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

"It's a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn't even know you were aiming for." - Lois McMaster Bujold I love feel-good movies. The 2001 movie Serendipity starred John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale; they play a couple who search for each other years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated on their own ways. Convinced that their first meeting wasn't an accident and that they were meant to end up together. What a great story and a great lesson. The word Serendipity means to discover something good by accident. It just happens. It is the occurrence and development of events by chance happily or beneficially. It comes from the story about the King of Serendip, who sent his sons on a journey. Since they were obedient and faithful, they discovered beautiful and valuable treasures along the way. Sometimes we try so hard to find something when in reality, we aren't even sure what it is we are looking for. Other time...

"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou Who do you remember? You don't actually have to take these quizzes. Just read the questions straight through, and you'll get the point that it is trying to make! Quiz 1: What are the names of the last six Academy Award winners for best actor and actress? What are the names of the five wealthiest people in the world? What are the names of the last four winners of the Miss America contest? What are the names of the last three Heisman trophy winners? What are the names of the last two World Series MFP's? What is the name of the Time magazine Person of the Year, five years ago? How did you do? Did you remember all, some or none? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They may be considered the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forg...

"Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life" - George Arliss Humility is an underrated quality that isn't touched upon as often as it should be. Humility is, in fact, one of the most potent and essential attributes of growth. Being humble helps build trust and facilitates learning, which are vital aspects of leadership and personal development. However, our culture places so much value on external accomplishments and self-appearances that it sometimes becomes a challenge to express humility. We often misinterpret this active demonstration as a sign of weakness, when in actuality, it is an indication of tremendous inner strength. Being humble is not the same as lacking confidence. Humility means acknowledging that we have limits, that we need support and guidance from others, that we cannot go completely alone. We can have tremendous confidence in ourselves while still understanding that it is impossible to be totall...

"One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn't exist. Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist." - Stephen Hawking Why do we often pressure ourselves to perform flawlessly in so many areas? We desire to be perfect fathers or mothers, sons or daughters, friends and lovers. We desire to have perfect bodies, say the perfect things, create perfect offerings to others, and accomplish every undertaking with perfection. Unfortunately, society, social media, our cultures, and sometimes even the people we associate with teaching us to seek perfection. So we end up expecting it from ourselves. Sometimes we feel that people will like us better if we are "perfect." Sometimes we simply don't realize what we are doing. And some of us subconsciously punish ourselves in our quest for perfection by repeatedly setting the stage for failure. The desire to be perfect burdens us as people and ironically is the pathway to ...

"Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality." - John Gardner Life can get rough sometimes. Some hardship is inevitable. But the way we deal with life's inevitable challenges is up to us. We can choose to make the best of challenging situations. But what tends to happen more often is, we indulge in a serious, self-pity party. Self-pity happens when we find ourselves trying to find a reason or an excuse to give up and give in. We must be aware and cautious of the consequences and negative cycle that self-pity can bring along with it. It can drain you of the mental strength you need to be your best. It can get you stuck in an emotional rut, which can be incredibly difficult to pull yourself out of. It can keep you in an unhealthy cycle of unhappiness and misery. It is unproductive and a waste of time. I get it; life happens. We have failures, make mistakes, r...

"Invest the first hour of the day, the 'Golden Hour', in yourself." - Brian Tracy Your morning routine will set the tone for the rest of your day. What we think about throughout the day, we bring about, most of the time. So we must set ourselves up for the best possible outcomes by intentionally preparing ourselves at the beginning of each day. When you create positive and healthy habitual behaviors for each morning, you set your day up for success. So, it is vital to start your day off right.   Here are some tips that will help set you on the right path to making the rest of your days the best of your days! Get up a little bit earlier: Give yourself some time, and learn to use it efficiently. One of the things that create stress in our lives is the feeling of being rushed, or late, or not having enough time to do what you need or want to. The simplest of solutions is to make better use of your time. Give yourself more time, take your time, to ease into your day. Thi...

  "If you feel anxiety or depression, you are not in the present. You are either anxiously projecting the future or depressed and stuck in the past. The only thing you have any control over is the present moment; simple breathing exercises can make us calm and present instantly." ― Tobe Hanson   Do you embrace the moment fully that you are currently breathing in? Think about it. Are you embracing the moment right now?   Today is a beautiful Sunday morning. I woke up early to start my day. The sun was shining through the window, and I could tell it was already a perfect temperature outside. I started out okay, focusing on gratitude and blessings, with my specific focus on ensuring I was approaching the day with the right attitude. But shortly after that, I found myself starting to think about all of the things I could do to feel productive. I was getting ready to make a list of things to get accomplished, and I could feel myself already getting anxious about needing to get...

"That is the best; to laugh with someone because you think the same things are funny." - Gloria Vanderbilt I love to laugh. Doesn't everyone? There's something about that uncontrollable physiological response to something we perceive to be funny. People are often bonded to one another through laughter. Friendships are formed. Someone with the same sense of humor is likely to have other similarities we value. We look forward to getting together with long-time friends or family members that we can laugh with. Those are the ones we know well enough, have spent enough time together, to understand each other's sense of humor. Usually, the funniest stories we share are those about ourselves and the things we've done together. Who are some of the key people in your life that you often find yourselves laughing together? Seek to spend more time with them.  They are good for your soul. I can clearly remember some of the past times with my siblings or with a few specific...

"The mindset isn't about seeking a result - it's more about the process of getting to that result. It's about the journey and the approach. It's a way of life.  I do think that it's important, in all endeavors to have that mentality." - Kobe Bryant   Whenever I have been asked to create change within a person or groups of people, whether in the workplace, coaching sports, or just giving one on one advice, I always start out with an attitude check. Attitude is more than just positive thinking. The dictionary defines Attitude as a state of mind. This implies commitment and belief. You have to get your head in the game and keep it in the game. You have to have a champion's mindset. The Olympic games start this week after a year's delay due to the pandemic. Consider how Olympic athletes and prepare themselves for competition. 90% of their time is spent in preparation for a single event.  They have to be so finely tuned that they see themselves winning ...

"To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well." - Chinese Proverb Listening is a very powerful tool that we don't often use enough. Our tendency is to want to speak first. And yes, some people may actually be seeking your advice in a given situation. Heck, they may have actually come to you with a specific question. But, often, they actually already know the answer and are just seeking to confirm their thought process but are afraid of putting themselves out there, and for fear, they may be wrong or look silly. It is natural for us to want to help others. Sometimes it's not always clear what the best way to go about this is. Especially if the answers or opportunities aren't readily apparent. But the best way to go about this is to ask questions and listen patiently and caringly to others. Our desire to speak and give advice can be a bit vain in nature if you honestly think about it. Some people love to hear themselves talk and rarely ask the ...

"If you feel like it's difficult to change, you will probably have a harder time succeeding." - Andrea Jung The path towards your goals and dreams isn't always smooth. Almost any aspect of your life can be disturbed as you pursue and accomplish essential and meaningful things. Deciding to start or end a serious relationship may result in gaining or losing friendships. Deciding to attend an out-of-state college may mean separating from family. Deciding to take on a new job may mean working with different people or even for a different company.   The only way to prevent such disturbances to be to avoid ever taking a step forward and stay where you are. But who wants to stand in one place. Recognize that each time you step forward, you change the circumstances and mix things up. You cannot avoid these disturbances, but you can accept them, adjust if necessary and keep moving forward.   Realize that all change is accompanied by setbacks and uncomfortable situations. We al...

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." - Charles Darwin The world as we know it is ever-changing. The past 18 months have been full of disruption. And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are experiencing massive amounts of rapid change. Changes to how we live and how we work. Families are forced to adjust to working from home and supporting their children who are also doing their schooling. Businesses are changing how they do business and trying to adjust to all of this disruption. Some small businesses that are lacking the flexibility to adapt are finding themselves failing. As individuals, to successfully navigate in today's ever-changing and fast-paced world, we have to stay flexible and be open and willing to change. Adaptability means adjusting to any situation at any given time and considering the best approach for each particular situation. We need to be able to adapt and re...

"It is choice, not chance that determines destiny." - Anonymous If you have been asking yourself, "How do I become more assertive?" You won't find your assertiveness in this post, in any book, audio, or video, or from any other person. That is because you already have everything you need. You have an abundant, infinite, unlimited supply of assertiveness inside of you. You were born with it.  No one gave it to you, and no one can take it away.  Once you know that and start to believe it, you are already well on your way. But your success will depend on your personal approach. Most people tend to approach self-improvement in one of three ways: I should probably do this, but I'd rather be doing something else like watching Netflix. This is great! I can't wait to get started! This will never work for me. If you tend to choose number one, well, at least you are honest. If you tend to choose number two, you are the type of person I want to experience the journ...

"You must become the producer, director and actor in the unfolding story of your life." - Dr. Wayne Dyer I think most of us have an idea of how we would like our lives to be. The type of people we would like to become. The things we would like to have, achieve, and accomplish in our lifetime. Then life happens. We get caught up in where we are right now. We become inundated in the craziness of our day-to-day activities. And so, we let the rollercoaster of emotions and feelings take over. Life becomes complicated and begins to beat us down. We give in, and we give up. We find ourselves letting life happen instead of creating it the way we want it. We must realize that this IS life. If we get caught up in it and lose focus, it will continue to be complicated. There will always be daily challenges. We will be consistently experiencing and battling change. These things will create difficulties and cause us to have doubt, bitterness, unhappiness, fear, sadness, and possibly low se...

"The mind is a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets and the more it can expand." - Idowu Koyenikan Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain regarding your mood, memory, and learning. The brain is your control center, playing an instrumental role in how your body functions. Your brain allows you to have emotions, communicate your feelings, coordinate your movements, and control all your actions. It allows you to do all the things that make you human. As the most impressive and influential part of your body, you can intentionally contribute toward keeping your brain healthy. Research has shown that you can help prevent cognitive decline and reduce the risk of dementia with some good essential health habits.     Here are some tips to help:   Eat healthily:  The saying, "You are what you eat," could not be more accurate regarding your brain. While we can't control everything that happens to our bodies, the foods we eat do influen...