Are you making deliberate decisions daily to move you forward to a life you love and taking a personal leadership role to direct it? Taking on that leadership position in your life would mean first off that you believed in having control of the direction your life can take and second a humble acknowledgement that you are responsible for creating it.
There is so much talk and emphasis on being grateful and accepting life that it can often be contradictory in supporting us to push and ask for more. Add to this the fears of change, scarcity, and instability, it is a wonder women muster up the courage to advance their lives personally or professionally.
Just today I found myself meeting with someone from a life I chose to move on from and I found myself asking, “Was it really that bad and maybe you should have endured it.” My soul answered with, “Why are you asking the question was it that bad, when it should be what was right and best for you?” Someone I admire and respected use to always say to me, “..only the best for you.” It is a beautiful gift and reminder that we should never settle and make do, when we know the best for us can and will be should we make a commitment to ourselves to make it so.
Personal Leadership for Career Advancement
The career you have is a choice. Our choices are our own and based on many factors like values, strengths, comfort, financial obligations, lifestyle preferences, health, and family responsibilities. Personal leadership in career is about making conscious choices that support your growth and or goals for your life. It also means you will take an active, progressive, assertive role in making things happen by creating your own opportunity and developing yourself. After all the next level of progression may require professional development and you will need to be willing to grow yourself to grow your career.
Here are a few questions to answer to be a personal leadership ambassador for your own career:
- What is the most important area of growth for you in your career? Is it contribution, income, recognition…?
- What life values and goals do you have that you need or want your career to support?
- What active role are you currently taking to advance your career? What progressive, assertive actions can and will you take to progress your career?
- What are you doing right now to develop yourself professionally? Where do you need to grow to develop yourself for the next level of career growth?
Personal Leadership to Living a Passionate Life
Have you ever seen that janitor busy cleaning away with a smile on their face and an energy of complete satisfaction in life and think to yourself, now there is a joyful person! Has that person just made a choice to be happy no matter what or is that job giving them the life they desire or is it this is the better life for them from where they came from?
How can personal leadership help us build a life we love?
The word leadership has many definitions, but a few of its popular meanings are taking charge of a situation, having vision for what could be, and blazing the trail to get there.
There is no one else in charge of the direction of your life but you and whether you believe it or not you are in charge! Once you realize this, its great to know you are at the helm of leading the direction of your life, but you are going to need to have a clear vision for what you want your life to look like. Self awareness, a life values assessment, and both personal and professional goal planning will give you more detailed clarity on your vision.
Blazing a Career Path Forward
The third definition of leadership I gave above was someone who is blazing a trail to get to there; there being the desired goal, the new place, where you need to go, and the next stage of growth and development.
This is by far the one area I see most women struggle with or fall down with when it comes to mastering the forward advancement of their career. Where were we ever taught to blaze growing up? In fact, were we not taught to put up our hands and wait to be addressed, did we not have to put up our hands and seek permission first, were we not encouraged to follow not lead, and to fit in politely not aggressively stand out? Were we ever taught to fight for and pursue what we want with a relentless, determined focus?
I could not resist sharing with you the definitions of blaze because they are so fitting for what we need to be and become in order to own personal leadership and advance our careers.
to burn brightly
to be conspicuously brilliant or resplendent
to shoot rapidly and repeatedly
to proceed extremely rapidly
I love this! Think about it for a minute. This is the exact opposite instructions and nature most of us were raised by in society. Who has ever told you to burn brightly and be outwardly, visibly brilliant? And for that matter, what it takes to progress and proceed has never fully been understood or appreciated leading most of us to get discouraged quickly with rejection. However, if we can be that leader in our professional lives blazing forward, it tells us to shoot rapidly and repeatedly.
My favorite is the last definition with the double affirmation to proceed ‘extremely rapidly’. Are not most women and girls brought up to be cautious? Is it not our tendencies to be perfect and aim for perfection, after all that’s what is expected from us, that holds us back from advancing quickly?
Go blaze a trail ladies for your career and blaze it brightly, conspicuously, brilliantly, and persistently with extremely rapid actions!
Living a Life You Love
Living a life you love, is not for the privileged or the few, it is for those who grab it, create it, and pursue it!
Your personal leadership and ownership in your life is the deliberate, conscious effort life is asking you to take for growth, development, and evolution to occur. There can be no change without action or without choice. Perhaps it is better said that you will need to make decisions and hard ones with no guarantees. But if you are to really be in personal leadership and blazing a trail forward, it will mean you have burned a path behind you so that the only road you have is forward. Forward is not always easy, but it is forward, not stationary or backwards.
Progress and transformation come to those who seek it and invite it in. Fear of change will hold you still. Fear of the unknown where the unknown goes unexplored and fear wins will pin you to where you are rather than to where you want to go.
Pursuit of the Life You Love
Be in pursuit. Do not stand idle unless you are where you want to be. Do not settle, be complacent or comfortable. Go after more, better, and what you want! Lead your life. It’s yours. Pursue a passionate life you love to live.
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