Finding Yourself

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day, that your week has been blessed and that you are excited for an awesome weekend! For the Haslam's this weekend is going to be all about baseball...starting with a Diamondbacks game tonight. Truly looking forward to a night at the ballpark with my Beautiful Bride and 3 Tender Warriors!

On this beautiful Friday morning I want to share a few quotes, a link, some thoughts and of course, a challenge! :) Before I go any further however I want to encourage you, if nothing else, please watch this video in the next couple of days. It is a little less than 20 minutes however getting the message directly from Simon Sinek will be much better than anything I could ever hope to convey in this message.

Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers ... (Filmed at TEDxPugetSound.)

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

O.K., for those of you who are still with me, I want to share a few excerpts from Simon's book, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.

• WHAT: Every single company and organization [person] on the planet knows WHAT they do. WHATs are easy to identify.
• HOW: Some companies and people know HOW they do WHAT they do. HOWs are often given to explain how something is different or better.
• WHY: Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. When I say WHY, I don't mean to make money - that's a result. By WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company [WHY do you] exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?
• Authenticity cannot be achieved without clarity of WHY.
• Trust is not a checklist. Fulfilling all your responsibilities does not create trust. Trust is a feeling, not a rational experience. We trust some people and companies even when things go wrong, and we don't trust others even though everything might have gone exactly as it should have. A completed checklist does not guarantee trust. Trust begins to emerge when we have a sense that another person or organization is driven by things other than their own self-gain.
• Great leadership is not about flexing and intimidation; great leaders lead with WHY. They embody a sense of purpose that inspires those around them.
• Regardless of WHAT we do in our lives, our WHY - our purpose, cause or belief - never changes. If our Golden Circle is in balance, WHAT we do is simply the tangible way we find to breathe life into that cause.

You see that last one right there? Yeah, that was very, very profound to me. Trying to figure out careers, life purposes, etc. I was always trying to figure out WHAT I wanted to do. I have said hundreds, probably thousands of times that I don't really care what I do, I don't care about titles, etc. I just want to go to work, do the very best I can, make a difference in others lives, come home and be with my family. Boring perhaps, however to me this is the ultimate. What that last statement clarified for me was that I in fact do know my WHY. I was causing myself stress because I was trying to define the WHAT when in reality, the WHAT is irrelevant. My WHY is my purpose whether I breathe life into it as a coach, athletic administrator, development officer, etc.

I believe to my core that every single life has value, meaning & purpose. As I look back over my life I have spent the vast majority of my time - including each Friday morning - doing everything I can to encourage, empower and equip every person I come into contact with to become the best they are capable of becoming. To find, to embrace and to relentlessly pursue the greatness that is within them. I have seen brokenness, pain, fear, regret, sorrow, shame. I have been hurt, I have been loved, I have experienced great victory and I have experienced great defeat. Regardless of the person or circumstance I have embraced each day as a new beginning, an opportunity to come closer to being all that God has created me to become, an opportunity to encourage, empower and equip those I am blessed to cross paths with that day. WHY? Because I believe to my core that every single life has value, meaning & purpose - including mine and yours!

So my special Friends, my challenge to you this morning, if you don't already know it, please take some time to find your WHY? Answer the questions asked by Simon; What is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? WHY should anyone care? Having clarity of your WHY will not insure success, it will not guarantee that there will not be problems in your life. No, it is much bigger than that. Having clarity of your WHY will enable you to live an authentic life - peace is found in authenticity...think about it - and to become the best you are capable of becoming.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kevin