Day 45

I've been focusing a lot on weight loss and fitness with this blog so far. But if you'll remember, there are other goals I'm working on. I'm working on becoming a better leader and growing my business team, and on becoming more organized. I've decided to drop the goal of finishing three blankets by the end of the year. I've needed to prioritize some things and hobbies always fall into the least important categories for me.

Weight loss is easy to talk about. There's a lot of change, and a lot of emotion, that goes into weight loss. But today I want to talk about the other goals.

First, my goal to become a better leader. I learned, in my studies, that this would require first getting myself into a state of fully self-disciplined. In order to be the best leader I can be, I need to be a good example and I need to be consistent. I've been working on those two things a lot, and boy is it taking a lot of work! Overall my progress has been slow but satisfying. I've worked my daily success habits into my life on a truly daily basis, which is allowing me to learn more than I ever thought I would once I finished high school!

I'm spending time learning about the leaders I admire so that I can better model myself after them.

An important distinction: when working on yourself be careful that you aren't trying to *be* the other person. There's one of them for a reason, just like there's one of you for a reason. You can emulate someone without imitating them, and you'll find yourself better off for it.

In the process of my growth as a leader, I'm doing a lot of reflecting. I've had to spend a lot of time deciding who I want to be, what type of person I want to be, and discovering the steps to get there. It's not easy! But it's so worth it. Already I'm noticing marked improvement, as I compare myself this year to myself exactly a year ago. I will often encounter and overcome a difficult situation and find myself looking at it in retrospect and thinking "I didn't handle that as well as I want to, but I did handle it a lot better than I would have a year ago."

This isn't an excuse for me to stop growing. I don't think "Well, I'm better than last year and that's good enough!" But I do remind myself that progress forward is progress forward and not to be undermined. If I'm not where I used to be and where I am today is better than where I used to be then I am on the right track and can continue on with only minor adjustments, assured that I will soon get to the place that I'm trying to end up at.

Developing my business team has gone a bit slower. I've had to take some time and re-evaluate what the qualities I'm looking for in my teammates really are. In the past I've been flexible in this, having more of a come-as-you-are mentality that allowed anyone onto my team and into my inner circle.

I've since learned that I can't continue this way. Many people aren't headed the same direction that I'm headed. They don't want the same things out of life, don't hold similar values to mine, and aren't willing to work as hard as I am.

 That's ok. That doesn't mean there's something wrong with them or that I don't still love them as they are and where they are. But it does mean that their place in life is not to be on my team. Teammates need to have the same objective, and be in agreement about how to reach that objective, otherwise the team goes nowhere. It also means that they most certainly shouldn't be in my inner circle - in that group of people that is so close to my heart that they can actually affect my attitudes and perceptions. Allowing people with conflicting goals and values into that inner circle will only bring strife and frustration to all of us.

Thinking this way is something of a contradiction to the way I was raised. Even as I type this I can hear my mother in the back of my mind, encouraging me to love and accept everyone, to let everyone onto the team and make everyone feel included and equal. I've learned from my mentors that while I can accept and love everyone, I cannot afford to let everyone on the team. And not everyone is equal at every part of the game. Sometimes, one person's skills will be more valuable to the team - more needed in that moment - than the skills another person has. That's the point of the team.

And so, with my team developing slowly but surely and solidly, I am satisfied that I'm making good progress toward this goal.

The second important goal is really a part of the first, and that is to become more organized. I can't be an effective leader if I don't know what my next move is, when or where I'm meeting the next person, or whether I have the tools I need. I've made significant progress here!

I've gotten my filing down to a habit - regulating any overflow to a task on the first day of each month. My toolbox (filled with catalogs, demo product, and info kits) is fully stocked and organized so I can just put it in my trunk and take it with me anywhere. I've begun stocking extras of product that I know my customers and I will need on a regular basis, and this is on a shelving unit in the corner of my husband's office. Although not perfect, I've gotten most of the household chores down to a routine and I'm usually prepared at any time to have company within 5 minutes.

My former roommate can attest to the significant progress that one indicates!

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with what progress I've made. Being used to instant gratification, this progress is much slower than I originally anticipated. But it's progress all the same, and in the right direction. I'm confident that before long I'll be truly prepared to be an excellent leader to the teammates God brings me.

How about you? How are you doing on your goals?