PREDICTING CONSEQUENCES: AN IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP SKILL

An important leadership skill is the ability to accurately predict the consequences of a decision. The potential consequences of any task or activity are the key determinants of how important it really. Projecting the consequences of a decision into the future is a way of evaluating the significance of a decision. Value judgements helps the leader determine what direction to take.

Long-term perspective is the most important attribute in determining leadership success in life and at work. Long-term perspective turns out to be more important than family background, education, race, intelligence, connections or virtually any other single factor. 

Attitudes toward time has an enormous impact on  behavior and choices. People who take the long view of their lives and careers always seem to make much better decisions about their time and activities than people who give very little thought to the future.

Principle centered leadership has a clear future-centric orientation. It thinks five, ten and twenty years out into the future. These leaders analyze their choices and behaviors in the present to make sure that they are consistent with the long-term future that they desire.

As a principle centered leader you review the consequences of your decisions to hone your decision making skills. Continually ask yourself, “Did the consequences of my decision have a positive impact on the situation and my leadership ability?” 

Principle centered leaders have a clear idea of what is really important, and that clarity of vision makes it much easier to make better short term decisions. 

By definition, something that is important has long-term potential consequences. Something that is unimportant has few or no long-term potential consequences. Before starting on anything, you should always ask yourself, "What are the potential consequences of the decision you are about to make?" 

The clearer you are about your future intentions, the greater influence that clarity will have on what you do in the moment. With a clear long-term vision, you are much more capable of evaluating an activity in the present and to assure that it is consistent with where you truly want to end up. 

If there is a task or activity with large potential positive consequences, make it a top priority and get started on it immediately. If there is something that can have large potential negative consequences if it is not done quickly and well, that becomes a top priority as well. Whatever your frog is, resolve to gulp it down first thing. 

Motivation requires motive. The greater the positive potential impact that an action or behavior of yours can have on your life, once you define it clearly, the more motivated you will be to overcome procrastination and get it done quickly.

Think continually about the potential consequences of your decisions. Visualization is one of the very best ways to determine your the true priorities at should enter into your decision making process. 

Remember, you have the freedom choose, but you do not have the freedom to choosethe consequences of your chooses.

Choose carefully.

HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS: START MAKING BETTER DECISIONS

How would you rate your decision-making ability on a scale of one to ten?

If you are a skilled decision maker then you should stop reading this article.  But if you rated yourself low on the scale then this article has useful information.

Some people are gifted with the ability to make wise decisions.  Those people who were no so fortunate must learn the skill.

Decision making is a very important skill.  We are where we are because of the decisions we have made.

Instead of trying to go from bad to best in one leap start by striving for better. If we commit to consistently better results then we will achieve best.

The first step toward making better decisions is to stop proceeding with a poor decision. Stop doing what you are doing and find a better way. If you are going on a trip and suddenly realized that you were going in the wrong direction, what would you do? Stop. Figure out which direction to go then go in the right direction. Why then should we not apply that same approach to all facets of our life?

The ancient Chinese had a saying for this: "if you want a cup of hot tea you must first empty the cup."

Why do we keep doing what we know does not work? The comfort zone feeels like a safe place. Status quo is a painful, but familiar place. It is the path of least resistance.  Successful people do not live in the comfort zone.

Ask yourself two questions and base all your decisions on the answers to these questions.

Question one: Am I meeting the real need, informing myself of options, and Thinking it through?

Question two: Is this something I merely want or really need?


A want is a wish. A want implies immediate gratification (short term).

A need is a necessity. A need implies delayed gratification (long term).

Focus on the real need. Always take care of the need first. Then you can take care of your wants.

Focusing is seeing the needed results so clearly that you don't let anything else distract you-seeing the results so clearly that you can sense yourself already achieving them. You focus by saying no to whatever doesn't help you achieve the real need and yes only to what does.

Decisive people clearly know what the real need is, so they can quickly judge whether or not a specific decision will support or undermine what they need.


Are you taking care of the real need?  Pursue the real need until you achieve it! 

It may seem like a slow process, but it takes less time to make a better decision than it does to correct a poor decision.  In our fear-frozen minds we sometimes think we have no other choice. It is merely a sign that our fear has paralyzed us.

We must strive to be aware of our options AT ALL TIMES.
 
One way to be aware is by personal observation. If you want to know more notice more.

Fear can sometimes fog our vision. One piece of information leads to another: like links in a chain. Where do you think you are more apt to see your options: Isolated in your own thoughts or by gathering information? Information is more than facts. It is how people feel about the facts.

"I don't have any choice" really means that you are not doing enough to see your options. You should be busy gathering information. Be a gatherer of information-even if you don't want to.  Gathering information is a vital need.  Needs must be acted on.   This thinking must be part of system programming.  Learn to see the details of each option.  Look at the option from all sides.  Use 3-dimensional observation. Ask yourself "what if?"  And develop and answer for the question.  Repeat the question: what if?

Do you have the information you need?

Who has it?

Where is it?

What is the best way to get it?

Have you verified it?

Thinking It Through
Reflect on your past results.
Remember the saying: "those who forget the past are condemned to re-live it".
We re-live the past because we do not understand the true function of history -- that of teacher.
Our past experience is the best teacher of all. History -- past results -- show us the errors in judgments we have made.

We can analyze our previous decisions in the light of new enlightenment and see clearly where our mistakes were, then work to correct our mistakes.

Think ahead, anticipate, plan, and act.

THE POWER OF A POSITIVE SELF IMAGE

The most important psychological discovery of the 20th century was the discovery of the “self-image”.  Whether realized or not, each of us carries a mental blueprint or picture of ourselves.  It may be vague and ill defined to our conscious mind, or not even consciously recognizable.  Nevertheless, it is there – complete to the last detail.  This self-image is our concept of “the sort of person I am”.  It has been built from our own beliefs about ourselves.  Most of these beliefs have unconsciously been formed from our past experiences; our successes and failures, humiliations and triumphs, and the way people react to us.

Self-image is the key to human personality and behavior.  Self-image defines the boundaries of individual accomplishment; defines what you can and cannot be; determines the way you think, the way you behave, and the way you perform every activity.

Your self-image is formed by the beliefs held in your sub-conscious mind.  The beliefs comprise a belief system that includes all the beliefs you possess about everything in your life – work, education, family, religion, what you read, write, sing, dance, your parents, dress, speech, etc.

You cannot see your self-image, even though your wear it like a coat.  But everyone sees it.  Behavior and performance is the physical manifestation of self-image; your appearance is a presentation of self-image – hair, clothes, walk, voice inflection, and the world forms its opinion of you primarily from the opinion you have about yourself.  You are responsible for how you are received (accepted) by others.

You must accept responsibility for your self-image.  Self-image is either a catalyst or a brake.  It either propels or holds back.

Self-image is projected by 7% speech, 38% voice (tone inflection), and 55% body language, facial expression, general posture, and body movements.  Your emotional disposition affects all three areas.

Self-esteem is the emotional component of self-image, and is the core of human personality.  It is the most critical element affecting all performance.  Self-esteem is always true to the image you hold in your mind – the person you keep telling yourself you are.  Self-image affects your mental attitude.

Attitude is the habitual manner of acting, feeling, and thinking that shows your dispositions, opinions, and beliefs about life.  Eighty-five percent of accomplishment comes from attitude and 15% is due to aptitude and abilities.  Winners are made, not born.  The winner is in you.  You are responsible for drawing it out.  You already possess the ability to excel in at least one area of your life.

• The dominant force in your existence is the thinking you are engaged in.
• You are empowered to create your own reality.
• There is some benefit in every adversity.
• Each one of your beliefs is a choice.
• You are never defeated until you accept defeat as a reality, and decide to stop trying.
• The only limitations on what you can accomplish in your life are those you impose on yourself.
• There can be no great success without great commitment to a definite purpose fired by a determined desire.
• You need the support and cooperation of other people to achieve any worthwhile goal.
• It should be self-evident that if you harbor any failure thoughts, then all your endeavors will result in failure.
• The rewards you receive in life come as a result of your performance, not your potential. Your self-image determines your performance.
• There is never a storm so violent that it is not followed by the sunlight.
• Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.

Our physical actions are simply the outward manifestation of our inner thoughts.  This recognizes the universal truth that we are and will become that which dominates your thoughts.  People have in their lives today exactly what they keep telling their mind they want.  All that you accomplish, or fail to accomplish, in life is a direct result of the images you hold in your mind. 
           
Do you limit your actions to have no more success than you unknowingly believe you deserve and are comfortable?  We often get the results we subconsciously believe we deserve.  Our self-image defines our comfort zone.

What do you really believe?  Do your actions show you believe you deserve better in every area of your life?  If they do not why not?  Is it possible that the world we live in encourages us to deny better?  It is not a matter of doing better than others do.  It is a matter of doing better in the present and the future than what we have done in the past and in the present.  Old programming of self-defeat or self-limits must be purged, and new programming put in its place.   Do not drive with the parking brake on!

A positive, strong affirmed self-image is vital to realizing the power locked inside your mind.  Self-image is a key component in building belief.  What we do mirrors what we believe.  If you passionately believe in something, you will be compelled to make it happen.

A healthy self-image is the difference between thinking BIG and thinking small.  Self-image acts as either a multiplying or a dividing factor, and combines with other key factors of success you possess to produce performance.

We always create a self-image according to the basic beliefs we have about our abilities, the world, and ourselves.  The beliefs are based on conscious decisions we made about ourselves and what we are capable of achieving.  The decisions are repeated to our subconscious.

Become more aware of your inner communications – what you see and say to yourself because of daily events and work to control it.  From these experiences, the mind constructs a picture of who we are.  Once an idea or belief about ourselves goes into this picture, it becomes “true” as far as we personally are concerned.  We do not question its validity, but the subconscious mind begins to act on it just as if it were true.  A human being always acts, feels, and performs in accordance with what he images to be true about himself and his environment.

The self-image is important for two reasons:

1.  All your actions, feelings, behavior – even your abilities – are always consistent with this self-image.  You will act like the sort of person you conceive yourself to be.  The self-image is the foundation upon which your entire personality rests.
2. The self-image is changeable.  One is never too old or too young to change their self-image.

Self-image determines Self-worth.  Time valuation is part of self-worth.  Self-image is the determination of the value you place on what you do and what compensation you receive from life, and how prosperous you become.

At least ninety-five percent of people have their lives blighted by feelings of inferiority to some extent, and feelings of serious inferiority handicap millions.

Feelings of inferiority originate from inaccurate thinking that produces negative conclusions drawn from evaluation of facts and experiences.  We judge ourselves and measure ourselves, not against our own norm, but against some other individual’s norm.  We let someone else define our reality.  We conclude that we are not worthy and do not deserve success and happiness.

• Laziness and hypochondria are indications of undervalued self worth.
• Things turn out best for those that make the best of the way things turn out.

Self-image influences our actions.  If the image is changed, actions will also change.  Repetitive actions build habits.  Habits are stored on the sub-conscious level of the brain.  Habits are behavior programming that motivates our actions in ways we are oblivious to.  Habits are familiar territory – the comfort zone.   Habits are the landscape of our reality.  They are landmarks that steer the conscious mind.  Ninety-five percent of our behavior, feeling, and response is habitual.

Modify, change, or reverse behavior (habits) by simply making a conscious decision, and then practicing or acting out the new behavior with constant watchfulness and practice until the new behavior pattern is thoroughly learned in 21 days.

Self –image is realized in identity.  Identity is the image we have of ourselves. Israel identifies itself with the temple in Jerusalem.  Christians identify themselves with the cross.  Companies have a brand or logo that identifies them.  Think about your identity.  Who are you?  How do you see yourself? Can you describe yourself with only a few words?

We are all unique, unrepeatable, miracles of God, and we should live our lives in that realization.  There will never be another person like you.  It is that uniqueness that gives life value. We should revel in the knowledge that we are one-of-a-kind – not regret it, or accept someone else’s opinion of us as superior to our own opinion.  It is self-image that controls our reaction to external stimulus.

Do you limit your actions to have not more than the success you unknowingly believe you deserve and are comfortable with?  We often get the results we subconsciously believe we deserve.

What do you really believe?  Do your actions show you believe you deserve better in every area of your life?  Is it possible that the world we grew up in encourages us to deny better?  It is not a matter of doing better than others do. It is a matter of doing better in the present and the future that we have done in the past.  The old programming of self-defeat or self-limits must be purged, and new programming put in its place.  We must learn to drive without the parking brake on.

What we believe is reflected in what we do.  We choose what we believe.  We are responsible for what we believe.  We are in charge of what to believe and not to believe.  The reality of life is made up of beliefs, and life is nothing until we decide what we believe.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH?

Is your life on track to be what you want to be, or have you settled for what you have now?

Consider this:

“I bargained with Life for a penny,

And life would pay no more,

However I begged at evening

When I counted my scanty store.

“For Life is a just employer,

He gives you what you ask,

But once you have set the wages,

Why you must bear the task.

“I worked for a menial’s hire,

Only to learn dismayed,

That any wage I had asked of Life,

Life would have willingly paid.”

Your mental attitude is what determines your station in Life.  You are responsible for the mental attitude that resides in your mind.  Belief is what powers your mind.  If you believe that you cannot go any further you won’t.  The world is in constant state of creation and destruction.  If you stop where you are then you have decided to assume a defensive position, and have decided to participate in the destruction of what you are and what you have.  Defense is a waiting game.  It is a negative position that begins producing loss the moment you take up the position.  You have in effect said to Life, “I give you permission to take everything I have.”

If I accept whatever job I can find at whatever pay the employer says he will pay, then I will be planted in that job for however long it lasts because I have no purposeful plan for my life.  The job will hold no satisfaction for me and I will have to struggle with the difficulties without the benefit of a purpose, and will become bitter in the process.  I will have no enthusiasm for the job and my performance will show it

Is my life worth only what my employer pays me?  If I agree to work for him then that is exactly my belief.  And I will reap the consequences of my belief.

Your reward in life is based on the value you place on yourself. And that valuation comes from your beliefs about what you deserve.

DECISION POWER

Instead of trying to go from bad to best in one leap start by striving for better. If we commit to consistently better results then we will achieve best.

The first step toward making better decisions is to stop proceeding with a poor decision. Stop doing what you are doing and find a better way. If you are going on a trip and suddenly realized that you were going in the wrong direction, what would you do? Stop. Figure out which direction to go then go in the right direction. Why then should we not apply that same approach to all facets of our life?

The ancient Chinese had a saying for this: "if you want a cup of hot tea you must first empty the cup."

Why do we keep doing what we know does not work? We perceive safety in the comfort zone. Status quo is a painful, but familiar place. It is the path of least resistance.

Ask yourself two questions. Base all your decisions on the answers to these questions.

Am I meeting the real need, informing myself of options, and Thinking it through?

Is this something I merely want or really need?

A want is a wish. A want implies immediate gratification (short term).

A need is a necessity. A need implies delayed gratification (long term).

Focus on the real need. Always take care of the need first. Then you can take care of your wants.

Focusing is seeing the needed results so clearly that you don't let anything else distract you-seeing the results so clearly that you can sense yourself already achieving them. You focus by saying no to whatever doesn't help you achieve the real need and yes only to what does.

Decisive people clearly know what the real need is, so they can quickly judge whether or not a specific decision will support or undermine what they need.

ARE YOU MEETING THE REAL NEED?

Pursue the real need until you achieve it! 

The slower you go the sooner you get there. It takes less time to make a better decision than it does to correct a poor decision.  In our fear-frozen minds we sometimes think we have no other choice. It is merely a sign that our fear has paralyzed us.

We must strive to be aware of our options AT ALL TIMES.

 

One way to be aware is by personal observation. If you want to know more notice more.

Fear can sometimes fog our vision. One piece of information leads to another: like links in a chain. Where do you think you are more apt to see your options: Isolated in your own thoughts or by gathering information? Information is more than facts. It is how people feel about the facts.

"I don't have any choice" really means that you are not doing enough to see your options. You should be busy gathering information. Be a gatherer of information-even if you don't want to.  Gathering information is a vital need.  Needs must be acted on.   This thinking must be part of system programming.  Learn to see the details of each option.  Look at the option from all sides.  Use 3-dimensional observation. Ask yourself "what if?"  And develop and answer for the question.  Repeat the question: what if?

Do you have the information you need?

Who has it?

Where is it?

What is the best way to get it?

Have you verified it?

THINKING IT THROUGH

Reflect on your past results.

Remember the saying: "those who forget the past are condemned to re-live it".

We re-live the past because we do not understand the true function of history -- that of teacher.

Our past experience is the best teacher of all. History -- past results -- show us the errors in judgments we have made.

We can analyze our previous decisions in the light of new enlightenment and see clearly where our mistakes were, then work to correct our mistakes.

Think ahead, anticipate, plan, and act.

HOW TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS: MAKE SUCCESS A HABIT

January is the month that symbolizes new beginnings. It is the start of a new year, and the New Year's Holiday is a time to re-valuate one’s life and make resolutions for the upcoming year. 

The idea of making resolutions is not a bad thing. They can be helpful. But too often the resolution of January becomes the failure of February.  Resolutions do not have the force of repetition behind them.  Habits, on the other hand, are much harder to break because they operate at the subconscious level of our brains. And once a habit is established it will operate far beyond January. 


Habits are formed by repetition.  Repeat the same behavior over a given period of time and you wind up with a habit. Initially this can be a painfully slow process, but once you put determination behind your purpose.  And as you work to develop the habit the change in behavior becomes automatic.  And that is our goal: to make our behavior subconscious (a habit).

1) Write your goals down.
This sounds cliché, but it's important.  Thoughts are fleeting things.  They come quickly and they go quickly.  In the midst of distractions the thoughts that we wanted to save have evaporated from our consciousness.  They were not in the mind long enough to become a memory.  Pen and paper preserves your thoughts, and allows us to return to them.


2) Review your goals everyday.Keep your goals in front of you.  Read your goals when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night.  The easiest way to fail to achieve something is to let it be forgotten.  Keep your goals in your mind all the time.  Put reminders everywhere.  Evaluate your progress.  If something is not working change it.   Make your goals your reason for living.  Make the achievement of your goals a matter of survival.


3) Do something every day to move you closer to your goals.  A goal is no good without a plan to achieve it.  That is what separates a resolution from a purpose.  A purpose must have a plan.   Every journey has a destination.  You must get in a habit of making plans

4) Build a success attitude.  No goal has ever been achieved with a “can’t do” attitude.  The way to achieve a goal is to believe that it can be done.  Work to develop the habit of being positive.  All achievement is based on faith.  Faith is the belief in something that has not yet happened.  You cannot have faith in your goals if you reject the role that faith plays in achieving those goals.  You can only have one thought in your mind at a time.  Positive and negative cannot live in the same house.  Make positive emotions a permanent houseguest and evict the other guy.  Use the positive emotions of love, faith, and gratitude to chase the negative feelings away.  This is not an option.  IT IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!