Be the leader of your own life

Have you ever thought the topic of leadership doesn’t apply to you? Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a leader because you don’t manage people at work or lead a class or group at church. I used to think this way until someone told me to try being the leader of my life first. I started to approach the topic of leadership differently. I would read or hear about it and try to understand how I could use leadership skills to lead myself. Most of us do have other people we lead as well, even without realizing it, but I still think it’s important to develop these types of skills and you can practice on yourself! I often need to coach myself into doing things like working out or finishing a deadline for school. Have you heard the phrase “lead by example”? Well, you can lead You by example. Ask “what type of person do I want to be in 5 years?”. I would encourage you to write down the answer to this. What is your daily routine? Where do you spend most of your time? How do you feel? What do you do for exercise, what do you eat? Be specific. And then, all of those things you wrote down.. start doing them. Lead your current self into becoming your future self. What is one thing you can do today that will get you closer to becoming that person? Talk to yourself as a leader would, as a coach would. You’re not always going to feel like working out, but if your future self works out regularly then guess what.. that is a habit you can start building today. Go work out! And then high five yourself in the mirror (thanks, Mel Robbins). Celebrate your wins like an ideal leader would celebrate you. Develop the qualities of a great leader and see how it impacts your personal life. John C. Maxwell mentions these in his book The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: charisma, courage, problem solving, teachability, and vision to name a few! I mentioned having a vision to work toward in your own life, but think about how you can develop these qualities and more. - CS