– Dr. Nido R. Qubein – President of High Point University
Happy New Year to all our highly valued clients and acquaintances:
I hope your year-end holidays finished on the best notes possible, for you and yours.
It’s now showtime for 2023 and it’s an annual mantra over here. “So goes January, so goes Our 1st Quarter, so goes Our Year”. Whatever your 2023 hopes, dreams, aspirations, needs, and goals are, you can set yourself up to carry yourself forward.
We are no exception. We are all starting the year off from scratch and re-harnessing our energies, getting our personal and professional activities freshly off the ground and getting ourselves into some level of gear for the year, as we pursue worthy fulfillment.
As cited in vid, at times, it may feel like we are crossing a bridge over troubled waters.
Based upon whatever your reflections are from 2022, including any unforeseeable (and sometimes unwanted) twists and turns from which you may have gleaned new lessons and wisdom, it’s now time to get a fresh grip and determine your new priorities for 2023.
I’m blessed to have several octogenarian elder mentors, from whom to learn. Their seasoned wisdom and caring attention continue to help me stay grounded in my life.
Given several challenges in 2022 (that I didn’t see coming), I appreciated all their help.
My 2022 reflections included a Celebration of Life Service for Frances Hesselbein.
This certainly stirred within me a mental and emotional environment in which to ponder.
I experienced Frances Hesselbein to be an extraordinary role model of love and service in action, during her 107 years of life. Frances was an incredible gift that kept on giving.
Frances would often cite a quote by George Bernard Shaw: “I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live… Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.”
Her exemplary life inspires and challenges me to continue leadership development and to serve people to be the best that they can be. One of my favorite Hesselbein quotes (paraphrased) is “I’m not a woman who is a leader, I am a leader who is a woman.”
FRANCES HESSELBEIN is a remarkable leader because she doesn’t try to get others to think of her as a leader, she tries to get others to think of themselves as leaders. Reading her autobiography, My Life in Leadership, I was struck by the importance she places on inclusion, respect, civility, decency, honor, honesty, and faithfulness. It’s not surprising then, that she never thought of herself as a “woman leader,” but always as “a leader who is a woman.” Hesselbein didn’t start out to be a leader, but she became one by expressing her best self in all that she did. An example for all would-be leaders to follow. Her mantra is, “to serve is to live.”
“She could manage any company in America, even General Motors, and do a great job,” Drucker said. That was in 1990. Frances, then CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, was nearly unknown to anyone outside a small circle of people involved in nonprofits.
Two months later, BusinessWeek featured Hesselbein on its cover. For women, it was a first—finally a woman on the cover of a respected business publication. For business leaders, it signaled a remarkable new ethos: It was acceptable, even admirable, to be a leader in the social sector.”
As part of media cited in December, here is an article from The Wall Street Journal
I’ve read her books and intend to review them, to improve myself with her ideas.
My Life in Leadership: The Journey and Lessons Learned Along the Way
Celebrations of Life make me wonder “What things are possible now?”
On other notes, for most people, the last few years have brought so many changes and curve balls that most of us had no idea were coming down the track or that would have such a powerful impact. It has caused me to seek additional resources to not only strengthen myself, personally and professionally, but also to better help other people.
Coming Out of the Ice: An Unexpected Life by Victor Herman
Part of my 2022 reflections included thinking about Victor Herman, who I remember meeting briefly after he spoke on a college campus. He awakened in me, like other POW stories, how powerful the human spirit can be in the face of impossible odds.
This astonishing true story is the tale of a young American man who spent 18 years as a Soviet prisoner in the Gulags of Siberia. At 16 years of age, his family (and about 300 other Ford Motor Company families) went to work in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s but met tragic fates during the Stalin purges. It was 1938 when Victor Herman was inexplicably thrown into prison, after he had become a celebrity in the Soviet Union, having won acclaim as “the Lindbergh of Russia” for his flying and world-record-breaking parachute jumps. He managed to thrive under the most desperate conditions.
Practical skills to help you bounce back when life knocks you down.
On recommendation, I started reading When Life Hits Hard: How to Transcend Grief, Crisis, and Loss with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Dr. Russ Harris.
Whether it’s the loss of a loved one or a job, the end of a relationship, a pandemic, or a natural disaster—nothing really prepares us for those moments when life hits hard and turns our world upside down. The good news is that you can move forward. There are tools you can use to find your way back from despair and live a fulfilling life.
Author Russ Harris’s previous book, The Happiness Trap, is an international bestseller, with over a million copies sold worldwide and editions published in over 30 languages.
Almost daily, I continue to discover how much there is to discover!!
With the cornucopia recourse that YouTube is, it’s beyond belief what we can discover, rediscover, uncover or explore, to keep our creative imaginations on our proverbial toes.
I continue to be amazed and surprised how much I didn’t know that I didn’t know – duh!
We can look in places we’ve never looked before or research what we never did before.
I’m also learning it takes generosity to hear many diverse perspectives and points of view, without quickly jumping to conclusions about those perspectives or ways of being.
My findings aren’t necessarily endorsements, per se. They are opportunities for learning experiences and considering other perspectives, possibilities, strategies, and choices.
Recently, I’ve been seeking biographical documentaries. In this 26-minute, 30 second video, I heard much more about Dr. Nido R. Qubein – President of High Point University.
I knew about Nido years ago, as a professional communications and business speaker. I found myself simply moved to tears as I watched this Biography Channel presentation.
After I heard this 34-minute interview podcast from one of my mentors, I realized that there was so much more to his life and professional leadership roles than I ever knew.
Given my interest in performing arts, I’ve also been viewing different artists’ lives.
For example, here’s the 2 minutes Official Trailer on Shania Twain – Not Just A Girl.
I’m getting ready to watch George Harrison Living in The Material World (2011)
Here’s 3 mins from Martin Scorsese on George Harrison Living in the Material World
I’ve also listened to comedians in recent days (Seinfeld, anyone? 😊)
Comedy can empower us with courage and strength, as well as help to reduce stress.
Best, most comprehensive interview (90 min) I ever heard w Jerry Seinfeld? (12/08/20)
Comedy Legend’s Systems, Routines, & Methods for Success | Tim Ferriss Show
Staying in a state of curiosity, fascination, discovery, and wonder??
Take the best & leave the rest from the many new interviews done during the pandemic.
Well, maybe this January 2023 Issue is turning out be a quite a buffet menu of ideas?
Who are you inspired and challenged by, as reference points? For whatever reasons?
Your curiosities can be like a fresh spring breeze to refresh mental/emotional spaces.
What role models do you look up to, respect, want to be like and possibly learn from?
Who can you be like that for others? That’s distinguished?? Differentiated?? Fresh??
Who, in our current culture and/or history might fascinate, equip, and energize you??
What’s possible for you now? What could be your next big thing? New hobbies??
It’s 2023 – what big thing is possible for you now, that wasn’t before?
Don’t stress over past mistakes because there’s nothing you can do to change them. Focus on your present and create your future today. – Anonymous
Sometimes we may feel Frozen (stuck in our tracks) and we just need to “Let It Go”
How will you get and keep yourself on the “First Things First” tracks you want to be on?
What are you seeing out there in your journeys? What might you recommend for us all?
What are you reading and what teachers are you studying, to fuel your ‘mental protein’?
What are you excited for and indisputably determined about for Your One & Only 2023?
To serve you in your journey of creating new possibilities for 2023 and beyond, here’s an 11-page workbook titled: GIST Workbook 1 Construct A Powerful 3 Year Vision.
Again, I look forward to furthering our communications in the weeks ahead as we all work to strengthen and expand our foundations for greater freedom and life fulfillment.
Wishing for you best possible joy and creative energies as you launch your 2023!
With sincere and deep appreciation,
Coach Don
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