Workout of the Day (WOD) for 15 June 2010

Crossfit:  10 rounds of 12 pull ups and 12 burpees for time. 

Crossfit Endurance:  1 min sprint, 1 min off; 2 min sprin, 2 min off; 3 min sprint, 3 min off. 

Feel free to share your time as well!

Mastery of life starts with the body...

In order to be a great leader of others,  it is my belief that one must first be a leader of himself.  I believe the man who has mastered his life and his world can make the best decisions that can most positively impact the lives of others.  

To be an extraordinary leader it is required that one must think, act and live life extraordinary.  However to live an extraordinary life, one must have an extraordinary mind.  An extraordinary mind  requires the man to be in an extraordinary emotional state.  And with that said, in order for a man to possess an extraordinary  state he must have an extraordinary body to navigate through the world.

The vehicle in which we navigate life is our body.  Taking care of it leads to the the creation of an amazing life.  As I continue this journey to becoming the person who I dream to be, I will include how I will create the body and state of being I have always wanted to possess.  

Below is my workout of the day (WOD):

Crossfit:
15 rounds of 5 pull ups, 10 pushups, 15 air squats for time.
     -My time:  18:28

Crossfit Endurance:
90 seconds sprint/90 seconds rest for 6 rounds.
     -My distance:  Approx. 0.85 mile.

Feel free to post your time as well.

Declaration of War

At this moment in time I have declared war. To whom you may ask? To mediocracy, to lameness, to regularity, to the mundane, to the bullshit that surrounds our life, to weak mindedness, to those who keeps me away from living my life and forcing me to be a slave of that work clock.

I will not let the constraints of my word hold me down. I will choose to live a passionate life. With my mind and my body, those tangibles that hold me down will not hold me down. That what constrains me will strengthen me. No more will I allow to live a life of slavery. On the contrary, I will choose how I want to feel, I will choose how I want to be. Freedom is mine for the taking. My vision, my world, my life, my emotional state is mine and no one else. I will choose to live a life with more juice, with more ecstasy, with more passion starting now! Right now!

Shaping the identity: The birth of the Soulful Warrior

I remember as a child thinking of the world as something that I could conquer.  What ever I wanted to do or what ever I wanted to be was mine for the taking.  Nothing could stop me and what ever was in my way would move for I was a force to be reckoned with.   

However, somehow, somewhere the curse of rationality and the seemingly comfort of mediocrity fills the mind of adults everywhere.  The standard of what is excellent drops and a life of less passion, less fun, less fulfillment is the norm.  

This to me is what I believe the majority of the adult world falls victim of.  

!!Slap!!  Wake up world!  Right now the world is at our finger tips.  The power of decision is yours and only yours.  Do you sit stoically on the sidelines or do have the courage to get your ass on the field for game day?  

In our day and age I feel that a new archetype for living is needed.  A new persona to tackle the world is a must.  We all need that someone inside ourself who has the spirit of a warrior to tackle life's challenges as well as the compassionate heart to enjoy this ride of life.  Moreover, we need the sophistication of a mind that can handle all of these things and synch them to one.  

A new archetype for living:  The Soulful Warrior

-The spirit of a warrior

-The heart of a lover

-The mind of a philosopher

Characteristics:

-Passionate

-Powerful 

-A Warrior

-Philosophical

-Soulful

-Compassionate

How to Become Your Ideal Leadership Vision

Here are some things that I think can help an individual become the ideal leader he or she seeks to be.

1.  Acknowledge your leadership role

The corporate executive, the aspiring entrepreneur, the platoon leader all are leaders in their respective arena.  However, what separates the good from the great is derived from a simple choice. In my pursuit to becoming an extraordinary leader I have one belief:  Leaders are not born, they are made. Extraordinary leadership is derived from a single decision.  It is the choice that an individual has made that simply states “I will be extraordinary and never ordinary”.  Once this decision has been made, the newly born leader must work on one critical component:  Leadership identity.

2.  State your leadership identity.

If you were to list the characteristics that define you as an outstanding leader what would they be? Are you a competent leader?  Do you desire to be that leader who has air of quiet confidence?  Are you a compassionate leader?  Are you a leader who is cool under pressure?  Would you want others to describe you as the innovative leader?    Without a clear understanding of what you want to be like, you will have no way of tracking if you are close to achieving your goal.  List the characteristics that define who you aspire to be as a leader. 

·      Example:

o   Competent

o   Confident

o   Cool under pressure

o   Compassionate

3.  Take Action

The characteristics that you have listed are your guide to action. It forces you to ask a deeper question.  If one of your ideal leadership characteristics is “confidence” ask yourself what must you do and how must you think in order to feel like you are a confident leader.  Does confidence for you mean that you are someone who is prepared? Does feeling confident mean that you walk a certain way or talk a certain way?  What ever makes you feel like that characteristic do it!

4. Live Passionately

Every single day make it your relentless passion to become this ideal leader.  If your ideal leadership persona is someone who is competent, confident and compassionate, then every day you must do something that makes you become closer to being that competent, confident and compassionate leader.  In time, you will become the leader you always wanted to be. 

By focusing on developing yourself to become your ideal leader, you will be forced to do things that your ideal leadership persona would do.  Without hesitation you will do the right thing because it is imbedded in your core.  Focusing on developing yourself to those characteristics will force you to walk a certain way, talk a certain way, do things a particular way, make decisions in a specific manner.    

A Definition of Success

"My definition of success is to live your life in a way that causes you to feel a ton of pleasure and very little pain - and because of your lifestyle, have the people around you feel a lot more pleasure than they do pain."

~Tony Robbins

The quote above is from one of my greatest mentors.  I have never met the man, but I accredit him for much of my success.

In essence, his words represent why I want to be a leader.  To me, the greatest measure of a person's leadership success is his ability to contribute to the organization at large.  Moreover, to empower one's subordinates, to impact their lives in a meaningful and empowering way creates an organization whose success is not driven by negative repercussions, but by an individuals drive for excellence.

This is my definition of leadership success:  To lead others, not just to pursue organizational objects, but to empower them to become the person that they have always dreamed to be.  If I can accomplish this, if I can make this dream a reality, I will have succeeded as a leader.    

Why? Why? Why??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

The video above has recently inspired me.  Simon Sinek's views on how a leader should lead focuses on a simple question:  Why?  Why do you get up in the morning to go to work?  Why do you do what you do? Why does your organization function in the way it does? Why? Why? Why? Why?

To me, the "why" of an organization is essentially the core value that that organization/team/company has.  In Sinek's view, most organizations explain what they do and how they do it.  However, only an exceptional few know why they do what they do.  

What I think is most significant in regards to the "why" of an organization is that without an empowering, motivating and influential "why", a leader cannot and will not be empowered to sell the vision of the organization.   Because of the "lameness" of the organizations core value the leader and the subordinate cannot and will not be exceptional.  Having and communicating a more empowering "why" will lead to a better "what" and a more effective "how".

The Re-Vision

Below is a first attempt to re-approach my world.   

Excellence:

To be truly excellent at something one must commit himself whole heartedly on his chosen subject.  I want to be an expert at my job.  I want to be the best person to do my job than anyone in my community has ever seen.  I want to be the envy of the world.  I want to make what I do an art.  I want to approach my line of work as an artist painting or a musician performing.  I want to approach performing my work in the same way a warrior would fight a battle. I want to be considered cool.  I want to be significant. 

I am going to approach my work like I’m a rock star.  I will approach my line of work as if I was the James Bond of my community.  

Purpose:

My purpose in this world is to develop into my ideal self as an excellence seeking, powerful, innovative, passionate, compassionate, sexy, swaggering soul in order to become a living example of the potential of mankind when one lives a life of service.   

Leadership Swagger

The greatest leaders that I have ever encountered always have a certain authentic quality about them. Whether they were on duty or off, these people never forgot who they are: Leaders. Leadership is a lifestyle and a way of being. Leadership is not just an activity you do sometimes.

I will not claim that I am a great leader. In my life I have met many who are. My aim is to show others how I think these great leaders came to be so that you and I can one day be privileged enough to be called a great leader.

The purpose of this blog is to analyze and understand how one can aspire to be a great authentic leader rather than just be an individual who is tasked to lead.

Leadership

Leaders make organizations move. All organizations have leaders. Everyone has followed a leader and many are leaders. Though many people are in leadership positions, few have embodied what it really means to be a great leader. Being a leader cannot be something that you do only during workday hours. Being a true leader requires living a leadership lifestyle. The swagger of a leader is never turned off.

Swagger

Swagger can be defined as how one presents him or herself to the world. Everyone has a certain swagger about themselves. The way a person walks, talks, dresses and acts all sum up to their swagger.

Some people may have a swagger that attracts while others may have a swagger that doesn't.

The way a person projects themselves to the world is not an accident but a conscious choice. The projection of oneself is not just a superficial matter. How a person carries themselves is a representation of the lifestyle that person lives. A man with an authentic confident swagger looks a certain way than a man who does not have genuine confidence. A man with real passion and conviction will appear much more authentic than the man who is faking it.

Leadership Swagger is a leader’s authentic presentation of him or herself to the world as someone who possess the characteristics of an outstanding leader.

The Difference

I don’t claim to be an expert on anything. Yet. All I have at my disposal are my experiences, observations, commitment to excellence and passion. One day I aspire to be the foremost expert on the subject of leadership. This blog will be my means to document this journey as well as contribute to others by sharing my views on leadership.

Studying and practicing leadership is my passion! I have always thought that outstanding leadership was the key to changing the world. If you think about it, change in the world happens like this: An idea is formed that can change the world. People like that idea and take action.Leaders give direction and management to people. Therefore, leaders lead change. Leaders make change in the world possible.

I am fascinated with answering the question “what makes the difference between an outstanding leader and a so-so leader?” This blog will be about answering this question.

Change the perspective

I am unhappy.

I have a nice apartment, a great paying job, and a life living in a foreign country.  Most people would kill for this.

I am unhappy.

In the two months that I have lived in this new foreign land with this job that I currently have, I feel there is a void in my life.  A void that won't take an additionally time.  What I know I am missing is simply a lack of feeling.  Passion.  I want passion.  I want meaning.  I want to wake up everyday feeling inspired. To me, the most important thing that I can own is not in the form of a material possession.  To me, the most important thing in my arsenal is my ability to feel passion at every moment, and for others to feel my passion. I want to wake up in the morning and be happy to be alive.  I want to rise out of bed with excitement as if there was great work to be done.  I want to work and I want to work hard.  however, I want my work to be filled with meaning.  

And so the story will begin.  Today will be the mark of a great experiment.  You see, many books write about the subject of figuring out how to change your life.  However, most of their answers lead to changing the big tangibles like moving to a new place, getting a new job, etc.  I seek a new challenge.  The same big tangibles will be in affect but I will attempt to do something different.  Instead of changing what I do, I will simply change my perception of my reality.  

Simply put:  I will attempt to figure out how to love the life I already have.

The Vision

I don’t claim to be an expert on anything. Yet. All I have at my disposal are my experiences, observations, commitment to excellence and passion. One day I aspire to be the foremost expert on the subject of leadership. This blog will be my means to document this journey as well as contribute to others by sharing my views on leadership. Studying and practicing leadership is my passion! I have always thought that outstanding leadership was the key to changing the world. If you think about it, change in the world happens like this: An idea is formed that can change the world. People like that idea and take action. Leaders give direction and management to people. Therefore, leaders lead change. Leaders make change in the world possible. I am fascinated with answering the question “what makes the difference between an outstanding leader and a so-so leader?" or "how can one individual contribute to his fellowman the most?" 'This blog will be about answering these questions.