Seth Saunders Leadership, Learning, Value

Are you living in your reality?

How often do you want to change something? Maybe it’s your career, profession, location, the situation at work, etc?

Now, how much time to spend thinking about all the things that are wrong with your situation or reality? What about spending time thinking about how much better xyz would be? 

The only way to truly change one’s reality is a willingness to actually live in their reality. This is much easier said than done. Why? Because it is much easier to think about the perfect situation rather than take the time and action necessary to create that new reality.

I have seen this many times in my professional career. I have watched executives who think they are leading in an effective manner, they often talk about their successes and maybe even their failures but yet they are disconnected to the reality around them. Employees listen but struggle to embrace what is being shared. They feel such a disconnect, lack of transparency, and communication it is very difficult to listen to and believe this executive. Statements such as “if he/she only knew what was really happening or what employees are really saying they would be shocked”.

When a leader is not living and/or understanding their current reality, they can cause both direct and collateral damage that can cost the company in a variety of negative ways. From a loss in revenue, confidence, respect, and trust to a complete deterioration of company culture, the lasting impact of leaders who are not grounded in their true reality can be felt for years.

When we have the courage to live in our reality we give ourselves the greatest chance to change it. Taking control of one’s future is all about taking control of their current reality. Although it will often be a challenge, taking control of where you want your life to go can be one of the most rewarding, empowering, and impactful actions we can take.

So how can we check to be sure we are living in our reality, here are some ways to know:

Value Your Time. Spend your time creating an actionable strategy for where you want to go. Stop spending time complaining about where you are. Stop telling others how frustrated you are with your boss, and colleagues and how “unqualified” they are for the position they are in. Control what you can control l. For the most part, you decide how you use your time. If you value time, then start taking back control of it. Prioritize what matters most, both personally and professionally. If you want your reality to change, time is one of your most important assets, value it.

Respect Is A Two-way Street. How can you expect others to respect you and your experience if you do not first have respect for yourself and second others? One of the most impactful ways to demonstrate you have respect for yourself is by understanding the reality you are in. Always be sure you are performing at the highest level of what you are paid/asked to do. It makes it very difficult for others to show respect for someone who spends their time complaining, gossiping, and disrespecting others when they are not fulfilling their own duties. Let your actions speak and your words support. 

Own It. When you truly take responsibility and accountability for your reality, you own it. When you own it, you can change it. No longer are you blaming others, focused on what others aren’t doing, and being disconnected from what your reality is. You create a plan with realistic goals and actions that can lead you to the reality you want for yourself. Understanding the power and empowerment that comes from owning our situation is crucial in creating the reality you want. Do not underestimate the need to take ownership of your reality.

As one who has fallen into the trap of focusing on others’ reality, I have tried to learn from those times to actually improve my own personal reality. It has not always worked out how I planned but I did learn. As I have gotten older and further down the road in my professional career, I have to regularly check myself to ensure I don’t lose sight of my own current reality. I am grateful for those around me who have helped me focus on what I can control in an effort to improve my future.

Seth Saunders Facts, Inspirational, Learning, Value

It’s Time To Replace

When someone has a really bad hip, they go and have a hip replacement surgery. When a lightbulb goes out, we get a new one and replace it. When a athlete gets hurt, the coach puts in a replacement. So why would I be sharing these examples? The reason is, in every one of these examples, the importance of the replacement is so forward movement is not stopped. Even if there is a disruption, once the replacement is put in,  forward progress continues. Replace-Words-Featured-670x335

With all the is going on right now words are having a greater impact than ever before. Many people are living in panic, fear, crisis and greed. These feelings are creating an increase in anxiety, depression and hopelessness. Believe me, I have felt these over the past couple of weeks. However, as I have thought about this and watched stories of people doing good, I have tried to refocus my thoughts to ones of positivity. What I have done is replaced key words which has helped me change my thoughts and actions. Here is what I have been focused on:

Replace the word panic with patience. As we develop more patience with all that is going on we will have more clarity and peace of mind. We will also be more mentally prepared to help others.

Replace the word fear with faith. It does not matter if one has a religion or set of beliefs but everyone can have faith. That faith should can create feelings of hope which leads to positive actions and thus greater peace.

Replace the word crisis with comfort. The truth is, we have reason to be concerned about the world we live in right now but being able to feel comfort can change our entire outlook. Comfort comes when we listen to the professionals and do our part to be a good global citizen. Comfort also comes from an increase in faith.

Replace greed with gratitude. We can see how people are reacting by literally hoarding key essential items from stores without even a second thought about others. To put it bluntly, that is straight up greed. Can you image living with gratitude and how that can impact greed? There is no shortage of research that shows the power of living with gratitude. The more gratitude we can show to others, the better we feel. Gratitude brings peace and comfort. You cannot underestimate the power of gratitude. Take time write hand written notes to others, send a text to someone you have been thinking about, email those who are serving on the front lines.

Your ability to replace these and potentially other words you might be using to describe the current situation will bring a brighter outlook on your future. This is a time for each of us to develop in ways we may not have ever thought about before. We deserve it to both ourselves and the world to strive each day to be the best we can. Let us be know as a people who rose to the occasion. When we do this our anxiety, depression and loneliness will be more manageable. I love this quote:

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Time to be a hero!

Seth

PS. Wash your hands, keep your distance, do your part

Seth Saunders Inspirational, Leadership, Learning, Value

Let’s Start With “Why”

Time to get real. Why do you do the things you do? Take a minute to ponder that question and the responses that come to your head and heart.

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Some Why Questions

Why did you get up this morning? Why are you reading this blog? Why didn’t you say “Hi” to the person you walked by in the hall? Why did you “comment” on that one Instagram Post? Why did click the “Like” button on that Tik Tok but not that other one? Why did you leave her/him on read on Snapchat for the entire day? Why did you kiss that boy/girl? Why are talking bad about that person or group of people? Why didn’t you give your best effort today? Why did you lie to your friends about what happened last weekend?

Okay, I think you get the picture, the question why should hopefully open our eyes. Depending on how we answer the questions above and many others like it each day we may or may not like what we see. So I return to the initial question I posed, Why do you do the things you do?

In short we can respond by simply saying that’s just who I am. Not a bad place to start but it is time we go a little deeper. To do this we must ask the next obvious question which is who am I and why am I this way? The answers to these questions will be as numerous as there are people in the world but there will be one common thing, our experiences are what shape our lives.

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Sure, it is much easier for me to say that now when I have had many experiences throughout my life that have shaped me but I wish I would have realized this as a teenager. There is no doubt had I made this connection, I would have been nicer to others, more aware of those in need around me, more respectful to my parents, siblings and friends, not so caught up on who is dating who and why am I single. I would have made sure others felt included all the time. I would have ensured that no one group of students was not so influential on my own decisions. The truth is, I would have made better decisions.

I have felt very strongly that teenagers especially right now need to know that every decision they make has an impact, it will be for good or not so good. That impact will be felt by them and others either directly or indirectly. Having been closely involved with so many teens throughout my life but especially over the past 3 years I can see with all my heart that they are amazing. They have so much potential and talent. They have hearts that are caring. The problem is that many have been influenced by those who do not make the best decisions. They have allowed popularity and clout to fog their sight. For so many they would respond to the question why do I the things I do with a simple, because my friends do it.

For the parents and adults who have influence on teenagers, please let them know how much you love them, care about them and that they are amazing. Do this often.

For the teens who are reading this, you MUST take responsibility now for the decisions you make because they are influencing what you do everyday. Remember, we don’t get to pick the rewards and/or consequences of our decisions, thus we must make it a pattern in our life to make good decisions, even when others don’t.

Be a leader.

Be an example.

BE A HERO!

be a hero