Meaningful Monday-Personal Leadership

Personal leadership is the ability to lead your life from within, guarding your thoughts and determining the direction of your destiny through conscious choices.

Being a leader in your own life is just as important or maybe even more important than leadership in your workplace. At work colleagues look to your to steer them in the right direction, delegate workload, give instructions, among other things pertinent to fulfilling organizational obligations. But how well are you at taking that same leadership role in own life or do you depend on someone taking up the reins for you to follow.

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and it struck a cord. What if we took the same principals of leadership we carried on the job into our personal life? Personal leadership also creates an opportunity for growth, building strong relationships, gives your life a sense of mission and purpose.

SEVEN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES TO LEARN FROM AN EAGLE….
1. Eagles fly Alone and at High Altitudes.
They don’t fly with sparrows, ravens, and other small birds.
MEANING- Stay away from narrow-minded people, those that bring you down. Eagle flies with Eagles. Keep good company.

2. Eagles have an Accurate Vision. They have the ability to focus on something as far as 5km away. No matter the obstacles, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it.
MEANING- Have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacles and you will succeed.

3. Eagles do not Eat Dead things. They Feed only on Fresh Prey.
MEANING-Do not rely on your past success, keep looking for new frontiers to conquer. Leave your past where it belongs, in the past.

4. Eagles Love the Storm.
When clouds gather, the eagle gets excited, the eagle uses the storms wind to lift itself higher. Once it finds the wind of the storm, the eagle uses the raging storm to lift itself above the clouds. This gives the eagle an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime, all the other birds hide in the branches and leaves of the tree.
MEANING- Face your challenges head on knowing that these will make you emerge stronger and better than you were. We can use the storms of life to rise to greater heights. Achievers are not afraid to rise to greater heights. Achievers are not afraid of challenges, rather they relish them and use them profitably.

5. When a Female Eagle Meets a Male Eagle and they want to mate, she flies down to earth, picks a twig and flies back into the air with the male eagle in hot pursuit. Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she drops the twig and let it fall to the ground while she watches. The male eagle chases after the twig and catches it before it reached the ground, then bring it back to the female eagle. The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a much higher altitude and drop the twig again for the male eagle to chase. This goes on for hours with the height increasing each time until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of picking the twig which shows commitment. Then and only then will she allow him to mate with her.
MEANING- Whether in private life or business, one should test the commitment of the people intended for partnership.

6. Eagles Prepare for Training.
They remove the feathers and soft grass in the nest so that the young ones get uncomfortable in preparation for flying and eventually flies when it becomes unbearable to stay in the nest.
MEANING-Leave your Comfort Zone, there is No Growth there.

7. When the Eagle Grows Old.
His feathers becomes weak and cannot take him as fast and as high as it should. This makes him weak and could make him die. So he retires to a place far away in the mountains. While there, he plucks out the weak feathers on his body and breaks its beaks and claws against the rocks until he is completely bare; a very bloody and painful process. Then he stays in this hiding place until he has grown new feathers, new beaks and claws and then he comes out flying higher than before.
MEANING- We occasionally need to shed off old habit no matter how difficult, things that burden us or add no value to our lives should be let go of.

*BE AN EAGLE, NEVER EVER GIVE UP !!!*