So what have you done to improve your thoughts today?  That thought itself is a worthwhile exercise to work with in your mental gym. When something did not go your way, were you able to use your presence of mind to recognize that you had choices at that instant–the choice to become angry or just take it in stride or do something constructive about it.  

From the Ownership Spirit book, I offer you a couple of thoughts that can serve as exercises to think about and ponder a bit: 

1.  We each have a body; but we are not our bodies. We have emotions, but we are not our emotions. And, we have feelings, but we are not our feelings.

2.  Each of us, at the core, is the thinker of thoughts inside our bodies, and what that thinker of thoughts chooses to think has everything to say about the quality of the life we live.

3. We are the only species that can think about its thinking right in the process of thinking it. 

As you dwell upon these suggested ponder points, you will soon find yourself thinking differently about thinking itself.  That is the Key!

One visit to the gym will not turn you into a mental Olympian, but it is where you start.  Doing something as simple as choosing to respond with patience rather than with irritation has, over time, an incredibly powerful cumulative effect. 

A good friend of mine, David Daughtrey, says, “If you consistently do what anybody can do but don’t, eventually you’ll be able to do what other people wish they could do, but cannot.”  And, that is another thought worth thinking about. 

Only you can set yourself on a course of continuous growth and increased power over your life.

“What can I do as a leader to keep folks in the “taking action” mode?  Having big plans for the future is great, but life is about  “taking action” and it is that part that trips us up.  We have positive momentum in place, but we need to put our noses to the grindstone and gut out the “un-fun” parts rather than returning to the status quo behaviors of the past.  I guess I am just worried that folks will fall back into their old ways when the challenge of ”taking action” tests us.  Any ideas on what I can do 1:1 or in group settings to stay on top of this message?”

The essence of my answer:  Great leaders have to be continuous teachers.  Human beings seldom change their thoughts unless and until they’re exposed to new ideas—hence the existence of schools, churches, and even advertising campaigns. 

I recommended to this leader that he educate his people relentlessly—and keep exposing them to personally-applicable material that expands their expectations of themselves.

“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”  -Peter F. Drucker

I shared with him something I would recommend to any leader—whether you are leading a work team or a family—hold frequent educational STUDY GROUPS.

As I wrote my response to this email, I realized that I was re-writing what I have written in my new book, Ownership Spirit: The One Grand Key that Changes Everything Else, and would recommend that you get a copy for each of your people, and then use that as a study group text—everyone reads the same chapter and then gets together to discuss and apply.  This has proven to be a very effective means of bringing Ownership into a team culture.  The study group sessions can be part of regular team meetings or done on a voluntary basis as a “brown bag” lunch series, open to whomever wants to participate.  Several teams from different companies have done it both ways and all seem to work.  

Thanks for the inquiry.  If you have a question feel free to post a comment here and I will help out!