You cannot consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with who you are. I’ve found that I cannot compartmentalize myself and be successful. I cannot stuff myself into little boxes for the situation I’m in and say “this is me at Church, this is me at Work, this is how I am as a Father, now I’ll be this way as a Husband.” I am a complete package, a whole human. If things are not going well in one area of life they spill over on to the others. For some people this is good news because everything about you is pure awesome! For other people it is bad news because you suck at life. So… what do you do if you are the latter?

I’m going to go from the perspective that you are a leader in my organization and that you are living an “inconsistent life” outside of work and then coming here and trying to lead people.

These are the four steps I would give you to get back on track.

1. The first step is to start with the end in mind. What do you want? Really. What the heck do you want? What do you want to do with your time? With your life? You must decide or someone else is surely going to decide for you. The great part about aiming at nothing is that you will hit your target every time. So… YOU MUST decide what you want in very specific, descriptive terms. Think how you want to be talked about at your funeral and craft your life around becoming that way with specific names, dates, numbers, goals. If you don’t know what you want, think about the sweet spot where something you are passionate about and something you are good at might intersect and volunteer there!
2. You are the average of the top 5 people you spend the most time with. You should be spending your time with the kind of people who are living a life you admire and want to emulate! Garbage in, garbage out.
3. You are the number one Cheerleader! Your job is to build your team up and give them the tools they need to succeed. Give them all the credit for the wins and carry the burden of their losses.
4. You are not a Leader unless others are following you. You must go first! Never ask anyone to do anything you aren’t willing to do yourself. Always be willing to jump in the trenches with your team to get the job done. Understand the values of your company and emulate them across all areas of your life. Sometimes values are unspoken and very negative in which case I would tell you to decide if you can influence things to change or get out. Life is too short to work for crappy people.

The good news is that if you don’t like who you are or where you are you can change. Living in this time right now with all the opportunities available there are very few excuses for not pursuing greatness in every area of your life. My theme for the year is “Do it awesome” which simply means, don’t hold back, go all in! It’s the time of your life so live it well!