“The lion is king because of one simple word; Attitude!” – Myles Munroe

When you see yourself as a leader, you become a leader. This statement may sound overly simplified but as any true leader has discovered, there is a great deal of growth and development before one may see themselves as a true leader! As leadership is birthed, developed and exercised, the growing leader will experience the confidence of a lion to lead others with strength and humility.

Leadership is Crucial

“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” – John C. Maxwell

It is crucial for true leaders to rise up and lead. The saying is true that all it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing. When true leaders influence the world, it becomes a better place. This idea is better understood by discovering the nature of a true leader.

True Leadership

A true leader has discovered their reason for existing on this planet. Innate influence causes a person to lead others when they discover their purpose. This births the leadership attitude which causes others to follow their lead!

“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less!” – John C. Maxwell

Purpose and Leadership

“What changes a follower into a leader is a change in attitude.” – Myles Munroe

Nothing changes a person’s attitude more than finding their true purpose.

A person who discovers their purpose becomes a contagious leader. Purpose becomes the driving force, leading to greater inspiration for leadership. Inspiration is the most pure form of influence found in a leader’s repertoire for leading others!

“Leadership is the capacity to influence others through inspiration, generated by a passion, motivated by a vision, birthed from a conviction, produced by a purpose.” – Myles Munroe

The following steps are derived from Myles Munroe’s definition of leadership.

To increase your leadership you must turn Myles Munroe’s definition upside-down:

1. Discover your purpose

Your purpose is your reason for being on the planet. It is your assigned destiny! We all posses talents, desires, personalities, etc. that cause us to excel in a particular field or endeavor. This is a signpost to our purpose. We are all born to fill a profound purpose!

2. Grow your conviction

Believing in your purpose is essential for following a path to your destiny. Each human has an obligation to humanity to add value to this planet before they die. We all have brilliance stored within waiting to be discovered. Conviction needs to fulfill purpose!

3. Receive your vision

Our life’s vision is a picture of how this world will be a better place because we have impacted it during and after our lifetime. Dreams and desires lead to a sense of our purpose in pictures. As we see our unique purpose it can become a lived out reality!

4. Passion is produced

A life vision infuses us with a passion to energize our efforts and enthuse others to follow our goals.  Passion is revealed in a life that has discovered something to die for. A significant cause, related to potential breeds passion within us and those we lead!

5. Inspire others

When people view living passion their desire to live for more is awakened. This causes followers to move towards the one with an intense passion. When individuals experience your commitment they galvanize as teams under the life vision you live and express.

6. Influence others

Influence speaks to the core desires of humanity.  Significance, truth and acceptance are three core desires of humanity. When a person finds their purpose, others are attracted to the energy lived in a dream. Without influence, a leader must resort to manipulation.

Press into Purpose

Leadership is increased as we discover and press into our purpose for living. A business leader discovers their “gift” and learns to serve it to the world through the platform of a business (or group of businesses). A ministry leader discovers their “gift” and learns to serve it to the world through the platform of a ministry (or group of ministries). Politicians, educators, etc. are similar.

What is your greatest gift?

Your gift may not have fully emerged but you will have desires in a general direction. As we refine our desires and gifts to sharpen our focus upon our true purpose, we discover a clearer picture of our leadership purpose in life.

Your leadership is a key to your prominence on this planet!

Every person has a key to influencing the world. I believe the old saying is true, “Everyone has 5 minutes of fame!” Some have lifetime influence as they discover their purpose and serve it!

Purpose Activity

List 3 of your favorite things to do. Design a business or ministry plan around one of these. As you embrace the planning stages for this new venture you will begin to tap into your purpose.

By designing a number of ventures you will breathe life into your purpose. Find the venture that promises the highest return of significance (in your perception). This is a part of your purpose. Actively pursue this venture and you will begin to really lead!

I believe that we all have a purpose for being here. There is a reason why you are here in this universe and that there is a specific role for you to fulfil. Even though this is a belief, I do think that anyone who is in touch with their spirit (or soul or other self) will know that there is a part of you that long for more than just the day to day physical needs of life. We all long for more and this longing, in a sense is fulfilled by your purpose. Your purpose in life is not a pre-assigned role, but rather a decision that you make as a result of introspection. There is no black board in the sky on which your purpose is written. There is however feelings and experiences that you long to experience while you are here and your purpose is what will cause you to experience, feel and be that which you long for on the deepest level of being a human “being.”

The original Latin meaning of the word purpose is derived from the word intention; meaning that your purpose is there by (your) design and is something that you intend either consciously or unconsciously. When you intend for something to happen you are the one that makes it happen; it is not something or someone outside of yourself. Most people spent all their lives waiting for “a sign” as to what their purpose is. They spend all their lives trying to find their purpose instead of just deciding and using the power of intent to make things happen. Nelson Mandela as a young man saw things he did not like and he decided that his purpose in life will be to rid the world of racial inequalities. This became the very reason for him living and even though his purpose lead him on a very rocky road, his purpose did not change. All this was born in a truly committed decision. His committed decision lead to a definiteness of purpose; something that did not change, despite all the odds being against him. He found a purpose that was much bigger than himself that gave him leverage to achieve the impossible.

With a strong sense of purpose you can achieve virtually anything. Purpose is what gives you the reasons for doing something. In life there is a big difference between what you can do and what you actually do and the results usually comes down to your motivation. Motivation is nothing but having a strong sense of purpose; a sense of knowing why you do what you do. When people don’t know why they are doing something they will rarely do it full-out and they will rarely stick with it long term. Purpose is the engine of human motivation. Purpose give you the reasons why and in with strong enough reasons “why to” you will find the “how to’s” – reasons come first and the answers come second as a result of the why.

Purpose therefore gives you power. It gives you the power to persist and take action until you succeed. When you say that someone did something “on purpose” you are actually saying that he was responsible for doing it and that it is because of him that it happened. When you use your mind, your body and your emotions you have the ability to bring into being virtually anything on purpose. By intending for it to happen you can make it real. With a strong purpose you are able to tap into the unlimited resources that are within you; resources that become available because you feel compelled to make it happen. When it is a must you will find within yourself the resources to make it happen. When what you want is merely a wish, it is only a “should” that might only come together when it is convenient. Musts happen regardless of your circumstances or situation for it is your very purpose. It is your reason for being. Nelson Mandela was able to change the way a whole nation thought and he even broke down barriers all over the world from the confines of a prison cell. With a strong enough purpose nothing can hold you back.

Discovering and living your purpose is all there really is for you to do in this life. It is like the axis of the wheel of your life and it holds everything in your life together. Your purpose gives meaning to everything you do and provides you with an inexhaustible well of resources to truly achieve whatever you set out to achieve or accomplish. The ironic thing however is that when you are on purpose all the “things and stuff” do not matter for the feeding of your purpose is what you truly long for and it needs no external satisfaction other than the experience.

Great minds have a purpose and it is usually a purpose that goes beyond themselves; beyond what they will “get”. With their purpose they serve humanity. You can only find that much drive to serve and uplift yourself, but when you turn your attention to a cause much bigger than yourself you can find a purpose that has immense power to propel you to do virtually anything; even that which most people think of as impossible. The human spirit is truly one of love as we will do more for others than we will ever do for ourselves. When you find something that you can serve that goes beyond your personal gains you will discover that life’s greatest joys is in giving; in giving the gift the you are.

Each moment on your journey, you are presented with an opportunity to react differently when yet another someone or something in your life rubs you the wrong way, or you may find yourself wanting to walk away from a circumstance, but are not sure if that is the right thing to do. However, you may find yourself stuck in a rut that seems impossible from which to extricate yourself. You may even make the same choices over and over again because you do not know how to choose otherwise.

Rather than moving you forward, your present path may take you in a seemingly never-ending circle where your actions and choices lead you, not only, nowhere, but to where you’ve been before. It is during these repetitious moments that awareness becomes the first step to change.

Awareness is the moment when you are able to recognize what you are doing at the deepest level. You observe yourself, noticing your actions, reactions and choices in real time. Awareness is the first step to change because you can not make a change unless you are aware of what needs to be changed.

You can then understand why you are doing what you are doing. Afterward, it becomes difficult not to change because you are no longer in a fog about what you are doing. You will, also, realize that as much as you are the root source behind the causes for your behaviors, you are also the originator for any changes that you need to make.

There is infinite freedom in your awareness. Rather than thinking that you are stuck in a repetitive cycle with no escape, you will begin to see how you play a role in creating your life. Whether you are aware of them or not, your behaviors and choices are yours to make. Your past and present no longer have to dictate your future when you choose to be aware in real time. You are then free to move beyond your old limits, make new choices, and take new actions. With awareness, you take a new path that moves you forward while paving the way for new experiences and new ways of being. It is through awareness that you can continue to consciously evolve.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, “101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life.” Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one’s daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_M._Neddermeyer,_PhD

This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.

www.theRSA.org

Youtube Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Overall, reading inspirational quotes on a regular basis can help a person become more successful, and lead a happier, more fulfilling life. There are literally thousands of great quotes to choose from, providing people with a never-ending supply of free motivation.

Read ahead to learn the four main ways that reading inspirational quotes on a daily basis can help to improve your life, and bring you more success. Read them all, there are some great points here!

1) A quick boost of motivation:

Reading inspirational quotes can help to improve your life by giving you a great pick-me-up immediately after reading them. You will instantly feel happier, more motivated, and inspired after reading the right quote. This, in turn, will help give you the energy that you need to get going and work towards your goals.

2) Quotes help pick you up from a depression:

If you are feeling down or depressed, almost nothing will cure it better than reading an inspirational quote or two. Reading lots of inspiring quotes on a daily basis is almost certain to help you feel better and help you kick the blues away. Also, quotes are free! Reading motivational quotes is the easiest and quickest way to cure depression, and it’s cheaper than a psychologist!

3) Quotes help cure procrastination:

Procrastination is one of the toughest things that most people deal with. It is very difficult to beat procrastination, but reading a few inspiring quotes when you are having trouble getting motivated is the quickest and best way to beat procrastination instantly. Almost nothing works better for curing a bad case of procrastination than reading inspirational quotes!

4) There are an almost unlimited number of quotes!

There are hundreds of thousands of quotes out there, with new ones being created each day. The best part is that they are free! This means that you can never run out of original, inspiring quotes that will help give you the great feelings and inspiration to improve your life.

In short, reading daily inspirational quotes and motivational quotes is one of the easiest, cheapest, fastest, and best ways to create a better life for yourself. They will motivate you, help you beat procrastination, and provide lots of other benefits as well. They are even good for a laugh! Reading inspirational quotes can change your life.

DailyInspirationalQuotes.net is the number one source for free inspirational quotes delivered daily. Visit the site and join the free daily quotes email list to enjoy the powerful benefits that inspiring quotes can give you!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Samantha_Crowley

By Samantha Crowley

Simply, most of our achievements in life start with an idea of something that we would like to do, to have, or to achieve. Many people call this the dream. It’s an idea, a concept of something we want.

Some people think a dream is the same thing as a goal, but it’s really not. Think of a goal as a dream with a date on it. That’s over-simplifying, but it’s easy enough to understand. Dreams can be a bit vague but goals have to be specific. To make this easier, I’ll discuss it in relation to a recent diet of mine.

Click here to view the embedded video.

My dream, if you will, was not to weigh a certain amount. That’s really too vague. What is a “weight”? It’s an arbitrary number that an instrument gives us to show what? If you don’t understand scales, pounds, and the relationship between height and build, it’s just a number. My dream was not something like that; my dream was an image I had in my mind. That image was my person in a slimmer body. I knew what I wanted to look like. That picture in my mind was my dream.

During my life I have moved through weights from around 5-1/2 pounds to 220 pounds. I say I’ve moved through them. Actually, sometimes I’ve moved through ranges of those weights more than once! But, I remember what I looked like when I was at some of those weights. In fact, I still have pictures of my wife and me at our wedding when I weighed between 135 and 140. That’s not my dream, but I have the image. If your weight is higher than what you want it to be, I’ll bet that you have an image of you with your preferred body shape in your mind too. So I had a dream, a vision.

Next, I had to refine the dream into a specific goal. I had to do some analysis to find a goal that would produce an acceptable vision. So, I chose the weight that would meet the vision, and then I put a time frame on it. In my case, that was easy because I was going on my first-ever cruise in nine months…now I had a date and motivation!

Dreams and goals are important, but you won’t achieve them without a plan. You need a plan that you believe you can follow, one that you are confident will produce the desired results, and one that you can use to measure your progress. Also, you need to be able to adjust your plan if it doesn’t produce as you want it to.

I was fortunate that I had dieted before and had a pretty good idea of what worked for me. So, I put a plan in place that reduced my daily calorie intake to a set amount and continued the exercise routine I had already developed. I created a goal chart to track my progress on a monthly basis. And, I set an end date for achieving the goal. I’d never started a diet this way before. I’d had the dream before, and I’d had goals before. I had just never laid them out in a reasonable, long-term, measurable manner before. This time I decided to follow things I’d learned about goal setting, and I was going to succeed.

So I started my diet, followed my plan, and tracked my progress. As time went on, I could look at my progress and decide whether the plan was working and whether I was really executing the plan. How did it work? Well, I lost over half of what my goal was. What happened?

Remember that thing about visualizing what you want? As it turns out my vision of myself wearing some clothes that I already owned became reality before the final goal. I reached that point and lost another five pounds but fell off my plan at that point. I still need to get the vision of myself at the final goal weight, and it needs to be a vision of something I really want, something that will provide the motivation to take me the rest of the way.

Summary

What can we learn from this real-life example?

The dream must be something you can visualize so you really see yourself fulfilling it.
The goal is established by defining the dream with numbers that are measurable.
The plan has to be something you believe will work and that you can track yourself on.
Progress must be checked along the way.
Did I fail? No. I haven’t reached the final goal yet, but I now weigh 25 pounds less than when I started, and I’ve maintained that for almost nine months! That’s not failure, that’s progress toward my goal.

Want to learn more? Visit http://www.launchyourgoals.com/cbprods/c7stepsb.htm to learn how to stop missing your goals and start living your dreams.

Stop by Launch Your Goals Blog at http://www.launchyourgoals.com/blog to sign up for a free special report and to learn more about setting and achieving your goals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dale_Stuemke

By Dale Stuemke