Leaders Decide & Act

The Power of the Next Smallest Step

No person or circumstance can gift us peace, personal power, or self-assurance.

We can ace a test, make a touchdown, earn a degree, land a choice job, etc.. but attributes like clarity, confidence, and the self-efficacy to make things happen don’t come from titles, and they don’t come from external events or sources.

Clarity, confidence, and self-efficacy are the result of our choices — they come from within.

Designing & Leading YOUR LIFE

Leaders are not people who close their eyes and ears thinking they know everything.

Leaders are not people who stick to their guns while the world changes around them.

Leaders are observers who seek wisdom. They're open to learning from every experience and virtually every person they meet. True leadership is also humble. Real leaders don't seek to be right.

Each of us has the capacity to lead, and we are in fact called to lead in the office, in our neighborhoods, our families, our classrooms, our communities, and in our own lives. The good news is that we can change our lives for the better in any given moment. To do so, we must be serious, decisive, and committed to act.  And know this:  Deciding is simply a mental exercise.  Real decisions require action that's taken relatively soon.  You may say you've decided something and you may feel like you've decided on something, but if you've taken no action, there wasn't a true decision in the first place. No action = no decision.  

What does it mean to be serious? Seriousness means taking full responsibility for ourselves. Taking responsibility for our focus, words, and actions helps us align ourselves with priorities. Taking responsibility for ourselves is an all-around WIN as it increases trust, influence, personal growth, and connection to self and others. If we want to design and lead our lives, we must take responsibility and commit to making positive bit-by-bit incremental change.

Responsibility and Action Change Everything

Ready to actually lead? To for-real lead yourself?

Leadership and real change require that we take responsibility for ourselves - our thoughts, words, attitude, actions - ALL of it.  Leadership also requires that we decide and act.

Leadership requires that we operate like our lives depend on taking responsibility for ourselves, for others, and for our own positive growth.

If we take responsibility, decide and act, the rewards are great but not without bumps.

Our comfort zone will protest and perhaps even our friends, coworkers and family will.

Change isn’t easy, but evolving and actively pursuing an expansive life feels great, and busts past obstacles and naysayers.

Start pursuing the compelling future you envision by making some changes. Here are three anyone-can-do steps that will help you expand in terms of mindset, health, relationships, career, peace, and purpose. Three steps that help move us from sidelined bystanders to people who clear a path, find a way, and ACT. 

Three Steps to Taking the Driver's Seat & Leading Your Life

1. OWN IT
Stop waiting for circumstances, luck, or other people to change first. Wherever you are today, begin.  Taking responsibility isn't about excused or blame—it's about claiming Agency and personal power. The moment you stop pointing fingers and take responsibility for yourself and more, you place your hands on the steering wheel.

2. DECIDE
Every meaningful life is built one decision at a time, so choose a direction and commit to it. Don't wait until you feel ready or completely certain—those moments rarely come. Real decisions eliminate deliberation as they create momentum. Remember: If you've taken no action and nothing changes after you've decided,  there's been no actual decision.

3. THEN ACT SOON AFTER
Take one concrete step today - THIS day. Send the request. Register for the class. Make the phone call. Complete a short workout. Write the first page. Apologize. Have the conversation. Small actions performed consistently reshape our Identity, self-assurance, and ultimately our lives. Action is what makes things happen.

Leadership begins long before any title. It begins when we accept responsibility for ourselves and choose to move forward with vision, mission and purpose.

Every day presents a fresh opportunity to observe, learn, decide, and act. Every day offers the opportunity to gain wisdom, build strength, and to become more capable than we were yesterday.

You don't need permission, perfect conditions or complete know-how to lead your life, yourself or others. You simply need to own your choices, thoughts, words, attitude, and actions, you need to make a decision, and take the next smallest step soon after.

Your Agency, personal power, and Driver's seat are waiting.  Let's go.