You become what your mind thinks about all day long

Everyday life is a challenge from the trenches for most all of us. Be it the unexpected work or the nonstop kid activities to keep the chasing kids around, or even doctor’s appointments to keep up with. It is in the midst of those daily activities that we don’t often take time to seek out the positive aspects of the day, or all the luxuries in life we are afforded, or the simple fact that we were granted another day on this earth.

It is with each of these days that our emotions are affected with hi’s and low’s, but if you are a normal human, it is the low’s that often are allowed to guide the attitude of the day. It’s what the devil wants and often gets. The other challenge of this is we are bombarded by continual different media aspects trying to work their marketing efforts or the negative stories of the day into our hearts and souls, further burdening our minds with things that are 100% out of our control.

I once read a book and the author talks about how most of us are very proud of the work we do, and at some point or another, we all think about what our kids work future looks like, and some of us wouldn’t disapprove of our kids joining our profession. So if that is something that you could possibly want, don’t come home from work, and “complain about work”. If you do, your child will think,”Well, why would I do that, my dad comes home and complains about his vet work every day!”

It was in that moment of reading, I not only realized the truths of that statement but it also reminded me of the influences of our day on our children. We often get home tired, wore out, short-fused, hungry, and just ready to be done for the day. But Nash wants to play catch, or Mac wants me to check out what she has just made from a Pinterest idea, or one of them just wants to snuggle. And if my day has been a negative influence on me, it affects those moments. It affects my approach, response, or the words out of my mouth.

But beyond those daily influences, we have great opportunity to intentionally choose what influences us each day. From social media, television, emails, work, leadership, friendships, and all things in between. The negatives, the pessimists, the devil are all out trying to take the wind out of ours sails each day through all of those outlets. But it’s up to us to remove them, including bad leadership at work. If you work in a place with bad leadership, take it upon yourself to make a plan to exit that situation and stick to it. If it is a bad relationship, have the extreme courage and bravery to make a plan and get out of it. We must remember, what influences us, trickles down to those we lead or our families. And in this world today, there is so much opportunity to seek out great positive influences or influencers, we don’t have time for the distractors or distractions.

Your two action items for this week

1. Find a podcast on whatever you want to get better at, subscribe to it and listen each day. Is it leadership, parenting, personal finances, your walk with God, marriage, or your profession?

2. Do the same with two email lists. Subscribe to two email lists that are areas in your life you will work to improve on. If you do both of these things, then look to set your alarm clock earlier, and listen to more and read more!

You are all big-time influencers and we need each of you to capitalize on that influence! You are what you consume. You are what you think about each day. You are what your mind is consumed by each day. Consume more of what you are working to be! It all trickles down! Happy Leadership Thursday!!