Authentic Leadership – Walk Into the Future

Busy or productive? (Repost)

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life”.

(Socrates)

Dictionary.com defines busy as having a great deal to do.

Conversely, Dictionary.com defines productive as producing or able to produce large amounts of goods, crops, or other commodities.

So, which of these definitions describes your daily endeavors in the workplace?

People use the terms in a similar fashion, but I am quick to tell folks my goal is to be productive daily.

Busy can quickly become a mindset that leads to staff becoming overwhelmed with the tasks they must handle in the work environment. I ask staff members how they are doing throughout the day and when I hear someone say they are busy I simply ask: are you busy or productive?

This makes folks pause for a bit and then they want to know the difference. Again, I refer to the two distinct definitions. Someone who exclaims they are busy is identifying they have a lot of things to do, and they are thinking about that workload. Some will just come out and say I have a lot on my plate and need to get things done. Sounds reasonable but it can also cause a mental drain on the staff member and anyone else who hears a constant “I am busy” drumbeat in the work environment. Yes, there may be a lot to do but saying ‘busy’ does not move the needle to get things done.

Flip the script!

My goal is to be productive daily, and this starts with the concept of coming to work to get things done. The old saying talk is cheap would apply here. Talking about being busy does nothing to get task accomplished. A productive mindset allows staff members to come in with focus and take an active role in getting things done. Tools I use to increase productivity:

To Do Lists (daily, weekly, monthly)
Outlook calendar (meeting reminders, team time off, out of office reminders)
Face to face conversations
Email
Large Post It Notes on my office walls
Staff meetings (group, 1:1, virtual)

I have used To Do Lists for most of my professional life and these lists help me plan/organize my day to keep me focused on deadlines and work products I need to complete. I begin each morning before going into the office with a list of action items I want to accomplish for the day. I sync this list up with any items I did not complete the previous day once I arrive in the office.

FYI, I am also the first person in the building most days so I can have 45 minutes to consolidate my lists and build a game plan for the day. Yes, I put this much thought into my operation to ensure I have a productive day. I am trying to maximize my opportunities to be productive and leverage all the tools available to help me with this. A secondary benefit of my lists is they allow me to pick up where I left off when I must help staff members with a task or problem. I can come back and pick up where I left off without wasting time trying to remember what I need to get done. Please note, staff and clients take priority, so I get a lot of practice coming back to my daily lists.

Face to face conversations are a great way to keep the productivity flowing. I find simply getting up from my desk and going to have a conversation is more productive than emailing back and forth. We can talk things through, come to a consensus and eliminate potential misunderstandings. Of course, this only works if the person is available to have a conversation. 😊

The large Post It Notes on my office walls is something I started while working in the Florida State University’s Career Center. The concept was for me to put big projects on Post It Notes so staff could come into the office and add updates to each project. I began to allow staff to build their own projects and put them on my office walls so we could work them together. I got the Post It Note idea because my white board was not large enough to highlight multiple projects. I purchase the Post It Notes from Staples and they stick to the wall. These notes provide a great visual to highlight how productive we are on any given day. One of my current staff members said coming into my office and seeing the notes is like being ‘in my mind’. I quickly told her to get out of there because there is a lot going on up there. 😊

There are other ways to become productive in the work environment, but these are a few that I leverage daily to help move me and the organization forward.

So, I ask you, are you busy or productive? What tools are you using to help your productivity? I welcome your thoughts—thanks!

“Focus on being productive instead of busy”.

(Tim Ferris)

Career Choices 101

(Image by Orange Fox from Pixabay)

“Don’t chase the paper, chase the dream”.

(Notorious B.I.G)

The Great Resignation is a term that describes the trend of the mass voluntary exit of employees from their employment obligations.

The Great Regret is a new term that describes the feelings of 80% of the people who took part in the Great Resignation.

The quote above is one of my favorites from the great hip hop artist, Notorious B.I.G. He was a lyrical genius, and the quote above can be used as a career metaphor.

My simple translation = find your WHY and career success will follow.

The Great Resignation provided a lot of people the freedom or guidepost to see the world of work in a different way. The new work view provided some with the vision to seek more and bet on themselves with so many new opportunities available. That’s a positive considering I preach to everyone to explore as much as possible. My blog is titled Walk into The Future because I continue to explore opportunities and will not limit my options (work, travel, fun).

There are some folks who viewed the Great Resignation as an opportunity to change their work situation and in some cases cash in more financially. That’s not a problem if the workplace change was made to get the individual closer to doing things they enjoy. It could be a problem if the individual changed careers simply because there was more money available for the new job.

Quick question: How much of a pay raise will it take for YOU to be happy today? Would $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 make you enjoy what you are doing more?

I ask clients and staff this question to get them thinking about what they truly want. Chasing the paper may seem like the logical answer but don’t forget you still have to pay taxes on that paper. Also, an extra $5,000.00 to continue to work in a place you are not happy with does not sound enticing to me. Conversely, leaving a company for a job paying more money may sound just as good but the switch should not be based solely on the money. Refer to the quote above from the Notorious B.I.G.

The best of both worlds would be to find your WHY and build up your skills so that when your dreams come true, the paper (money) follows. Sounds like a simple concept and it can be, but nothing will be simple without knowing/understanding the WHY.

Going to work without a WHY causes a lot of people issues daily. I work with folks who believe that they are not being paid their true worth in the workplace. Some are completing the same duties they have been assigned for 10+ years—no additional responsibilities or growth from them but they want more. Why is that? They have not identified a WHY for their work life and have not built the skills to chase the dream. A larger problem is some don’t even know what dream to chase to find the happiness they seek.

The lack of paper (money) is not really the problem. The problem is chasing something they are not fully invested in and believing additional funds (salary) will turn this around and they will immediately become happy with what they are doing.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

No WHY equals a form of insanity in the workplace. I coach clients to seek/find their WHY to determine the best course of action for their careers.

Chasing the DREAM can bring the paper. Well stated Biggie Smalls!

What dream are you chasing?

Irie!

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/02/80percent-of-workers-who-quit-in-great-resignation-regret-it-new-survey.html

Authentic Leadership Consulting Project

My Walk into the Future continues to allow me to make a difference in the world daily. I realize most of my life and writing focus appears to only be on my marathon preparation but I’m still busy with my consulting work as well.

I embarked on an Authentic Leadership consulting project with the St. Lucie County Tax Collector’s office to enhance leadership training for front line supervisors. I have been working with this organization since February but never got around to sharing with my readers. Well, now is the time to get a full understanding of the project.

The Director of Organizational Efficiency reached out to me on LinkedIn to discuss my Authentic Leadership work back in February. We had initial conversations on LinkedIn and transitioned to a phone conversation on the impact of Authentic Leadership within the work environment. I was scheduled to attend a local Chamber of Commerce event the next week and she asked if she could join me during the event to talk more. I’m always networking so invited her to join me at the Chamber event.

She brought her supervisor, the Chief Deputy with her to the Chamber event to meet me as well. We spent most of the Chamber event discussing my Authentic Leadership work and how it might benefit their organization. We agreed to stay in touch, and they invited me to meet their leadership team—an audition if you will since I did my Authentic Leadership presentation for the group.

This led to a request to provide a 5-part leadership training program to the 18 department leaders.

I worked directly with the Director of Organizational Efficiency on the topics, dates, and frequency of the training program so we could maintain a schedule that provided maximum exposure for the leaders. The topics requested were some that I already had in my library, but I was able to build new, innovative training sessions based on the needs of the organization. FYI, a full training needs assessment was completed by the intended audience to ensure I provided training that would benefit the organization—not just something I wanted to share with them. This is a major key to a successful organizational training program.

A companion 3-part leadership training program was requested for staff participating in the LEAD Academy—next line leaders coming up through the organization.

5-part program topics:

Authentic Leadership
Goal Setting
Your WHY Statement
Being a Self-Aware Leader
Empowering Leadership

3-part program topics:

Self-Awareness and Leadership
Authentic Leadership and How to be a Leader
Learn How to Interview (next position)

There was some overlap with the topics, but I was able to tailor to fit each group and their needs based on what they requested in the needs assessment.

It was great being able to see the leadership growth in each group—some folks did not understand what leadership should be when we started but quickly developed outstanding insight on leadership when we were done. I like to look into the eyes of my clients to determine if they understand a topic and the growth, I saw in the eyes of both groups they are better leaders now.

I remind my clients leadership requires continued learning and development. You must adapt to situations and people but having a strong leadership foundation is key to organizational growth.

I am in the process of building a 2023 program for the same organization to capture more up and coming leaders. This will ensure the organization continues to evolve and grow based on the training provided to the staff. Excited to partner with this organization again in 2023. Also, looking to expand my client base to conduct training with other local organizations. Never a dull moment for me! 😊

Irie!

What projects are you working on? Make it great!

My 2022 reading progress

(Books I’m reading now)

“A book is a gift you can open again and again”.

(Garrison Keillor)

I start each year with a measured set of goals. Reading and writing are two areas I focus on for my goals.

These are the areas where I find a ton of joy daily along with my running program. My 2022 reading and writing goals are below:

Read bible daily / Proverbs, Matthew, and other areas for better understanding
- Read 2 books monthly
Write daily (poems, journal, BLOG articles, LinkedIn posts monthly)
- Publish Authentic Leadership eBook (April 2022)

So, this is where I update you on my progress.

I discovered the book The Richest Man Who Ever Lived by Steven K. Scott 15 years ago and adopted an aspect from the book into my daily life. The book highlights the benefits of Proverbs and how King Solomon identified secrets to success, wealth, and happiness. I originally read the book thinking it would TELL me how to become rich financially which did not happen.

I read the book and did not understand the lessons the author was trying to relay to the readers. I dismissed it as an attempt to get people to read the book because of the catchy title. Luckily for me I decided to go back and read the book multiple times and followed the directions provided to see where they would lead.

I adopted the practice of reading Proverbs daily because of the wisdom (secrets to success, wealth, and happiness) this book provides to readers. I have been a daily Proverbs reader for over 15 years now and continue to discover new wisdom insights. Decided to add other books in the bible to my daily reading program in 2022. This is the reading goal I continue to meet and/or exceed so far this year.

Now, let’s talk about my goal to read 2 books each month. I started the year off with a bang and was able to handle my book goal in January and February. I started to go downhill with my reading program in March. I added more racing and training to my routine to get prepared for multiple half marathons but that’s not the real reason my reading has been slacking.

I have not done a great job of identifying book topics/titles that keep my attention. I big part of reading for me is an interest in the topic/title and the author. I started grabbing books off Amazon based on recommendations but some of the books did not have a true flow and caused me to become a slower reader than normal. No excuses but it is taking me longer to digest and get through the books I have selected. I’m averaging a book a month but need to increase my pace or make the time to read these books. There is still a lot of 2022 left to get more books read but I may not average 2 books each month.

My writing program remains strong, and I am happy with my progress in 2022. The blog articles keep me searching for new adventures and ideas, but I am happy with my ability to create content. It helps that a lot of my life revolves around traveling, running and the beach. I am sure I will continue to have content to turn into another Walk into the Future blog article. 😊

I have published multiple articles and posts on LinkedIn so that is another goal win. I continue to look for ways to network and connect with a larger audience. LinkedIn has allowed me to attract readers to my blog and share my adventures and leadership thoughts. I will use LinkedIn to build my leadership audience so I can get back to conducting Authentic Leadership workshops for organizations looking to improve/grow.

I have rolled my publishing a leadership eBook into 2022. I have the content for the eBook but need to get busy with cover art and putting the content into publication. I will use the summer months to finalize the content and work to get cover art so I can get the eBook to market. It’s coming—I promise! 😊

Still got work to do but I am making progress towards my 2022 reading and writing goals.

How are you doing with your 2022 goals! I welcome your thoughts—thanks!

Irie!

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body”.

(Joseph Addison)

Inspiration Man—Florida Association of Colleges and Employers (FloridaACE) Keynote

Keynote

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”.

(Winston Churchill)

To keynote or not?

This was a question I faced back in October 2021 when one of my friends asked me to consider being the keynote speaker for a virtual Drive-In conference.

The Florida Association of Colleges and Employers (FloridaACE) members come from college/university Career Services and employers who maintain active on-campus recruiting programs.

I have been a member of FloridaACE for over 10 years and have made some great contacts throughout the state of Florida.

Fun fact, I was selected as the keynote for the inaugural Drive-In Conference back in 2016. I gave my keynote address at the University of Central Florida in the building I used to work in prior to moving to FSU. Who says you can’t come home again? 😊

The Drive-In Conference is designed to be shorter than a regular conference—a day and a half instead of a full week. The concept of the Drive-in Conference is to make it accessible to a large population of attendees who can physically drive to the location and not need hotel accommodations.

COVID-19 made the concept of virtual conferences come to life and this Drive-In Conference was switched to a virtual format.

I love to spread the Inspiration Man message to any group that will sit and listen. I hesitated to accept this request because it was via Zoom, and I did not know how my message would translate on a virtual platform. I love in-person audiences and feed off the crowd when I present. A virtual keynote was a challenge to me but one I am happy I accepted—things went well from start to finish.

The 2021 FloridaACE Virtual Drive-In Conference was titled: Gulf-to-Coast Connections.

I reached out to my friend to get a better understanding of the conference title and how significant it was to attendees. Turns out the term gulf was picked so people in western Florida would not feel left out. I decided to focus on the conference in terms of how people on both coasts (Gulf and Atlantic) could connect to build Authentic Connections. Yes, I put authentic in most things I do these days. 😊

Happy to report I accepted the Keynote invitation and was able to move the crowd on a virtual platform.

I researched the term Authentic Connections to build my knowledge base as I worked to create a presentation to inspire others. There is a ton of research available, and my new task was to filter this data in a way to build the presentation.

The key to any form of connection is RELATIONSHIPS. My goal during the keynote was to highlight to the attendees how technology (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, etc.) allow us to reach a larger audience than before. There was always a mindset to catch-up with colleagues during the annual in-person conference or workshop. This was an effective way to connect back in the day, but COVID created new options/ways to connect.

We can reach out to potential mentors and colleagues by utilizing the technology we have. My keynote centered on how FloridaACE members could leverage technology and build authentic connections.

Authentic Connections should be genuine, direct, and focused. My point for the group was to highlight relationships can be built virtually, in-person or a combination of both platforms. You must want to make a connection for it to happen. Networking with an intentional mindset helps build connections too.

I would have been remiss if I did not talk about some of the challenges we face when attempting to make new connections:

COVID-19
No in-person events
Zoom fatigue
Multiple platform (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, etc.)

Simply figuring out how and when to connect with others has been a challenge even for me.

Some folks prefer a phone call, others are all about Zoom and then you have a set who want in-person connections because they want to feel normal again. I shared with my audience it is okay to identify a preferred platform and stick with that. I prefer Microsoft Teams now when connecting with anyone not on-campus with me. The key to this I have found is to state the preference up-front and then provide a Microsoft Teams calendar invite to eliminate confusion on how/when we will connect.

The concept of recalibrate was addressed to ensure attendees understand they must adjust thought processes in today’s world. We are not going back to pre-COVID networking so finding authentic connections should be prioritized for them to happen. Following up after making a request is an outstanding way to continue to build the connections needed to make a difference in the world.

Being a keynote speaker during a virtual conference was a new experience for me but I was able to make several authentic connections during and after the event. Will see how many attendees follow-up with me and leverage the wisdom I dropped on them.

How do you make/ensure authentic connections in your world? Thanks!

“Speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners”.

(Dale Carnegie)

Walking with a positive work environment (Repost)

(Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay)

“Positive work environments outperform negative work environments”.

(Daniel Goleman)

Positive people make positive things happen is one of my favorite sayings to inspire people in my world. I created this as a mantra when I enter a work environment to help my team understand the mindset, we need to get positive results.

I was introduced to Positive Psychology during my course work and it remains with me daily. One premise of Positive Psychology is people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives. This could be on a personal or professional level. I like leveraging Positive Psychology within the work environment to show direct reports how our mindset influences work outcomes.

I mentioned in an earlier post, my daily response to how I am doing is to say fantastic. This is not a way to hide my true thoughts or feelings but a way to energize myself. I found by saying I am doing fantastic provides a new level of energy for myself and it can inspire others around me to join in on the fun. The word fantastic is not used very often in daily life so it makes people take notice and encourages them to get on The Energy Bus.

Now imagine if you had a leader who was always negative and never had anything nice to say. How would this person impact the work environment? I am sure this negative mindset would translate to everyone in the work environment and would not be a pleasant place to work.

Leaders must be cognizant how their energy (positive or negative) impacts the work environment. This knowledge will go a long way to build a positive work environment culture to ensure positive things get done daily. Sounds simple, huh?

It takes a while for this positive process to take hold within a new work environment. The speed of this process can be enhanced when everyone is ready to engage. One negative teammate can slow or aggravate the process, but this can be mitigated by the rest of the team pulling in the same direction. A new initiative for me is to follow Rule #6 from The Energy Bus—I have a sign posted that reads No Energy Vampires Allowed in my office in a prominent location. I will point to the sign when the tone of a conversation starts to become negative. I welcome different views and opinions but look to negate negative tone, language, or interactions. It takes time to eliminate the negative, but the goal is to move forward in a positive manner. I struggle sometimes because I want everything to head in a positive direction but also know things take time.

A positive work environment is a place where everyone can thrive, grow, and provide input. We spend a large amount of our lives in the work environment and I strive to create a space where we can work hard, laugh, and enjoy the process. Leaders who understand work does not have to be stressful create a space where productivity can be displayed daily. I have worked in places where people dreaded coming to work and I made a vow to never duplicate these types of environments when I reached the big seat. Well, I have been in the big seat for a while now and smile whenever one of my tree branches reach out and say they want to work with me again.

I am sure not everyone feels this way, but I have enough of these folks to form my own wolf pack. 😊 Still learning and growing but will continue to promote positive work environments because they are productive and fun. Imagine that, fun in the workplace! Guess Google, Microsoft and Apple understand what people want in the work environment. I do not have ping pong tables, yet, but play a lot of reggae in my office. Irie!

What do you see as the benefits of a positive work environment? How do you contribute to ensure your work environment remains positive?

“Positive anything is better than negative nothing”.

(Elbert Hubbard)

Authentic Leadership continues to grow

Chess

(Image by Devanath from Pixabay)

“Authentic leadership is revealed in the alignment of what you think, what you say, and what you do”.

(Michael Holland)

Authentic Leadership continues to be a driving force in my daily interactions. Amazing how I stumbled across this leadership style during my dissertation process back in 2013 but it is something I genuinely believe makes a difference in the work environment.

I am also amazed by the number of folks who only know about this leadership style after talking with me or sitting in one of my presentations. Looks like I need to do a better job of spreading the benefits of Authentic Leadership. 😊

I was asked back in January if I would be willing to be the guest speaker for the local Association of Florida Colleges (AFC) monthly professional development program. Inspiration Man was quick to say yes, and the topic they requested was Authentic Leadership. I had to dust off my files but thought this was an excellent opportunity to share Authentic Leadership with colleagues at my new school.

This was one of the first time I was able to stand in front of a group of people since early 2020 due to COVID-19. I was excited to be in front of live folks again in my efforts to move the crowd.

I started the presentation with a brief introduction to Authentic Leadership and the benefits it brings to the work environment.

Authentic Leadership is rooted in positive psychology and allows leaders to improve their self-awareness and regulated behaviors. The importance of self-awareness becomes more evident daily as I interact with others.

All Authentic Leadership variables are important but none of the others come into play if a leader is not self-aware. This was a major feature of my presentation to my AFC colleagues. There were several head nods when I made this point and a couple folks asked if they could expand on how self-awareness helps them daily.

The four variables were shared: self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective and balanced processing. The variables were highlighted together as a quick overview and then I did a complete breakdown to show how each enhances the work environment.

Self-awareness—the leader displays a full understanding of strengths, weaknesses and how others view their leadership
Relational Transparency—the leader presents their authentic self to build trust. This includes consistent words, thoughts, and actions.
Internalized moral perspective—the leader integrates personal morals with self-perspective. Self-awareness enhances the leader’s ability to understand how their morals influence decision making.
Balanced processing—the leader can view multiple sides of an issue (positive and negative) before deciding on the issue. This variable encourages direct reports to provide input because the leader wants their feedback. This improves job satisfaction for direct reports.

I spent extra time on balanced processing because I want to train new leaders to understand how important this is in the work environment. Staff will speak up with new ideas IF they believe input is wanted and will be acted on (as applicable). Leaders who want input from staff need to let them know they are willing to listen but there are times when something truly cannot be done. Nothing wrong with this because it enhances relational transparency in the work environment.

The AFC members had a lot of questions about Authentic Leadership and how they can improve their self-awareness. I am happy with the dialogue we started during the AFC event and look forward to sharing Authentic Leadership with other organizations soon. Got a couple requests to bring my presentation into departmental meetings and I will say YES when the invites come in. 😊

How has your Authentic Leadership knowledge grown?

“The power for authentic leadership is found not in external arrangements, but in the human heart”.

(Parker J. Palmer)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/05/12/what-is-authentic-leadership/?sh=6f7ed67fdef7

Why I continue to blog

Blog

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

“Blogging is like work, but without coworkers thwarting you at every turn”.

(Scott Adams)

I never imagined three years ago I would still be blogging about my life, thoughts, and adventures.

The need for me to document things via the Walk into the Future blog continues to grow as my views and voice get stronger daily. COVID-19 slowed down the adventures, but I still write to share my ideas with my followers and the occasional new reader around the world. I also write as a form of therapy for me to release energy into the world—sounds poetic, huh?

It still amazes me when I see a reader from France, India or Spain checking out one of my articles. Never thought my idea for this blog would travel so well but travel it does.

I make a point to write about things that speak directly to me and adventures I have decided to tackle. Some of my best content comes from friends and family who send me topics they would like to read about. This process is exciting to me because I get to conduct research to bring the topic to my followers. It is a bit more complicated than just hearing a topic and then I sit down and write. There are times when the words just flow for me but other times, I must come back to a potential topics multiple times just to get it production ready. I do not think I have ever experienced writer’s block but there are days where writing just does not flow for me. I find I just need to clear my mind and let my fingers do the walking—that is an old telephone book reference! 😊

I have had a few articles I wrote but never published on the Walk into the Future blog. Never thought I would have canned articles but not share them on the blog. This does not happen too often but the articles I hold back do not fit what I want the blog to represent. Yes, this is my blog, but it is also open access and I owe it to myself and my readers to put my best work forward daily.

2020 saw so much turmoil in America and the way black people are treated caused a lot of frustration for me. My ability to channel these frustrations provided some of my best work (my opinion) but needed to ensure my words match the intended purpose. I revisit the articles I put on ice to see if I can salvage them, but they remain on ice—I am sure I will share directly with my tree branches but some of these will never be blog worthy (Seinfeld reference).

I find joy in putting words down to see if I can develop into something others would want to read. The challenge to keep generating articles is with me daily. I find inspiration to write in multiple settings but me sitting down on my laptop and just hammering out content is the norm for me now. COVID-19 took away my coffee shop vibes, so I sit at my dining room table with my laptop, beer, and Bob Marley music as I lay down these tracks.

Plan to keep writing as long as it is fun to me and people continue to read what I am laying down.

My hope is to get back to a certain level of travel again so I can write about my exploits in exotic locales. Negril, Jamaica is my first stop once it is safe to head back down.

So, I have listed some reasons why I continue to blog. Why do YOU continue to read? I welcome your thoughts!

Irie!

“The currency of blogging is authenticity and trust”.

(Jason Calacanis)

Positive people make positive things happen!

Positive

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results”.

(Willie Nelson)

Positive people make positive things happen is one of my favorite quotes to live by! This quote has been with me for years—I do not even remember when or where I started using it but incorporate this quote in life daily.

The quote is straight forward and simple but has the power to transform. Think of the negative people you know and their impact within the work environment. I mention the work environment but negative people impact us whenever they are around. I would love to say you can avoid negative people but there are times when you will come in contact with them. Do not let this time linger as these folks can drain you. Nothing is ever good enough or there is always a reason why something cannot be done.

Let’s get back to the positives in this article! 😊

Positive anything is better than the negative counterpart. Think of the positive people in your life and how they make YOU feel. These folks are always seeking a way to make things around them better. It could be how they greet you in the morning or the ever present smile on their face even when things are not going their way. It would be easy for them to complain but they do not. They seek the positives in the situation and how to make things better. They strive to get things done and not worry about the circumstances.

This ability to seek the positives directly translates to making positive things happen. This is not a coincidence—focusing on positives allows these folks to generate positive outcomes. They use their time and energy to find solutions to make a difference on projects they work on.

These are the folks I gravitate towards because they are solution focused—not looking for excuses why things cannot get done. I pride myself as a positive person and wake up daily to make a difference in the world. This mindset has helped guide me towards successful outcomes in whatever venture I seek to conquer. Please note, there are days when negative thoughts creep in but I quickly shake them off so I can continue to move forward.

That negative friend, coworker or family member drains energy by identifying why something cannot be done. These negative folks spend more time taking away from finding a solution—there are times where I see this negative mindset attract like minded folks and they feed off each other. Do not fall into this trap—avoid these people at all costs. Better yet, be so positive they want to avoid you or at least want to emulate the positivity you put on display daily. I find joy frustrating negative people by not allowing their issues to come into my world.

My goal is for them to join in on the positive things happening.

What do you do to ensure a positive mindset? How do you avoid the negative noise from others?

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another

(Proverbs 27:17)

Walking into 2021!

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

“Celebrate endings—for they proceed new beginnings”.

(Jonathan Lockwood Huie)

Happy New Year from the Walk into the Future blog!

Grateful to continue to write blog articles to express my thoughts and document life adventures. This blog started as a way for me to share with my friends and has evolved into a space for me to highlight a bit of creativity. This blog also provides a place to advocate for social change in the world—did not have this in mind when I launched the blog but there is no turning back now. My walk continues to expand so I am excited to see what new angles I can tackle in 2021.

2021 promises to bring new opportunities for us all. 2020 was a monster on multiple levels but there were opportunities for growth as well.

Happy to report I was able to meet all my 2020 goals except the number of half marathons I ran. Of course, COVID-19 was the reason the race season did not happen, so I am not upset I did not meet this goal.

I am in the process of generating my 2021 goals and look forward to working towards them daily.

My reading program increased in 2020 and I enjoyed exploring new topics and authors. I see this as an area I can expand in 2021. I fancy myself as a lifelong learner and reading keeps me engaged in learning new things and hopefully sharing these things with my tree branches. Please note, I am always open to your suggestions for books so send me a few—thanks!

The Rock N Roll marathon series has 6 races projected for in-person competition in 2021. My favorite race, the Nashville Rock N Roll half marathon is scheduled for April 25, 2021. My 2020 registration automatically rolled over so I can run in the race this year if I would like. I am not committed to running this or any race at this point especially if it means I must get on a plane to get to the race city. Will wait and see how the vaccination process impacts the spread of COVID-19 before deciding on this race. Would hate to miss Nashville two years in a row but this is the world we live in. The Savannah race is scheduled for November 7, 2021 and this may be a better option—we will see.

I will look at some smaller, local races to get my competitive fix. I am sure Track Shack in Orlando will have some races I want to run—the OUC half may be on my race calendar again this year based on location and safety measures.

I began the process of creating an Authentic Leadership eBook in 2020. Will look to put the finishing touches on this project in 2021. Wanted to share a few leadership principles in a different format to see if others would be interested in this project. It has been fun working on a new outlet for my thoughts and plan to expand the authentic leadership platform in 2021.

My leadership consulting is another area I want to expand in 2021. My work in 2019 had me positioned for a huge consulting year in 2020 but we all know the impact of COVID-19 on all industries. Will look to create an outreach program to reengage with organizations I have worked with in the past and generate new leads. Virtual programming and meetings became common in 2020 and see this continuing in 2021. This can lead to new ways to reach organizations and provide a consulting rebirth for me and others. Fingers crossed!

I am sure there will be other goals to add to my list, but these are a few I will work towards in 2021.

What goals do you have for the new year? How successful were you meeting your 2020 goals? Thanks!

“Every moment is a fresh beginning”.

(T.S. Elliot)

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