To me, self-leadership is power. I say that because it is all within you (and me). It’s personal power. The ability to make change from within.
It’s not tied to a position or station, it’s how you choose to show up and operate in the world.
I have created a model that breaks down the most important pillars of self-leadership: vision, mindset and well-being.
Vision is all about knowing where you are going.
Another way to say this is what is your aim? It might be a specific position or achievement in your life, or it might be more about the experience you are desiring to have in your life.
Not having a vision is like hopping into the car to go on a road trip and not knowing where you are heading. It’s going to be challenging to decide where to turn when you get to an intersection, because you aren’t clear on your destination.
Get clear on where you’re headed. What’s the experience you want to be having at a future point in life? This is essential to leading yourself.
You get to choose how you are going to be, and where you are going to turn, or not turn, on this ‘road trip’ to your vision.
Having a mindset that supports you on your leadership journey is a key factor.
Our mindsets can fluctuate from negative and unhelpful thoughts, to positive and supportive ones.
If your mindset is mostly geared towards being ‘unhelpful’, it’s likely going to be a real slog to get to your desired destination.
Your well-being is like the condition of your vehicle that’s carrying you towards your vision.
It doesn’t matter what you’re creating, if your car is in need of repairs or falling apart, you likely won’t make it there – or at least not in the time you had hoped!
You are your work. You are the contribution. In order for you to deliver on your gifts and contributions, your well-being needs to be taken care of.
When your well-being is out of balance, or depleted: you’re tired, sick, emotional, etc, it’s much harder to maintain a positive and focused mindset.
To bring these pillars to the forefront of your self-leadership journey, takes self-awareness.
Self-awareness is the thread that connects vision, mindset and well-being together.
It shows up when you are clear on where you’re headed – or not. It expands when you are aware of what state your mindset is in and the messages it’s sending you; are they helpful thoughts and ideas or negative and self-deprecating?
And it most definitely takes self-awareness to notice how your well-being actually measures up. Are you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually “filled up”? What might need to be addressed to have yourself taken care of on all these fronts?
You are practicing self-leadership when you:
- Know what you are moving toward
- Notice your thoughts instead of automatically believing them
- Make conscious choices rather than reacting from habit or fear
- Take responsibility for your well-being
- Act in alignment with your values
- Adjust direction when something is no longer working
When you take care of your inner world, you take care of how you operate, live, be and react in your outer world. Self-leadership is where leading others and leading your communities starts.
I believe that we all have a responsibility to attend to our self-leadership in order to be the best people we can be. Not perfect. Imperfect humans, learning and growing together in service of being the best version of ourselves.
The punchline is: the best version of ourselves is always evolving, so we won’t get bored!