For the first couple of decades of life it seems we are constantly, or at least regularly asked what we want to be when we grow up, finish school, etc.. And in our work-obsessed culture, that’s code for ‘what job do you want to have?’ Ironically, by the time we are at the age to have a job, people all of a sudden stop asking that question. (Even though it’s by no means a given any more that we’ll stay in the same career for our whole working life, let alone working with the same company.)
This week, Atlas Outdoor turns 11 years old (I believe that is around 50 in a Continuous Growth mindset organization, or at least it feels that way sometimes). I clearly remember when Atlas went from an evening and weekend hobby / extra income, to that first day being “all in” on June 10, 2011. What a scary, nerve wracking, but exciting day, with myself and a couple of dudes heading out from my driveway to do what we loved to do. Not really having any type of vision for the future, or for the sake of this blog no idea what I wanted us to be when we grew up, our primary goal was to gain new clients, and hire some good, talented people. There really wasn’t much thought in between that. And let’s just say this… It worked! We grew with our client base very quickly, and we attracted some incredible people that wanted to embark on the journey with us! Some of whom still call Atlas home today!
For the first 5-6 years, we really had no idea where we were going. Sort of like going on a family road trip with no destination in the GPS. Well, that does sound somewhat fun and exciting, it’s no way to drive a business! To make this more personal, I really didn’t know the kind of leader I wanted to be. I felt like I needed to know everything, have every answer to every problem we were facing, and be involved in every area of the organization. It was tough – There were many days where I didn’t feel capable of being the leader that my team needed me to be to add the most value to them and the organization for us to continue to grow and get out of some of the major ruts we were in.
To be transparent, some of those darkest most stressful days were where I realized I needed to know where I wanted to be as a leader when I grew up! What did I want our organization to be known for? It was during this paradigm shift that I realized that my greatest strengths would be found in taking all I had been blessed with from God, start working to grow myself as a leader every day, and using my gifts to pour into the people that trusted me to lead them! I knew that for us to continue to grow, and be sustainable, we needed to work daily to grow better than we were the day before! And do this day after day after day. And over the last 5 or so years, the thought of who and what we wanted to be known for when we grew up was more clear. That same holds true for me as a leader, when I understood more clearly where I needed to be in my leadership, it was much easier to work on a path to get myself there! We don’t know what we don’t know. So if we are approaching each day with no coordinates in our leadership GPS, how do we know where to take the day?
I don’t know where you find yourself today, but I want you to know that you go in the direction where your thoughts go. That is where I was. We had so much good going on, but the bad was always louder than the good. (truthfully, that seems to always be the case. That is why I encourage my Team and y’all to always reflect on all of the good things going on, or the loud negatives will eat you alive).. Change follows the focus of your attention. Start with this – Set aside a few minutes, take a pen and paper, and capture some of the thoughts that go through your mind every day. Just write them down as they come into your brain. Do this for 5 minutes, or maybe 10 minutes, or even longer if you’d like. But you must do it every day. Every week, or maybe every month, take a look at the thoughts you’ve jotted down. Are they positive or negative? Hopeful or hopeless? Full of dreams or full of worries and doubt?
Personal development and leadership growth is a lifetime process and a daily decision. It doesn’t happen automatically; you have to be intentional about growing into the leader you want to be every single day. Around Christmas time, we love watching Charlie Brown as a family… But he was a bit misguided when he said, “I think I’ve discovered the secret of life – you just hang around long enough until you get used to it.” The only way that can be true is if you have no interest in improving!!
So let me ask you a very important question, how much time have you specifically scheduled for personal growth and for truly diving into driving yourself into the person you want to be when you grow up? If you’re like most people that are just coasting through life, your answer will probably be not very much. But you need to hear this my amigos: Growing into the leader you want to be is optional. It’s completely 100% up to you, nobody else but you!
“Hoping and wishing” for success is not an effective strategy; especially when it comes to improving yourself. I want to encourage you to schedule an appointment with yourself every day for personal growth and navigating your path into the leader you want to be! Oh, I see, there is no time for that for you? You have too much on your plate? Wake up an hour earlier, stay up an hour later, spend your lunch hour on it, do whatever it takes to make time for your personal growth daily. It’s seriously that important!
If you want to reach your goals, and see your dreams become reality, you must do more than just experience and coast through this earthly life. It is imperative that you are intentional about seizing growth opportunities as if your future depended on it. Because it honestly does! Remember, growth over the rest of your journey doesn’t happen by accident. You have to seize it – today, and for the rest of your life.
I know without a doubt I still have lots of work to do(or growing up to do), but knowing who I want to be when I get there makes the journey much more fun! Don’t just live and hope you’ll get there; grow now every day and you’ll learn to live! In this fast paced world you’re either growing or you’re dying, there is no in between!
What does the destination in your leadership GPS read?