If you’re aspiring to be great at something, the first step is to level up your taste by making a conscious effort to expose yourself to great works. 

We’re all being told a fantastic lie. The lie that achievement will change your life. In reality achievement is just a momentary stop on a larger journey.

Dallas Willard stated it best when he said, “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.”

Stadiums aren’t remembered for their concrete and steel. They’re remembered for the experiences inside them. The same is true for great leaders and great cultures. 

Do you have standards for yourself? For how you show up? For how you contribute? 

As a co-worker? As a teammate? As a spouse? As a parent? As a friend? Your work?

The state you’re in as a leader has more impact on your leadership than your core values, aspirational goals, technical knowledge, training, or even your leadership style.

This isn’t just a personal hot take — it’s one of the major findings from a four-decade review of self-leadership literature.

How often do you find yourself frustrated, impatiently waiting for unmet expectations to be realized?

Frustration and anxiety emerge when what we feel has to happen doesn’t happen.

Maybe our environment has fooled us into thinking the possible is impossible?

Maybe our environment is the real source of a limited belief we’ve been holding?

Affirmation consists of four major vices. Approval, Attention, Admiration, and Assurance. To break free from insecurity, we must all reflect on the impact of these four, and begin to engage with personal systems in our heart and mind to live and lead freely.