authorities on these topics this week. First of all, I was invited to attend the Leadership Essentials workshop that was put on by Kate B. Reynolds Foundation and the Center for Creative Leadership. My pastor also spoke on this topic today. The resounding message from everyone is the same principle, whether you are leading a group, an organization, or your own life: Everybody will get somewhere, but you need direction to get somewhere on purpose! Does your life have direction, vision, a purpose? I can honestly say that my life wasn’t nearly as meaningful until I figured out my purpose. Yes, I lived a good life. I was content. I had a good job. I was in good physical health. I had friends. I had a loving family. I was a highly accomplished person. I had a lot of positive things going on in life! The only thing that was really missing was a purpose for my life. I didn’t really put my finger on what was missing until the summer/fall of 2007. Then, it started really nagging at my soul. I couldn’t get ONE question out of my mind: If I died today, who would attend my funeral and what would they say about me? What would I be remembered for? Essentially, what is MY LEGACY? I knew I needed to figure out what I was put on this earth to do. No one wants to come to the end of their life and say, “What did I really do with my life? Was it all just a waste?” But how? How could I figure out my purpose and direction for life? Well, for me, it was a matter of thinking about the skills and talents that God had bestowed upon me and praying for my purpose to be revealed to me. I spent lots of time reflecting on my life and thinking about what I truly enjoyed doing. I asked myself, “What things make me feel most alive?” If you need help with this, a great tool is a book called “Strength Finder 2.0.” After completing a questionnaire, it will show your top 5 strengths and how they help you in life and work. Another exercise is to write a mission statement for your life. I can vividly recall exactly where I was I-95 when the vision for DiabetesSisters came to me. After a few minutes of the ideas pouring out, I decided to pull over the car and write them down. I still have that life-changing piece of paper! Now, I am excited to wake up every day and see what I can accomplish for women with diabetes. Every day is an adventure! Each day that forward progress is made is small internal celebration for me. I know what my purpose is and it feels so good to make progress on improving the health and quality of life for women with, and those at risk for developing diabetes; and to advocate on their behalf (DiabetesSisters’ mission statement!). It is totally different from going to work and doing a job, coming home and dragging through the evening tasks, going to bed, and starting all over again. That’s the old life…the life unsure of its direction, the life without vision, the life that has not yet found its purpose. I am so excited to be where I am now…and I want to do what I can to help other women with diabetes uncover their purpose, direction, vision and make their mark on the world!
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