Inspiraelevation

In life you have got to be motivated.

“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.” ― Roman Payne

Things won’t move unless you move.

You got act in the now.

“Do not sit still; start moving now.

“In the beginning, you may not go in the direction you want, but as long as you are moving, you are creating alternatives and possibilities.” ― Rodolfo Costa, Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes

Motivation can be both external or internal.

However, it is the internal motivation that sustains.

True enduring motivation comes from the inside out.

Motivation, is that thing that pushes you and drives you to accomplish what you set out to do.

What you do is important?

What you choose, what you focus on, or what you let stand in your way sets a course for your success or failure.

Even more important than defining “what,” is defining the why?

Knowing why you are doing something is called motive?

Why are you doing, what you are doing?

A lot of people have what mixed up with why?

Thus, nothing seems to go right or get accomplished.

Such simply are unable to pin down their motive.

Defining the why is the secret to unlocking everything you want..

Many fail to lock the secret of success because of the lack of pure directed motive.

They think they know what they want, but they have no idea why they want it?

Defining the why, or uncovering your motive, will help you determine what is driving you.

It will give you direction in life.

Just a little example

Many believe that they have their dreams on lock (they have full assurance that they know what they want to do with their lives).

They are directed individuals.Therefore, nothing should stand in the way of their accomplishment. Yet, it does.

Why?

Let’st take for example those that  profess their love of singing, acting, and playing sports.

Those, whom define the undertaking of such as an employee as a dream come true.  At least this is what they tell the world.

However their actions do not quite coincide with true love or passion.

Singing, acting, and playing sports in and of itself does not fulfill them.

It seems they cannot be happy unless they are reveling in someone’s applause or standing in a spotlight.

They fear being undiscovered. They fear a life of singing, acting, or playing sports in apparent obscurity.

Such people are vexed with great confusion.

Though, they hold to the stance that they are in love with such activities, doing such on the small stage of life does nothing to boost their morale.

Such soon find that they are not as successful as they would like?

Why?

They don’t possess the motive to drive a deep passion, which brings about success.

They motivated by the wrong things to support the fulfillment of what they seek.

Their passion is not as rooted in their dream as they would like others to think.

Their true motive for action is  fame not the activity in and of itself.

Their true desire is to be seen, applauded, and revered.

It really does not matter what end accomplishes that.

However,

Fear makes it difficult to achieve.

However, those who truly are passionate about their craft outside of the limelight will hone and nurture it just because.

The love of their gift, will make way for them.

Their passion will be evident.

No matter where they are called or the size of the audience they will happily share their passion.

It will not take huge audiences. It will simply be an abundant blessing to simply have another opportunity to share and grow their gift.

With the same token there are those who have been given fame but yet fame is not their true goal.

Such often shirk the attentiveness of crowds and the clamor of stardom and prefer to hone their crafts in solitude.

They can be often found sharing their gift just because they love what they do.

Why is always important?

It is directed passion that gives one the edge.

It is purpose and reason that pushes one forward.

Thus, knowledge of self  and the true desires of self is essential

Know what it is you want by determining why you are invested?

Is it a specific career you want or is it rather ambition, fame, fortune, or position.

If it is a specific career you want it will never matter what stage of life you will be put on to carry out that skill.

You will be happy, wherever your gift takes you.

If it is ambition, fame, fortune, or position you clamor for you will only be happy when you are in reception of those who will give you such and never otherwise.

Stop and do a mental check-up.

• Does what you dream of doing make you happy?
• Could you do it even if you had to do it all by yourself, without anyone ever knowing that you accomplished that particular goal or objective?
• Could you do it for free?
• How often do you actually engage in activities that work toward your goals, do you ever think that there is never enough time to invest in development?
• How often do you get lost in those activities?
• Does someone have to make you engage, or do you do it readily, daily, and with enthusiasm?

If you have a hard time answering any of these positively in  regards to the goals and objectives you have set forth, you may want to check to see if what you have chosen, is truly something you really want to do?

If it’s not something you really want to do, explore why you chose that course in the first place?

“People always ask me, Son what does it take To reach out and touch your dreams?” To them I always say Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Is it a fire that burns you up inside? How bad do you want it? How bad do you need it? Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming With that one thing on your mind? How bad do you want it? How bad do you need it? Cause if you want it all You’ve got to lay it all out on the line” ― Tim McGraw, Tim McGraw — Live Like You Were Dying: Piano/Vocal/Chords

Remember long-lasting achievement comes from intense internal motivation.

If you want to achieve.

Know yourself.

Know your motive.

Our senses are a gift.

 

Through our senses we experience and learn of the world

Oh to hear the melodies of nature its pleasant harmonies, moving symphonies with its  interludes of crass absurdities is miraculous. To hear the poetry of the earth.

 

A gift that many  would pay handsomely for.

 

Oh to feel.

 

The depth of human touch, sensations of fingers running  across a gown of silk or a blanket of velvet, the pureness of beauty flowing through the fingertips, a gift beyond measure.

 

Oh to taste.

 

 

Sweet and bitter herbs .

Flavorful and bland delicacies.

Gustatory delights that  dazzle the eye and satiate the palate, incomparable.

Oh to  smell.

The sweet aromas of honeysuckle  on the breath of a spring morning.

Love in odious repose for

words that soothe the soul and awaken the  spirit to life’s abundant miracles  like the salve of the fresh earth after a spring rain.

There is no greater blessing.

Oh to see.

The beautiful landscapes propped against splendid horizons.

 

Stretches of Green lands and oceans spanning for miles.

All gifts wrapped in the body of one, you.

What makes life lavishly beautiful are those faculties which allow us to experience a world bubbling over with beauty.

 

 

Yet, there are other senses that one possess which are as equally as important as the five aforementioned.

“Our bodies have five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. But not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy. The differences between people lie in their use of these senses; most people don’t know anything about the inner senses while a few people rely on them just as they rely on their physical senses, and in fact probably even more.”
― C. JoyBell C.

 

These meta-cognitive senses  arouse higher sensibilities.

“Metacognition is an important-sounding word for a very everyday process.

We ‘metacognise’ whenever we reflect upon our thinking process and knowledge.” This kind of introspection is crucial for making good decisions.” (Bailey Penny)

Such as sight.

Not in speaking of visual,  but of a second sight that permits one to see beyond what the physical spectrum will allow.

The ability to effectively “metacognise”, through foresight, Hindsight, and insight.

 

Foresight, is the ability to see ahead.

 

It is the ability to use experience to interpret or predict  what is to come. Then successfully act upon this insight.

A very important ability for maneuvering in the world.

 

Hindsight

 

Hindsight is the ability to look back and draw reasoned conclusion as to why things occurred.

 

 

It is the ability to think retrospectively and piece together small fragments of the past to put together a bigger picture.

Insight

 

 

Insight is the ability to see deeper into something. It is to develop a deep understanding due to a  deeper knowledge of a subject or a person.

Opinion, point of view, and perspective are not synonymous to insight. “A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and
understanding.”
― Marshall McLuhan

There is much success in using insight to properly to prepare the way for greater achievement.

 

 

Not all have fully developed such sights.

 

It is worth it to develop all sights to achieve a life of beauty inside and out.

How good is your sight

http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-thinking-behaving/awareness-and-attention/articles/2012/metacognition/

 

Let’s begin with a story

Lewis Caroll once penned a story of a little girl lost.

Her name was Alice.

Alice was of an inquisitive and  curious nature.

It was Alice’s curiosity  that drew her down the rabbit hole.

Her descent was a long one.

once fallen she could not slow her descent.

When she hit bottom she was disoriented and confused.

She had exchanged one world for another, one of confusion.

Once there she tried desperately to  do anything to find her way back.

There  there was no way in going back the way she came.

Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole is symbolic.

It is symbolic of chaotic dissolution, and unraveling; wildly symbolic of what what has occurred within this current society.

Our actions have become our undoing.

Give it to me straight without a chaser

There are some things in life, in which removal equates to regression.

There is a  point wherein adaptation does not move you forward but rather moves you backward.

Two things in particular have aided in the regression of our persons.

Due to the rejection of said values, and adaptations of new and shifting paradigms,  the whole is experiencing a pattern of retrograde.

Those two things being, discontinuance of civility and manners

Thus, the whole has become brutish in nature

There is but one thing that separates men from brute beast.

That is the ability to rule over emotions and instinctual drive.

The ability to control  and exchange such unfettered passions and proclivities for civil conduct and manners.

However such control and virtue stems from a conscience knowledge of one’s place in the world relative to others.

A clear understanding that there is no line delineating the statehood of one person from another.

At and above all, higher reasoning permits him or her to act in a manner that is conducive to sustaining life and brotherhood.

For, another individual is merely an extension of self, and to aide another is to aide one’s self.

Thus, this higher reasoning drives one to be civil and mannerable even when there is an option to act counter.

Yet, civility and manners seem to be in short supply.

The rudimentary actions, which have sustained and lent much in the path of achievement and growth are being neglected more and more

Many find it unnecessary to be manner-able or civil in their deportment’s.

The more rude and caustic the better.

Consequently, the most caustic substances in the world, such as lye, never built anything but are rather substances of destruction.

Why would a progressive people, with goals of building adopt a more caustic approach.

Would they not be undertaking the counter, destruction?

Uncivil behavior is a telltale sing of uncivil people, barbaric in nature.

Such behaviorism is reminiscent of the dark ages.

This is a sign of retrograded movement.

Retrograded movement as defined by Merriam Webster is, ” Returning to an earlier and usually worse state or condition.”

Remember the axiom, “together we stand divided we fall”.

This is a significant truth.

A society that stands divided is vulnerable.

Diversionary and division is an essential tactical strategy of any enemy unit.

To cause division is to weaken, so that it easier to infiltrate.

Are we really a society?

A society is a group of people working together for a common cause.

A society sets out to  achieve as a whole.

In a society good manners and civility are paradigms of utmost importance.

Good manners and civility sustain human relationships and camaraderie needed to unify (work together).

We have long moved from this.

A Reiteration of the question

Are we a society?

Although considered a society in form we have become tribalistic.

This cannot do, this is unsuitable and inhospitable.

A society of tribes will never succeed as a whole.

The only thing that can restore the whole is a re-commitment to those behaviors which bring about unity as opposed to division.

Two such important being civility and manners.

It has been purported for years that leadership is somehow linked to one’s genetic disposition.

It was widely ascertained that certain innate gifts, manifesting early on, lean certain people towards the bent of leadership.

According the National Center for Biotechnology Information”It is important to note that the relationship between traits and leadership may be complex, at least more complex than assumed in previous studies”.

However, based on such exclusionary rationalism’s certain individuals were sought out and groomed for positions that would foster growth in these areas.

Others were scoffed at and rebuffed, and seen as inauthentic in their pursuits.

They simply did not have the right stuff.

This drove countless to believe that they were not leaders.

What were some of the core attributes?

It was believed that charm or charisma, a mind for strategy, an  authoritative manner, and extroverted traits, were all attributes that would lend one to be a promising and effective leader.

Others who did not fit the mold, though possessing initiative and ability to become even greater than their counterparts, deferred responsibility on many levels and refused positions of leadership at the bequest of others. The rationale  being , “I don’t have what it takes to be a leader.”

This line of thinking underscored the belief that position and authority belonged solely to the charismatic individual of outgoing personality.

Thus, those most charismatic individuals were given authority through position.

It was hoped that genuine leadership would follow

Position does not denote authority or leadership.

Although many found themselves in the position, they could not adequately inspire long-term sustainable action, or rather they inspired action in the wrong direction.

Charisma and charm were poor measures of leadership.

What is charisma

Charisma is a natural charm that not all are born with.

Those who have this unique gift seem to easily draw a following.

Thus, logically one could conclude that such is key to roles of leadership.

As, of course, a leader is not leading unless someone is following.

However, this assumption was dead wrong.

As it turned out leadership required a set of skills with greater depth than charm.

While charisma inspired follower-ship it does not indicate true leadership.

Leading is not merely about obtaining follower-ship, it is about the purposed guidance of people or causes from one stage of growth to another, facilitating forward movement.

Charm may get people to follow, but not necessarily inspire committed action.

Coincidentally, charm and charisma did not equate to intelligence.

Additionally, charm and charisma did not equate to long-term success in leadership.

The two were mutually independent factors and not synonymous.

Often when it was time to work, the flash and dash meant  nothing.

furthermore such theoretical views failed to offer explanation for  poor leaders, given the same common attributes.

If this set of traits were indicative of success in positions of leadership then, what would be the rational basis for failure given the same identifiable traits.

Not only were they fundamentally incorrect about charm but also about extraversion.

To think that the power of the quiet reasoning and rationalization of the introvert was so often discounted although it well-balanced the impetuousness and out outspokenness of the extrovert.

Turns out that introverts were as wildly successful as their counterparts if not more so.

There were more than a couple of introverts who were wildly successful.

Just a few influential people labeled introverts but outrageously effective in leadership

• Abraham Lincoln

• Bill Gates

• Eleanor Roosevelt

• Albert Einstein

• Mahatma Gandhi

• Warren Buffet

• Rosa Parks

Reasonably charm, extraversion, and authority were not pure measures of effective leaders.

Thus, it is well-reasoned, although people may be born with attributes often found in possession of those who assume leadership positions, there is no true correlation between possession of these traits by birth and success.

“We postulate that ascription allows a leader to emerge but it does not determine whether a particular leader becomes effective – instead, skills (and the traits determining them) explain leadership effectiveness. The relationship between traits and leadership emergence can suffer from false negatives…”(National Center for Biotechnology Information)

True, effective leaders are made.

Those who have a bent toward these attributes, such must be honed.

Possessing certain attributes does not make  you a leader any more than as some one once stated, “standing in a garage makes you a car.”

Those who do not possess skill sets necessary for leadership must develop and hone them as well.

There is no dividing line that cannot be crossed.

Anyone can become a leader they simple must have the will.

Attributes of effective leadership

Scholarship

Effective leaders prize  scholarship for themselves and others.

They make an  investment in  advancing their education, or learning potential and expect no less from others.

They are constantly expanding their knowledge not by force but by desire. They don’t do it because they have to but because they want to.

Strength

Effective leaders possess strength, not of brawn but of mind, heart, and of spirit.

Effective leaders have fortitude.

They continue in the face of adversity.

They represent a spirit of perseverance.

They are emotionally and mentally strong, and  they understand that  challenge and difficulty  comes along with leadership.

Some days they will have to stand alone but still they must stand strong.

Awareness

They are well-informed of what is going on.

They are attuned to their environment.

They keep their ear to the ground.

They keep their fingers on the pulse.

Courage

Effective leaders are courageous.

They are not afraid to be taught.

They are not afraid of not knowing.

They are not afraid to take a calculated risk.

It is not that do not fear, but rather they have become conquerors because they understand that conquering fear is not an option it is a necessity. They are bold and yet meek.

Mentors

Good leaders champion mentor-ship

Effective leaders are mentors.

Servant hearts

Outstanding leaders possess a spirit of servitude

Leadership is solely about progression of a whole towards an envisioned state, not of the one.

They  serve more than their own needs.

No one needs to be led in circles.

Presence

Authentic leaders are present.

They actively listen.

They give of their time.

They are available.

Leadership is not easy.

Leadership is necessary.

It is the natural progression of things that one grow from follower to leader.

Most people at some point in their lives will be leaders although never assuming a formal position of authority.

At some point someone will defer to your knowledge, wisdom, or guidance for their growth and development.

It is not always something asked for.

Those who have grown into maturity understand that this is the way of life and accept the mantle.

While others, refuse it and as a result led many down wayward paths of regression.

It is necessary that all work to develop these attributes.

National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2013). Born to Lead? A Twin Design and Genetic Association Study of         Leadership Role Occupancy. Web. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3583370/