Thoughts are Things

I had read the statement 'thoughts are things' way back in the mid 1990's and agreed with it because it made sense to me. I had believed it to be true, but not in such clear language; my mind often produced exciting, albeit unfocused, ideas because I felt that I had the potential to do much more than dwell in the rut I had carved for myself after getting pummeled by life for a few years after college.

That 'rut' lasted for ten years, after which I began to put the noted statement to the test because I couldn't take it anymore and my life had changed completely (for the better, I might add, because that's what I thought about all day long).

Fast forward ten more years or so - in retrospect, the aforementioned 'rut' was only a rut because that is what I thought of it at the time. Today, I would not be who I am and chose to be without having experienced the struggles within that time period - and believe me, there was a lot of struggling. I no longer see the rut as a bad thing, I see it as a challenge to overcome and visualizing future positions and opportunities was the one thing that got me to where I chose to be.

The video below is a very inspiring message that pretty much sums up my feelings about the power of positive thinking, visualizing and the core message of The Secret. I am not a cult-follower of anything, except movies, by the way, but I do know the 'thoughts are things' system works.

Recognizing All Stages of Leadership at Work

The video below was not the inspiration for this entry; I was looking for other ways of stating what I mean to say, that there are levels of leadership from the bottom to the top of any workplace. In particular, Mark Sanborn mentions that a job title does not, by itself, make a great leader. In fact, lack of a title and exhibiting leadership qualities if often a more respectable position to be in because people are following simply because of a person's initiative and determination to progress in a given situation.

I personally gave up giving myself a title a few years ago. I wanted to have some sort of title to live up to and be respected for, but in looking back at my history of 'things I do', I felt it was appropriate to avoid any one title and just go by my name. Instead of telling people what I do by way of title, I explain in terms of my mission statement because it represents my life's work rather than just what I do during the day, which for me includes seemingly wide and varied activities, but they do adhere to a central theme.

No matter what title a person is given at work, it must be realized that leadership begins at the bottom and works it's way to the top, or at least varying levels in between, depending on an individual's initiative. If you have the initiative and determination, others will follow your lead because of your ideas rather than of your title and there is less chance of mutiny if your ideas are sound and respectable.