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The Twelve Principles of Personal Leadership

Principle #3 – Maintaining Your Health – Part 3

-One Leader’s Perspective

By Greg L. Thomas

You can read part 1 of this article here, and part 2 of this article here! We are all familiar with the term DNA, which is short for deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is a nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell and is capable of self-replication and synthesis of RNA (ribonucleic acid). DNA determines our individual hereditary characteristics. It is an important component in understanding our physiology. DNA is a great determining factor of who and what we are in a physical way. But there is another side of life we also need to be concerned about and interested in. Just as much as our physical body it also affects who and what we are! I call it our PMA… positive mental attitude. This is not a medical term, but it succinctly describes how we think, view others and our very purpose in life. Having a right PMA energizes our emotional and mental health. In previous articles we discussed maintaining and improving our physical health to maximize our personal leadership. Now we need to spend some more time on understanding our emotional and mental heath, and how we can improve it.

To achieve great things as a leader requires a positive vision. It requires viewing the future as better and more enriching than the world is today. It is this vision that motivates the leader during difficult and challenging times. But if our minds are constantly filled with self-doubt or criticism of others, we will soon lose the vision or hope of a better tomorrow. An ancient Hebrew philosopher once wrote, “As a face is reflected in water, so a person is reflected by his heart.” What we really are on the inside is reflected by what we think about, and how we naturally act and react toward others! If you want to make your life or this world a better place, or if you want to lead others to achieve worthwhile things, you must develop and maintain a positive PMA.

In reality your life is going to follow your thoughts. If your thoughts are negative they will draw in more negative thoughts. In life we tend to get exactly what we expect! If we live in the past, or if we have failed a number of times in the past, we may incorrectly label ourselves as a failure. In this case we must reprogram our thinking to get rid of this limiting and self-defeating mind-set. A pessimistic attitude generates more stress, aggravation and personal discouragement because it expects and believes in the worst of most situations. I recently read where some Doctors now believe up to 90% of all medical diseases may be caused by internal stress. The truth is that a negative attitude can have a detrimental impact on our health!

Thomas Jefferson left a legacy of being a remarkable and accomplished man. He is known as the 3rd President of the United States and author of the American Declaration of Independence. Less known are his other lifetime achievements, including Virginia State Governor, American Vice President, Secretary of State, Ambassador, architect, inventor, philosopher and founder of the University of Virginia. Yet, one particular decade of his life that brought about tremendous personal achievement would also provide a number of personal tragedies. In 1773 his father-in-law died. Shortly afterward his best childhood friend died suddenly leaving a wife and six children. The next year his first daughter Jane was born, but she would die 18 months later when Jefferson was 31 years old. In 1776, his mother died unexpectedly when she was only 57. One year later Jefferson’s first son was born and died within a few hours of birth. In 1781 a series of personal trials occurred. First, the British army invaded Virginia and captured his beloved home Monticello. Jefferson barely escaped capture by the army. He broke his left wrist while being thrown from a horse. Also during this year, his reputation was damaged when his political enemies convinced the Virginia State Assembly to investigate his conduct as governor of Virginia. The very next year, his wife Martha died just a few months after giving birth to their daughter Lucy Elizabeth. On her deathbed she made him promise never to marry again. Jefferson was now only 39 years old and he kept his promise to Martha. Though he would live another 43 years, he never did marry again.

Most of us would certainly agree that Thomas Jefferson experienced many distressing personal trials during this 10-12 year period. But, sad to say, that was not all! At age 41, he witnessed the death of his daughter Lucy Elizabeth, who died of “whooping cough”. One year later, he stumbled while walking and broke his right wrist. It was not set properly and he suffered pain in this wrist for the rest of his life. During various times of his life he also suffered from prolonged migraine headaches that almost incapacitated him. Another worry he experienced was mounting debt problems for allowing his farm to deteriorate while he served his country in various roles. Remember, all these events were happening while Jefferson was involved in the leadership of founding and managing a fragile new nation. History has recorded all of his many achievements during the very years these personal trials occurred in his life. Few understand what was going on in his private life. He suffered more distressing personal trials than many of us have. However, Jefferson is not remembered for his trials, but for his accomplishments as a powerful and effective leader. Jefferson had a great leadership quality that set him apart from many others. He did not allow the difficult circumstances of life to crush his inner spirit or his desire to serve others who called upon him for help. Yes, like all of us he could become very discouraged. Upon the death of his wife he remarked to others that he even wanted to end his life! He certainly hurt, mourned, and experienced depression and sadness like most of us. Yet he was able to reach deep inside, shake off these natural emotions and go forward. Thomas Jefferson was able to endure great personal hardship in life because he was a man of purpose. He viewed the purpose of life itself as an opportunity to explore knowledge and change the world around him. Many freedoms we have today are a result of the PMA he maintained during some very difficult times in his personal life.

There is a popular story about a psychologist who performed a lab experiment with a barracuda and a Spanish mackerel. These two fish were put in a large aquarium together. Normally, the barracuda is a predator fish and quickly would attack and consume the defenseless Spanish mackerel. However, the psychologist did something a little different for this experiment! He placed a clear glass barrier between the two fish. Every time the barracuda would lunge at the Spanish mackerel he would hit his nose on the glass barrier and experience pain. Eventually the barracuda realized and programmed his thinking into accepting he could never get at the Spanish mackerel. He was conditioned to associate pain and frustration with trying to attack his usual prey. Then the psychologist removed the clear glass barrier and guess what happened? The two fish continued to live peacefully and the Spanish mackerel was able to circulate around the tank directly in front of the barracuda unharmed! Why did this happen? The barracuda now believed he could not successfully attack and eat his prey. His thinking had been reconditioned to believe in limitations and failure even after the barrier had been removed. The same may be true of us if we choose to maintain a negative mind-set. We often set limitations for ourselves that may have once existed. Or we put up mental barriers that really don’t exist at all except in the figment of our imagination! This self-limiting attitude becomes the fuel and feeds a negative mind-set.

We produce what we continually put in front of us. If it is negative, the end result will be unconstructive. If it is positive, the end result will be productive and of great value. You cannot give birth to something you did not first conceive and envision. That means we must keep in front of us what we want to achieve. How do we keep our vision in front of us? Paint a picture of your vision on the canvas of your heart. Allow it to motivate and inspire you through good times and bad. It must become part of your belief and value system. It must start deeply on the inside before it will ever happen on the outside. Don’t paint it on doubt, fear or limited thinking. You will never rise any higher that the vision you have for yourself. You will never accomplish things you can’t picture yourself accomplishing! Again, the first mistake many individuals make is that they are limited by their vision and have painted a negative picture of themselves in their hearts.

Ask yourself a simple question. “Just what do I really believe about my purpose?” You basically have only two choices. The first choice… you can choose to believe that your destiny is a matter of “time and chance” and what happens to us is merely the result of some kind of nebulous fate. If this situation is correct then all our efforts are essentially worthless and our personal struggles in vain. If this situation is correct, then everyone and every action simply reach the same futile conclusion. But there is another second choice! You can choose to believe that the creative structures of the universe are so planned that the path of right choices and values somewhere come out at the right place. The right road eventually leads to the right destination. The sowing of good seed will in time bring about a good harvest. If you believe and understand that your destiny is at least partially in your own hands you will gain comfort and confidence from maintaining your values. If they are positive, uplifting and caring they will endure and so will your efforts. If you have now come to realize your values are deficient or self-serving, it is time for a serious change.

You may remember an example I gave about Winston Churchill in the first principle of Personal Leadership published in the May 2004 issue of weLEAD Online Magazine. Churchill was a man of great personal commitment and a positive vision. In the 1940's the Nazis had established a goal of conquering England in two months. That lofty goal was basically thwarted by the commitment and determination of one very stubborn and charismatic man... Winston Churchill. He had a special message engraved in a brass plaque on his desk in London which reflected his PMA. Every day he would look at the declaration, he would read it, and he deeply believed in this major goal. He expected victory over Germany. The special message, referring to the House of Parliament, said:

"Please understand that there is no depression in this house, and we are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist."

Winston Churchill had such a deep level of commitment, he wasn't about to accept defeat. He didn't even believe in the possibility of defeat. He knew the transforming power that occurs when we raise our level of expectancy! He put in front of him what he wanted to achieve and even against the odds, it was achieved. To be an effective leader you must have an optimistic approach toward life and toward others. Raise your level of expectancy about life and good things will begin to happen. Again, we must believe in things on the inside before they can happen on the outside. We must consciously choose to live with an attitude that good things are going to happen every day. It is a psychological principle that we move toward what we see in ourselves or others. If we see ourselves as making positive personal changes and helping to grow others, we will have a strong healthy self-image. Our self-image is a portrait of who and what we picture ourselves to be, and our unique role in the world.

If you know you have been plagued by a negative image of yourself or of others, it is time to reprogram your attitude and thinking. We don’t always get what we deserve in life but we usually get what we expect… we receive what we believe. If we expect mediocrity, that is exactly what we will achieve because we become what we expect and believe. It is time to change what you expect and to stop living with negative limited thoughts. Start by understanding this clear principle. “I am what I am today because of what I believed about myself yesterday. I will become tomorrow what I believe about myself right now!” Take an inventory of your thoughts in your life. How are they? Do you find them to basically positive, optimistic and productive or are they negative and highly critical of most things? What we have programmed into our mind is how we are going to function on a daily basis. If we go through the day never expecting anything good to happen and feeling unworthy, we will make this belief a self-fulfilling prophecy. When a negative thought arrives, make a conscious decision to replace it with a positive thought. Make an effort to “catch” yourself doing this. Ask your loved ones to point out to you when you are speaking or acting in a negative way. Start reading and absorbing positive literature, and having productive ideas. Associate with folks who have a lifestyle that demonstrates a health PMA. Be aware that much of the so-called “entertainment industry” in the world today is negative and destructive to a positive mind-set.

The distinctive impact of every day is that it holds the promise of a fresh new start. It provides the opportunity to do something different, start something new, break a bad habit, or establish a good habit. In other words, it gives us the power to choose a new course or direction in life. So why don’t we typically appreciate or acknowledge this fact? Why do we continue to “choose” and do the same old things every day, including some that are detrimental to us? The answer lies in our life-style and mind-set. Like the barracuda, we have created a mental barrier that no longer exists to hold us back. We are culturally programmed to desire comfort and resist change. We often know we should change things and we promise ourselves we will do it someday. The problem is that “someday” seldom comes and eventually we all run out of somedays. This self-imposed “comfort zone” convinces us that change is always something we can do tomorrow. But, here is an absolute truth…today is a gift, and tomorrow is promised to none of us!

Leaders are “agents of change”, and if change is to occur at all it must begin somewhere and within someone. The role of leadership is to envision a better future and become the change agent that makes this future possible. This is true of a business, a community or our personal life. But it all starts with an individual choice to begin a process of change. It has been said that we must become the change we wish to see. Many businesses have “closed their doors” because its management waited too long to begin meaningful change. In a similar vein, many individuals have self-destructed because they waited too long to change a negative lifestyle or break down an imaginary mental barrier. What I am getting at here is one simple point! Whatever you need to change in your life, or in your business, the time to do it is now!

In conclusion, to become something different and better tomorrow we must today get a new vision and change the image we have within us. Don’t simply focus on where you are now, but where you want to be. It may take a large amount of personal growth, self-sacrifice and maturity to get to your destination, but the time to start is right now! Remember, you will become what you keep in front of you. You can repaint your vision on the canvas of your heart. Learn to focus on what you can do and on the possibilities. Start expecting things to change for the better and see yourself in a fresh new way. If you do this you will not only have a powerful impact on your own life but have a positive influence in the lives of others.

Comments to: editor@leadingtoday.org

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About the author:

Greg has an extensive thirty-five years experience in public speaking and has spoken to hundreds of audiences worldwide. Greg has a Master of Arts degree in Leadership from Bellevue University, where he also has served as an adjunct professor teaching courses in business management and leadership since 2002. His first book, 52 Leadership Tips (That Will Change How You Lead Others) was published in 2006 by WingSpan Press. His second book, Making Life's Puzzle Pieces Fit was published in March 2009. Both are available at amazon.com. Greg is also the president of Leadership Excellence, Ltd and a Managing Partner of the Leadership Management Institute. Leadership Excellence, Ltd. effectively builds individuals and organizations to reach their highest potential through enhanced productivity and personal development using a number of proven programs. He is also the president and founder of weLEAD Incorporated.