S.U.M.M.I.T. Leadership

"Quiet that voice of doubt inside of you. You are good enough. You do deserve good things. You are smart enough. You are worthy of love and respect. You are amazing just the way you are." - Lorri Faye   Self-esteem is the thoughts and impressions we hold about ourselves. And, what we think about ourselves affects who we are and influences everything we do. It can influence our attitude, self-motivation, mental well-being, and our overall quality of life. When our self-esteem level is strong, we have higher self-confidence and stronger feelings of security, belonging, and competence. Self-esteem is important because it can impact our decisions, our relationships, our physical and emotional health, and our overall well-being. Individuals who display healthy levels of self-esteem have a firm understanding of their skills and abilities and have realistic expectations of themselves. They understand their personal needs and can express them to others. They can maintain a healthy re

"Life is not just about the good things or not just about the bad things. It is both. It all depends where you focus your attention." - Ann Marie Aguilar We spend a lot of time focused on the wrong things. Focusing on the negative. Afraid of what might or might not happen. We're not always going to get what we want in life. We won't always win and succeed at everything we do. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't approach what we do with an expectation of getting the outcomes we desire. Life is about balance, and why not believe that something great is going to happen? It doesn't require any more energy or effort than thinking that something terrible is going to happen. When you have a conversation with someone, you are likely to get incorrect responses if you ask the wrong questions. Similarly, in life, if we are sending out the wrong messages or asking for the wrong things through our thoughts, beliefs, and actions, we are likely to get undesirable results.

"It is the follow through that makes the great difference between ultimate success and failure, because it is so easy to stop." - Charles Kettering It's easy to talk a good game. We all have that list of tasks we want to get done, things we want to accomplish, places we want to go, or life changes we want to make to become the person we want to be. We may want to start doing something, stop doing something, or improve how we do something. What have you committed to yourself that you haven't followed through on? Maybe you said you need to exercise more regularly or lose some weight. Perhaps you vowed to drink more water or eat healthier. You may have wanted to go back to school or pursue a different career. Maybe you wanted to start your own business or write a book. What have you committed to someone else that you haven't followed through on? Maybe you said you would do something for them, help them with something. Perhaps you said you would volunteer and donate s

"A cynical young person is almost the saddest sight to see, because it means that he or she has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing." - Maya Angelou Do you ever catch yourself being cynical in your way of thinking? I know I have. Sometimes without even realizing it at the time, and that's not a good thing. There is always something or someone in our lives that can cause us to have negative thinking. Maybe there's that one person who always seems to let you down. Perhaps it's the person who always bails out on their commitments at the very last minute. Or the people who seem to not hold up their end or do their share of the work. Maybe you end up thinking you always get the bum end of the deal. That things always fall apart. It's easy to slip into and can be very difficult to get out of if we are not careful. My tendency is to add humor into my conversations with others, sometimes just to lighten the mood, so we aren't always taking things so ser

"You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win." - Zig Ziglar Expectations create reality. You have to believe you will win and succeed at whatever you are trying to achieve well in advance of heading down that path toward achievement. Every time you put yourself out there, you should expect to win. How do you gain this level of conviction? It is in your mental preparation and the work you put into it. You have to know what you want to achieve and understand what it could take to obtain it. You have to visualize the outcome, and you have to understand why you want to achieve it. Repeat these thoughts and feelings over and over again in your mind to create muscle memory. You have to believe in yourself and have confidence in your abilities to achieve great things. If you don't expect to win, then you've already admitted the chance of defeat. The people I consider successful all have at least one thing in common; they

"Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says 'Go', a leader says 'Let's Go!" - E. M. Kelly I have worked with some great people over the many years and many jobs I've had. I was reflecting on some of the past leaders and managers I've worked for. Both the good and the bad. Ones that I loved working for and others that I hated working for. The poor leaders: Had bad attitudes Super hard on the people they didn't believe in Often played favorites Inconsistent leadership style Focused more on the task than who was doing it Quick to place blame Do as I say, not as I do mentality My way or the highway way of thinking Always thought they were right Did most of the talking What have you done for me attitude Would strike fear to get people to get things done  The great leaders: Had great attitudes Worked hard on building up and developing people Always fair and consistent Put people first, and the work always took care of itself Always

"Losing your head in a crisis is a good way to become the crisis." - C.J. Redwine We live in turbulent times. I don't like to talk about politics or political views. But I was reminded of one of the chaotic 2020 Presidential Debates that had me shaking my head in disbelief at how the two candidates handled each other. Uncontrolled chaos was all I could think of. Most people want a leader to be rational and calming. Confident and strong. Calm under pressure. Focused on the initiatives or objectives. Basically, everything was lacking in the debate. Needless to say, I couldn't watch it very long and moved on to do something else. However, this got me thinking about leadership types in general and about what makes a leader great. I started thinking about great leaders during chaotic or stressful times. It's a fact that good and bad things happen to all people. Stress can be caused by a variety of things. It's crazy to think that everything will go smoothly every d

"We would do well to slow down a little, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf We live in a nanosecond world, and everything happens fast. And, even as fast as things happen, we want things to be faster. We want instant gratification, immediate results, and we want everything now. Technology has a lot to do with this. Both the good and the bad. We have instant access to everything at our fingertips. Why should we wait when we can have it now? The sooner, the better. We can learn something new, find something, buy something. We can work on our tasks, do our banking, stream a movie, listen to any song, or whatever. We can instant message someone, send a text, send an email, or heaven forbid even make an archaic phone call from wherever we are. Technology has made access to things quicker and more efficient by providing instant service. But this has made the world impatient, intolerant, and irritable. Need pr

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." - Serenity Prayer We tend to get disappointed when others don't meet our expectations. We thought someone would be someone, do something, or respond a certain way. But have you ever set unfair expectations on another person? Think about some of these questions:   Do you ever compare other people to other people? Have you ever caught yourself thinking or speaking these words to another person, "Why can't you be more like..." Do you ever get irritated with what other people think, what they say, how they choose to act, or what they decide to do? If you keep expecting someone else to change to meet our expectations of them, it may be time to take a long hard look in the mirror to understand why. Sometimes we get overly vested in how others are behaving. In our opinion, we think they should be acting differently. Although it ma

"The greatest human quality is that of becoming unstoppable! And you become unstoppable by refusing to quit, no matter what happens." - Brian Tracy Many people are good at what they do, and some excel to a point where they perform and achieve at an excellent or elite level. And then there are a select few who become an unstoppable force at whatever they work hard to accomplish. What does it mean to be an unstoppable force? What things contribute to this? The way we think, what we believe, where we apply our focus, and our actions are essential. Unstoppable people are always in control of their thoughts, emotions, actions, and time. To be unstoppable, you can't just think you will succeed; you have to know you will! You must have ultimate trust and confidence in yourself and your abilities. To be unstoppable, you must believe in yourself every day. Have a can-do attitude, and believe nothing is going to stop you or stand in your way. To be unstoppable, you must continuousl

  "Don't spend most of your time on the voices that don't count, voices that are going to add too little worth to your future. Don't waste time on the shallow and the silly. Tune those voices out and tune in voices that are going to add something to your life." - Jim Rohn Someone once said if you look at the people in your social and professional circles and don't get inspired to grow beyond yourself, you don't have a circle; you have a cage.  Jim Rohn said you become an average of the five people you associate with most. The people we spend our time with influence our conversations, what we think about and believe, what dominates our attention, and our attitudes and opinions. People will either lift you up; or pull you down. They will either raise your standards or lower your morals. Look around you and count the number of people in your circle who genuinely inspire you to be your best self. Decide which of your friends and relatives are the best influenc

"If you can tune into your purpose and really align with it, setting goals so that your vision is an expression of that purpose, then life flows much more easily." - Jack Canfield While taking a road trip, we were listening to a local Seattle radio station. The further we traveled from Seattle, however, the less distinct the transmission became. Eventually, the communication signal was lost completely. They were still broadcasting, but we were too far away to hear it, and we could no longer tune in and enjoy the music from that station. Life can be like this too. If we don't stay in tune with ourselves, we can quickly lose the connection and stop enjoying the music. Life is a journey, and sometimes we get so caught up in the journey that we forget to stay in tune with everything going on. It's essential to check in with yourself regularly. How in tune are you with your thoughts, your beliefs, your faith, your feelings? How in tune are you with your family? How in tune

  "Opportunity rarely knocks on your door.  Knock rather on opportunity's door if you ardently wish to enter." - BC Forbes It is essential to keep your eyes open to opportunities! The more you expect them to be there, the more you find that they are!  Opportunities are often all around us, but we don't always see them or recognize them. Sometimes they come quietly and often disguised as failures, hardships, problems, challenges, or even hard work. Sometimes we tend to expect opportunities to fall in our laps. It may be somewhat natural for us to think we have to wait for the right opportunity to come our way. But if we keep waiting for something to happen, we may be setting ourselves up to wait for a while. We can't always rely on chance or luck.  Opportunity doesn't always knock on your door. Sometimes the door appears closed. If the door is closed, we must knock on it - and keep on knocking on it until it opens. Comedian Milton Berle said, "If opportuni

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." - Keri Russell I remember one day being out at a driving range, hitting a bucket of golf balls. I was hitting the ball pretty good that day, or so I thought, and I just needed a little more consistency.  Soon after that, a stranger walked up behind me and started to watch me swing, and I assumed it had to be a golf pro-employee looking to sell me some golf lessons. After I took a few more swings, he approached. He didn't say a lot, "That's not bad. But try something for me." He had me make the slightest change in my grip, which couldn't have been more than 1/2 an inch different from how I held the golf club before. He told me to try my swing again to see how that felt. Of course, I crushed the golf ball on the next two swings. That little change in my grip probably added another 30-50 yards of distance to my drive. I was impressed. And, admittingly, tempted to get some golf le

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." - General George S. Patton Everybody likes to get things done. However, we all tend to have our own opinion and expectations of how we think things are supposed to get done. And, far too often, we want others to meet our expectations.  Make sure the dishes are stacked just so. Always dust first, then vacuum. No, don't take that road to get there. Why did you do this? Why did you do that? Please don't do it that way! Sound familiar? When we consistently force our opinions, ideas, or suggestions onto others, we not only show that we don't respect and trust them or their ideas, we may also miss out on discovering new ways to get things accomplished. It is human nature to be control freaks and try to control our circumstances, environment, and other people. In some way, it may give us a false sense of importance and security. "It's my way or the highwa

"I think people who are creative are the luckiest people on earth. I know that there are no shortcuts, but you must keep faith in something greater than you, and keep doing what you love. Do what you love, and you will find the way to get it out to the world." - Judy Collins   It always feels like there is so much we need to do. We all have work, tasks, and personal projects that need to get done.    Sometimes we feel motivated to get it done, and sometimes we aren't as motivated. But why is that? Do you ever catch yourself doing the same task over and over, but one time you don't mind doing it, and the next time you loathe doing it? We may have entirely different feelings about it, and circumstances often play a role in those feelings. But I also believe it is our perspective and the way we look at it.    How do you look at what you do? No matter if it is a big task or a small one, a hard one or an easy one. Your perspective will affect your production, experience, a

"An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it's going to launch you into something great." - Paulo Coelho Do you ever feel like you are not making progress towards your goals? Like you are stuck spinning your wheels and not moving forward? Afraid that anything other than achieving your goals is considered a failure?  I have been there. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, it feels like we are getting nowhere.  We know that situations and circumstances constantly change, and things don't always turn out the way we expect them to. We sometimes need to adjust to the change and make significant shifts in direction or strategy.  However, sometimes it is more than just changing course and changing directions. Sometimes we must intentionally take a step backward to take a more significant leap forward. Typically we see moving backward as a bad thing. It's human nature to want everything to be perfect, alw

  "Do you believe in miracles? Well, you should. In fact, life itself is a big miracle. There are so many things that are beyond our understanding. There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein How do you live your life? What do you believe in? The choice is yours to make every day. Believe that everything is a miracle: Believe life is a miracle. Believe you are a miracle and believe that each day is a miracle. Believe that every moment is a miracle.  Believing in yourself means telling yourself each day is a new day, a unique chance, and a fresh start. With each new day, you gain more strength and more knowledge. You get more opportunities, and you obtain new life experiences. Every day is a gift, and every day you get to live that miracle. Remember, in life, we cannot go back and start over. But, we can start right now to create a better today and a new tomorrow. Stay positive, stay presen

"See any detour as an opportunity to experience new things." - H. Jackson Brown Jr. Have you ever been driving somewhere on a trip, and you find the usual road you take to get there is closed? You're forced to take an unexpected detour. Go a different way to get to your destination.  Often, at first, we are a little put off by the detour. But how often, as a result, have you realized you had seen something new, beautiful, or interesting that you've never seen before. Or stopped to eat at a great restaurant that you never existed. What started off as an inconvenience turned into a pleasant surprise. This also happens with our plans. We have things mapped out the way we want. Maybe it's the vacation destination itself. Or a career choice. A college major. A significant relationship. Or an expectation of your life journey. Whatever it may be, it's all planned out. And when things don't go as planned, we get annoyed. We become hurt, sad, or angry with the feel

"Forgiveness is not always easy.  At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it.  And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness." - Marianne Williamson   It is difficult to forgive. Both ourselves or someone else. It's definitely easier said than done. But whether we like to admit it or not, refusing to forgive is basically stating that we prefer to live in the past and blame someone or even ourselves. Instead of taking positive action, attempting to resolve the situation, or simply letting go, we choose to live with the anger, sorrow, pain, guilt, or mental anguish we may feel inside.   Forgiving others for something they may have said or done can be extremely difficult. In our minds, we have justified that it is their problem, not ours, so we withhold forgiveness. We think to ourselves, "That'll show them!" But chances are the other person isn't losing any sleep over it. In fact, sometimes, they may n

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back." Harvey Mackay Time is precious; don't waste it. It is one of our most valuable and perishable possessions and is a limited resource. We've all heard the phrase "Time is money." Take a moment to think of time as if it really was your money. If you had a million dollars in cash hidden somewhere in your house, you would probably check on it frequently to ensure it was still there and safe and protected from theft. Do you treat your time the same way? Are you protecting it from time stealers or time wasters? Don't let other people or things steal it. Guard it closely and spend it on the people and things that deserve it. To determine where you are spending and investing your money, you could look at your checkbook. Similarly, you might look at your datebook to determine where you are

"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance." - Yoko Ono With seasonal changes comes additional life changes. As we get closer to the seasonal change from the end of summer into fall, we start to feel changes in the weather. Fall brings back cooler nights, darker mornings, and shorter days. We have to shift from days of wearing t-shirts and shorts to sweaters and pants.  Leaves on the trees begin to change colors and start to fall to the ground. Along with this, families are experiencing the changes faced with adjusting their schedules and daily routines as children return to school. This year was particularly challenging for me and my emotions. I realized that the oldest of my children was done with school and now pursuing her career. The oldest of my two sons was off to his first year at college, out of s